Uttc's Blog

January 30

Man, just as I was hoping to begin feeling better, it now feels like I’ve been hit with a truck, and it keeps running me over.  My body aches, I’m very tired, and have a feeling there might be another blood transfusion in my future.  My next scheduled blood test is in three days (Tuesday the 2nd), so I hope I at least last that long.  I’ve never felt so wiped out as I do this morning.  Just standing is hard.  Sleeping was near-impossible overnight.

Jan. 25

Well, round 4 has wiped me out kinda like round 3.  This morning, after 10 hours of sleep, I awake light headed, slightly dizzy, tired, and feeling like I really didn’t sleep much.  I wonder about blood counts, but have tests scheduled for just over a week from now.   I guess this is how its supposed to be.  Poison the body, hopefully kill the bad stuff, and the good grows back.  Or something like that.  I feel poisoned!

January 22, 2010

Well, I’ve just finished my last scheduled IV infusion of the four-round EP chemo.  Step one is done, but the process is nowhere near over.

Now its time for bi-weekly blood tests, and CT and PET scans sometime in March to see if any of the pre-chemo growths in the lymph nodes have shrunk or disappeared.  Due to their size from the beginning, I’ve  been advised that they will very likely not ever completely disappear.    Therefore, we will never really know if the cancer has all been killed by the chemo unless I have the lymph nodes removed in the future for biopsy.  If they’re positive, then more chemo.  If negative, more observation.

Should further CAT and PET scans later in the year show growth from the March scans, then one can assume the cancer is still there, and again, surgury would be the next step.  The RPLND surgury to remove the nodes is NO PICNIC and considered major surgery with a week-long hospital stay.  It involves a full incision from the lower abdomen to the upper chest–the whole stomach and chest.  All kinds of opporunities for complications.

The best outcome would be no lymph node growth in the next few years, and the cancer is gone, at least for now. 

Time will tell . . .

At least my weeks of sitting in a chair hooked up to an IV for 5 hours a day are over for a while!  Maybe someday my taste buds will come back, and I’ll get some energy back over time.  I’m tired of being a slug who can’t taste anything, has no appetite, and can barely hear anything.  The digestion mystery is getting old too.   Gas for a day, runs for a day, nothing for a day, heartburn for a day,  . . . Something new every day, but seldom “normal.”    My hearing is still shot, and they’re still saying “permanently” to that.   I’m also keeping my fingers crossed for no neuropathy.(numbness in hands and feet) in the next few weeks.  That’s a side effect that often shows up after treatment.  So far, so good on that one.

Jan. 18

Today begins the last weekly round of chemo treatments.  I’m still feeling pretty good after the transfusion 9 days ago, and I should now be on the home stretch for this chemo regimen.   My blood counts this morning were not critically low.  Hopefully it all works, but I know that sometimes it doesn’t  too.  Time will tell.  I hope I haven’t gone through all the sticking, sitting, feeling lousy, losing my hearing, losing my sense of taste, and basically losing 4 months of quality life for nothing.  That’s my biggest worry now, that I lost this time, had to remain in frozen hell all winter,  and went through treatments for nothing.  I’m looking forward to ending the chemo, getting some energy back, and getting back to a normal routine by March.

January 10

I’m finally back home, got a pretty good night’s sleep, and am feeling better than I have in quite a few days, presumably thanks to the blood transfusion yesterday.  I had two units of blood pumped in yesteray as ordered on Friday, and it seems to be working, at least in terms of me having a little bit of energy.

Ears are sill ringing constantly, no food taste, and some digestion issues.  However, those have been persistent since the end of the first round.  The last round of chemo is scheduled for a week from tomorrow.  Assuming no further complications and adequate blood counts, that will be the beginning of the end!  At least, as far as chemo goes.  After that, I won’t know a thing for at least 6 weeks, when a PET scan can be taken to see if the chemo shrunk any tumors, and to what extent.

January 8

I got thrown quite a curve today on my regular blood test visit.  My counts, including cells, were “critically low”, and a blood transfusion was ordered for tormorrow morning.  I have been feeling completely wiped out all week, and now I guess I know why!  By blood counts suck! 

My hearing test showed minimal further loss, this time in the lower frequencies instead of higher ones.  I can still hear though, and will likely go ahead and finish the 4th and final round of chemo as scheduled the week of Jan. 18.

Jan. 3, 2010

Well, I just finished up week three of treatment on New Years Day.  This round has taken more out of me physically.  I’m dead tired.  I’ve never slept so much in my life.  My ears are ringing louder than ever.  I can’t get my stomach to feel comfortable for very long.  Gas, indigestion, diarrhea, you name it.  Changes every few hours.  Just goes with the territory I guess.  Cumulative build-up of toxins.

I’m up (sort of!), getting around by myself, but also just getting tired of the routine.  I’m having a harder time eating because I’ve been eating the same few things for over a month now that I can actually taste a little bit.  Now, they’re getting very old, and more tasteless.  (I can taste red chili, pepper, salt, apple juice, and high-octane sweets)  Water tastes like crap.  Most food is completely tasteless.   Thankfully, the apple juice has taste, and also soothes my stomach a little.   That’s been the life-saver so far!

Next up, another hearing test Friday, followed by blood work right after that, then another 10-day wait before starting the last round of chemo on Jan. 18.