I don’t understand, or maybe I do. - Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Day 80 – Round 2, Cycle 2, Day 17 (Wed, 2/14/07)
I went to Dr L’s office this morning for some blood tests. Sure enough, I have blood, and the numbers are completely different from 2 days ago. Actually, I’m looking at the 6 sets of results from 2/5, 2/7, 2/9, 2/11, 2/12, & 2/14 — I wish they made sense to me.
The White Blood Cells (WBC) for example have been: 3.8, 23.1, 1.1, 0.3, 0.6, 27.9. (Normal: 4.8-10.8). Now they say the last one is a result of the Neulasta that I had on 2/5 — ok, so why was it so high on 2/7?
Red Blood Cells (RBC): 3.78, 3.61, 3.47, 2.93, 2.88, 3.43 (Normal: 4.70-6.10) — ok, these make more sense, seeing that I got two bags of RBC yesterday. Hemoglobin: 11.3, 11.0, 10.3, 9.0, 8.7, 10.5 (Normal: 14.0-18.0)
Platelets: 67, 28, 7, 17, 34, 37 (Normal: 130-400) — ok, guess this make sense also, seeing that I got platelets after the 7 and the 17.
So, maybe I just don’t understand the WBC’s — glad we had this discussion (smile). But, I do notice one other thing — not one single reading is in the “normal” range. So, for those of you who have wondered if I was “normal” — it’s not my fault — it’s in my blood (smile).
Oh, earlier in the week, I said I had an appointment everyday except Friday — well, I now have to go in for more blood tests on Friday.
This afternoon I went to my cardiologist, Dr H, and he said everything looked good.
Last night was kind of a sleepless night, kept waking up, but I don’t know why. Today, I’m just not very focused.
That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.
Ten medical appointments in the last two weeks! - Friday, February 16, 2007
Day 81-82 – Round 2, Cycle 2, Day 18-19 (Thu-Fri, 2/15-16/07)
Well, I just got back from my Blood tests — and my 6th medical appointment of the week, and the 10th of the last two weeks — life would certainly be a lot different without them.
White blood cells is up another 7 points to 34.9; Red is up slightly to 3.47; Hemoglobin down 0.1 to 10.4 and platelets jumped another 20 to 57.
Thursday morning I went to CMC and had my PET Scan, so this morning I asked the nurse if they had results — she came back and said that Dr L would have to talk with me on Monday, but she thought that I would be pleased with the results. That sounds very encouraging to me. Thank You Lord.
I’m hoping to have a great weekend, one with no medical appointments.
That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.
Today the treatment is half done - Sunday, February 18, 2007
Day 83-84 – Round 2, Cycle 2, Day 20-21 (Sat-Sun, 2/17-18/07)
Today marks the halfway point in my treatment — 12 weeks down, and 12 weeks to go.
It is amazing how much better I feel today than I did last Sunday. A few blood products, and prayer make a big difference. But, I’m not saying that I feel as good as I did 12 weeks ago either. Certainly the body has been beaten down with a lot of chemo, and based on the first 6 weeks, so has the cancer — and tomorrow I’ll get an update on that also.
That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.
And the good news is… - Monday, February 19, 2007
Day 85 – Round 3, Cycle 1, Day 1 (Mon, 2/19/07)
The official Doctor to Doctor statement…
“Significant interval response to therapy, with decrease in size and metabolism of all previously identified metabolically active disease. ..//.. Overall findings are consistent with almost complete response to therapy. ..//.. No new metabolically active disease is identified”
For those speaking English…
Dr L says that the cancer is 99% gone. Thank You Lord. No new cancer growths were found. Thank You Lord. He said that if I did not have a history of lymphoma that he would conclude from this report that I did not have cancer. He also said that this is where he hoped that I would be after 2 rounds of chemo.
The beatings will continue until the morale improves…
The treatment will continue for another 12 weeks, unless the patient dies first. (May the Lord give my body the strength to endure another 12 weeks of treatment.)
Blood chemistry
*WBC: 25.5 (4.7-6.1)
*RBC: 3.46 (4.8-10.8)
*HGB: 10.5 (14.0-18.0)
*PLT: 116 (130-400), almost into the normal range
So, how do I feel?
I feel very uplifted and encouraged; I feel thankful and blessed for the good news that the cancer is losing the battle; I wish the treatments were over — the second round was worse on me than the first round, and I’m just not looking forward to doing it two more times. I’m also thankful that Dr L was able to learn from round 1 where I was in the hospital 4 times in 6 weeks (2 scheduled; 2 unscheduled) and as a result, in round 2 I was in the hospital for only 2 scheduled trips — Thank You Lord.
So, what can you, the reader of this blog, do? I believe that God hears our prayers and answers every one of them. So, please include me in your prayers. Pray that God will give me the strength (physical, spiritual, and emotional) to continue to do the treatments with little or no side effects; Pray that God will help the medical staff to make the right decisions concerning my treatments; Pray that God will remove all traces of cancer from my body, and not allow it to return.
That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.
Check in was earlier today - Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Day 86 – Round 3, Cycle 1, Day 2 (Tue, 2/20/07)
Today, I was able to check to the hospital immediately after leaving Dr L’s office.
10:00am – in my room
1:00pm – IV of Magnesium started – ended about 2pm
2:10pm – IV of Mesna started – will run 72 hours to protect me from chemo
3:10pm – IV of Cytoxan (Chemo) started – will run for 3 hours, every 12 hours, for 6 times
Somewhere in there also they gave me some anti-nausea and steroid medicine, but I didn’t make note of the time or name — it was something that have had before. I’m suffering from what is referred to as “Chemo-Brain” (smile, I think)
During round 1, all my chemos were at “100%”. Because of a problem with Neutropenia resulting in my going to the hospital on New Years Eve for 5 days, Dr L reduced the strength of all chemos in round 2 to “80%”. This morning, he said that he has decided that round 3 will be back up to “100%”. Neutropenia is caused by low white blood cells, but I certainly had those during round 2 without an extra stay in the hospital. The difference may (I say may, because I guessing) be because Dr L used different drugs to rebuild my white blood cells (Neulasta vs Neupogen) — anyway I trust that he is making the right decision. The stronger the chemos, the better the change that the cancer won’t come back.
So far I feeling fine. At lunchtime, because I wasn’t hooked up the my IV, I asked for a “downtime” slip and went to the cafeteria, and had some food, instead of what they deliver to the room. Tonight, I asked for some Zita, so we’ll see how that goes. If it not good, Verna will be here and we will figure something else out. Speaking of supper, it’s 4:30, and they could deliver it at anytime time now — ridiculous!
That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.
Because some people have asked… - Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Day 87 – Round 3, Cycle 1, Day 3 (Wed, 2/21/07)
Am I receiving phone calls? Yes, the switch board is open from about 8am to 10pm for incoming calls. You can call the main number for CMC and ask for me — would appreciate no calls after 9pm however, as I try to turn in early.
How about visits? It’s boring here, and I feel fine, and yes I’d appreciate visitors. Right now I’m sitting here listening to the Anna Nicole Smith body custody trial — which I really don’t care about. If you’re in the area stop in. As I usually get here on Tuesday and leave on Friday, the best days to visit would be on Wednesday or Thursday. On cycle 2, I’m here til Saturday, Friday would also be an acceptable day to come visit.
How about email? Anytime, day or night.
I’m still on Mesna, and so far have had two two doses of Cytoxan. I also picked up a few pounds over the last day and have recently taken a diuretic, so I’m busy running back and forth to the bathroom.
I continue to be blessed with lack of serious side effects. Loss of hair; numbness of fingers and toes seems to be the consistent problems, but considering the cancer is on the run, it’s a small price to pay, and I thank the Lord.
That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.
Going home today - Friday, February 23, 2007
Day 88-89 – Round 3, Cycle 1, Day 4-5 (Thu-Fri, 2/22-23/07)
Thursday was an good day from my standpoint, I guess. I felt fine, just not much to do, except listen to the Anna Nicole Smith body disposition trial – yawn on 4 national news networks!
Breakfast was cold; Lunch was okay, but not what I ordered; Supper was okay, but cold – fortunately the microwave in the break room took care of that. So much for food.
During Cycle 1 I get a lot of dextrose in my IV and and apparently the steroids they give me don’t help either, so they measure my blood sugar several times a day, and I get insulin injections after each one – from 2 to 15 units each time — sorry, I don’t know how much a unit is. Even with my finger tips being numb, I can feel the needle prick — but I guess that’s small price to pay, huh.
Dr L is taking care of the fluids retention problem up front this time, and giving me diuretics as we go, and so far it seems to be working — as of this morning, I’ve only retained about one liter, I should be able to get rid of that at home over the next few days.
Breakfast today was warm, so maybe it will be a better day. Strange how I measure a “better” day. My last Cytoxan chemo finished up this morning about 6am; I’m scheduled to get a Vincristine shot about 11am (that’s the one that makes my fingers and toes more numb); then I just have to wait for the last of the Mesna bag to empty out. The Mesna should be finished between 2pm and 3pm, at which time I can go home.
Once home, Home Health Care will come out and h00k me up to a 3 day supply of Adriamycin (aka the Red Devil).
Today, I am starting to feel a little fatigue already. I’m watching my blood chemistry, and the RBC and Hemoglobin are getting lower while the WBC is high, and the PLT are in normal range, but climbing. I’d guess I have to get some Red blood next week sometime.
That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.
Praise the Lord – A Better Day than I thought it would be! - Saturday, February 24, 2007
Day 90 – Round 3, Cycle 1, Day 6 (Sat, 2/24/07)
Got home Friday about 5pm, after another hassle with CMC Home Health Care – the last two times now, they said one thing, then changed their minds. My Adriamycin pump is at home, and they’re supposed to (and agreed to) come out to the house and hook it up on Friday evening. I was literally 2 feet from leaving my hospital room at 4pm, when a nurse came in and said that HHC wanted me to wait in the room until 6pm so they could hook me up to the Adriamycin because they didn’t have anyone to come to the house. I said I’d give them 10 minutes, and I left — okay, I’m a bad patient, but I’d talked with them twice the day before, and they assured me there was not a problem. Anyway, on the way home, I got a call from a HHC nurse, saying she would be there at 6pm — amazing, huh? Messed up my blood pressure through.
So, I had supper at home last night — don’t remember what it was, but it was at home, and much, much better than anything I might have had at the hospital — did I ever tell you that I don’t like hospital food!! Oh, and I do DO like home cooked food!!
Slept better last night than I thought that I would — only got up three times compared to the 5 or 6 times in the hospital. I’ve learned to cover up the IV pump with a pillow so I don’t hear it — it’s really not noisy, just annoying. I am taking anti-nausea medicine every 8 hours along with the chemo, and I got up at 7am to take that, then went back to bed briefly.
Felt better today than I thought that I would, especially considering that Dr L raised the dosage of Cytoxan back up to 100% — but then it may hit me in a day or two. Maybe it helps to know that the cancer is gone, and my body is working on other things. By the way, night sweats are gone now, except for when I dress too warmly at night.
That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.
Some days are better, but this is not one of them… - Monday, February 26, 2007
Day 91-92 – Round 3, Cycle 1, Day 7-8 (Sun-Mon, 2/25-26/07)
Sunday was okay; made it to church, but didn’t stay for Sunday School. Instead came home and crashed on the sofa. Just have no energy.
Today is again without energy, and my GIT is talking to me a lot more than I’d like.
It’s times like this that I wonder if I can make it through another round of this stuff?
Your prayers are appreciated. I’m praying for a better tomorrow.
That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.
Thanks Marie, your angels arrived! - Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Day 93 – Round 3, Cycle 1, Day 9 (Tue, 2/27/07)
After yesterday’s post, Marie sent me a note saying that she had sent some angels to look out for me. They arrived this morning, and I am doing better. Thanks Marie.
Went to the doctor’s office this morning to get one of those $8000 shots of Neulasta, and to pick up a prescription for Dexamethason — those that I get to take 10 pills a day for the next 4 days — but they are only $10.00, so I’m not sure they are even worth taking — besides, they are very very bitter.
As I said above, I am doing better today — actually my wife and I went out for both lunch and supper today — it’s amazing what getting rid of Adriamycin can do to improve ones outlook — no wonder they call it the Red Devil!
That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.