Update on the leg and chemo

Brent's pathology reports came back!! Drum roll please..... all the margins are clear. That means the doctors cut far enough from the edges of the cancer to get all of it without leaving any behind. AND... the cancer was 90% dead!!! Dr. Beinart was shooting for 99% but this is still a a great result. Since there was still 10% alive (even though technically it is really all gone since they took the leg), Brent is continuing with the chemo. He will have 4 in-patient treatments every 3 weeks lasting about 5 days that will consist of getting 7 doses of Ifex and then 4 rounds of out-patient treatments of a completely different chemo med. Our friend Britne who just finished her chemo says the out-patients are a piece of cake. We are hoping that all the chemo will be done around November!!

Britt finished chemo on June 12th!!!! Her END-OF-CHEMO party at Dr. B's office.

Brent's leg(residual limb) is healing very well. He had about half of the stitches taken out at the end of May and the rest 2 weeks later in June (about 20 stitches all together). There is a place located where the back of his knee would be that is having some problems. The skin has folded in and is pretty deep. It isn't painful and doesn't cause him any problems, but the doctors are worried about it from a hygeniene point. In July, Brent will go see a plastic surgeon for a consult to see what can be done about it. Most likely, they will wait until all the chemo is finished to fix it. The swelling has gone down very quickly. Brent was given a compression sock after the surgery that is very tight and worn on the limb to help reduce swelling. He recently had to get a smaller sock since the swelling had decreased so much. Mentally, he's been doing pretty well. He has his good and bad days, but who can blame him. He's slowly becoming more use to it. Also, the phantom sensations were pretty bad the first month. Nuerontin was prescribed for it, but didn't really help alot.

Brent's swimming!!!



Brent started his first round of post-op chemo on June 5th. He was in the hospital from Friday to Wednesday. Everything went as planned. The two biggest complaints were A. he got a dose of steroids at 9 p.m. so he was up all night. I was miserable and not to mention, very cranky. and B. everytime he stood up, he got the hiccups, which can also be an effect of the steroids. Brent felt pretty good the rest of the week, but on Sunday he got the dreaded fever. I was very resistant in calling the doctor. He had been feeling so well and had a good amount of energy so I assumed his counts had just dropped a little and thought we could ride it out. Well good thing Brent called on his own. The doctor on call sent us to the emergency room to be admitted immediately. The bloodwork results showed that he was nuetropenic to say the least. Brent was going to be staying at the hospital for a few days. After a few bags of blood and 2 units of platelets, his counts were high enough for us to go home. Also, Dr. Beinart prescribed Lyrica for the phantom sensations and it has helped alot!

The hair is falling out again. This time we decided to take a different approach.

Yes... that is duck tape.

In between the first post-op round and the next, Brent got casted for his prosthesis!!!! We are so excited for him to get a leg!!! Can't wait. Brent hates his crutches. At the first appointment, they fit him with a liner and took a few measurements. He will wear this liner inside his socket. The liner is made of silicone and has "ribs" on the outside. These ribs help create a vacuum/suction inside the socket to hold the prosthesis to the limb.
We call the liner, the Space Suit. The white area is the ribs.
Next, they did the casting. The mold was made out of plaster and the whole process was very interesting.

A few days later, we had a test run. Brent was fitted into the test socket, and more measurements were taken. They are going to make a few adjustments and then we will go back for another test run.
It's a bit hard to see the socket because it is clear. It's over the space suit. That's Scott Spring, Brent's prothetist, on the side. He is really good at what he does and seems to really care about his patients. We think he is awesome!

Once the socket is ready, Scott will make all the arrangements for the components of the leg to come in, and piece them together. Hopefully it will only take a few more weeks!!

Brent is finishing up round 2 of post-op chemo right now. He started Friday, June 26 and hasn't complained too much. Dr. Beinart lowered the dose because Brent's counts dropped so low last time, so we are in here for 1 less day!! He has been sleeping alot this round, and thankfully not keeping me up all night. Still getting the hiccups.
I'm getting pretty burnt out on the hospital stays lately. I have actually snuck away quite a bit this round! Went to Cafe Adobe with my mom and stepdad on Saturday.