Treatment #9

So in true procrastination of studying, I began reading my blog and noticed that I had two drafts I had not posted. SO, here is a very old post (over 1 year old...SOOOO crazy that it's been this long!!!):

Donny and I are happy to announce that we are buying a house in the suburbs, so we have been quite busy lately!  But I don't want to keep you waiting too long so here goes:

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

We saw Dr. P. before we went into treatment.  Donny had some breathing tests done after his last treatment, so we had to get those results back before we could proceed with this treatment.  Thankfully, the tests came back normal.  Donny's lung capacity has improved actually, in part, due to the shrinkage of the massive tumors in his chest.  The test they do for the Pulminary Toxicity showed a slight change for the worse, but the results were still within what is considered a 'normal' range, so Dr. P. told us he wasn't worried about it.

Monday night, Donny and I discussed the option of not having the Bleomycin for the next treatment and then continuing it during the last cycle.  And when the Dr. told us that everything looked fine and that we would continue with treatment as usual this round, it was hard not to argue because we were relieved everything was 'normal'.  But I couldn't let the Dr. leave without asking, "What will happen if we choose not to continue with the Bleomycin for the rest of treatment?"

This is why I love Northwestern.  Dr. P. replied, not with a definite answer, but with data and a decision based on judgement.  They don't say doctors 'practice' medicine for no reason.  Preliminary trials from Germany, have shown that Bleo isn't necessary for the entire treatment of Hodgkin's Lymphoma in early stages (stage 1 and 2).  So based upon that, and the fact that we've seen such dramatic change in Donny's tumors, it's hopeful that Donny won't need to continue with the Bleo.  However, at the same time, Donny was a bulky stage 3, and Dr. P. said he didn't want to undertreat him.

The concusion was somewhat of a compromise in that Dr. P. agreed not to administer the Bleo this round, but would continue the Bleo next cycle.  This allows Donny a small break from the horrid chemical but ensures that we end the 6 months of treatment with a bang.