Tomorrow is the half way mark of 7 weeks RT and 3 Chemo treatments. 3 � weeks in, 3 � weeks to go. Brian just had his second Cisplatin treatment today and is in bed resting. So far, things have been going fairly well. The cancer has responded and is shrinking and the lymph node is no longer lumpy.
Hearing loss is very mild, in the high end, and will be permanent. Scheduled for another hearing test next week.
Insurance will not pay for the nutrition ( Isosource) for the feeding tube, so we bought a few cases on the internet at a reasonable cost ( $33 a case of 24) and also contacted Oley Foundation. Oley Foundation was able to put us in touch with a donor and we just pay the shipping costs. ( shipping costs from MA to CA, about $16 a case).
His feeding tube was changed out to a low profile model, and he is really happy with it. Instead of a tube sticking out, there is just a flip cap to access. They call it a Mickey Style? Funny that insurance pays for this, but not the nutrition that goes in it.
He is using the feeding tube 95% of the time, not because of the difficulty of eating, but the taste of food is �soapy� , �metalic� or just plain fowl! He also has little saliva in his mouth, so he has difficulty eating anything that is dry.
The RT has not burned the inside or outside of Brian's skin, so there is no blistering that has occurred. We are hoping there will be no blistering at all in the course of treatment. We keep hearing, everyone is different.
His White blood cell count was at 1.6, just before his Chemo treatment, any lower they were going to reschedule his Chemo until his WBC got higher. To aid his WPC for his next treatment (3 weeks from today), they will be giving him a WBC booster shot tomorrow.
No hair loss has occurred. He has noticed he only needs to shave once a week.
Brian is doing remarkably well . Thank you for all your support and prayers.
Gianna