Rich scheduled his next scans for the beginning of February. His next treatment is on the 7th so we will find out then how things are then. Keeping my fingers crossed the report is the same (or better)than the last. Last time the tumors remained stable or shrunk.
What really is worrisome to me is the immunotherapy itself. Yes, the cancer is quite scary too but never knowing when a side effect could come is a difficult thing. I don’t want to jump to conclusions every time Rich has a pain but I can’t help but worry about whether he’s having a side effect or if it’s just a normal pain. It seems we never know whether or not to call. We didn’t call right away when he got diabetes (things went from bad to worse quite quickly. He was tired on Friday night and by Monday he had lost 12 pounds and was admitted to the ICU). Another time, we did call when his leg was swollen and it turned out to be nothing. He had a major headache last week and threw up (which is really rare for him) so I didn’t go to work and it turned out to be nothing. Later in the day he had a cold. Just a normal cold people get several times in their life. I was glad that we didn’t rush to call. (Though I did get at myself for worrying so much and I felt a bit like the boy who cried wolf with my job). The side effects of the immunotherapy scare me but I am glad it’s working. I just wish I knew what was a normal pain and what wasn’t.
If anyone comes across this blog and wants to share how they decide if they should call or not for a side effect, please feel free to comment. I’m sure I’m not the only one out there who wonders about this.