On the Medical Front:
On Sunday, January 25th, Sam and I spoke with a dietitian who is a part of our church’s health care network and she gave us a lot of good information on how Sam can increase his caloric intake to gain weight. According to her charts, Sam needs to take in 2,345 calories per day to gain weight. Since Sam's salivary glands were damaged by the radiation treatments, he has difficulty swallowing anything that is not of a soft or liquid consistency which eliminates a lot of foods he would otherwise enjoy. Also, he continues to have trouble with foods that are sweet which eliminates a lot of calorie dense choices. But, he has started to add oils to the daily formula intake (flax seed oil has 120 calories per tablespoon and other health benefits) and every calorie helps. So, we're learning.
The following day, Monday, Sam had an appointment with his primary care physician with the goal of establishing base line for his continuing care, post-cancer treatments, and to have a resource for general issues that may come up in the future.
Sam weighs 136 now – up seven pounds since he bottomed out at 129 pounds on September 17th; the date of his last radiation treatment. Pretty good progress considering all he has been through.
Sam has developed neuropathy in his fingers and toes and his doctor thought it would be a good idea to get some blood work done to rule out any other possible causes like vitamin B-12 deficiency or diabetic neuropathy. I’m glad he is being thorough.
Sam’s BP was 140/90 initially and 140/70 for the second reading so his doctor suggested we buy a blood pressure monitor and take daily readings to eliminate the possibility that he might have hypertension. The elevated reading could also be caused by "white coat syndrome" or pain.
So, coming up in February Sam will see the Oncologist who will determine if the feeding tube can be removed. If so, he already has an appointment lined up to have that procedure. Then at the end of February its back to the E/N/T who will authorize another PET/CT scan for March. In the meantime, Sam’s job is to fatten up.
We are looking forward to the Superbowl this Sunday and so is our kitty.
GO STEELERS!!!
Posted by Maddy
1 comment:
Good news about the weight gain. Are you still doing the Budwig diet? I have a bottle of the cold press Flaxseed oil I can give you, if you're still doing the cream cheese thing.
Fat's escort flavor over the tongue, that's why we love 'em. Do they help food slide down, I wonder, since you're having trouble with the saliva gland?
I have a stone in my saliva gland, and I don't want to get it out because I hear losing the saliva glands are really hard. I'm sorry yours were damaged, Sam. I know that happens often with radiation. I'll tell you my friend. Cancer stinks. There are no 2 ways around it.
Jim really REALLY enjoyed you guys visiting him at the hospital. That was very nice of you two. I'm glad you are able to go to church now and visit with your friends and church family too.
Well, I just wanted to say hey before we leave. So... "hey."
Go Steelers
Love Gloria
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