A funny thing happened on the way to the bathroom...
Shane will be the first to say that this week was challenging, and he'll write soon about his experiences, but in the meantime here's the week in summary.
Monday- Vitamin C + alpha-lipoic acid
Tuesday/Wednesday-Fever therapy
Thursday-Checkpoint inhibitors (Ipi + Nivo)
Friday-Vitamin C + alpha-lipoic acid
Something we love about the care here is the constant vigilance in monitoring Shane. He has a blood draw every day and the treatment is tailored, in part, according to what that bloodwork shows. For instance, Shane's sodium is low so they've been adding that to a saline drip. They monitor his liver function and other important signs to understand whether treatment needs to be paused or altered.
Yesterday's checkpoint inhibitors (Ipi + Nivo) went smoothly. Shane drifted in and out of consciousness, watched Rudy, we chatted, I caught up on some work. And the best news of all, Shane slept THROUGH THE NIGHT last night! Around 6 AM I heard his knees cracking (I know all of Shane's sounds) and decided to peek my head into his room, cautiously hopeful that when I opened his bedroom door open I would find a rested Shane...and I did! He snoozed from 9 PM-6 AM. The last time he had this many consecutive hours was weeks ago. I have no idea what did the trick, because as my dad says, sleep is a moving target these days. We've tried so many combos--last night was magnesium plus sleep aid plus pain med. Was it the fatigue from the immunotherapy plus the combo of meds? Not sure, but we'll try it once again tonight and hope for the best.
About the funny story. Sleep meds can do wacky things to your brain as we learned today. After a morning hello, I discovered a puddle on the ground beside a nightstand. Upon investigation I discovered that Shane's water bottle was on the nightstand on the other side of the room. Nope, couldn't be water....must be pee! In his sleep stupor Shane must have thought he needed to continue peeing in the clinic bottle only this time there was no bottle. ;)
A refreshed and peaceful Shane spent his hours today napping, watching The Tour de France (on mute to silence the German announcers), eating, and viewing soccer. (also on mute). I'm pretty certain that this pleasant day was a result of many pleading prayers on Shane's part and many of you. Thank the Lord for tranquil days such as this.