Thank you for checking in with me.
After the third chemo treatment (not even the full regimen yet), Mel’s side effects caused him a lot of suffering and more weight loss. Consequently, he has not been willing to have another treatment for a month now. His treatments are supposed to be every other week. His oncologist was on vacation last week and the week before, and he insisted on waiting until he could talk to the doc about some alternative treatments.
A cat scan last Fri. showed significant shrinkage of the tumor, but also some suspicious lesions on his liver. Dr. K doesn’t think it is metastasis, since the tumor has shrunk, so the chemo was working. However, since my husband has waited a month without any chemo, he ordered an MRI for tomorrow to get another look. Another finding on the CT scan is that he has gastroparesis that probably started after the third treatment. That’s when he started having problems feeling over-full and bloated after only a few bites.
Dr. K wanted him to have his 4th treatment yesterday with a reduced dose of Oxilaplatin, but my husband refused. He wants the results from the MRI and treatment for the gastroparesis first.
I think he is very frightened and already sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. Another issue that is probably keeping him stuck right now is analysis paralysis. He has researched tons of different treatment methods and alternative therapies and is now so anxious about not choosing the “perfect” plan for him that he can’t seem to choose anything. He also has an aversion to seeing a counselor. I have been seeing someone once a week to help myself cope and get advice on how to help him.
He has at least started talking about quality of life and not just quantity and that he may not have as much time ahead of him as he hoped for before chemo started.