MRI Results

UncleBuddy

As I said earlier, my brother's lung nodules are stable, no change. I see that as a good thing. The liver tumor was hard to figure out on the CT scan, so he had an MRI. We got the results today. There's only the one tumor. Back in August of 2014, it was 3.2 x 1.7 cm but it grew and is now 4.9 x 2.7 cm. Is that a lot of growth for 10 months? The doctor is sending my brother to the cardilogist to have an echo on Wednesday to see if his heart function has improved. If it has, they want to place him back on the 5FU, but he will get it along with the irinotecan as an IV, not in the pump to take home. I think it will be a smaller dose.

Another concern I have is that he's started to lose weight very quickly. He has a cardio visit Wednesday and Onc visit Thursday, so we'll discuss it then, but I'm very worried. He's a big man, but lost over 10 lbs in less than 2 weeks, without trying. He has been in the same chemo meds for a while, so there have been no changes. Any ideas?

My visit with the grandbabies was wonderful! I needed this break. Dad and my brother stayed at our house to dogsit. Can you believe dad's BP was the best it's been in years while he was here. I think the dogs were good for him. They sure will miss them.

Lin

NewHere

On Weight Loss

I was dropping weight, probably right around 10 lbs, but it seemed to stabilize.  I try to eat whenever I can, and put some pounds back on.  But I now seem to have about a 8 pound range of up and down.   And it was pretty quick on the second round of weight loss.  Had a big one after surgery.  Then the next one was after second or third treatment of almost 15 pounds.  Not sure what did it, maybe not drinking enough water, because water loss can also cause some weight loss.  Also changes on time of day.  I have tried to be a bit more careful in terms of the time of day and what I am wearing when checking my weight.  

UncleBuddy

NewHere said:

On Weight Loss

I was dropping weight, probably right around 10 lbs, but it seemed to stabilize.  I try to eat whenever I can, and put some pounds back on.  But I now seem to have about a 8 pound range of up and down.   And it was pretty quick on the second round of weight loss.  Had a big one after surgery.  Then the next one was after second or third treatment of almost 15 pounds.  Not sure what did it, maybe not drinking enough water, because water loss can also cause some weight loss.  Also changes on time of day.  I have tried to be a bit more careful in terms of the time of day and what I am wearing when checking my weight.  

Thanks

His weight had been stable for a long time. There have been no chamges to his chemo for a long time. The only change is that the tumor is starting to grow. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. His eating habits are the same. He loves to eat and has had no problems eating whatever he wants. His weighs himself on the same scale t the same time each day (by his nurse). The nurse seems concerned about the rapid weight loss.

Steve444

UncleBuddy said:

Thanks

His weight had been stable for a long time. There have been no chamges to his chemo for a long time. The only change is that the tumor is starting to grow. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. His eating habits are the same. He loves to eat and has had no problems eating whatever he wants. His weighs himself on the same scale t the same time each day (by his nurse). The nurse seems concerned about the rapid weight loss.

Tumors and weight loss

When my cancer was most active and before starting chemo I was losing 2 lbs per day.  I've read that this is common as tumor growth messes with your metabolism, monopilizes carbs for growth causing other cells to burn more muscle and fat.  So, yeah it's possiblly related to tumor growth, but I'm sure there could be other reasons as well.  Maybe see if he can increase protein intake?

UncleBuddy

Steve444 said:

Tumors and weight loss

When my cancer was most active and before starting chemo I was losing 2 lbs per day.  I've read that this is common as tumor growth messes with your metabolism, monopilizes carbs for growth causing other cells to burn more muscle and fat.  So, yeah it's possiblly related to tumor growth, but I'm sure there could be other reasons as well.  Maybe see if he can increase protein intake?

Thanks Steve

We have several doctor appointments this week, so we'll see what the doctors say! Keeping my fingers crossed!

janderson1964

Thats not much growth. I was

Thats not much growth. I was surprised to read that.

annalexandria

I'm glad you had a good visit,

you deserve it!

I hope they can get things sorted out for your brother.  That doesn't seem like too much growth in the liver tumor, but the weight loss is worrisome.

Do you think he's changed his eating habits at all lately?  

UncleBuddy

janderson1964 said:

Thats not much growth. I was

Thats not much growth. I was surprised to read that.

Hi Jeff!

No, it's not much growth but it has been stable for quite some time now. My brother is on a very low dose of one chemo med because of his heart. They had to take him off the cocktail. The onc isn't panicked, she just wants to add the 5FU back at a smaller dose if he can tolerate it. It's great that his lung nodules have remained stable. I think the weight loss has me more rattled.

Lin

UncleBuddy

annalexandria said:

I'm glad you had a good visit,

you deserve it!

I hope they can get things sorted out for your brother.  That doesn't seem like too much growth in the liver tumor, but the weight loss is worrisome.

Do you think he's changed his eating habits at all lately?  

Hi AA

No, his eating habits are the same. The weight loss seems to be related to the tumor growth, in my opinion. I have a nurse visit my dad and brother twice a week. Since my brother had so many issues, I felt it was necessary to watch him closely. Visiting nurses missed symptoms and we almost lost my brother so I have a trusted friend who visits and checks him from head to toe since he needs to be checked for rashes, clots, etc since he's on Xarelto. My dad was having blood pressure issues, so he now checks him bp at each visit. It gives me piece of mind. The nurse is concerned about the weight loss. 

Now I'm having issues with Medicaid. Ugh! Never a dull moment. I guess he needs to be recertified and they sent the letter to the wrong address after we went to social services to do the address change in person. Hoping to fix that today or tomorrow.

Lin

Trubrit

This is good

Not great, but good. 

I know that it would be a true miracle if it were great, but good is good at this point. 

I hope that all goes well as they settle into their new home. And that you are able to get a little more help along the way in caring for not just your brother, but your dear father, as well. 

Sue - Trubrit

UncleBuddy

Trubrit said:

This is good

Not great, but good. 

I know that it would be a true miracle if it were great, but good is good at this point. 

I hope that all goes well as they settle into their new home. And that you are able to get a little more help along the way in caring for not just your brother, but your dear father, as well. 

Sue - Trubrit

Thanks Sue!

I think when you're down this road, we're thankful for any good news. I'm trying to stay positive, that this may just be a bump in the road. He feels well and looks good!

I took dad to urgent care this morning. He has the beginnings of pneumonia. He's on antibiotics and is home resting now. I am hoping my brother doesn't get sick as well. 

Dad and my brother really like the new apartment. They have wonderful neighbors. It's quiet and closer to everything.

I'm fighting a sinus infection and the hubs has an URI. We're all a mess. I wonder if it's the change in weather? 

 

Lin