Thursday, June 28, 2007
Getting Better
The PET scan I took on Monday came back completely clear which means most of the cancer is gone. To make sure it gets the "Finish Him!" treatment I have two more chemo sessions (one after today) and then I will switch to 4-6 weeks of radiation. It should be much easier than chemo and will consist of getting a "laser" shot at my neck 5 times a week for 10-15 minutes. Throat swelling will be the side effect, but that's a trade-off I'm more than willing to make.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The Summer of John
The Good: I'm halfway through.
The Bad: The aftermath from #6 has been rougher than most.
The Ugly: I've spent so much time on the couch there's a Homer-esque indentation that spans the length.
Seriously, I feel like George after the Yankees blew him out when all he did for the summer was sit in his recliner, eat, watch TV and repeat. I even noticed some lack of leg strength today when I arose to make the mighty hike from the couch to the kitchen for yet another H2O infusion. The hair follicle count is beginning to match up too, but I can't complain about that because it has held out way longer than expected. Needless to say I haven't been spending much time on my feet the past week and I'm pretty sure "Christine" means "Bringer of Whatever John Asks for" in some type of Indian (feathers not dots) dialect.
Tuesday night finds me having sat upright most of the day and able to walk up a whole 10 stairs without having my heart pounding for 10 minutes afterwards. It's wild how much the chemo poisons me, but as I've said all along, the week I feel good is enough to make me forget how much I felt like crap. It's get me through. Well, that and NBA Championship rings (coming this November).
In the meantime I get to catch up on my TV (the Wonder Years is on ION twice a night people!) and stay out of the South Texas summer heat. Hopefully I'll be back scaling mountains and having late nights again with all of you real Topeka people in the fall.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Chemo #6, Christine's perspective
Well, that wasn't wonderful, but to be fair it wasn't horrible either. We had a new nurse, Cindy. She seemed very competent and nice enough, but she wasn't Rosie. Sigh. Rosie was super wonderful and made us all feel better through the last 5 chemos. She switched locations to be closer to home and is no longer with the CTRC. Anyway, Cindy's been a chemo nurse for 24 years and I'm sure we're in good hands.
Our appointment was for 9, but John didn't get his first chemo drugs until 11:45. He, and the rest of us, were very antsy. He was all hooked up with no drugs to put in the port. Apparently the chemo room has 23 chairs but only one hood to mix chemicals under. Which means the poor pharmacist can only go one patient at a time. We have the first time slot of the day, and since we were so late the afternoon patients were VERY backed up. Susan said the waiting room was standing room only. Susan packed good sandwiches and we had lots of snacks. Food makes things more bearable .
John had a rough time today. Because of the late start, there was a HUGE lag between his Emend (anti nausea meds to be taken an hour before chemo) and when he actually got the drip started. He looked bad from the beginning of treatment and halfway through he put away the laptop, pushed the seat back and tried to sleep. Cindy the Nurse said that the treatments begin to hit harder around #6. He seemed to be very nauseous but refused meds to help. What didn't help was the poor gentleman who walked in the clinic and immediately started vomiting. His IV wasn't even hooked up! He, not surprisingly, continued to yak off and on throughout his treatment. I felt bad for him but I also felt bad for the rest of us who were listening to him. The nurse didn't blink, she said that's what he does.
John got home and went straight to bed. I hope he sleeps off some of the "ick" and feels good enough to watch the Spurs game tonight. Traditionally Thursday and Friday aren't that bad, however, I think it might be a little rougher this time. His WBC count was low (I think 3.3) and he had a Neulesta shot to make new white blood cells grow. That usually equals miserable headache and a miserable weekend for John. We'll just wait and see. GO SPURS GO
Our appointment was for 9, but John didn't get his first chemo drugs until 11:45. He, and the rest of us, were very antsy. He was all hooked up with no drugs to put in the port. Apparently the chemo room has 23 chairs but only one hood to mix chemicals under. Which means the poor pharmacist can only go one patient at a time. We have the first time slot of the day, and since we were so late the afternoon patients were VERY backed up. Susan said the waiting room was standing room only. Susan packed good sandwiches and we had lots of snacks. Food makes things more bearable .
John had a rough time today. Because of the late start, there was a HUGE lag between his Emend (anti nausea meds to be taken an hour before chemo) and when he actually got the drip started. He looked bad from the beginning of treatment and halfway through he put away the laptop, pushed the seat back and tried to sleep. Cindy the Nurse said that the treatments begin to hit harder around #6. He seemed to be very nauseous but refused meds to help. What didn't help was the poor gentleman who walked in the clinic and immediately started vomiting. His IV wasn't even hooked up! He, not surprisingly, continued to yak off and on throughout his treatment. I felt bad for him but I also felt bad for the rest of us who were listening to him. The nurse didn't blink, she said that's what he does.
John got home and went straight to bed. I hope he sleeps off some of the "ick" and feels good enough to watch the Spurs game tonight. Traditionally Thursday and Friday aren't that bad, however, I think it might be a little rougher this time. His WBC count was low (I think 3.3) and he had a Neulesta shot to make new white blood cells grow. That usually equals miserable headache and a miserable weekend for John. We'll just wait and see. GO SPURS GO
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