I know many of you were checking the blog site yesterday, expecting the promised report from our visit to Duke, but your faithful reporter was prostrate with fatigue and had to take the day off. Thank you for your patience!
Peter’s day at Duke started with a visit to the lab for some blood work, then to the MRI building, concluding with a visit to the oncologist at the cancer center. Dr. Ranjan had the blood work and MRI results in hand and spent quite a bit of time with Peter. One of his kidney numbers was high, indicating that the kidneys are struggling , perhaps in part due to the stresses of chemo and radiation, so she has stopped a couple of his meds in order to allow the kidneys to recover, if possible. There was nothing to worry about on the MRI, although it was done without contrast; the contrast medium is also hard on the kidneys and, thanks to the blood panel, the radiologist knew in advance to make that adjustment.
Peter’s biggest problem right now seems to be lack of sleep, so he is hoping to find a medicine that will work for that. He took a good walk alone yesterday and is definitely eating better, trying to reverse the substantial weight loss of the past two months.
We will need to return to Duke April 3rd for a PET scan, but after that we might be able to get the MRIs done here in Athens and not have to drive to Duke more than once every four months.
Overall, Peter seems to be doing well, considering what he’s been put through, and Dr. Ranjan said as much.
Very special thanks are due here to our good friend, Ed Levine, who stepped up and offered to be the second driver on this trip, when Lis couldn’t do it due to her broken hand and bronchial infection. Ed was going to “help” with the driving but ended up doing three-quarters of it; Peter says that’s because our car is just so much doggone fun to drive, but we both agree that it’s also because Ed is an all-around nice guy. When Peter discovered on the road in North Carolina that his camera bag, containing his wallet and ID, cell phone and house keys, had gone missing, it took Ed to focus our thinking and put us back on the trail. We had been stopping so frequently for Peter to stretch his legs that I had despaired of knowing where Peter might have left the bag, but Ed found the McDonald’s we had visited and the young lady behind the counter reached down and produced Peter’s bag, all its contents intact. Thank God for honest people and all the happy endings they make possible.
Peter’s day at Duke started with a visit to the lab for some blood work, then to the MRI building, concluding with a visit to the oncologist at the cancer center. Dr. Ranjan had the blood work and MRI results in hand and spent quite a bit of time with Peter. One of his kidney numbers was high, indicating that the kidneys are struggling , perhaps in part due to the stresses of chemo and radiation, so she has stopped a couple of his meds in order to allow the kidneys to recover, if possible. There was nothing to worry about on the MRI, although it was done without contrast; the contrast medium is also hard on the kidneys and, thanks to the blood panel, the radiologist knew in advance to make that adjustment.
Peter’s biggest problem right now seems to be lack of sleep, so he is hoping to find a medicine that will work for that. He took a good walk alone yesterday and is definitely eating better, trying to reverse the substantial weight loss of the past two months.
We will need to return to Duke April 3rd for a PET scan, but after that we might be able to get the MRIs done here in Athens and not have to drive to Duke more than once every four months.
Overall, Peter seems to be doing well, considering what he’s been put through, and Dr. Ranjan said as much.
Very special thanks are due here to our good friend, Ed Levine, who stepped up and offered to be the second driver on this trip, when Lis couldn’t do it due to her broken hand and bronchial infection. Ed was going to “help” with the driving but ended up doing three-quarters of it; Peter says that’s because our car is just so much doggone fun to drive, but we both agree that it’s also because Ed is an all-around nice guy. When Peter discovered on the road in North Carolina that his camera bag, containing his wallet and ID, cell phone and house keys, had gone missing, it took Ed to focus our thinking and put us back on the trail. We had been stopping so frequently for Peter to stretch his legs that I had despaired of knowing where Peter might have left the bag, but Ed found the McDonald’s we had visited and the young lady behind the counter reached down and produced Peter’s bag, all its contents intact. Thank God for honest people and all the happy endings they make possible.
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