I Got Better

Having a bad cold and getting chemotherapy at the same time did not do me well. Saturday and Sunday I spent my time horizontal except for restroom trips due to a blinding headache on top of being extremely snotty. My head was pounding to the point that I couldn't effectivly make decisions for myself and thankfully Christine stepped in and called the doctor Sunday afternoon. The doc recommended that I stop taking the anti-biotic I was on (Cipro) which was waaaaay too strong and making me feel extra crappy and take 800mg of Advil ever six hours to help break the headache. That combo left me able to sit up on Monday and Tuesday and helped my headache back off from driving spikes to a dull throb.



Through all of this I'm also dealing with side effects from chemo and the Neulasta (white blood cell builder) shot I received, the worst of which was insomnia. Normally my plan of attack when I get sick to take enough drugs to put me in a light coma and arise when I feel better. This time it failed me. I was unable to sleep for more than 1-2 hours at a time and the sleep I was getting was very light. I would wake up at the drop of a hat or litterally the chirp of a bird.

As an added bonus, I was hot (also a chemo side effect). Even with the air cranked way down I couldn't get comfortable. My skin was even red. Once again Christine made a call to the doctor and this time it was recommended that I take some Benadryl to knock me out. Unfortunately it didn't work. So I took a Tylenol w/Codeine hoping that would crush me into a dream world of magic. Unfortunately that didn't work either. I was stuck in a waking world full of crappy TV and ended up watching a biography on American Idol's Randy Jackson. Look at what I have become!

Eventually most of the the drugs started leaving my body and on Wednesday night I got a solid five hour block of sleep. Most of the side effects are disminished and all I am left with now is snot. That's a double bonus though because I always need plenty of Puffs on hand for the NFL Draft.

I Am Completely Miserable San Antonio

First things first. I'm pretty sure I don't have strep. That means my finger pointing moves from Banksy (I'll make it up to you with a trip to Fire Bowl) squarely onto my wife. Mrs. Robbins obviously drug a head cold home from one (or more likely all) of her 170 seventh graders and now I get to enjoy the gift that keeps on giving. It wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't just received treatment, but for now it's kicking my butt. I spent most of the afternoon laying on the couch with a pack of ice on my head (click the picture on the right for a full view).

Everything else seems to be going OK though. I haven't had any nausea issues and the hunger pangs I had after the first round aren't nearly as severe. One thing I forgot to mention is that a few of the fingertips on my left hand have gone a bit numb in the past week or two. Mainly my thumb and forefinger. It hasn't affected anything (read: video gaming), but it does feel strange at times.

Thanks go out to Nicole for baking and hand delivering an awesome cake for me and Christine (pics of that on request).

Second Verse Same As The First

Things did not start off so great entering the ring before round 2. The night before I was scheduled to come in I developed sinus drainage and a sore throat. My immediate worry was that I caught the strep throat that is floating around the office in the cube next to me...(Daniel Banks I'm looking in your direction). Hopefully it's just some allergy that got kicked up while I was cutting the grass on Wednesday. Either way, I am now taking some antibiotics.

The chemo treatment room was pretty empty when I was ushered in just after 9am. There wasn't near as much waiting for a chair, or just waiting in general, this time around. I got to pick the same chair I was in last time and had the same nurse as last time (Rosie) which relaxed me. Doing the treatment in the morning will probably be my preferred method for the rest of the time. Everything ran quicker.

Over the course of my couple hours there the room began to fill up again with mostly elderly people. I find that many of them see me and say "You're so young!" I'm not quite sure how to take that yet. I don't know if they mean, "It's so sad that you're young and have cancer," or "You're so young and you won't having any problem getting past this."

The entire session I was tired. More groggy than tired actually. I don't remember it being quite like this last time, but I also did it after a good night's sleep and in the afternoon.

I'm home now and ready for a nap.

A Week Later

(I started this post on Friday, but didn't make it until Monday night.)

They say the effects from every chemo treatment could be different, but I learned an important lesson after my first session that will carry over through the next six months.

Rest.

The night I came home (Thursday, 4/5) I felt fine and even managed to catch up on some work after a brief nap. The next day I expected to wake up feeling horrible, but didn't. I didn't feel completely normal, but I also didn't feel like I needed to sit at home and rest. It's hard to explain, but I wasn't really displaying the side effects of the chemo treatment so I spent the afternoon at the office. Saturday was the same way, so I worked the game that night and then I went to do my radio show Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon I could hardly move. I didn't feel sick, but my stamina was less than zero. Even laying around on the couch was tiring. Monday I made an appearance in the office and then spent Tuesday and Wednesday working from home. Wednesday afternoon I finally felt 'normal' again. I still tire out quicker than normal, but I imagine that won't go away until the end of the year.

The bottom line is whether I feels like or not, I need to rest in the first couple of days after chemo.

NOTES

Within 24hrs after treatment #1 my swollen lymph node and body itchiness went away. They came back, but for a few days it was nice to see how quick the medicine works.

For about three days I shoveled everything I could into my mouth. The consensus is that the Decadron from my anti-nausea regimen made me a hungry hungry hippo.

The actual process of getting a chemo treatment was painless.

I still have my hair, but I am seeing a few extra strands lying around recently.

My PET scan from a couple of weeks ago confirmed that I am in stage two. It also showed an enlarged spleen, but it was within the limits of normal and was not believed to be involved with the cancer.

Email Updates

Obviously the service I have been using to automatically send out emails when I make a post is not very good. I have found a better one that appears to be a vast improvement. The old one should continue to work, but after reading this post from the guy who runs feedwhip, I doubt it will last long. The new one is also very easy to sign up for...

Email:

Also, for those of you that know what RSS is here is my feed...

http://johnshealthupdates.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Chemo Uno

Of course I'm running late on my first day of treatment. I can't find my wireless AirCard which is really going to hinder my ability to coordinate things on the internet and I don't want to leave home without it. My plan for passing the time is to work while I get pumped full of drugs. Eventually I call off my search and hop into a waiting car filled with my wife and parents. We make a hasty trip to the Cancer Thearpy & Research Center (CTRC) and arrive just in time for my 10:40 appointment to begin chemotherapy.

I check-in on the third floor, we wait for about 15 minutes before my name is called. The whole crew uproots their things and heads out of the main waiting room only to be told that I am just getting my vitals done (blood pressure and tempature) and to hit up the waiting room again. I rejoin them in about two minutes for about 20 minutes of waiting before seeing the doctor (Thursdays are busy). Dr. Amy Lang then briefly goes over some information with us and leaves to go to the pharmacy to begin to get my drugs. After that I wait almost an hour before getting a chair in the treatment room. It was almost like having to wait behind the velet rope at Studio Chemo.

The treatment room at the CTRC is one large room filled by about 25 stations that include a recliner on wheels with table tops on both sides, a trashcan and a TV screen on a swivel arm. It is on the 3rd floor of the CTRC and has an entire wall of windows that look northwest out into the hill country. It's a decent and warming view.

Today most of the chairs are filled with women. I see no one that I would categorize as being in my age group. Along for the ride are Christine, my mom and my dad. We are only allowed two visitors at a time in the treatment room, so my mom and dad are rotating periodically between the treatment room and the waiting room outside, but as the days goes on and treatments end, there ends up being plenty of space for everyone.

Once in the treatment room and comfortably in a chair, a nurse begins the process by spreading some requested lydocaine gel (props to Big Kev truthing the gel!) right on the spot of my medi-port insertion to numb the skin for the hook-up to the IV. The incision from the medi-port insertion is still a bit tender since it's barely a week old and very gunky from steri-strip residue. The gel is left on for about 10 minutes and then I get my connector piece (a Huber needle) put into the port. I literally didn't feel a thing. After that comes some saline to flush it out.

There is a break in the action for a few minutes before I get my first bag of drugs. Christine wisely obliges my whim and spends the free moments snapping off a few pics of me and my surroundings. So far so good.

I'm now ready for the first drip to start. Just waiting for the bag to show up. It does and we begin.

My chemo protocol (ABVD) kicks-off with the anti-nausea medication: Zofran (32mg), Decadron (10mg) and Ativan (1.0mg). These drugs make me sleepy and almost feeling drunk. It goes down very easy though. The sleepy feeling stays with me for the entire chemo session.

Next up is Adriamycin (58mg). Also known as the Red Devil and Doxorubicin, this is the one that will make my hair fall out and my urine red for a couple of days after treatment (pics to come!).

My third bag is Bleomycin (23 units), my fourth Vinblastine (14mg) and my fifth and final bag is Dacarbazine (880mg) known as DTIC or the "Big Bag", finishes me off.

The time actually passes quickly. Most of it I spend creating this post. My mom made a special trip to my office to get my required wireless AirCard so I even got a decent amount of work done later in the afternoon. Thanks mom!

It all wrapped up by 5pm and was extremely easy. Now all I have to worry about are they after effects!