December 5th Next Round of IL-2

Well, Dr. Wyzinski called today and said Karl is fine and clear to continue his treatments. He is due in the hospital Monday Dec 5th after we get back from our Disney Cruise on Disney Magic. We planned and paid for this last year-same cabin and cruise as last year, 7 day going down to St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Mickey's Private island in the Bahamas. Karl is very excited, even more so as he's feeling great, eating great. I am hoping he can gain some weight back with all the good food on the cruise. He's also excited because we will be snorkeling in Trunk Bay on St. John. Karl has a short term goal of learning to scuba so he can go with my dad next trip to the caribbean. So far he's not been able to get certified due to treatments so snorkeling is the next best thing.
Anyways, treatment on Dec. 5th will be 10 rounds of IL-2 depending on how he does. We are hoping there will be a longer break to let him recover more and next round Jan 2nd maybe. We will know more after he gets done with the Dec 5th.

Angiogram Results- Healthy Heart

Karl went through his angiogram Friday afternoon at Baylor Grapevine(his cardiologist was only available this week out in Grapevine and Plano was booked solid). Deanne, Karl's cousin, was in town for work and stayed to help out. She took Karl to his procedure on Friday and took care of him as Anika was home and it would have been awful to have to drag her along to the hospital all afternoon. He went in at 1pm and didn't get home until 8pm. She's been such a great help!
Anyways, Karl's angiogram went fine. They looked in all chambers of his heart and he has no damage or clogs. His heart rate and blood pressure are back to normal. The procedure was minor and he's got to rest for a day or two before he can move around. Minor pain from the incision but otherwise he's doing fine.
The Cardiologist believes it's the IL-2 that caused his heart to weaken so we won't know until next week what's going to happen with his treatments- if that's life threatening enough to stop the IL-2 or if he's just going to need more time to recover between treatments, etc. Thank God his heart is fine!

Treatment Postponed

Well, the cardiologist nixed treatments for this week. I am having an angiogram this week to rule out heart disease or blocked arteries. My heart scans came back with a significant change in heart capacity. My heart is working at 2/3 rds and my heart rate is high. The cardiologist suspects that it's the IL-2 because up until this past week everything looked fine. He thinks the IL2 just temporarily stressed out my heart and I just need time to heal. So depending on the results of the angiogram I will either be going in later this week or weekend for more IL2. Or my treatment regime will be changed temporarily or permanently. It's all up in the air right now.
Celine is stressing out about this and I am anxious to get back on schedule after seeing how successful the IL2 has been.

Cardiologist Visit Today- Heart issues

The cardiologist called today and I just got back from the meeting. My stress test and other heart tests have shown a change in my heart. I have "diminished" heart function- hopefully reverseable and due to the stress on my body from the treatments. They are going ahead with next week's round in the hospital but we aren't sure what the future will hold. Might be more tests and monitored closely for permanent damage. I am on beta blockers right now to slow down my rate and help my pressure.

Scans came back good but not fabulous

Scans came back, the treatments are working well. Radiologist said that he hasn't seen such good shrinkage in size for someone only doing two treatments.
The big lymph node with cancer in my trachea is gone. The other two are still there but they have shrank - on a scale of 1-25 1 being the best, they started as 10s and are now down to 6.
The lymph nodes in my groin with cancer and lower back are gone.
There were some on my back at the original site and in my neck that are "suspect" they range in size from 1-4. They are still there but in my muscle mass so if they don't go away, radiation will work on them.

Going in on Monday for the next round, Dr. Wyzinski says only 10 doses in light of the upcoming vacation to the Caribbean.