10:44 Dr. Devon Evans came in while we were talking to Dr. Ross Isacke. They’re still running the 24-hour urine test, which we hope will provide some answers. Dr. Evans doesn’t think it’s a chemo-related problem (tumor lysis syndrome), because we would likely have seen it several-fold more severe during the higher dose in the […]
cancer
Kirsten Update – April 26, 2013
I took the girls to see Kirsten at the hospital tonight. Kirsten had a difficult day, and it showed. It was very nice, though, for the girls to see her and for her to see them. The mood was somber, but with a lot of love (with an almost urgent, purposeful feel, which is weird). […]
Kirsten Update – April 25, 2013
Kirsten hasn’t suffered any hypertensive crisis episodes since yesterday morning, which is fantastic. Doctors continue to run tests, and we wait for their analysis, which takes days. They want to keep her in the hospital to monitor her for safety reasons, as the episodes are potentially life-threatening. Endocrine is still leaning toward a chemo-related cause, […]
Kirsten’s Cancer Follow-up; Boston Marathon Bombing
This post has a lot of pictures. You can click on them to see a larger versions.
Kirsten Update – April 24, 2013
I’ll just keep updating this post today, as appropriate. 10:27 Kirsten hasn’t yet been transferred to Gibson (Maine Medical Center Cancer Center). Right now she’s sleeping, exhausted and with a persistent headache. She had another hypertensive crisis episode this morning around 07:00. I was still at home. Like before, the pain onset immediately and was […]
No chemo. No sex.
Thursday morning Kirsten and I returned to Boston to visit Dr. Kulke at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. We weren’t expecting much. We were going down to discuss the first round of chemotherapy, have labs drawn, and hopefully get some analysis of the brain MRI. It was an early appointment: 08:15. The Downeaster train arrived at […]
Kirsten Returns to Work!
I have some excellent news to report: Kirsten returned to work at the hospital this past weekend, just three weeks after switching from short-term disability to long-term disability. She worked twelve-hour shifts Friday and Saturday night, on R9 at Maine Medical Center. Her coworkers were very glad she was back, and quite surprised, as they […]
Next Step: Chemotherapy
Last Thursday, Kirsten and I traveled to Boston for the second trip of the week. We caught the 08:22 Downeaster train out of Saco, because it’s the latest train that would get us there in time for a 15:00 appointment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. We arrived at North Station at 10:30, which gave us several […]
Kirsten: Okapi
My younger brother, Ken, loves to put together jigsaw puzzles. He doesn’t buy puzzles for himself, because seeing a representation of the completed puzzle on the box would make solving it way too easy. He likes a challenge. He prefers for people to buy him puzzles with small pieces, irregular edges and borders, possibly a […]
A One-Inch Tumor, Oh My!
Kirsten and I visited her oncologist, Dr. Evans this morning. He confirmed that the upper endoscopy and colonoscopy were negative for primary (or any) tumors. Dr. MagGillivray removed eight or nine lymph nodes and sent two to the lab. One of them contained a ONE INCH tumor! Yikes. Glad that sucker is out. Now we […]