Another rough week

Jen has been having a lot of seizures over the last 6 days.  She hasn't lost consciousness, but they haven't exactly been mild either.   She's had about 10 seizures starting last Thursday.   A couple have affected her right hand,  and speech.   Most caused facial twitching on her right side.  We have unfortunately had to add a third seizure medication to her regimen.  Hopefully once this med reaches a therapeutic dose, her seizures will be under better control.  She is having increased difficulty with both her speech and coordination.  Thursday before her first seizure she actually seemed to be doing okay - she worked out for 40 minutes earlier that day.  Seizures usually result in lingering issues  (increased confusion, speech difficulty, decreased motor coordination) that improve in the days following the cessation of neural activity.  It's too soon to tell how much Jen will bounce back in the coming days.

Obviously we are concerned as to what is causing the increased activity.  Continued cancer growth is probably the most likely cause.  The Immunotherapy Jen had an infusion of last Monday could also be playing a role. She is still scheduled for surgery at City of Hope in 2 weeks.  Right now 2 weeks seems like an eternity.  Hopefully Jen can recover, keep her strength up, and won't have any major declines before then.

Her platelet levels have also continued to decline from the chemo a month ago.  They seem to be leveling off and hopefully will begin rising again.  Jen's sodium levels continue to remain on the low side and we are seeing a nephrologist this week to see if there is any underlying cause.  Meanwhile, she has also begun taking a sodium tablet prescribed by her doctors.  Beforehand we were told that a salt tablet wouldn't affect her sodium levels and now they have prescribed one.  I still haven't been able to get any clear guidance on this whole issue.  Hopefully the specialist Jen sees this week will help to elucidate the matter.

As you can imagine, this has been a pretty emotional week.  Please keep us in your prayers.

On a happier thought, yesterday was the 31st anniversary of when Jen and I met.  We both wish the present circumstances were different, but we're glad to have been able to spend the day together.