Well the one year anniversary and Dad is doing ok.
We were getting to a stage where the steroids were making him retain water awfully so we staged a reduction to get him off them. Unfortunately after a couple of days off it was apparent that he wasn't going to cope without. He couldn't string a sentence together, was very lethargic and flu like, generally disinterested in whats going on, so we're back to a nice small 1mg of dex.
It means he's having good days and bad days, but if it doesn't sound too mean, he's definitely pleasanter. His general mood is better, and sometimes he'll get a full nights sleep and be almost chirpy! There's obviously stuff going on though.
The last scan and meeting was three months ago and we were told it was stable. This seems to translate as nothing really good or bad to tell. I went away for a week straight after and Dad, on the first day, fell over and took a chunk of skin off his shin. He's now dealing with district nurses two or three times a week, as it isn't going to heal any time soon. Anyone taking dex really need to take care of themselves, cause on top of chemo, you're really delicate, don't heal well, and have paper like skin.
We have the next maintenance scan this week, then the consultant in a fortnight. I'm then away for a week. It really makes me nervous because of the tumble he took last time but its a work thing so I got to do it. I think that we'll get told that there's still considerable swelling and fluid but I'm hoping for another no change result. I reckon if it was progression his symptoms wouldn't fluctuate as much, so think its pressure from swelling causing us issues. Guess we'll find out soon enough :)
