I am sitting here watching Orion sleep. He is being given his first hour of Etoposide, the nasty chemical that causes his blood pressure to fall. I am watching it slide down in real time on the monitor. His endocrinologist, Dr. Faselli was just in for an exam, having heard that he was fatigued. She talked her way through all the possible causes and came to the conclusion that it was the weight of everything that has happened since December.
Earlier he had an appointment with his neuro-opthomologist, Dr. Pless, who was in awe of the MRI. The way he described the scan made me think that this complete response is unprecedented. In the exam room Pless was reminded of some of the more bizarre symptoms that Orion presents- his pupils are completely non-reactive to light but will react to objects getting near his eye. His Perinaud's inability to roll his eyes upward persists as well. These symptoms are so rare many Doctors never see them outside of a textbook. He asked Orion if he could show him off and Orion, always gracious, allowed a fellow (actually a beautiful woman) to examine him.
He was given a prescription for a temporary fresnel lens to be applied to his glasses - tiny prisms to try out for a few weeks to cure his skewed double vision.
We are now past the blood pressure danger and have moved on to ifosmaside. Two more days of chemo!
Fresnel Lenses!! Lighthouse-keeper Steve, how far out to sea can we see his beacon? Is he on the National Register of Historic Firsts yet?--DW
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