Saturday, March 7, 2009

Update for March 7, 2009

Over the past couple of days, Dad has had many ups and downs. He has not felt as bad as his worst nor as good as his best and there have been many fluctuations. His symptoms include:
  • Fatigue: Sometimes he can hardly sit up or keep his eyes open, other times he is able to walk a half mile with me. He rests by lying down on the couch and closing his eyes but not always sleeping. His mental acuity seems to correlate inversely with his fatigue.
  • Sleeplessness: The Ambien seems to have been helping but his sleep is still disrupted several times each night. He rarely stays in bed for more than 6 1/2 hours. He naps a few times a day although sometimes he just rests.
  • Headaches: His headaches have been quite bad, even relative to his baseline, which was pretty severe to begin with and has been for years. He continues to describe them as being more on the top of his head rather than the back or sides, which is more the norm for him.
His appetite has been quite good (I plan to post details about his diet soon). We have experimented a bit with his pain medication to try and find the right balance with the Vicadin and the Fentanyl patch. Ideally, he would be less dependent on the latter. I also have concerns about the interactions among all the drugs he is taking, which we will discuss with the doctor at our next consultation. If any of his symptoms get dramatically worse, we will of course call.
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4 comments:

  1. hulananniMarch 7, 2009 at 2:53 PM

    I'm so grateful for this opportunity to follow John's tretment and understand his situation. Thank you, Kevin.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 7, 2009 at 3:45 PM

    I truly believe that Dad's sleeplessness is at the very least a major contributor and possibly even the main cause to Dad’s fatigue and headaches. I would find this concerning if Dad was in the best of health, but I feel it’s completely unsettling when I factor in his cancer. Without enough sleep, nobody is at their best, but chronic lack of sleep can have some serious effects on even a healthy person’s health. I think it’s essential for Dad to get better sleep now that his body needs to fight this cancer, and also endure chemo.

    I suggest talking to Dad’s doctor about switching him to Ambien CR in hopes that the “controlled release” will help him STAY asleep, rather than waking up several times in the night. Here’s a link to the Ambein website descrbing the difference between Ambien and Ambien CR: http://www.ambiencr.com/what-is-ambien-cr/what-is-ambien-cr.aspx
    “AMBIEN CR has two layers: the first layer dissolves quickly to help you get to sleep fast; the second dissolves slowly, to help you stay asleep, so you wake up ready for your day.”

    ReplyDelete
  3. KevinMarch 8, 2009 at 10:21 AM

    We will talk to Dr. Weber about this at our next consultation on March 9.

    ReplyDelete
  4. CarlMarch 8, 2009 at 10:31 AM

    Good suggestion Tasha. I agree. Best to you Kevin.

    ReplyDelete

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