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Showing posts from November, 2020

Liver Mets Lead to Lorlatinib

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Encouraged by the positive prognosis shared previously on the blog , we plunged into activity, optimistically facing the daily ups and downs.( Activity Amusement & Adventure ) After barely two weeks, pain arose in Geoff’s left side which gradually worsened until it became entirely debilitating. ( Meandering Medical Musings ) Amazingly, recent changes in treatment have achieved the best outcome healthwise since Geoff’s diagnosis. ( This post )   Liver Mets Lead to Lorlatinib Early in November, a long-awaited CT scan on Geoff’s chest, abdomen and pelvis, provided the first direct comparison to the dismal picture of his initial cancer diagnosis four months earlier. In light of the inconclusive results from the last brain and spinal column MRIs plus the knowledge that continued treatment on the second generation targeted drug, Alectinib, depended on clear evidence of it’s effectiveness, we had hoped the CT scan would show definitive improvement. Disappointingly, although two of the...

Meandering Medical Musings

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Encouraged by the positive prognosis shared previously on the blog , we plunged into activity, optimistically facing the daily ups and downs.( Activity Amusement & Adventure ) After barely two weeks, pain arose in Geoff’s left side which gradually worsened until it became entirely debilitating. ( this post ) Amazingly, recent changes in treatment have achieved the best outcome healthwise since Geoff’s diagnosis. ( Liver Mets Lead to Lorlatinib )   Meandering Medical Musings When the pain in Geoff’s side became so severe that driving to emergency wasn’t a viable option and cumulative doses of hydromorphone had brought no relief, I called the ambulance. It happened that all vehicles were attending to life-threatening night-time emergencies, so after giving me advice regarding pain management, Geoff's case was handed over to other healthcare providers. Thus began a stressful week as I tried to advocate for an effective solution. One difficulty arose because Geoff could partially ...

Activity Amusement & Adventure

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Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! From the heights of hope to the depths of despair, God has carried us through the shadows, and graciously lifted us into the sunshine again. Praise His name! Encouraged by the positive prognosis shared on my October blog post , we plunged into activity, optimistically facing the daily ups and downs.( this post ) After barely two weeks, pain arose in Geoff’s left side which gradually worsened until it became entirely debilitating. ( Meandering Medical Musings ) Amazingly, recent changes in treatment have achieved the best outcome healthwise since Geoff’s diagnosis. ( Liver Mets Lead to Lorlatinib ) Activity Amusement & Adventure Two months ago, unpredictable episodes of mild delirium were continuing to impact Geoff’s thinking and his ability to approach and complete tasks. Entering into his sense of uselessness or frustration was heart-rending: “I...