Good morning, wonderful peeps!-Little UPDATE

[Deirdre]

Bev

There is so much going on , it is hard to keep track of it all. Please take care of you too. Best of luck dx

[CheeseHead]

Dear Bev,

Glad your DH is tolerating (there doesn't seem to be any other word for it, at least not in my experience) the chemo. Glad the first humps (or even mountains... are behind you!
Saw some good advice about lawyers and help in posts above.

Keep on taking care of yourself as well as your DH and.... us (virtually)!

Cheers,
Cheese

[mymom]

Thinking of you.

[Lee]

I too am thinking of you Bev.

I hope things are going along as well as can be expected. I hope you brother and SIL are there with you and able to offer support. Please take care of yourself.

(((HUGS))) to you and your family at this most difficult time.

Lee

[Georgie]

Bev, glad things are moving along. Perhaps not the direction planned on (is it ever with cancer...) but movement is good.

A MUGA scan is looking at the heart basically to a) make sure it's strong enough to withstand chemo and more importantly b) as a baseline incase the chemo is cardiotoxic. Many chemos are cardiotoxic so it's a good idea to have a baseline heart scan in case they get concerned down the track. They will label his red blood cells with some radioactivity and then re-inject them into his body and watch the heart as they get pumped around. It allows a good look at wall motion, sometimes chemo can affect the wall motion of the heart, making it 'lag' at the end of it's pump. It also produces a number called the 'ejection fraction' or EF. THis is the % of blood the heart pumps out (difference between when its full of blood and once it's pumped). This number should be over 50% for 'normal' heart function. Most people have an EF over 60%. Depending on the chemo they may repeat this scan over the course of his treatment. If the EF drops they may alter the chemo.

Hope this helps explain it a little. It's usually not looking to find things 'wrong' just to initially do a baseline and keep check on it over the treatment course.

Hoping you are both coping ok all things considered.

Georgie

[blakeswife]

Hi Bev,

I just read through the posts here to get caught up. So how are his oxygen levels now?

I sure hope your brother & SIL got there safe & you're getting some comfort.

Wishing you & yours the best,

Kathy

[Phuong]

Just checking in Bev - how you holding up?