Todd's Journey

The story of my cancer journey

Sciatica seems to be (fingers crossed) slowly healing. I am having a bit of an easier time moving around now without the aid of a cane or walker. Still have aches and pains from the sciatica, but much more bearable. I am using Dilaudid to keep ahead of any flare-up pain.

Due to the increase in creatinine, they have moved me up from 40mg of Presnidone (steroid) to 75mg. This is a normal course of action when trying to supress immunotherapy since at times when the steroid dose may be too low, the immunotherapy kicks back in. The rise in this dose has caused me difficulty in managing my blood glucose levels. Not a big deal though, as I can somewhat manage it through insulin dose changes. It's just not an exacting science, so sometimes the dose works, and other times it takes more.

I had my cancer CT scans yesterday on my chest and abdomin. We can expect the results of the scan to be available next week sometime. Hopefully the scans will be all clear with no further signs of cancer or cancer spread. I will keep you posted on the results.

I always try to remember what Dr. Morash (my urology oncologist) once told me. He said I have to remember that my bladder, ureters, kidneys, and all that area have been through a lot in the last nine months. It takes time for all of that to heal and get better. So I take every positive as just that. Positive. The number of negatives gets smaller and smaller. Good progress.

Update on Steroid Therapy

- Posted in The Journey by with comments

Hello All,

I am on day 2 of my steroid treatment to try and shut down the overactive immune system I now have from the immunotherapy.

While I have not yet gained the water weight (oh, it will come... lol) I have found myself with little to no pain since starting the therapy.

This leads me to believe that the abdominal pains I was suffering through were probably a result of the immunotherapy, and now that my immune system is settling down a bit, the pain has seemingly gone away.

Other symptoms of the immunotherapy also seem to be weening down, or gone.

The gold marker for me will be to see if my creatinine levels come down now as well. We will have those test results next Tuesday (the 27th).