Last Day of 6th Cycle

I am about finished with my 48 hour chemo session on my last scheduled 6th round of chemo. I can hardly believe the chemo is almost over. It has been so long in coming and I have anticipated this day for many weeks. Although I feel really bad today (exhausted), I am looking forward to leaving this chapter of my life and can only hope it will be many more years before I have to endure this again. I will post again when feeling better. I appreciate all the calls and emails concerning my status. I am looking forward to better days ahead!

Wed

I have had increasing energy levels each day this week. I can really tell that this chemo round was less intense to my body from the last protocol. I still have a few more days before my counts could drop (Thur - Sat), so we will see. As of Tuesday, my counts were all pretty good....not normal, but for chemo, normal. I had a somewhat low WBC (4.2), but the HGB was 11.9, which is really good compared to last time at 7.7. Also, my RBC count is at 3.77, which is good...again considering my last round it hit 2.44.

I am eating well and trying to do some exercises in walking. It is important to stay active during times when I have energy. During chemo days, all I want to do is sleep and rest.


I am staying focused on the last few tasks for my completion of the chemo rounds. I am scheduled to start my last round on Tuesday, Feb 26, with the full treatment lasting till Thursday. Again, I will be able to take this out-patient. In mid March, I will return to MD Anderson for a re-staging test, then see a radiologist for setting up the radiation rounds. Radiation should last 4 weeks. I don't know yet what the effects of this will be, but hopefully it will be less intense as chemo.

Saturday: Better day

I feel much better today than the last 4 days of chemo. I have not felt like doing anything but sleep and rest. As you know, I was able to take my chemo at the chemo Center on Tuesday, then take a 48 hour chemo pump home. This was a great alternative to me having to take chemo in the hospital. This process however did not remove the tiring effects of the chemo as I was still really drained Tue - Fri. However, I awoke this morning feeling much better, even as our weather here in Fort Worth is cold with lots of rain. I have more energy and was able to get out of bed and think much clearer than the past several days.

It is amazing how much the chemo can drain you of energy. I have been told that with each new round of chemo, you body will feel more tired because of the months of chemo build-up in your body. I can tell, but am still hopeful that I will grow more energy as the days pass. The next remaining hurdle will be how low my blood counts will go. On Friday, they all were in very good ranges. All normal ranges with a few exceptions. So, we will see how Days 10-12 look (Thur, Feb 28 – Sat, Mar 1). That is when my counts typically drop to their lows.

Sandra's marathon training is going well. She has also reached her fund raising goals already which she is so excited about. We are in the process of making the travel plans now to Vancouver for the weekend of May 4th. Sandra's remaining 2 months of training are getting more intense, but she has renewed focus and determination and seems to be getting stronger with each week. Thanks for all your support, encouragement and prayers for both Sandra and I as we meet our challenges in the coming months!

First day of R-CHOP

I just returned from a day of receiving my R-CHOP chemo treatment. It is great to be home. All my other chemo treatments required my being in the hospital for 4-6 days. I am so thankful that I can now be home and still take my chemo. Once the day was complete, I still had to take home a portable chemo pump which will allow me to receive a very slow chemo drug over a 48 hour period. I will return on Thursday at 4:30pm to return the pump. The pump is a quiet, small device which lives in a medium sized "fanny-pack". It connects directly to my PIC line. It is a pretty easy device and I just need to remember that it goes "everywhere" I go. (it kinda looks like a PSP...I'm trying to get some games on the thing)

My Dad had one of these devices when he was going through chemo last year. I remember he would come over for dinner and have that thing in tow. He called it his "bag". He did not have to do this every week, only on special occasions when he needed some extra drug. I have to say that I did not know much about all the different drugs he was taking. He really did not keep up with them much either. I have been very different however. I know every single drug I am taking including the pre-meds. I have actually caught my chemo nurses doing things differently than what my doctor originally ordered. I think the nurses at my chemo center are very competent, but sometimes things can get messed up and it is important for patients to take ownership in their treatment and be aware of everything that is being done to them. I have tried my best to practice this.

OK, here is what it really looks like....

Take care and I will talk to you soon again!

New chemo plan... 2 more to go.

I have not posted in over a week and need to give you an update on what has been going on. Last week I went to Houston to see my primary Oncologist (Dr. Hagemeister) for restaging tests (x-ray and CT Scan) to see the progress of my treatments and the status of the cancer. All checked out well as the tumor is continuing to be non-active and shrinking due to the chemo. However, due to the intensity of my chemo plan, they are concerned with my blood levels as they have not been rebounding as well as expected, therefore, he has rewritten my chemo plan to a less intense program (same drugs, less dosage). I can also take this chemo out-patient, which is great news to me (no more Harris Methodist medieval castle dungeon). The plan is called R-CHOP and is a more well known chemo plan for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma patients. It can be given in 1 day...long, long day. I will also have a chemo that I will need to take home for 48 hours. I will take this R-CHOP this week, then again in 2 weeks and that will be it for my chemo. I will also then have to take 4 weeks of radiation. This will be radiation every day (Monday - Friday) for 4 weeks. I was not expecting this, but the Dr. says it is very important and is necessary to keep the cancer from returning. This puts me through the middle of April for the final radiation treatment.

I am soooo ready for these treatments to be completed. I was just thinking over the past several weeks all the activities that I cannot do now, that I am looking forward to doing again...Here are just a few....

• Throw a baseball with my son. (my Pic line makes this hard to do)
• Play golf. (I have not played in 6 months).
• Swim (although it has been too cold).
• Take a shower without wrapping my PIC line.
• Jogging.
• Standing in line at the airport (traveling again for my job).
• Washing my hair.....actually having hair.
• Eating fresh fruit and veggies without worrying if I will get sick.
• Not taking 10-12 pills a day.
• Going to church every Sunday....(only once a month during chemo).
• Going places without a box of Kleenex (my nose runs constantly due to the chemo).
  

Well...there are many more on my list, but I will stop here. I will say that I am fortunate to almost be done with chemo as I have corresponded with several people who's chemo treatments are much longer and more intense. I continue to pray for them for courage and staying positive. I know that it takes a lot of both to get through this. I have also learned to only focus on each day alone. When I think about all the weeks left, I get discouraged. When I just think of today and what I have to do to get through today, I can handle that. I think others have said the same. Marsha and Cindi...hang in there.

More blood

I had been unable to fully recover this past week from my chemo without an additional 2 units of blood. I have been told that as chemo treatments continue, your body will take longer to recover. I have seen that happen this week. My HGB and RBC counts stayed really low all week and it was only after 4 units of blood and a unit of platelets, did I finally feel better today.

So, a recap....we had a bit of a scare yesterday as I had trouble getting my breath. With HGB at 7.7 and RBC at 2.45, very little oxygen was able to fuel my body when doing any kind of walking or moving around. I got very winded on Friday afternoon and was unable to really recover. We decided to go to the emergency room at Plaza Medical center which was near the building I was planning on getting my 2 additional units of blood. After I was given some oxygen, I was evaluated as stabilized and no apparent heart issues were present. They wanted to watch me over night and also give me the 2 units of blood through the evening.

I awoke this morning feeling much better and was able to go home this morning. My counts are back up to acceptable levels (HGB 9.0 and RBC 3.0) and I feel a ton better as a result.

We will still keep my meetings at MD Anderson next week so we can get my restaging accomplished as planned. Therefore, we will be in Houston, Tuesday - Thursday for these meetings.