A Cheeky Wee Hubby Update

Hello friends! Thought I would check in and give you a wee update on the Hubby.

He finished his second week of radiotherapy today and there have been mixed results. They were targeting two places - his hip and his chest - and while he feels that the pain in his hip has improved a bit, the pain in his chest has been significantly worse.

He reported this to the doctor who thought that this *could be a flair up from the radiotherapy which could mean that the treatment is working and prescribed Hubby a short course of steroids to help with the inflammation, which he finished today.

(* a bit vague, I know, but he also ran through a list of symptoms that would give him concern which Hubby had not experienced)

We're not sure how much good the steroids have done - he has reported a slight reduction in pain, but doesn't know if it is due to the steroids or because he has been taking more of the stronger painkillers. We will monitor him over the weekend, and if he continues to be in a lot of pain the doctor says he will prescribe a longer, stronger course of steroids.

Speaking of painkillers, there seems to have been a lot of concern recently from friends and family about Hubby's pain levels and him not being able to get the painkillers he needs and I thought I should clarify. Yes, he has been in more pain than either of us are happy about, but the problem has been more about finding something that Hubby is comfortable with rather than something that deals with the pain.

We have at least 3 doctors who are monitoring his pain levels closely and are happy to prescribe pretty much anything that he thinks might help! Unfortunately Hubby has a very low tolerance for narcotics and more often than not, the side effects of the stronger medications, such as severe digestive problems and feeling dizzy and nauseous, cause him more problems than the original pain, which is why he prefers to manage the pain with over the counter meds whenever he can.

We are trying something new today though - our latest doctor suggested liquid vicodin which will be easy for him to take in reduced doses so hopefully he will be able to find the right balance between pain relief and tripping out of his skull!! We will continue to keep an eye on this and do whatever we can to keep Hubby comfortable until we can start blasting these bloody tumours away!!

Hubby also had his echo cardiogram today to make sure that his heart is strong enough for the new chemo next week, and I can confirm that he does indeed have a heart - hurrah! We will find out on Wednesday what the results are.

Well, that's all the news for now. He has a PET scan tomorrow morning and I will let you know how he gets on with that, but again we wont actually have any results or real information until we meet with the oncologist on Wednesday.

Until next time ,,, x