Paul's counts are still low - Platelets 51, White 2.5, Hemoglobin 10.2. They decided to go ahead and give him the Vincristine injection, since that doesn't affect the counts too badly. But they told him to skip the procarbazine this time. We figured that was fair since he had a round of procarbazine before he started the PCV chemotherapy.
When this cycle is done (3 more weeks), he will have an MRI and then we'll go see Dr. Nicholas at U of C to find out what's next. Paul has been having more difficulty with remembering words, reading, etc. Someone's doctor had suggested that it could be caused by the Phenobarbitol which Paul takes so he won't have seizures. I asked the neurologist about trying something else, and he said we should wait til we have the MRI and find out what's really going on.
We know, of course, that it could be tumor growth again. It's also possible, however, that it's swelling due to the radiosurgery, or even a side effect of some of the medication. If it's tumor growth, then we'll probably look into a clinical trial of some sort.
Continue to: July 16, 1998
Return to: Diary of a Brain Tumor Patient's Wife
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Created: May 31, 1999
Last updated: July 18, 2010