Doug now officially has "secondary diabetes", which means it is from a drug he is taking. In this case, prednisone, part of his myeloma treatment. He has been started on metformin and is using a glucometer to test his blood daily. Adjustments might be necessary once we see if the metformin controls it.
And his right eye - the one that had surgery for glaucoma - has high intra ocular pressure again. The eye surgeon says Doug is still in the post-op phase and it is possible for the pressure to jump around.
Finding out that Doug is now diabetic, and getting a glucometer after a run-around with medicare, has been a bit stressful. We will adjust.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Light Chains Dropping!
Report from the latest myeloma panel came back - Lambda light chains are down from 269 last month to 38 now. Wonderful! This is still a bit high, but means the current PCP treatment is effective. Praise the Lord!
On the glucose front, the A1C lab report is 7.8 Too high. Normal range is 4.5 to 6.0
We are still waiting to get the glucometer. The order from the doc was coded incorrectly. Unfortunately, codes are everything in the medical world, where orders are concerned. So we wait.
"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.
To one without faith, no explanation is possible. " Thomas Aquinas
On the glucose front, the A1C lab report is 7.8 Too high. Normal range is 4.5 to 6.0
We are still waiting to get the glucometer. The order from the doc was coded incorrectly. Unfortunately, codes are everything in the medical world, where orders are concerned. So we wait.
"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.
To one without faith, no explanation is possible. " Thomas Aquinas
Friday, November 13, 2015
High Glucose
Doug's right eye is healing from the surgery, just a slight black eye now. We found out the device is an "Ahmed valve". And we found a video of the surgery on Youtube! It was interesting to watch and we think it explains why Doug had a lot of eye pain afterward. How could it not hurt? Doug has had two follow up visits and both docs said it looks good but still has a lot of healing to go. However neither was the surgeon. Doug goes again to our local optometrist next week for a check and finally we see the surgeon ophthalmologist December 10 when he travels to Salida. Meanwhile the eye drops continue - five different kinds counting both eyes.
Yesterday we went to Denver to see the myeloma specialist. Doug is tolerating the PCP treatment well. We won't find out the effectiveness until the myeloma panel results come back. His blood counts are within normal limits except the glucose is a very high 199. Dr. M thinks it could be the beginning of prednisone induced diabetes. He is referring Doug to our local nurse practitioner for monitoring and treatment if necessary. Just another evil to combat. We are glad there is treatment!
We had good travel weather both ways, and Doug felt up to driving. We keep counting our blessings.
Love to all.
Yesterday we went to Denver to see the myeloma specialist. Doug is tolerating the PCP treatment well. We won't find out the effectiveness until the myeloma panel results come back. His blood counts are within normal limits except the glucose is a very high 199. Dr. M thinks it could be the beginning of prednisone induced diabetes. He is referring Doug to our local nurse practitioner for monitoring and treatment if necessary. Just another evil to combat. We are glad there is treatment!
We had good travel weather both ways, and Doug felt up to driving. We keep counting our blessings.
Love to all.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
On PCP for two weeks, glaucoma eye surgery
Doug started his Pomalyst, cytoxan, prednisone treatment two weeks ago. No side effects to speak of, other than fatigue. We know that some side effects are cumulative and don't show up right away. This seems too good to be true, that he can take the pills at home - no travel, no side effects. Love it! Just hope it is effective in lowering the light chains.
Doug had glaucoma surgery on his right eye four days ago. He had had shunts in both eyes done two years ago, but those shunts plugged up and stopped working. Pressure rose to the point of causing damage to the optic nerve in the right eye. So a glaucoma specialist suggested having a different kind of shunt this time. Only one eye at a time. The last shunt placements went so easily, and we didn't expect this time to be much different. The surgeon used a nerve block in the eye, to make sure there was no involuntary eye movement. No nerve block two years ago. When Doug was wheeled back in the room post surgery, the nurse told us that Doug would have a black eye. Sure enough, he has quite a shiner. No one expected a lot of pain - but when the nerve block wore off several hours later, Doug was in a LOT of pain. Tylenol didn't do anything. We had stronger pain meds on hand, so finally got the pain under control.
When I reached the optical office by phone, the nurse had several questions, and in the end, she said Doug must have had a corneal abrasion. (Scratch on the eyeball surface.) She said that doesn't happen often. I had that 40 years ago and I remember the pain very well.
So although his eye looks awful, he feels okay now, and can see out of that eye. Just was a lot of drama for a while. Now Doug is making up stories of how he got such a big black eye.
Doug had glaucoma surgery on his right eye four days ago. He had had shunts in both eyes done two years ago, but those shunts plugged up and stopped working. Pressure rose to the point of causing damage to the optic nerve in the right eye. So a glaucoma specialist suggested having a different kind of shunt this time. Only one eye at a time. The last shunt placements went so easily, and we didn't expect this time to be much different. The surgeon used a nerve block in the eye, to make sure there was no involuntary eye movement. No nerve block two years ago. When Doug was wheeled back in the room post surgery, the nurse told us that Doug would have a black eye. Sure enough, he has quite a shiner. No one expected a lot of pain - but when the nerve block wore off several hours later, Doug was in a LOT of pain. Tylenol didn't do anything. We had stronger pain meds on hand, so finally got the pain under control.
When I reached the optical office by phone, the nurse had several questions, and in the end, she said Doug must have had a corneal abrasion. (Scratch on the eyeball surface.) She said that doesn't happen often. I had that 40 years ago and I remember the pain very well.
So although his eye looks awful, he feels okay now, and can see out of that eye. Just was a lot of drama for a while. Now Doug is making up stories of how he got such a big black eye.
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