Friday, August 7, 2015

Pray for a Decrease in Swelling

In early June, KK asked the doctors if she could stop taking the steroids because she hated the side effects. (I posted about it here.) The steroids were prescribed to reduce swelling during radiation. The doctors gave her permission and she took her last dose of Dexamethasone on June 7.

Over the next couple of weeks, KK began to experience increased vomiting and even double vision due to the swelling. I started giving KK the Naproxen (an NSAID - Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drug) her primary care doctor prescribed back in April to see if that would help reduce the swelling. Thankfully, the vomiting began to subside over the course of 2 weeks.

At the Brain Tumor Clinic last week, I was asked to wean KK off the Naproxen. The doctor and nurse practitioner were concerned about drug interactions with Avastin. We reduced the Naproxen that week and KK took her last dose on Monday, August 3.

Since then, she has thrown up twice, felt like she was going to throw up three other times, and has had an achy feeling in her head...definite signs of increased swelling. The doctor and nurse practitioner would like KK to go back on Dexamethasone.

KK doesn't want to take the steroids again, but she realizes that she may have no choice. Please pray for God to reduce the swelling.

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