The last couple of days are a blur - Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Days 14-16 (Sunday-Tuesday)
As best I recall, Sunday was an okay day, at least the first part of the day. I stayed home from church because my immune system was very low. I felt like I had a slight fever, and was taking my temperature periodically. About 6pm, my temp hit the 100.5 level that the doctors had said to notify them, and I did. The on-call doctor said to come on down to the hospital, and we where there by 7pm. The hospital measured my temp - it was 99.0, but later in the night was 101.7.
Monday, I really had trouble opening my eyes, as I didn't sleep very well Sunday night. Sunday night and Monday I had trouble finding the correct thermostat setting, because I was either too hot or too cold - even if I didn't change it. Wonder if it could have been me!
Monday night I seemed to sleep better, but I've still had temperature spikes up in the 101's. When Dr L came in this morning, he said maybe tomorrow I could go home - I think that will depend on how my temperature goes today. Before I leave I will get another CT scan to determine what progress we are making. This is a normal procedure that will be done near the end of the even (2,4,6, etc) cycles.
Monday, I had to force myself to take a walk, but I took a couple of short ones. Today, Tuesday, I seem to have more energy.
My room is in the pressurized part of the cancer facility. The room has a slight positive pressure to prevent any unwanted things from coming in. Room doors must be closed at all times. When I take a walk, I wear a mask to help filter out any unwanted germs.
That's it for now. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, my family, and the medical team on my case.
I'm home, but that's not the best news! - Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Days 16-17 (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Tuesday my temperature behaved itself and stayed in the 97-99 range all day - and all night. So this morning when Dr L came by, he said I could go home today. Thank you Lord.
So, as I write this, I am at home, and feeling pretty good; weak, but good. It's nice to be home again, if only for a week (I'm scheduled to go back in next Tuesday for 3 days).
Yesterday, I was given red blood cells for about 5 hours during the day because they were low. My white blood cells (the infection fighters) are at a good (actually a little high) level, and my platelets are low but acceptable for now range.
Tuesday evening I was scheduled for a CT Scan about 8pm. My understanding is that this will be done about every 6 weeks, near the end of cycle 2, to see how the treatment is going. So, when Dr L came in this morning, I asked if he'd reviewed the results of the CT Scan, which he had, and he said he would wait for the official readings to come back, but that to him, it looked like the largest cancer growth was ABOUT HALF THE SIZE that it was before treatment started. THANK YOU LORD! I may get a more precise number when I go into Dr L's office on Friday, but I am very pleased with what I heard this morning.
That's it for now. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, my family, and the medical team on my case.
A couple of good days - Friday, January 5, 2007
Days 18-19 of Cycle 2 (Thursday-Friday)
Still a little weak in the legs, and fingertips are still numb, but other than that I feel pretty good.
Saw Dr L Friday afternoon. Blood tests show I still have low Red Blood Cells (even though I had a RBC infusion of 2 bags on Tuesday); White Blood Cells are high (that's not bad); and the Platelets are up to 91 (from just below 30 on Wednesday), but that is still a little on the low side. They gave me a shot to help grow more Red Blood Cells.
Dr L also gave me a copy of the report on the CT Scan which compares lymph node sizes between 11/7/2006 (pretreatment) with 1/2/2007 (after 6 weeks of treatment). The largest growth in the abdomen has been reduced in size from 5.9×7.9cm to 2.9×4.5cm. The largest growth in the chest area has been reduced from 2.8×3.4cm to 1.2×1.8cm. Other growths have shown a similar decrease in size. So, again I say Thank You Lord.
The future
Cycle 3 (a repeat of cycle 1) starts Monday, January 8th.
Monday: Rituxan® in Dr L's office.
Tuesday-Friday: 3 days of Cytoxan® at the hospital.
Saturday-Monday: 3 days of Adriamycin® (aka the Red Devil), at home.
Somewhere during this 3 week cycle I also get two infusions of Vincristine®. That's the stuff that has caused the numbness in my fingertips that I still have from the last dosage.
That's it for now. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, my family, and the medical team on my case.
The Good Life (while it lasts) - Sunday, January 7, 2007
Days 20-21 of Cycle 2 (Saturday-Sunday) – the end of Cycle 2
Gee, as I sit here and look back at 6 weeks of treatment (yes, it's been 6 weeks since I started, tomorrow), I'm thinking about what I remember, without reviewing my blog.
- I remember a couple of "bumps" in the road: Heart & Fever
- I remember the food in the hospital: breakfast okay, the rest being questionable.
- I remember being told the cancer has been reduced in size by about half: Very Good News
- I remember all the cards that Verna & I have received: Pleased and surprised
- I remember all the nurses: most of them very good; one not
- I remember not being nauseated at all; and hope for the same this trip through
- I remember having relatively few bad side effects to the chemo: Hair loss & fingertip numbness
- I remember a few friends coming to visit me in the hospital, and one surprise visit from my youngest son: smile
- I remember looking forward to Sundays when I was able to attend church, like today.
- I remember getting phone calls, cards, and emails from "friends" that I haven't heard from in years; thankful and surprised, but wishing we could renew old friendships under better circumstances.
- I remember how much I enjoy the simple things in life that God has given me: A bed to sleep in; A wife and family that loves me; The ability to taste and enjoy food; Friends (no, I not saying you're simple).
- I remember all the people who say they are praying for me: and Thank You Lord for listening.
- I remember that my body is much weaker now than it was 6 weeks ago, and realize that I'm only 6 weeks down and 18 weeks to go.
- I remember that I was pleased to find out that the hospital had a wireless Internet connection; and disappointed at how slow it usually is.
- I remember now that I can not remember anything else, but I'm sure there are many more that I should have remembered.
Tomorrow I start Cycle 1 over. That's the cycle where I'm given 2 shots of Vincristine. That's the stuff that caused my fingertips to turn numb. Please pray that it doesn't get any worse this time.
I'm going to try to enjoy the last two nights in my own bed, before I enter the hospital on Tuesday.
That's it for now. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, my family, and the medical team on my case.
Wating for a room at the Hospital - Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Round 2, Cycle 1, Day 1-2 (Monday-Tuesday, 1/8-1/9/07), or Day 43-44
Just realized I lost a day here, Namely Monday.
Monday was a day I went to Dr L's office to get my Rituxan. Not much happened out of the ordinary. They gave me Benadryl, and I slept during the chemo, and listened to some music I had brought along. Now for Tuesday…
Went to see Dr L this morning; got my blood tested:
* White Blood Count 31.0 H (4.80-10.8)
* Red Blood Count 3.74 L (4.70-6.10)
* Platelets N 386 (130-400)
No room was immediately available in the hospital, so we came home and await a call.
Got a call about 10am, and by 11:30am I was in my new room. I gave the nurses the doctors orders, and proceeded to do some walking, and ate in the hospital cafeteria - much better than the "hospital" food served in the rooms.
The delay in getting a room delayed when the chemo starts. The Mesa, a coating agent, started at 4pm, and will run 72 hours continuously. The Cytoxan (the chemo) started at 5:45pm. The Cytoxan runs 3 hours, and starts every 12 hours for a total of 6 times. I would hope to get out sometime late on Friday, but will know more on Friday morning.
It's currently about 6:30pm, and I'm doing fine. Dr L said this morning that he was going to reduce the amount of the Cytoxan®, Adriamycin®, and Vincristine® by about 20%. He said this was because of the beating my immune system took last round.
That's it for now. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, my family, and the medical team on my case.
A Lazy day at CMC - Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Round 2, Cycle 1, Day 3 (Wednesday, 1/10/07), or Day 45
Slept as well as you can at a hospital last night. Nurse came in every 2 hours to check on me, not to wake me up, but I guess I woke up anyway! At about 4pm she took some blood for lab tests; and at 5:45 started my second dose of Cytoxan. Dr L came in about 6:30am (when does he sleep?), and said everything looked fine.
Yesterday, they decided that they needed to check my blood for sugar (as in Diabetes). Some of the steroids I'm taking can (and are) raising my blood sugar, so I'm now getting Insulin shots as needed.
But, the rest of today, I've been getting caught up on Internet surfing, getting caught up on a Walking Through The Bible project with our church, and reading about various things.
I'm feeling fine; mouth is a little dry, but other than that, it's a normal day - with my friend the IV in tow while I walk around the hospital.
That's it for now. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, my family, and the medical team on my case.
I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm tired - Thursday, January 11, 2007
Round 2, Cycle 1, Day 4 (Thursday, 1/11/07), or Day 46
I drank too much fluids for supper last night, and paid the price during the night. From midnight on, I was up about every hour, and had trouble getting back to sleep after about 4am.
I got a "downtime slip" from the nurse. This is where you get go down to the employee/visitor cafeteria and pick up what you want to eat, rather than eat the bland food brought to you. My nurse yesterday told me about this, and said they really do encourage cancer patients to use this, because so many have lost the "taste" for what is brought up. I had my wife go down when pick out some food: She brought back lasagna, bread sticks, coke, salad, and of course some chocolate cake (that is Italian, isn't it). Anyway it was good, and filling. Not as good as eating at home, but much better than the regular food. May try that again tonight; but I have a different nurse today, so we'll see.
I'm handling the chemo okay, I guess. Not had any side effects (Thank You Lord) from it, but as I recall from six weeks ago, I was alright during this phase, but was very weak by Sunday - we'll see come Sunday.
Dr L stopped by this morning at his usual 6:30am; said things looked good, and he planned to release me Friday. My guess is that it will be after 4pm Friday, as the Mesna will run out about that time. My last Cytoxan will finish up about 9am on Friday. My Adriamycin will be hooked up at home by Home Health Care; sometime between 12 and 24 hours after the Cytoxan is finished; I hope it will be 9pm Friday instead of 9am Saturday, just so it will be done earlier, but we'll see.
Today, I feel okay, except for being sleepy. Took a short walk this morning after my shower, and have tried to catch a nap in my recliner, but haven't gotten any quality sleep. I refuse to get into the bed during the daytime! It's for sick people!
If you wish to call me while in the hospital, but don't know the number, call the general number 355-5000, and ask for me, and they will transfer you.
That's it for now. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, my family, and the medical team on my case.
Waiting to go HOME - Saturday, January 13, 2007
Round 2, Cycle 1, Day 5 (Friday, 1/12/07), or Day 47
Had a sleeping pill last night before I turned in, so I slept much better than the night before. Dr L stopped by this morning about 7am and told me that I'd be going home this afternoon. So, today has been a day of waiting. Waited for breakfast, it got here late (and cold). Had to heat it up in the microwave oven. Waited for lunch, it was 1:15pm when it arrived (and cold), so it had to be heated in the microwave oven.
Now, it's about 2:30pm and I'm waiting to find out when I can leave. The Mesna is still coming in via through the IV, so I need to wait for it to finish. Waiting, waiting, waiting…
Home Health Care called me (??) earlier and said they'd be to my house about 5pm, but I'm thinking I may still be here, so the nurse has gone to try and coordinate all this. Waiting, waiting, waiting…
My Cytoxan did finish up about 8:30 this morning, and I had my VinCristine this morning about 10am, so that means my finger tips will stay numb for even longer now - if that's possible.
I'm think I'm becoming (or already am) a bad patient!
More later when I get home - if I get home
The Mesna finished up about 5pm, but I had to wait for Home Health Care to show up at the hospital (not at home, as I had expected) to start my Adriamycin. Well, I waited, and they showed up at 5:45pm (great, I thought), but they didn't bring the portable pump! Just not my day. We had one at home, and had told them that, so we arranged with the HHC nurse to meet us at home at 7:30pm to hook it up. Meanwhile, we checked out of the hospital; went home; ate, and met the HHC nurse at 7:30pm.
Home at last. Home sweet Home. I still feel drained; no energy. Don't know if it's the meds, or just lazy, but I'm home.
That's it for now. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, my family, and the medical team on my case.
I'm beat today; no energy - Saturday, January 13, 2007
Round 2, Cycle 1, Day 6 (Saturday, 1/13/07), or Day 48
Sleep was okay, but not great last night. Got up about 9am, ate some cereal, but really not much of an appetite. Been sitting at my computer most of the morning, but have no idea why, or what I've done, if anything. My thinking is not very clear; my legs are weak; my fingers are numb; and I have a little fluid build up from the IVs over the last few days - other than that I feel great .
I am thankful for being home, and I know that with the Lord's help I get through this.
That's it for now. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, my family, and the medical team on my case.
Still tired, but some better - Sunday, January 14, 2007
Round 2, Cycle 1, Day 7 (Sunday, 1/14/07), or Day 49
Boy, round 2 is hitting a lot harder than round 1, but they said that would be the case. Can't wait for round 4.
Saturday afternoon (and this afternoon), I took a nap, or at least laid down for a couple of hours. I do seem to have a little more energy today, than yesterday, but I'm not sure why?
Did not make it to church this morning, which is a step down from round 1.
No nausea, fingers still numb, maybe even more numb. Still carrying around my Adriamycin bag, until Monday around 7pm. Food still tastes okay, but I don't have much of an appetite.
A few days ago, I decided to give up three genealogy websites in Illinois that I've been maintaining for eight or nine years. It was with mixed feelings that I did so, but hope it's for the best.
That's it for now. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, my family, and the medical team on my case.