Medical Appointment - April 7, 2010

Our appointment today at Dr. Bob's was fairly routine.  However, since Jerry started on testosterone replacement his PSA has gone up to over 4.0.  It's a "juggling act" between getting testosterone back into Jerry's system (chemotherapy killed off all his testosterone) and keeping his PSA low.  Therefore, they need to add another drug back into his routine, as well as, another injectable.  Because Jerry's on a Testosterone replacement he is going for weekly blood test so they can monitor his blood levels closely.  Also,  Jerry's platelets continue to be very low. Besides the ongoing problems with his digestive system, Jerry seems to feel fairly well most of the time. 

Medical Appointment - January 06, 20 10

First Oncology appointment for 20 10...

Left home about noon and stopped for a salad at Carl's Jr. before our trip to see Dr. Bob/Dr. Turner. Little traffic and arrived in record time, about 1:30pm. Nurse drew his blood and Lab technician started the analysis. Because of Jerry's illness Dr. Turner determined that he should have a Chest X-ray. About 4:30pm we left the oncology office for the imagine office for the X-ray. X-ray showed clear so we returned to the oncology office for an IV transfusion of Iron. Arrived home about 8:00pm.

Dr. Bob / Dr. Turner want Jerry to repeat another blood test next week -- may consider having him obtain an ultrasound of his liver if liver function test is higher. Some of his liver enzymes were slightly elevated. Dr. Bob/Dr. Turner want to see him again next week to discuss the use of testosterone replacement, as well as, add Sandostatin LAR.

Cold / Flu / Sinus / Cough 12/29/09 - 01/05/10

Before New Year's Eve Jerry started getting ill. Because of his compromised condition whenever Jerry's ill it is usually to the extreme. This time was no exception.

12/29/09 - PM - started with a neck ache and generally feeling "wiped" out.
12/30/09 - AM - went to work feeling okay
12/30/09 - PM - came home feeling very tired, later on feeling bad.
12/31/09 - AM - congestion, pain side of head / ear possible ear infection which is giving him a headache too (I think maybe infection / jaw or ONJ???)
12/31/09 - PM - same symptoms, as above
01/01/10 - AM - same symptoms, as above
01/01/10 - PM - bad cough, causing headache (I think we should check-in with Doctor, maybe go to ER maybe pneumonia)
01/02/10 - AM - same symptoms, as above
01/02/10 - PM - bad cough, causing headache (I think we should check-in with Doctor, maybe go to ER maybe pneumonia)
01/03/10 - continues having bad cough, other symptoms are better
01/04/10 - continues having bad cough, other symptoms are better
01/05/10 - continues having bad cough, other symptoms are better

01/03/09 - AM - shower and dress for church, walk to get newspaper and 2 doors down to get kitty... too much, wore out NOT going to church.
01/03/09 - PM - bad cough, causing headache (I think we should check-in with Doctor, maybe go to ER maybe pneumonia)

01/04/09 - AM - back to work, all day
01/04/09 - PM - almost continuous, terrible cough doubled over, can't sleep

01/05/09 - AM - shower (getting ready for work), crawl back into bed for hour or so, then off to work, all day
01/05/09 - PM - some cough, going to bed early, too tired to take pills/shot, maybe shower to help me wake up... take pills/shot and off to bed... terrible coughing episode doubled over trouble catching his breath (I thought he was going to pass out) but, finally after a few minutes coughing settled down and minimal coughing during the night.

01/06/09 - AM - off to work, minimum day because we leave a noon for appointment with Dr. Turner.

Medical Appointment - November 11, 2009

Jerry continues to visit his oncologist once a month. Yesterdays appointment was fairly routine as it has been since February. Jerry's PSA remains at 0.07. We are so delighted that Jerry has been doing so well.

Jerry has had a little bit of a set back... but, we are hoping it turns out to be nothing. Jerry started having pain in his mouth similar to when he was experiencing pain before being diagnosed with ONJ (Osteonecrosis of the Jaw). He started having the pain around Thursday and by Friday the pain was getting worse. Saturday I contacted our dentist who started him on an antibiotic. You may remember what Jerry went through last year when he developed Colitis when he took antibiotic's. The antibiotic started curing the infection and the pain has subsided.

We will be following up on with UCLA who cares for Jerry's ONJ.

October 1, 2009 - Medical Catching Up update

In this case... NO news is good news! It's hard to believe how well Jerry has been feeling since February. It's so hard for me to remember how bad Jerry was this time last year. If I look back on the blog a year ago it's so hard for me to believe what he was (and we were) going through. Thank God he has been doing so well. When we go for his oncology visits they are pretty uneventful so there really isn't much to blog about. The last visit he was slightly anemic so they gave him an IV of iron to help boost his system. But, other than that... the nurse draws blood, his blood goes to the lab, lab results determine what IV's he needs and the nurse starts whatever IV's he's going to have. The doctor comes in, proceeds with reviewing his medications list, asks questions and does his examination. Then when all the IV's are gone, we make our next appointment and head home for what may be a 1.5-2.5 hours drive depending on traffic. We go once a month up to Century City and our next appointment will be the 14th of October.

Medical Appointments

Last week, Jerry and I went for his monthly oncology appointment. Jerry is still feeling well and his lab work (blood work) is still showing numbers that are not too out of line. Jerry's PSA has risen from .02 up to .05. But, is still on the low side. Please continue to keep Jerry in your prayers so that he can enjoy continue feeling better than he has ... in a long time. Thank you all for your love, support, thoughts and prayers.

Medical Appointment - June 24, 2009

Jerry still doing well. PSA is 0.2 and holding.

Post Surgery Physical Therpy - April 8, 2009

I started Physical Therapy on my left shoulder today. I will be having PT (physical therapy) three times a week. My doctor indicates that my shoulder will not be fully back to normal for about 3 months after surgery. Slowly my range of motion and use of my arm and shoulder are coming back. I am still having a lot of pain below my elbow and above my wrist with a feeling of pins and needles and numbness. If I extend my arm in a certain way, or pick up something heavy an excruciating pain occurs. Once I endure the pain, it's hard to get rid of.

03.24.09 Post Surgery

A week ago tomorrow since my rotor cuff surgery, on my left shoulder. Jerry accompanied me to the surgical center for my surgery. Once they called me into surgery Jerry took off. Stef would pick me up after the surgery around 45 minutes for surgery and 60 minutes in recovery. I was wheeled into the operating room around 10:20 am (they had a clock on the wall). My discussion with the anaesthesiologist prior to administering Anastasia was that I did not want to wake up after surgery feeling nausea and vomiting (I remembered that from my previous surgery) from the Anastasia. He explained to me he could give me a neck block which should help prevent the nausea and vomiting. However, he would need to keep me awake while he gave me the neck block because he would need me to give him the indication where the proper placement on the nerve was. He gave me a mild sedation in my IV and proceeded. I remember being in the operating room and him poking me with the needle and some twitching, but after that... I really don't anything until I woke up in recovery without feeling nausea, no vomiting, no pain and alert enough to talk with Dr. Stauber. Dr. Stauber told me the surgery was worse then he anticipated from the MRI. The MRI was done last year and the tear had worsened, he was glad we proceeded with the surgery even though it took twice as long as expected. Stef brought me home and stayed with me the rest of the day until Jerry returned from his doctors appointment. The first few days weren't too bad since I was constantly on pain medication every 4 hours weather I needed it or not. I was starting getting constipated, so I took my last pain pill at 1:00am on Friday. Since then have only taken Tylenol PM or Ibuprofen 800 mg, as needed. The arm sling and ice machine have been on 24/7 until Sunday. Since then I have been using the sling and ice machine, but have to take breaks from both. I removed all the bandages and dressing on Saturday, as directed. However, have blisters all around the surgical area. Contacted the doctor's office about the blisters, they say they are probably from swelling or maybe I had a reaction to the latex tape. Using aloa vera plant to help heal the blisters. Every day I am feeling a little better and am feeling the healing progress. I have my follow-up visit with Dr. Stauber on March 31st.

03.17.09 - Happy St. Patrick's Day

Tomorrow I am scheduled for surgery to repair a partial thickness tear along the articular surface of the critical zone of the supraspinatus tendon. I don't know what all that means by I am having surgery on my left shoulder. This is an outpatient procedure and the surgery will take about 45 minutes. Jerry will be taking me in tomorrow at 9:30 am and my friend Stef will be bringing me home early afternoon. I will keep you posted on my progress, as soon as I am up to it.

Medical Appointment - February 20, 2009

Yesterday I received a call from Dr. Bob's Lab technician letting us know that they wanted another Urine test for Jerry tomorrow. They are re-testing because on his previous lab test he tested positive for ecoli. Later on Dr. Bob's PA (physician assistant called) in response to my email letting her know that Jerry has been retaining a lot of water; his blood pressure and pulse has been running higher than his norm; sweating profusely during the night. The compression stockings aren't helping with the water retention, elevating his legs above his heart isn't helping and taking the prescribed diuretics don't seem to be eliminating much of the water retention. Jerry is also complaining about an etchie feeling when and after he urinates. Says he feels like he needs to scratch the inside of his penis. The PA told me that Jerry had gained 8 pounds from his last appointment (02/13/09) and his Creatinine (kidney) was higher than it had been 140 (range is 0.50-1.50) so she said that we should come in so Dr. Javadi could do more blood test and evaluate the situation. During the evaluation Dr. Javadi noticed Jerry's heart was racing and ordered an EKG. Dr. J prescribed Cipro (antibiotic) for the ecoli infection and everything else on the blood draw looks a little better than last week. However, the PSA went from 0.067 (02/13) to 0.085 (02/20).

Medical Appointment - February 13, 2009

Jerry's monthly appointment with the oncologist. After the routine blood draw and evaluation Jerry only received an IV of iron. Some of the blood results were:
RBC 2.66 L (range 4.20-5.90)
Hemoglobin 8.8 L (range 12.7-18.0)
Hematocrit 26.5 L (range 37.5-52.0)
Platelet 110 L (range) 140-440)

Jerry's PSA went to 0.067 from 0.035 (01/11/09); 0.057 (12/17/08) range is 0.290 -5.600
Still considered undetectable but, seems to be creaping up a little each visit.

Medical Appointments - January 30, 2009

Friday 01/30/09 - Mitchell J Spirt - Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine

Jerry continues fighting with diarrhea. He was doing better and now maybe because of the penicillin taken in late December he has diarrhea again.

Tuesday 02/03/09 - M.R.I. of the brain

This is a follow-up M.R.I. from Jerry's recent TIA episode. They want to check to see if their are any changes since his "mini stroke".

Thursday 02/05/09 - Root Canal resorption http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_resorption

http://www.onj-net.org/?c=gawonjonly&type=search&keyword=osteonecrosis%20of%20the%20jaw&adid=2168306475&placement=&gclid=CLP7ltj-tpgCFRBbagodjlPvZA

UCLA specializes in ONJ and has referred Jerry to a dentist who has been trained in treating patients with ONJ. ONJ patients should only have minimal invasive procedures, therefore, they will do a root canal rather than extract the tooth. Then after the root canal they will cut off the tooth.

Friday 02/06/09 - Follow-up with Dr. Spirt

Monday 02/10/09 - Dentist appointment Teeth cleaning

Wednesday 02/12/09 - 10:00am Dr. Spirt's on staff nutritionlist
12:30am Dr. Javadi Oncologist

This will be Jerry's second follow-up oncologist since he completed his chemo-therapy.

Oncology Appointment - 07.11.08

Jerry and I went for a follow up visit with the Gastroentrologist in Century City (recommended by Dr. Bob, oncologist). Since the prescriptions and the regiment that Jerry followed for the past month did not clear up the colitis completely and Jerry's PSA has risen to 24.5 and Dr. Bob doesn't want to start chemo therpy until the colitus diarreha has stopped... Dr. Spirt, Gastroentrologist has scheduled a colonoscopy for Wednesday, July 16th. Once the colonoscopy has been done we will have a follow-up visit for the results on Tuesday, July 22nd. Also, scheduled is surgery to implant a port and possibly Chemotherpy depending on the colonoscopy results. Prior to the chemotherapy starting Jerry needs to get a baseline of his condition. For example a CT Scan of his bones, Chest X-ray, Cardio, MRI etc. All the tests he normally has about every 6 months. So as you can see the next two weeks will be busy with doctor, radiology and lab appointments.

PSA jumps to 22.66

Obviously, this is not good news. Jerry and I expect that he will begin chemo therapy during his next appointment scheduled for Monday, June 9th.

Otherwise, Jerry has been feeling fairly good... but, he still is on Vancomycin for the Colitis. He will be tested again, prior to our June 9th appointment.

03.28.08 Update of Jerry's Health

03.25.08 - CT Bone Scan
03.26.08 - ENT local to try and unblock blockage
03.30.08 - C Scan Pelvic, Abdomen, Chest with contract
04.01.08 - Gastronentologist Colitus; C-diff; Schedule Colonoscopy ASAP! (per Dr. Bob)
04.02.08 - Doppler UltraSound Ventura, CA
04.09.08 - Oncologist Dr. Bob appointment

Health Update on family...

Jerry is finally feeling better, even though he is still trying to get his strength back. He has two medical appointments coming. On Monday 02/25th he has an appointment with the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor to go over the results of his CT-Scan. He is also in the process of making another appointment with the Gastroentrologist (GI) doctor in order to schedule his colonoscopy.

Karen is finally feeling relief from Asthma and a Sinus infection. The Asthma flaired up late December. I have been under the care of my pulminary physican since. In the mean time, I caught a serious sinus; broncitus infection. I went back to my pulminary physcian on Friday and received a prescription of Avelox and received two Asthman injections of Xolair (see attached link). http://www.xolair.com/index.jsp?s_cid=0001&s_src=googleppc&c=720

Tiny Cambria Faith "Camee" is also doing much better with her upper respitory infection (URI). She is going crazy playing and playing and playing like a 5 month old kitten.

CT OF THE PARANASAL SINUSES - follow-up

Today, Jerry had another appointment to follow-up on his blocked sinuses. He has been treated for a sinus infection and they wanted to do another CT-Scan to see if he continues to have a blocked sinus. If the CT-Scan shows a continued block sinus, the ENT will need to go in and physically unblock the sinus. We should have the CT-Scan results in a few days and then we will go from there.

OUCH !!! - Second Degree Burn

Ouch ! Is to say it mildly... On Saturday I was making smore's from a box mix. The directions said to spray a 9" x 13" baking pan with pam. Empty the package of graham crackers and chocolate chips into the baking dish. Place the marshmallow package into a glass cup and cut-off a corner to let the steam out. Cook in the microwave for 45-60 seconds. After 45 seconds, I opened the microwave door and decided it needed a few more seconds. When it was finished I grabbed the handle of the glass measuring cup and removed it from the microwave. Once the marshmallow sauce was outside the microwave it began spilling over the bowl like a volcano. My immediate reaction was to place my hand under the marshmallow sauce to capture it from spilling on the kitchen floor. BAD IDEA!!! I placed my hand under running water to try and ease the pain, but the marshmallow sauce had stuck to my hand. The pain was excruciating. Jerry was outside, so it took me a minute to be composed enough to go out and ask him to come in to help me. He came in put some ice cubes in my bowl of water, but that made the pain worse so he removed the ice. The pain was so bad I couldn't stop crying or move. Jerry asked me if I wanted him to take me to emergency, but I wasn't ready to go. He gave me some hydrocodone to ease the pain. The rest of the day I continued to hold onto an ice pack and throughout the night keep my hand wrapped with an ace bandage to keep the ice pack in place. By the next morning the palm of my hand had a huge blister on it.