Monday, April 25, 2016

New #cancerisabitch Update: Featuring Pee!

So I found out today that I'm off (at least temporarily) the Avastin treatments.

A couple weeks ago the urine sample I gave them on my regular visit showed some protein in it, although not at a high level. My oncologist was concerned enough to have me do a 24-hour urine collection, which I completed a week ago (at home -- because there was no way I was carrying a jug of pee around with me to work, so I waited until my last work day until this coming fall, which was April 15th). This time the testing showed it had a even higher protein level. So he wants me to see a nephrologist to see if there's a problem with my kidneys. The protein could just be a side effect of the Avastin, though.

I'm still waiting to see if I quality for the immunotherapy vaccine clinical trial through Penn. They had said the genetic testing would take a couple months, and it's been that long since I saw that doctor, so I called the office to follow up, and I'm waiting to hear back from them.

Also, I mentioned a while back that my focal seizures had returned and were occurring periodically. I saw a seizure specialist, who thought I might benefit from switch from the regular formula of keppra (anti-seizure med) to the extended-release version. I've been on that for 3 weeks. At first it didn't seem to help -- in fact, at one point it happened three consecutive nights -- but I haven't had one in the last week-plus. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm to schedule my next MRI in May.

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