We have received Bill’s most recent MRI results and things are looking up! Bill’s tumour has shrunk noticeably! It is still a large tumour but given the possibilities of growth, no change or reduction in size we were delighted to learn it was smaller. This type of cancer is apparently very tricky and each person responds differently to treatment so there was no predicting beforehand how it would look.
After a month break from treatment Bill begins chemotherapy again on Friday. He will be on a repeating schedule of 5 days of chemo followed by 23 days off for the next six months. As most of you know, chemo is incredibly hard on the body so the thought of beginning another round is daunting but we are pulling all our strength together in an effort to prepare!
Overall Bill is doing much better. We’ve been able to cut his steroid dose (used to control the swelling) by 75% and hope to take him off it completely in the next few weeks. He still struggles with finding the right words at times and his strength and stamina are not what they were but he is trying to maintain a reasonable level of activity. One of the biggest sources of frustration for Bill has been the loss of ability to read and write (aphasia). There have been days recently where he has been able to read a little bit and we understand that many patients who receive speech-language therapy are able to regain these skills so we remain hopeful! Unfortunately Bill’s visual deficits have remained and our oncologist feels they are likely a result of the biopsy surgery not the tumour and therefore are permanent.
Thank you to everyone for your continued support, thoughts and prayers. Please keep them coming and hopefully his next MRI will show further reduction!
After a month break from treatment Bill begins chemotherapy again on Friday. He will be on a repeating schedule of 5 days of chemo followed by 23 days off for the next six months. As most of you know, chemo is incredibly hard on the body so the thought of beginning another round is daunting but we are pulling all our strength together in an effort to prepare!
Overall Bill is doing much better. We’ve been able to cut his steroid dose (used to control the swelling) by 75% and hope to take him off it completely in the next few weeks. He still struggles with finding the right words at times and his strength and stamina are not what they were but he is trying to maintain a reasonable level of activity. One of the biggest sources of frustration for Bill has been the loss of ability to read and write (aphasia). There have been days recently where he has been able to read a little bit and we understand that many patients who receive speech-language therapy are able to regain these skills so we remain hopeful! Unfortunately Bill’s visual deficits have remained and our oncologist feels they are likely a result of the biopsy surgery not the tumour and therefore are permanent.
Thank you to everyone for your continued support, thoughts and prayers. Please keep them coming and hopefully his next MRI will show further reduction!
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