Bladder infection
David and I met with Dr. Lynne Clelmo today.  She is our internist.  David had blood in his urine this morning and so called her.  Since the prostate is enlarged but does not appear to be inflamed, she believes it is a bladder infection and will culture his urine.  She prescribed a sulfa drug to treat it rather an an antibiotic to prevent any interaction with the Flecainade for the arrhythmia.   Then she mentioned the CT scans and I told her that David is seeing the pulmonologist and that Dr. Davidson is taking his case with the head and neck growths to the differential diagnosis committee.  She was relieved that we know about the results and are already dealing with it.  She really hopes that the urine culture comes back with an infection.  A UTI can explain his having no energy and needing more sleep.  He is gone to a political meeting tonight so his mood has certainly improved. He has another one on Wednesday and then one to choose delegates to the national Democratic convention.  He is a delegate to the Virginia convention.  He does love politics.

Today I got up at 6 and by 6:35 was driving David to Prince William Forest for his "weekly walk" and breakfast with Fred.  Fred started his walk before we arrived.  David and I walked for 19 minutes with stops as necessary.  Fred got to our car just after we did and David was in the passenger's seat getting the dog treats out.  Ali jumped into the driver's seat to get her treats.  She was extremely excited to see David and strained to get to him (and the treat).  We went to the Dumfries' Diner for breakfast.  Fred and I ate.  David had his meal before we left home.  One of the frequent patrons came over to the table and commented that there were no raised voices.  Fred, David and I calmly disagreed about the presidential race.  Fred mentioned Fox News' reports of "The Energizer" who supposedly is having an affair with Bill Clinton as well as owning an energy company and getting $$ from Clinton's foundation and the government.  David was a bit quiet and not arguing.  Fred did not get upset either.  We talked about water quality, pandemics and Ron's going away party.  I had some good coffee, french toast and bacon.  We got back home about 9:30.  I got all the newspapers for recycling into David's trunk and he headed off to the temple to recycle the and go inside for more conversations.  He had his walking stick throughout the walk, stopped and started and was wheezing but not short of breath once he stopped.  He seemed to move more easily to day compared to yesterday when we were in Alexandria; however, when I asked him if he felt stronger/better he said no, it is about the same.  Nonetheless, he had the energy to go out to the temple after we got home so I do see an improvement in his overall physical and mental state.

New info about CT

We just spoke with Dr. Davidson from Georgetown.  He thinks that the mass in David's head looks like a mucoid growth, not a recurrence of the ameloblastoma.  He plans to take this to his differential diagnosis group next Thursday for their input about the diagnosis and follow up tests.  He said that an MRI will be difficult with the kind of pacemaker David has so he is thinking that a PET scan will be the next step. That will be able to detect cancer.  The two enlarged lymph nodes could be due to an infection but will be clarified with the PET.  This sounds a LOT better than the radiological report.  Dr. Davidson is a rock star and an expert on ameloblastoma, so I believe him that it isn't that.  He is going to call us at the end of next week with his recommendation.
David continues to be easily fatigued.  He took the recycling can to the street and that wore him out.  At the library he could not walk from the car to the door without stopping to rest.  I think that the lung problem may be the culprit.  He sees Dr. Goyal on the 25th.  I think I will call his office early in the week and ask to get fit in if there is a cancellation.
Otherwise, keep up the prayers.

CT of chest, neck and head

David had a CT of the chest, neck and head yesterday.  Today he went to the Imaging place and got a copy of the radiologist's findings.  

The head CT showed soft tissue growth suggestive of a recurrent tumor in the left side of the head, as well as enlarged supraclavicular (around the collarbone) right and left lymph nodes.  The radiologist suggested a follow-up MRI.  David called Georgetown to discuss their MRI that he can have with the pacemaker and is waiting for a call back.

The chest CT indicates atelectasis in the right lower lung with small left and small to moderate right pleural effusions.  Pneumonitis is not excluded.  I looked up atelectasis and can mean a partially collapsed lung.  He has a call in to the pulmonologist about this one and is waiting for a call back.

He is really tired and wheezing with not enough energy to go to the Silver Sneakers classes, walk in the mall or, today, even stop by GoodWill to make a donation.  He has been taking his new medications religiously, hoping to regulate the heartbeat and reduce the number of times he wakes up each night to use the bathroom.

We are scheduled to meet Lorrie, Richard and David for lunch on Saturday and we are both looking forward to that get together.

I write more once appointments are set and when we learn more about what all of this means.  Prayers are really appreciated.

Cardiologist on board

David saw Dr. Henry Clemo (his wife Dr. Lynne Clemo is his internist.) the cardiologist today on the advice of his internist because he is tired and short of breath. His heart if "throwing" extra beats causing the pacemaker to be ineffective.  He prescribed a medication to try to regularize the beat and did an echocardiogram.  David will see him again in two weeks to see how the meds work and discuss the results of the echocardiogram.  Side effects can be numb extremeties, vivid dreams, dizziness, fainting.  If he can't tolerate them he can halve the pills.  He is not happy about it but wants to regularize his heart so he'll do it.  Next Tuesday is his lung and neck CT to see what's going on with his lungs, as well as a routine follow-up from the cancer surgeries.  Stay tuned.

MId-April review

The pollen around here is impressive.  Golden dust covers everything, including our lungs.  Still, David feels better every day and is able to get out and do whatever he wants.  He saw the dermatologist this week and the surgeries removing the cancers from his head healed nicely.  She froze a spot on his face where the actinokeritinoses slowly come back over the last 20 years.  She froze a spot on his ear and then froze a wart on his finger.  The wart developed a huge blister under it.  Apparently that is a good result and he was instructed to take a sterile needle and puncture it.  He did and it is now covered with a band-aid.  On Monday he starts applying the wart removal medicine.  It's always something but these are minor bumps that are easy for both of us to handle.

I saw my endocrinologist last week and my thyroid levels are good so I just continue with the medication level for the Graves/Hashimoto combo.  The semester is winding down towards graduation and I'm looking forward to going to TX for Grace's First Communion on April 30.  David will be on his own because Than has a conference in Williamsburg that weekend.  I'm sure he will be fine and we will FaceTime several times.

Slow improvement

Today David got up early, went to his usual meeting with Fred and Ron.  He said he walked a little and then went to Harry and Cathy's Dumfree's Diner for political discourse.  The temple was closed so he came home and took a nap for a couple of hours.  Next we got into the car and drove to Reston. He walked about three blocks from the parking garage to the Apple Store and was exhausted.  We walked about a block to Chicos where he rested while I tried on stuff.  He could not walk the couple of blocks to the car and I got it and picked him up.
He coughed a lot on the way home and cleared out his throat.  This allowed him to speak more clearly.  He is hearing me in the car without my using a microphone.  He is still very cold and uses the parabolic heater while sitting on the couch and watching TV.  He is staying warm and resting when he needs to.  Nose bleeds continue to plague him.  He seems to run out of steam but I think that he is slowly improving.