June 23, 2016

Sorry I haven't written

The last few weeks I've been struck with terrible fatigue. It's probably due to the double dose of  Keppra, the anti-seizure med. Dr G  increased it and then went  out  of town, so I  haven't been able to talk with him. Fatigue is also one of the side effects listed for Keytruda. Maybe the combination of the two drugs is causing my fatigue. Who knows? I see Dr G in two weeks and will ask him then.

At any rate, I'm tired all the time and usually have about one hour of energy before I need to crash. That's not enough time to do much more than shower and dress, or eat something, or start some laundry. I'm still not driving due to the seizure meds.

Last night I actually had three focal point seizures like the first one. We saw a play a few weeks ago and I had several  bouts of the same thing -- my right hand shakes uncontrollably, moving in and out of a fist; my thumb gets "caught" between fingers and everything freezes up for a couple of minutes; I feel panicky but it's all over in 2-3 minutes. Still, it's hard to type with only one hand, even if it's my dominant hand, and the fact that the seizures haven't stopped completely frightens me. Perhaps I should call the gamma knife doctor until I can see Dr G.

I will try to post more frequently.

June 05, 2016

Keytruda

Merck approved Keytruda for me. Just in time -- my tumor markers have risen more than 200 points in the past 2 months while I've been off treatment. And I gained 10 pounds while on steroids again. My legs are swollen - time to restart Lasix too.

Here is information about Keytruda. This is the drug that former President Jimmy Carter and many other melanoma and lung cancer patients have used with tremendous success. I'll get it once every three weeks. Of course, there's no way to know in advance how successful it will be with me. 

I start tomorrow.

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