Maintaining

I think it is a good sign that we have not updated here in a while. No news is good news!

A few weeks ago Joe has some pain in his leg and was worried about blood clot issues. After conferring with his vascular medical staff, they wanted him to drive to the Clinic for a checkup. It was suppose to be an afternoon appointment but they suggested he come earlier to avoid it getting to late in the day. He left school early and made the drive. It is funny how he can read staff because after his ultrasound scan when the tech told him he could get up on his own and walk out to the waiting room he knew it was ok. The tech spoke with the CNP and let Joe know he was ok to leave. He got lunch while he waited for a call from CNP. She said his leg looks great! The lower leg is al clear but there still some clotting resolving in the thigh.

This past Friday Joe has schedule check up with oncology including CT Scans. His first appointment was for 7:30am so we stayed the night before. Blood work then the long hour for infusion for the scan. Since the contrast used to the CT Scan is hard on someone with one kidney he has to have extra IV fluids to help the body flush the contrast. He has an hour to sit while cold IV fluids are pumped into him and he can't move his arm the way he wants to. Once he was called back to the scans it did not take long. We got some lunch and ate at the Rooftop Terrace watching the ever changing weather in Cleveland that day.

When it was time to see Dr. R, the nurse has Joe fill out paper work for the study and have a quick check over by one of Dr. R's research fellows. Then Dr. R came in. I expected him to have papers with images of the scan but he did not which was nice. He said the two spots on his lungs are still there but there is no much change. Not enough to change treatment or even for a needle biopsy. If we ever get to that point and they do find cancer then he gave us some idea on what treatment would be.

We also met with vascular doctors about his blood clot that developed after the surgery. Everything looks great there as well other than Joe can’t run as long as he once could because of discomfort in the leg where the clot was. Joe will be able to go to France this summer as part of the National History Day Normandy Instituet(http://www.nhd.org/normandyinstitute.htm ) that he was not able to go on last year. The CNP want to keep him on the blood thinners until he is done with the international fights. He has to get some blood work done on Saturday. His creatinine level was a little elevated but it could have been because he could not eat or drink before the CT Scan and he might not have drank as much water as he should have after exercising in the hotel facility.

Next appointment is in April.

We are making summer plans with Joe's travel, Joe teaching again at BGSU, vacation and other fun activities for the kids.