End of Cycle 4

With bated breath, we look at the blood test result. Since we didn't know exactly which liver function test to look out for, I tried finding one that has its upper limit in the 40s. I found only one: ALT, with upper limit of 41. The reading was exactly 41!

Although it was significantly below 60+, it was still way above his usual 20+. However, we thought that he would be allowed to do chemo because it wasn't flagged out as "high" by the pathology lab and that there would be a 14-day gap before the start of Cycle 5 Day 1 chemo after this second session of Cycle 4.

Luckily we were right! Phew. Kidney function reading stabilised just within the normal range. Dad gained a little weight. Not a problem. In fact, there was good news (as acknowledged by the oncologist): dad added duration of his walks and also lengthened the time between morphine intakes from 4 hours to 5 and then to the current 6 hours. Yet, there was no pain in his leg. If he crosses over 6 hours, then there is slight pain. So the current limit is 6 hours. This "experiment" was done due to the oncologist advice: it's how we find out whether dad still needs the morphine or not.

Let's hope the next tumour marker reading drops further!

Comments

William said…
Never knew chemo got so much monitoring.
Jaded Jeremy said…
William,
It's all done in a single blood test: full blood count, liver function test and kidney function test. Done before every single chemo session.
Twilight Man said…
You always wrote very detailed and nice reports. Your dad's heading towards good recovery though it takes time. Most patients I had seen, would deteriorate all the way down.

While I support both Western & TCM for healing, I found the TCM's elements as most accurate to determine a patient's lifespan. I used that guide to monitor both my late parents. You can read this useful link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_body_in_traditional_Chinese_medicine
Jaded Jeremy said…
Twilight Man,
Thanks for your compliment. It's also a good source of recollection if, in future, a doctor asked for the history of his cancer.
Hmmm after a quick scan, I don't see anywhere in the link that relates to "lifespan".
Twilight Man said…
Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water are the 5 elements that human beings have. When all the 5 are shut down, the person dies. Example was my late mum had all her vital organs shut down and bed ridden, leaving only her breathing which is Fire. So I could monitor from the wood, earth, metal and water shutting down much earlier. When there's only Fire left, that's almost the end which could be weeks or 2 months left for me to prepare for funeral arrangements. I hope I managed to explain something.
Jaded Jeremy said…
Twilight Man,
Oh yes, you told me this before. I forgot. Thanks.

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