October 8th
On Tuesday, October 8th, I had appointments up north again. We had an immunotherapy infusion temporarily scheduled. Dr. Hu wanted to see how I was doing before she started me back up on the infusions. When we decided on September 12th to forego infusions for a while, it was explained to me that I was sort of on the edge of a cliff... I was seeing a great response, but the side effects I was dealing with (issues with my vision, swelling, etc.) were somewhat severe. They wanted to allow my body to "simmer down" before moving forward with more infusions.
So! Back to the 8th...
I had my blood work done and then met with Dr. Hu and her team for the first time. Dr. Hu is a melanoma oncologist, but her research focuses on immunotherapy treatments. We thought that would be a good match given that I was on immunotherapy and likely would be for a while. After talking with her, she wanted to hold off on the immunotherapy infusion for another few weeks to allow my body more time to recover. I had been on steroids for months on end. That combined with the immunotherapy had done a number on my body. So, we scheduled an infusion for October 29th to restart the immunotherapy. However, I still had an infusion of the bone regrowth drug that day. Those are short and sweet. Not much to them.
Dr. Hu also wanted me to see an ophthalmologist about my vision. While my vision is basically normal, I still have some issues with my left eye. She wanted that looked at before we restarted infusions. Kim had also noticed some moles on my head that she wanted looked at. Dr. Hu wasn't too concerned, but wanted them biopsied just to be sure. So a team came in that would take a look at it. Without numbing me, a needle was stuck into the mole and moved around over and over again trying to get enough tissue to be biopsied. It was quite uncomfortable and lasted for what seemed several minutes. Never again! haha The best part was that after they got what they needed, they really didn't have enough for what they needed. So it was a failed attempt and a waste of pain. I was told that when I came back on the 29th they would shave off part of the mole to biopsy it.
After we finished meeting with Dr. Hu, we went down to the infusion center to so I could get the bone growth drug. We also called up to the Moran Eye Center to see if they could get me in that day while we were already up north. We were told that we could get in at the Farmington location to see Dr. Zaugg. So, we took it! After we finished with my infusion, we ran further north to the Farmington location and met with Dr. Zaugg. He had me perform a few different tests on some fancy machines. Fortunately everything came back as normal, including my optic nerve. Based on what I was describing as my issue and what he was seeing, he referred me to a neuro ophthalmologist to see if they could identify the issue. It's always great when things look normal and healthy, but sometimes you just want answers, you know? Anyway, we headed back home after that. We did stop at the Shake Shack in Sandy for a heavenly burger and fries! AND we stopped at Costco to buy a bunch of dog food. Gotta love it when dog food is on sale!
So! Back to the 8th...
I had my blood work done and then met with Dr. Hu and her team for the first time. Dr. Hu is a melanoma oncologist, but her research focuses on immunotherapy treatments. We thought that would be a good match given that I was on immunotherapy and likely would be for a while. After talking with her, she wanted to hold off on the immunotherapy infusion for another few weeks to allow my body more time to recover. I had been on steroids for months on end. That combined with the immunotherapy had done a number on my body. So, we scheduled an infusion for October 29th to restart the immunotherapy. However, I still had an infusion of the bone regrowth drug that day. Those are short and sweet. Not much to them.
Dr. Hu also wanted me to see an ophthalmologist about my vision. While my vision is basically normal, I still have some issues with my left eye. She wanted that looked at before we restarted infusions. Kim had also noticed some moles on my head that she wanted looked at. Dr. Hu wasn't too concerned, but wanted them biopsied just to be sure. So a team came in that would take a look at it. Without numbing me, a needle was stuck into the mole and moved around over and over again trying to get enough tissue to be biopsied. It was quite uncomfortable and lasted for what seemed several minutes. Never again! haha The best part was that after they got what they needed, they really didn't have enough for what they needed. So it was a failed attempt and a waste of pain. I was told that when I came back on the 29th they would shave off part of the mole to biopsy it.
After we finished meeting with Dr. Hu, we went down to the infusion center to so I could get the bone growth drug. We also called up to the Moran Eye Center to see if they could get me in that day while we were already up north. We were told that we could get in at the Farmington location to see Dr. Zaugg. So, we took it! After we finished with my infusion, we ran further north to the Farmington location and met with Dr. Zaugg. He had me perform a few different tests on some fancy machines. Fortunately everything came back as normal, including my optic nerve. Based on what I was describing as my issue and what he was seeing, he referred me to a neuro ophthalmologist to see if they could identify the issue. It's always great when things look normal and healthy, but sometimes you just want answers, you know? Anyway, we headed back home after that. We did stop at the Shake Shack in Sandy for a heavenly burger and fries! AND we stopped at Costco to buy a bunch of dog food. Gotta love it when dog food is on sale!
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