I guess, in one way, that is good news - as it means that the cancer in the bone is still "minimal". As the oncologist reminded us today - based on the fairly comprehensive CT scans that were done just two weeks ago and last week - there are no tumours, all soft organs are still healthy with no cancer in them, minor lesions in the liver, but that could be from anything, including old illnesses, etc. In other words, Husband is very stable, the cancer under control, with no sign of spread, and, God willing, it will NOT spread, it WILL get better.
OK, back to the subject of pain. It seems that the pain must definitely be from the site of the bed sore. Husband tried to describe the pain to the oncologist as two "types" of pain. (1) constant pain, like an extremely bad toothache and (2) sudden sharp shooting pains, like he has just been skewered with an icepick. Based on this the oncologist feels that he could have different reasons for the different types of pain. The constant numb pain COULD be from the cancer in the bone OR it could be from the overall muscle trauma following the bed sore and the ensuing treatment and operations. The sharp shooting pain is more like the sudden over-stimulation of a nerve. So, he has prescribed different pain killers for Husband as he feels the ones that he is taking now (particularly Brufen/Neurofen) will not aid in this type of pain.
We go back to see him again in one month. If the pain has not responded to the new meds, then he is going to recommend that Husband goes to see a pain management specialist. Of course, the "good" news is that if we DO have to go see a pain management specialist, I already know which one to see - as my brother (the doctor) had recommended a good one to my mother (who still has a LOT of pain following the quintuple heart bypass she had in Nov last year), and this pain management specialist is not far from where we live. I must admit, it is very very useful having so many doctors in the family :-D.
Other than the above, even though it is only just 3.40pm right now (as I write this), it has been an amazingly "UP" day for Husband. He has eaten well already - in fact he has eaten more today than he has in the last 3 days practically - he has been walking around with me, he came with me to take the car to the workshop to check the back tyre (it was deflating ever so slowly, and I needed to get it fixed BEFORE we drive to Melaka this Friday, as I did NOT want to end up with a flat tyre on the highway half-way between KL and Melaka!!), and then to the post office to pay a bill (most can be paid via Internet banking, but there are still TWO bills that cannot be paid via IB!!!), to the bank to get some money, lunch, then home. He is now lying down, as he is totally wiped out, and I have already given him one of the new pain killers - and we shall see if it works any better than the 'usual' ones.
Tomorrow (Wed) afternoon, we are going to see the surgeon who did the original operation on Husband (the one to remove the blockage in the colon). This is just to basically check that his stomach and intestines are all still healthy and that the stomach sensitivity he has is not an issue!
This Friday is chemo #14. I am hoping that the radiotherapy would have killed off more of the cancer cells and that the CEA would have gone down. I know it could be wishful thinking but then, as one of my friends just reminded me, that's how miracles happen too :-) (Thanks for that reminder, Patrick!). I will update the blog once we are back from Melaka, sometime over the weekend.
That's it for now folks. Please continue to keep Husband in your thoughts and prayers, and, till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
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