Returning to Kansas City

Welcome back to the next Thriving not Just Surviving blog post. After an encouraging round of doctor appointments last Monday, I was given the green light to return to Kansas City. Maureen and I returned on Tuesday and I have been settling in for the past few days.

There isn’t much new information to report, but I continue to be stable and free of seizures for two months. We probably will never know the actual cause of the seizures, but the anti-seizure medication is working. My neurologist says that I will be on this drug for at least two years and if the seizures never return we would consider lowering the dosage. The side effects of this drug have continued to decrease now that I’ve been on it for over two months; but I occasionally have to deal with brain fog, fatigue and minor achiness.

My shoulder is also doing well and the surgeon estimates that its probably 60-70% healed. I will start weight bearing exercises at physical therapy next week. Pain is very minimal and most of my range of motion has returned.

The recurring advice from my doctors is to take things slow and ensure that I get plenty of rest. I’m glad that the epilepsy continues to be under control, but I have to be extra careful now that I have to manage lung cancer and epilepsy.

I’ve been working remotely throughout my time in St. Louis and will continue to do so for the next week. I plan to return to the office the first week of May. I am very excited to get back to  a more normal work routine.

There won’t be anything major occurring over the next few weeks. I plan to continue getting stronger and increasing the intensity of my workouts and therapy sessions. Maureen and I will return to St. Louis at the end of May for another chest CT scan.

Positive Progress

Welcome back to the next Thriving not Just Surviving blog post. Its been a quiet, but productive past few weeks. Progress has been slow, but I feel that I am getting closer to "normal".  

I have continued to attend physical therapy twice a week and rehab of my right shoulder has begun. I do brisk walking for 30-40 minutes several times a week in addition to my stretches and exercises from physical therapy. Pain in the right shoulder is minimal and only bothersome at night. I rarely use the sling and the rehab exercises have greatly expanded the range of motion. When I saw my oncologist on Thursday the first thing he said was “This is the first time I’ve seen you over the past two months when it doesn’t look like you’ve had 5 beers to drink.” I’ll take that as a compliment because I know I’ve been "out of it" due to the seizures and various medications.

Earlier in the week I underwent another brain MRI. Once again, it came back clean. We weren’t expecting to see anything, but my oncologist ordered it as a precaution. The blood work that was testing for an autoimmune response from cancer treatment also came back negative. This means that we can officially rule out an autoimmune response as the cause of the seizures. My oncologist said that its nearly impossible to rule out cancer as the cause of the seizures because there is always the possibility that a tumor small enough to be undetected could be present. However, this is very unlikely given that the first seizure occurred over 6 weeks ago and a tumor would most likely have grown large enough to be detected by the most recent MRI. The major takeaway from the recent batch of tests is that my cancer continues to be under control and its extremely unlikely that the cancer or cancer treatment contributed to the seizures.

I still don’t have an exact date for my return to Kansas City, but my lung cancer is no longer a barrier. The focus now shifts to my neurologist and his comfort level with the effectiveness of my anti-seizure medication. I’ve now been seizure free for over 5 weeks. The neurologist said that 1-2 months of no seizures means that the medication will most likely be effective for the long term. My follow up appointment is scheduled for April 16. I’m hoping that I will have a return date to Kansas City following that appointment.

It feels great to get all of these issues under control. I feel much better physically, emotionally, and mentally.  Back in February it felt like the medical issues were really starting to “pile up” and I was left thinking to myself, “What else is going to go wrong?”. Excellent medical care, a healthy lifestyle, prayers, and support have been the perfect medicine over the past few months.