Woody's theory

Woody has a theory that Dr. Ginger Holt bought into completely. The theory is that before the melanoma was removed from his temple it got into his system. However, his immune system was strong enough to win all the battles with the melanoma--even though it wasn't strong enough to win the war.

When the bicycle accident happened, his immune system was compromised (through the loss of blood and bone on the road) and spread thin--now having to fight on three fronts: 1)hematoma the size of half a Texas cantaloupe on his left hip, 2)two broken bones and a jagged wound just above his left wrist, and 3)the melanoma, wherever it was.

And, unfortunately, Woody didn't take his pain medicine. After he got home from the hospital he got online and googled "diet broken bones" and found a great site that gave him a list of things to eat: spinach, no-fat yogurt, etc. The article was entitled: "Research on Foods that Help Heal Broken Bones" summarized by Rosemary Fisher. It stated:

"Aspirin And Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Can Retard Bone Healing: When you break or tear a muscle and are on pain medication, you may want to stop taking the pain medication as soon as possible so you do not delay healing. A study in May 1995 issue of The Journal of Orthopedic Trauma shows damaged cells in a fracture release large aounts of chemicals called prostaglandins. These chemicals cause the pain and are blocked by the pain medication. However prostaglandins are also very important in the first stage of tissue repair. So decreasing the use as soon as possible is helpful to the healing process.

"Furthermore a study in the October 1995 issue of the Journal of Rheumatology found that continued use of anti-inflammatory drugs over several months can increase the rate of cartilaginous breakdown in joints of people who have osteoarthritis. The drugs mentioned in the studies include Aspirin, Anaprox, Lodine, Meclomin, Motrin, Naprosin, Pensile, Relafen, Toreador, Tolectin, Indocin and Ibuprofen."

One result from not taking his pain medicine was that he didn't sleep well. And some say that the key to maintaining a strong immune system is getting a good night's sleep.

There has been a major difference in the amount of sleep he's been getting since Dr. Sosman prescribed pain medicine for him on Dec. 26th and he's been taking it. Before he started taking the pain killers he'd typically toss and turn all night and get an hour or two of sleep. Now he's getting 6 or 7 almost every night. Hopefully with the removal of the number one source of the pain (tumor) he'll be sleeping even better.

So one of our major concerns is his immune system and getting a good night's sleep every night. If you want to pray for something specific, pray that he gets a good night's sleep.

And, indeed, when the Interleukin treatments start, it's ultimately the immune system, God's mechanism for healing, that will need to win the battles and win the war. So pray for his immune system to win the battles and ultimately the war. And, may God get all the credit and glory!

Woody's had another good day. He walked to the library this morning. I can definitely see his strength returning. And, he's going to need every ounce of his strength for the Interleukin treatments.

One week ago tonight...

At this time a week ago, Woody was in the recovery room at Vanderbilt...probably giving the nurses a scare. Some of his blood work came back showing that he was having a problem--I'm guessing by what they were doing when I got to the recovery room, that it showed that he was having trouble with his heart. They were ordering potassium and an EKG, etc. But all the while they kept saying that he couldn't be having a problem by looking at his coloring and watching all the little lines on the monitor (the tech who was to do the EKG came in and looked at the monitor and just shook his head and said that Woody didn't need an EKG)...but they had to follow protocol and had to start giving him potassium and do an EKG. At a point a nurse came in and said that they were going to have to take another sample of blood, this time from his arm rather than from his IV lines. They were guessing that the sample that had been taken from his IV line had gotten saline in it. And, that must have been the case, as the second sample came back fine. But he got to stay a bit longer in recovery than he would have without this little scare! Life is never dull!

Anyway, today, a week after surgery, Woody completed our income tax forms, walked to the Post Office to mail them, and stopped along the way to get a hair cut. After he got home he ate a good lunch, took a shower, washed his hair and THEN he slept most of the rest of the afternoon! What a difference a week makes!

Thursday update

We are approaching a week since Woody's surgery. He is doing quite well. He is still having pain, but at this point is experimenting with taking less pain medication. He has tried going longer between doses and has also tried taking one instead of two.

Last night we had a bit of a concern as small blisters had started on either side of his incision. This wouldn't have been as big a concern if he hadn't been fighting a rash since shortly after his surgery after his bicycle accident back in September. It comes and goes and is very bothersome since it is so itchy. Even now he says that at times he is more bothered by being itchy than by being in pain. Dr. Fiala had told him to use hydrocortosone cream on it and that has helped keep it under control. But we seem to get on top of it and think that it is gone and then it is back. I think that he has had four or five or maybe even more bouts with it since September 15. Anyway, the way the rash gets started is with red spots and then these red spots turn into blisters. Last night when we saw the blisters we were hoping that the rash wasn't encroaching on his incision. Woody had me take a digital picture of it and send it by email to Dr. Holt. When I looked really closely at the picture prior to sending it to Dr. Holt, I pretty much decided that it looked to me like an allergic reaction to the bandage that they put on his incision--the blisters are pretty much in a straight line on either side of the incision. And, when Dr. Holt emailed back this morning, she said that the incision looked fine and that she thought it was a reaction to the adhesive or even to the pad that was on the bandage. Aren't digital cameras and email great! In the "olden days" we would have had to get in the car and head to Nashville to have her take a look at it. Dr. Holt had told us that if we had questions that the best way to communicate with her was by email and it certainly worked this time.

The last news that we have to share with you this posting is that Woody has applied for short term disability at work and it looks like it has been approved.

Here's how February is stacking up

Here's what's on our calendar so far for February:

February 5 Dr. Zubkus, Woody's Murfreesboro oncologist, for his first Zometa infusion. Zometa (this is a high powered Fosamax type drug) is given when cancer has spread to the bone. This treatment helps to protect bones and may reduce or delay complications such as bone fracture. He will be having these infusions every 4 weeks. It is given in the oncologist's office and takes about 30 minutes.

February 9 Dr. Holt for follow-up after surgery visit. He will have his staples removed at this visit.

February 10 Dr. Sosman for visit prior to entering Vanderbilt for Interleukin 2 treatments

Except for the date for entering Vanderbilt, the following dates are approximate as it will depend on how many infusions he will be able to tolerate:

February 11-15 Enter Vanderbilt for first round of Interleukin 2 (He is supposed to get infusions of Interleukin 2 every 8 hours with the hopes of having 14 infusions in the 5 day period.)

February 16-22 Home for 7 days

February 23-27 Reenter Vanderbilt for the second round of Interleukin 2

Picture not for the squeamish & medication confusion

Well, this didn't publish as I wanted--I wanted to put the picture toward the end so you could choose to look or not! Sorry! But here is a picture of his incision and ALL the staples! It is such a "clean-cut" wound that it doesn't really bother even my squeamish stomach!

Now to report on Woody's recovery progress. He is really doing very well. His pain is under control now that he is taking the medication according to hospital instructions and not the prescription bottle instructions.

We came home on Sunday and our pharmacy wasn't open. Woody wanted all records to stay at the same pharmacy so he decided to wait to fill the hospital prescription till Monday and use his pre-op pain meds till then. The pre-op prescription handled the pain fairly well, as he was able to pretty much sleep through the night on Sunday. I went first thing Monday to get the post-op prescription filled. They told me at the pharmacy that this prescription was "a step up" in pain medications from what he had been taking. Woody took the new medication at the appropriate time. I left for a little while and when I got home he was obviously in more pain rather than in less. I kept thinking that I was surprised that the prescription directions said to take one--we both knew that he had been taking two at the hospital. And I remembered them telling us at the hospital that he could take one or two. I finally remembered that we had a patient discharge paper with instructions to follow at home. It said to take one or two of these pills every 4-6 hours as needed for pain. The size tablet that was on the discharge instructions was the same as on the prescription bottle, so he immediately took another and very shortly his pain was much less.

Now it is Tuesday and he had another pretty good night. He says that he has pain, but that it is tolerable. He is resting now. He is thinking about taking a walk a little later. So I would say that he is progressing very well in his recovery.

A picture is worth a 1000 words

Here's a picture of an x-ray that shows Woody's arm fixture. The shapes to the left of his arm bone are the buckles to his sling. You can see the plate that was placed on his upper left arm bone and the screws that attach it. The little "rectangles" that you see on the right side of the picture are the staples--those go on up onto his shoulder. He has many staples!

I say that the plate and screws look like a praying mantis with too many legs!

Home Sweet Home!

We left Vanderbilt at noon and pulled up in front of our house around 2pm. It's so good to be home. Woody is happy to have his recliner to rest in and is looking forward to no nurses interrupting at all hours of the day and night. I imagine that we will both take naps! Nights are short at Vanderbilt!