25 March - Back garden Frederick Road - Deb and I with the dogs
23 March - Appointment with Dr Sanghera. Interim appointment to carry out blood tests.
Blood Tests
Deb is now on continuous chemotherapy. Remember this is a drug which targets all cells that are growing rapidly, not just tumour cells but also the bone marrow and the lining of the gut and lots more. So blood tests are now on a fortnightly basis to ensure that despite the effects of the chemotherapy Deb's has enough white blood cells to fight infection and platelets to stop the flow of blood should she start to bleed. Also this time Dr Sanghera had asked for tests to assess liver and kidney function. Unfortunately the blood analysis machine was not working and the tests had to be sent to the main hospital lab. This created a two hour delay and we left before the results were available. Rang Fred the next day to get results. He said bloods were OK but liver test was raised. This can be a problem - the chemotherapy drug is metabolised by the liver. Fred consulted Dr Sanghera who agreed we could continue with the temozolomide but we would monitor the liver function at future tests.
Clinical symptoms
Deb has been having a lot of back pain and has felt some weakness in her left side - particularly when going up and down stairs. . Dr Sanghera examined her and said the effects were not due to the tumour. The steroids can cause osteoporosis and he suggested a bone density scan. Deb is still feeling low since the poor result of the last scan. We have not heard from the psychologist attached to the Cancer Centre and Fred agreed to chase this up.
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