Trial Updates and New Diagnosis (Hawaii)

The sun is out, and my clinical trial have been going well!  The side effects have generally remained the same, but there have been a couple changes as of recently so let's go!

Trial Updates: The side effects have been good, but one thing I've noticed is that I'm getting winded much more easily now.  The doctor said that the tumors are blocking one of my 3 lobes on my left side, so my lungs are not nearly as efficient as it used to be.  My asthma is also coming back, so I'm getting tired pretty easily now.  Aside from that, the nausea and fatigue have been the same, so my experience on this trial has generally been good!

I was supposed to have a CT scan today to determine whether I will be remaining on the same trial, or if I'll move onto something else, but I wasn't able to have my scan.  I wasn't even allowed to enter SCCA!  Here's why:

New Diagnosis: This past Wednesday until Monday, yesterday, 26 members of my family and I were in Hawaii.  On Friday, I started having chest pains, and it didn't go away quickly.  On Saturday, I decided to go to the emergency room (great way to spend time in Hawaii!), and they ran a bunch of tests to make sure it wasn't critical including EKG, chest x-ray, CT scan, and blood work.  Luckily it was all good, but the doctor couldn't pinpoint what the root cause was.  He attributed it to muscle/skeletal, but didn't know for sure.

We arrived back in Seattle yesterday, and I noticed I now had a small rash on my back.  I did some internet sleuthing and found that rash and chest/back pain could be shingles, so I called my nurse to tell her I may have shingles.  She said that I need to get it checked at an urgent care, because if it is shingles, I can't enter SCCA due to the many immuno-compromised people there.  I then went to urgent care, and they confirmed it was shingles.

Shingles is in everyone who had chickenpox when they were younger, and typically lays dormant, but presents itself in those with compromised immune systems.  It travels along a nerve and can cause severe pain, which explains why I'm having severe chest and back pain.  I'm now taking pills for the shingles, along with pain meds.

I'll have the CT scan in a couple days to determine next steps for the trail, but this wasn't the most fun hiccup.  Hawaii was an absolute blast, and luckily the pain didn't get in the way of having any fun.

Thanks for reading, and aloha!

- Jerome