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Current Treatments and Medications Radiation - 30 total treatments; Monday through Friday, for 6 consecutive weeks; start date: May 9, 2005, end date: June 20, 2005; we drove to Birmingham each day to the Wallace Tumor Institute for treatment; this is in the bottom of the new hospital North Tower where he had his surgery (corner of 18th St. & 6th Ave.); he received 5 beams, 60 Gray total;
UPDATES: Temodar (Temozolomide) - chemotherapy pills; no nausea and no hair loss; initially, low dosage taken once per day, 7 days per week, one hour prior to his radiation treatment, for 6 weeks while his radiation treatments were being given; after a 4 week break, he now takes a higher dosage, only 5 days per month (5 days on, then 25 days off).
UPDATES: Zofran - 8 mg per day, once a day while taking chemo; this is the anti-nausea drug he takes to help with the chemo, just in case; he takes this one hour before he takes the Temodar; no eating one hour before the pill, or one hour after ABT 510 - 20 mg per day; once a day; this is the clinical trial drug; this is given in a shot I inject him with each day, one hour before his radiation treatment; after radiation, he now takes it in the morning; we rotate the shot each day on six spots: right/left arm, right/left leg, right/left stomach; I have paperwork they gave me to record the time of the injection and the injection site, every day; no side effects so far; this drug will hopefully help prevent the tumor from forming new blood vessels, which it needs in order to grow; he will continue taking this drug every day until he has either: 1) tumor regrowth, 2) neurological deficits, or 3) serious side effects from the drug Decadron (Dexamethasone) - [no longer taking this as of 10/11/05]; this is a steroid he takes to reduce the swelling in his brain and help with this headaches and double vision (note: we later figured out the double vision was caused by the Ambien, not the tumor); this has the most side-effects of anything he's taking right now; he took 2 mg, 4x per day in the beginning (April 05) and couldn't sleep at night; he weaned off them for 2 weeks and started having double vision (see note above) so now he takes one 4 mg pill as soon as he wakes up each day and it seems to help with his sleep; later increased to 8 mgs in 8/05; the steroid also changes the shape of the eye lens, so he's having a lot of trouble with his vision; he can't read most print anymore and can't see elevator buttons, signs, etc.; this also keeps him off the computer a lot, since he can't see what's on the monitor
UPDATES: Protonix - 40 mg; once a day; this is a pill he takes to help protect his stomach from the steroid pill Ambien - 10 mg; once a day; sleeping pill he takes every night to help with the side-effects of the steroid; works well but causes double vision sometimes, approximately 10-20 mins after taking it Lortab - 7.5 mg; narcotic taken as needed for pain; he's taken very few of these; he doesn't like them because they make him feel "loopy"; he usually takes ibuprofen for most of his headaches Ativan (Lorazepam)- 1 mg; once a day, takes each night with Ambien to help him rest; was told he could take 1 every 12 hours, but only takes the night dose Lexapro - 10 mg; once a day; started 7/11/05; SSRI to help with mood, sleep, anxiety Ritalin - 5 mg; once a day; started 9/14/05; stimulant to help with severe fatigue and to give energy; calms hyper children but has the opposite affect on adults; at 11/05 clinic appt he increased it to 10 mg
UPDATES: Prednisone - 20 mg current dose; 40 mg, started 10/11/05; takes (2) 10 mg pills in the morning and (2) at supper time; because he was having so many problems with the Decadron (shakiness, thin skin, bruising, bleeding, problems with balance and large muscles) his neuro-oncologist decided to change him to a different steroid; the first 2-3 weeks, the shakiness and bruising almost disappeared, but then started back on week four; at the November 05 appt, we made plans to reduce him to 30 mg, then 20 mg over the next 2 weeks
UPDATES: Keppra - [No longer taking this as of 12/16/05, no seizures so it was unnecessary]; 1000 mg; started 10/11/05; takes 1 500 mg pill in the morning and 1 at supper time; anti-seizure medication; makes him extremely sleepy; still not convinced he needs this
UPDATES:
Over the counter meds - Zinc - 200 mg every day to help regain taste; Colace - 2 pills each morning, 2 pills each night; Metamucil - one glass each morning; Senokot - as needed
UPDATES: Gleevec - Chemotherapy pill; began March 8, 2006, after his MRI showed new growth; normally used for Leukemia and other types of cancers, but has shown results with GBMs; taken once daily.
UPDATES: Hydroxyurea - began March 8, 2006, after his MRI showed new growth; taken twice daily in pill form
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