WRONG!
As soon as his wheelchair was in front of the door to his room, I knew he'd had another one. The cold rag over his head and eyes. The slumped way he sat in the chair. These things take a toll on him so bad. He's totally wiped afterwards.
The way I hear it, he was in the MRI and doing OK, which is good. He HATES MRI's because he has to lay flat and be still. That's difficult for him, because he feels like he's choking. After all of the surgeries, he is always on a bit of an incline. So yeah.... MRI's suck for him, but he was doing ok. They pulled him out and gave him the contrast through the IV so they could put him back in. He immediately started to feel it happening again. He fought through it so they could get the MRI. But when they pulled him out, it happened again.
A little information on what's happening when "they" happen. Actually, I'm going to call them seizures.
1) I have believed that from the first time I saw it on Monday.
2) The doctors are now starting to say that's what they think it is, too.
So info on that. He starts to feel nauseous. He also gets a headache that starts coming in behind is left eye. He KNOWS when they're about to hit when things start to go blurry. Once he is out, his pupils dilate, there's weird and varied twitching, his diagram constricts like his trying to throw up, and sweat. Not normal sweat. Literally, head to toe, instantaneous, POOLS of sweat!!
Now we know that he's had 3 full seizures where he is unconscious. The one at Texas Oncology right after the infusion. The one as soon as we got to the ER here at Seton. Then last night, just after they gave him the IV contrast for the MRI. There have been a couple/few other instances when he feels the symptoms, but they fade and go away.
The list of tests: blood cultures, an exam to check for internal bleeding, a CT of the head, MRI of the head, EEG, EKG, Echo-cardiogram
WHEW!
Next up for today...... a CT of the carotids/neck
This means they're going to give him the contrast again. I'm a little nervous about how this is going to go. However, Bryce and I both really want this test done. The restriction of his left carotid artery is what he fears the most. They also have this doppler / Echo-cardiogram like test that can be done in that area. B-U-T, that's where his tumor is and they aren't sure that the ultrasound handle thingy will even work. So, they haven't ordered it for him.
We saw Dr. Y, his oncologist and head of the trial, again this morning to discuss a few things. We wanted to know if all of this is going to kick him out of the trial. So far, he's good to stay in. They started him on seizure medication last night. They verified that it don't have any adverse reactions to the Keytruda that he's on right now. All tests have been normal thus far. Now..... he was only hooked up to the EEG for 30 minutes. During that time he didn't have a seizure. Soooo..... I feel like that was a waste of electrodes, but what do I know?! We talked to him about the seizures happening when he gets injections of something. That brought up something interesting. The stuff in whatever injection takes up real estate in the blood/veins. If he already has restricted blood flow (which isn't confirmed), is he not getting enough oxygen or blood to his brain? Maybe so. It's a point of interest.
I think that's about it. I know the last couple of updates were hurried and in some ways vague. This is a more complete idea of what's going on. It looks like he'll be here another night. Again, thank you to EVERYONE for all of the love, support and prayers being sent out way. If you have sent me a message and I haven't responded, know that I still appreciate it. If you feel like I've been short with you, I'm sorry. Things can just get hectic at times in here.
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Love you girl!!!
ReplyDeletethoughts and prayers from Salt Lake, we love you guys are hoping for the best possible outcome.
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