A brief and good update

Last Friday’s 3-month CT scans (chest, abdomen, pelvis) showed nothing new or worrisome–stable mets, so Eribulin still working!  That was really good news especially since I was wondering about the cough and shortness of breath.

Chemo was easy this week.  My sister Deb is visiting and being my driver plus major household helper and cooking some, too!  Wow.

The weird cough and hoarseness and shortness of breath make various professionals think I have GERD from the steroids (gastroesophogeal reflux disease) even without typical GERD symptoms (acid reflux feeling, indigestion, heartburn).  So I switched to a different proton-pump inhibitor to protect me better from the steroids and we’ll see.  I also have an appointment with an ENT specialist to look for nerve issues (caused by GERD?) in the area of my throat that is affected–but not until after our trip to France (July 1-13).

Today’s appointment with the neurologist was good–we liked her, she spent lots of time trying to figure out my complicated situation, she listened, and she came up with good small changes to my meds to address my post-SRS headache issue and maybe improve my knee and other pain.  Most excellently, she is not convinced that my little episode on May 30 was a seizure.  Maybe more like an almost-faint. We will get an EEG in the next month or so which will probably show a non-electrically-disorganized brain…then it looks like I’ll be able to drive again, probably.  My next brain MRI is July 21.  She thinks the trouble I’ve had recovering after this zap may just be the result of having had so many zaps…it gets harder to bounce back.  She does not think I need to be on Keppra (anti-seizure med) “forever” though we’re sticking with it for now.

My old-fashioned paper chart at Radiation Oncology...weighing down my favorite nurse!
My old-fashioned paper chart at Radiation Oncology…weighing down my favorite nurse!

So that was the news this week.  I do believe I have No Other Medical Appointments until next Tuesday’s chemo, and the day after that, all the Harris-Brauns, plus Jesse’s sweetie Lydia, are off to Aix-en-Provence for some summer living in France!

2 thoughts on “A brief and good update

  1. Dorian

    YAY for good doctors, stable mets, helpful visiting sisters, five days without medical appointments, and France! So glad to hear all of it!

  2. Shelly

    So glad you can go off to France with a good-news sendoff from your docs!

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