Back to Reality

Last Monday, 22 June 2009, I went in to see my oncologist, Dr. G, and get my 4th treatment of erbitux and camptosar.

The good news is that I gained six pounds while I was in Hawaii. I'm now back up to 141 pounds.

The even better news is that the new treatment seems to be working; my CEA (a measure of a protein produced my cancer cells) went from around 30 before the trip to Hawaii to around 10 on Monday. (Normal is around 5.) This gives me a lot of hope that Frank's nasty little friends will be gone by the end of Summer.

Time for a Change

Today, I went in for my third chemo treatment.

When I did my weigh-in, my weight was 141 pounds. I can't remember weighing so little at any time in my adult life. Marjorie and Dr. G, my oncologist, were both equally appalled that I look like Calista Flockhart.

So, we're going to change my chemo treatments from once every two weeks to every week starting tomorrow.

At first, this doesn't sound like much of an improvement, but the new regimen will involve lower doses of the various chemotherapy drugs and will completely cut out the 5FU (which I took via a pump for 46 hours after each chemo treatment). Both Dr. G and I are guessing the 5FU is what's cleaning my clock (i.e., nausea and lack of energy) and the theory is the by removing it, I might have a little more energy and feel like eating.

This means I might lose my supermodel status, but I'm willing to make that sacrifice.

Stepping into the Puddle (again)

Someone much wiser than I once said, "You never know how deep a puddle is until you step in it."

Well, I've stepped in the chemotherapy puddle before, so I was a little nervous about starting round #1 of set #2 of chemo today.

So far, so good - not much nausea, no bazooka vomiting, and no diarrhea. Yet.

My oncologist, Dr. G., said the nausea and vomiting should be less this set of sessions, but we shall see.

More news in a couple days (when I turn in my pump.)

Update: did I say no vomiting? Scratch that. I just reviewed my breakfast early this afternoon. It's gonna be a fun Summer.

Chemo Round #8

Good news: my oncologist, Dr. G, says that I do not need to have twelve rounds on chemotherapy, eight treatments should be enough.

So, the treatment I had last Monday, 5 December 2008, was my last one.

Chemo Round #7

I'm a total wuss.

This morning I woke up dreading this next round of chemo. While the nausea is more or less under control, it lasts longer and longer each treatment. I also had some stomach "issues" last week (which was supposed to be my "good week".) All of this makes me want to finish chemo as fast as possible.

Then I look at my friend Robert (who I bumped into during round #6 of chemo). A year and a half ago, Robert was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer of the colon, peritoneum, and appendix. He was told he had four months to live. However, Robert is a fighter. He tracked down a specialist, had several major operations, several scary sounding procedures (e.g., Interperitoneal Heated Chemotherapy with MitoMycin-C and Deep Vein Thrombosis) , and chemo - lots of chemo. When I saw Robert two weeks ago, he was on round #17 (that's right, seventeen).

This of course proves I'm a wuss. Here I am whining about eight treatments and Robert has endured more than double. He is a brave man. I suck.

However, I may have the chance to redeem myself: today Dr. G, my oncologist, talked about the possibility of doing a total of twelve rounds of chemotherapy (i.e., four more after the "last" one).

Honestly, I'm not thrilled by this, but if it will extend my time in remission, I'll do it. And maybe, just maybe, I can be brave like Robert.

Round #6 of Chemo

Yesterday I started round #6 of Chemotherapy.

The good news is I only have two more rounds after this; my oncologist, Dr. G., says we will not do the "bonus" four rounds.

The bad news is I started feeling queasy before I left the treatment room. Usually I don't get nauseous until the next day or later. I have a bad feeling this round is gonna be rough.

Round #5 was slightly better than round #4 - I didn't call Ralph, but I was really queasy for three and a half days (not much fun).

Round #5 of Chemo

For Round #4, I spent a lot of time talking to Ralph via the porcelain extension. I was trying find the right balance between being knocked-out by my anti-nausea medication and spending a lot of time doing the technicolor yawn. Clearly I didn't do a great job.

Part of the problem is that, for each new round of chemo, the side effects start sooner, hit harder, and last longer. (I can hardly wait for Round #8.)

The good news is my oncologist, Dr. G, has hooked me up with new anti-nausea medicine, so hopefully I will spend less time reviewing my meals than the last round.

Round #4 of Chemo

Round #4 of chemo started today. Only four more to go (unless I "win" four extra sessions).

Round #3 wasn't too bad, except that my anti-nausea medication made me sleep for three days. This time around I'll try a little less.

Also, my sensitivity to cold is getting worse. During my first treatment, I only got the "pin and needles" feeling in the back of my throat when I drank something cold and it only lasted three or four days. Now it's my throat, mouth, hands, and feet and it lasts almost two weeks.

Chemo is no fun.

Round #3 of Chemo

I started round #3 of chemotherapy today.

Round #2 went way better than Round #1 (one "lost" day vs. four), so I hoping this one will go good too.

Round #2 of chemo

I started my second round of chemotherapy yesterday, 9 September 2008.

So far, so good. I'm trying to be a little more proactive this time - I started taking my nausea and diarrhea medication as soon as I got home from treatment. Also, the nurse said drinking lots of water would help.

We shall see.

Eat your heart out Jenny Craig ...

... and then throw it back up.

Way back in September of 1991, I weighed 145 pounds. I had just finished working the Summer at Callaway Gardens with the FSU Circus where I performed eight shows a week, chased 7 to 15 year old kids around eight hours a day (as part of the recreation program), worked-out three days a week, and ate reasonably nutritious food.

Over the next 16 years my weight climbed up to 190 pounds.

Now I'm "happy" to announce that I'm almost back to old weight by using the amazing Colon Cancer Weight Loss Program. Through a combination of extreme nausea, diarrhea, and just flat out not eating, I've lost 40 pounds in five months.

A couple more rounds of chemotherapy and I should be lookin' like a supermodel.

Bad news, good news

Bad news: my white blood cell count is a bit low today.

Good news: that and the fact that I got an infection in the lower half of my incision last week means that chemo has been postponed for a week.

I wasn't really looking forward to chemo this week and although my infection is healing nicely, it's still oozing and disgusting. So I'm happy to wait a week.

Ugh!

So I thought chemo was going well, but I was wrong, terribly wrong.

Wednesday morning, just as the pump finished, I started getting queasy. Then it was downhill from there: nausea, vomiting, lethargy, diarrhea - all of the fun stuff. I finally managed to keep some food down on Saturday, 23 August 2008, and I even had a little energy on Sunday.

Seven more treatments to go and so much to look forward to!

Big Day Monday (revisited)

Monday, 18 August 2008, was indeed a BIG day: Kyle started Kindergarten and I started chemotherapy. Overall, the day went pretty good. We had a small rough patch getting Kyle off to school, but chemo went much better than I expected.

The day started off badly. While getting Kyle ready for school, we couldn't find his medi-alert bracelet. (Kyle has asthma and he wears a bracelet that lists his condition, his medications, his doctor's name, and his doctor's phone number.) Normally the bracelet sits on a shelf in his room when he isn't wearing it. Alas, it wasn't there this morning. After searching the house thoroughly, we said we would fine it later and headed off to school:


When we picked Kyle up at after-school day-care we learned several things:

1. Kyle likes school
2. Kyle made "lots" of friends
3. Kyle already has homework (read a story every night)
4. Kyle's medi-alert bracelet got left at day-care last Friday
5. There is no school tomorrow, 19 August 2008, because of Tropical Storm Fay

Chemotherapy was probably not as much fun as kindergarten, but it was better than expected. After a quick check with my oncologist, Dr. G, I went to the "treatment room" where I sat in a comfy recliner, got a nice warm blanket, drank a soda, and had toxic drugs dripped into my veins for over two hours. They then hooked me up with a pump (literally), and sent me home.

The good news is the side effects of the chemo are pretty minimal so far: "pins and needles" when I drink cold liquids and a little diarrhea. No bazooka vomiting, no loss of appetite, and no hair loss (that I can see anyway). Additionally, I got a fancy manbag for my pump:

Of course, this is all I know about manbags:


So maybe chemo wasn't so great afterall.