three weeks ago today marked the beginning of the last round of chemo. there's was a celebration. we'd hit a milestone. balloons and cupcakes, big rubber noses were all brought out in the chemo room. i mean what else do you do to celebrate nasal cancer? they sang for us and wrote us notes that said "we never want to see you again." and "don't come back." we were overjoyed!
the next week, may 1, we saw the surgeon. he de-gunked matt's nasal area, brain lining and sent what he found on to culture. he recommended meds to treat the staph infection and told us that he'd see us in a month. but, he said, if we need to come in before then, please do. we said, thanks but no thanks.
18 days with no doctor appointments!!
my calendar was clear for 2 entire weeks. what joy! we were excited….
we haven't had this kind of stretch in over a year.
we ditched the kids, town and all responsibility for the weekend! it was glorious!!
then the culture came back.
matt's staph infection had worsened and now he had a secondary bacterial infection. before stronger meds could be administered, matt needed a hearing test. forget 18 days, so much for even going a single week without a doctor appointment. the meds recommended to fight this could lead to hearing loss and we needed to know how bad his hearing was before we could move forward. i told them i knew he couldn't hear. we joke that he has selective hearing, but in reality matt has legitimate hearing loss.
but to appease them, we got our appointment "stat" and thursday of last week we met with the audiologist.
he ran tests and concluded matt's hearing loss was indeed worse than when he tested him back in november (after radiation, mid chemo). he called it "husband hearing". matt couldn't hear high frequency sounds. crowded rooms, restaurants, loud places are more difficult. he can't distinguish sounds well. he can completely function, but it won't be easy to understand what people are saying if he isn't look at them and we'll hear "what?" a lot.
we're told this was brought on by chemo and radiation and could be treated with hearing aids if matt wanted. before matt could even start to answer, the doctor said we had time to think about it because we'd have to wait until after treatment is done so he could further assess him. i guess matt always has time to change his mind…sigh. but for now, one thing at a time.
the doctor said the hearing wouldn't come back. it's a problem with the inner ear. matt also has ringing in his ears. that, we understand is the brain compensating for the hearing loss. and there is no treatment for that. matt can drown it out with music in the car or white noise. aside from that, he just needs to get used to it. he tries to tune it out.
i asked the audiologist if he has ever had a patient with hearing loss as a result of this type of med cocktail and he said no. (shocking right? we get that a lot!) he said, "we can treat the hearing issue; do what you have to do to get rid of the infections."
so that day, the report went to the oncologist who sent it the surgeon. it was decided to move forward with this cocktail knowing the risks. if we don't treat the staph infection, the hearing won't be a problem. get my drift?
that night taylor came into our room and leaned over to kiss matt. she said, "good night daddy." he smiled and looked up at her and replied, "i love you too sweetheart."
we laughed and shook our heads, it's true, he can't hear.
today matt went back to the surgeon's office to get everything cleaned out again before he starts the cocktail tomorrow. the idea is that the meds will more effectively hit the affected area if the crusting and staph goop are gone. since we've done this countless times, and the surgeon wasn't even going to be there, matt drove himself to that appointment at uci.
well what do you know, the surgeon showed up after the sucking, scraping, and excavating session that the resident did on matt. he scoped matt's nose with the camera and said everything looks really good. he said healing looks like it's going really well.
and he decided to remove a bone. (uh what?!!)
he made two cuts and pulled out a piece the size of a fingernail. matt text me and gave me this update. i have since called the surgeon to find out what bone and why did it need to come out? did he see something that caused concern? i trust him completely, but we've never discussed a need for this before so it sort of surprised me. matt has a headache, understandably. he said it was the most painful appointment yet. and then he drove himself to work.
so with that, we start the new cocktail tomorrow. we see the oncologist next week and the surgeon the following week.
if i have things calculated correctly, we'll have more scans early june.
proverbs 31:25, "she is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future."
i look forward to the days of laughter again.
