Typical....

Just typical... Odd, how, for the 100th post here, a post that might seem to be a landmark of sorts, I received notification today that UW and, by association, SCCA will no longer be taking part in my insurance's network. yay.

Check up 10/22

Just a cursory check up with the Radiation oncologist. Nothing of real interest. She suggested that I'm pretty lucky because of a variety of things including a few I haven't heard before. Otherwise, I think it was the quickest check I've had in all this. Need to get a chest CT soon, have to go to Seattle or that, then an MRI 3 months later... and more further out.

No News is Good News

I've not been focused on this thing much mostly, there isn't much going on.

I had a check up in July, nothing worrisome was found...

2 and 1.....

All rather unceremonious, mundane, and routine really. I AM FINISHED party to follow, thinking August since things still haven’t really settled down, as if.

3

3

4

finally back on it, I swear with the scheduling bull crap this is harder than the chemo was...

Radication....f...f...f...f...f...f...f...f...

In an effort to further contribute to my complete mental meltdown due to frustration the docs have taken me off the boards for this week of radiation. Thus, next weeks appt at the SCCA has to be rescheduled for later, and I still get to do more radiation...if my skin heals up more...

5

5 more, electron field now...

7

7

8

firmly into the single digits now, woo woo!

...

Today I was informed that a cancer survivor I have had the pleasure to know was recently diagnosed with a relapse... First I'm pissed. Second, I'm nervous. WTP

9

9

10

10 more days...

12 days of radiation left

And we're on standby, at least until tomorrow. Apparently my skin wasn't looking to good to my doctor on Monday so she had me skip the past three days and we'll start again tomorrow. Frustrating as I'm so close to being done with this crap and now I've had to wait a little longer....DANG IT! Otherwise I'm fine and have been tolerating the radiation very well according to the doctor. As I've been told before with regards to chemo, I'm "made for this."

Nice 1...now come on and get me done!!!

Radiation is uneventful, I'm going to start back to work full time

I was just working part time till I determined how I would take tot he radiation, I seem to be doing well, so I'm going to go back to full time and see how that treats me. No other news, other than this week being really short on account of the holiday and some issues I have to travel out of town for tomorrow...

1st week of radiation down

1 week down, 5 weeks to go!!!! Almost done with the tedious stuff, woo woo.

It's been "easy peasy" so far, and it's getting to the point where I get there and by the time I'm changed they are ready for me, then it only takes 15 minutes, MAX!

Every 5th day of radiation they keep me a little longer for X-rays to confirm that the targeting tattoos are still on target, so that takes some extra time...Otherwise boring.

Monday, I have to go early to see the docs to talk about how it's going, then things carry on from there...

I remember a nurse in Seattle told me that during her radiation treatment she had an aloe plant which she broke a leave off, after each round of radiation, and rubbed into the skin at that location. The end result was that her skin didn't get irritated and didn't have noticeable changes. I don't have an aloe plant, but I bought a big thing of pure aloe gel and a bottle of "solarcaine." So far so good.

2 days of radiation down 28 to go

It doesn't look that bad on paper, and so far it doesn't seem all that bad, but I'm getting plenty of warning that it could really tire me out; I have my doubts as I've done so well with everything else.

My attitude's been blah lately; things are getting to me and I'm having trouble "idealizing" a great outcome. Must try harder, so little time.

Block Test

9:00 Block test. Basically a dry run of the procedure. Go in, dress down, lay down, ZAP, get up, dress up, get out.

After that, daily's at 3pm, following 2:30 Mondays...

I'm anxious to get it done, but on a personal note, I'm just tired of MANY things right now.

Finally getting somewhere with radiation...

Finally starting to get set up for radiation. Yesterday I got scanned and tattooed for the procedure. Uneventful, just went in, changed into some sweats, went into the X-ray lab, laid down, got my legs measured, got marked up with a sharpie, put some metal filaments on the marks then scanned, got ink dabbed on me, and finally pricked with a needle... should be starting soon with the radiation and hopefully getting back to normal... hurry!

Not much to report

Spoke with my nurses, they say things are going fine and that they'll be ready to release me to radiation soon. I'm looking forward to that because it means I'm onto the short end of this whole ordeal. Also, I can start running again and getting back to the state of fitness I was before all this. I've even registered for my next run, Bloomsday, here's hoping I can get to some form of running fitness by then...it might be a while.

Blood count reports I've got blood that counts

As in thankfully, my WBC is back up to "normal," thank you Neulasta; for taking your time, Grrr! So, that means I've got an immune system again, which is great concidering this "laying low" deal is getting boring....

Everythign else is uneventful.

A close up of my weekly Chemo Meds

I don't think you've gotten a good shot of what the chemo itself looked like so here's a pic and explanation: The Orange stuff is the Adriamiacin, a vesicant (causes blistering on skin), basically the nasty stuff I had to be hooked up for 24/3; next to it on the left is Ifosfamide, a clear liquid, that can lead to internal bleeding, I had to get it 4/5; the little bottle on the far left is just some albumen which was administered each time before the Ifosfamide. What you don't see; Mesna, an injection prior to Ifosfamide to prevent internal bleeding; hydration, TKO(To Keep Open); Zofran , the anti-nausea injection, decadron, a steroid and anti-nausea injection.

From Bulletin Board

Blood test reveals its all red

As in I currently am immuno-deficient and have low white blood count and low platelet count. Also seem to have managed to stir up a thrush infection. Docs got me on some meds for that, so I'm hoping that keeps it in check and my immune system ramps back up in time to avoid this getting out of hand.

Other than that I feel just fine and will continue to lay low until my next blood draw, Wednesday.

Blood work came back better than I expected

Yesterday I had blood draws and the CBC/WBC thing. I was surprised that after I went in pretty early they didn't get back to me right away with the results. I gave them the benefit of the doubt as it was Friday and finally called them later in the afternoon. Surprisingly decent counts this time, must be all the walking I'd been doing prior to my 4th round? WBC is low, so I have to be careful, not a problem, I don't have anything pressing at the moment. Platelet were low also, but not low enough to cause concern like they had previously. I'm glad, but laying low. Thankfully my nephew brought over Entourage season 5, which, I'm enjoying...really pleasntly surprised that I enjoy that program...

Everything else is decent.

About the my 4th round of chemo

First day was just fine, Mark dropped me off and we hung out until it got a bit later and Mark took off. Despite my best efforts to get things started early, they were in no hurry, so I finally got my chemo drugs at about 5pm... This just means my discharge is at an inconvenient hour, so I end up staying to the morning. They get the chemo started and I'm feeling fine, but I have no appetite for the hospital food this time. The first 2 rounds it wasn't bad, but that last two I just couldn't stomach it, the thought of it just left me feeling like I could skip it. I wisely had stopped at the grocer before admit, so had brought some frozen dinners I knew wouldn't offend me and I would eat. Those ended up being all I ate....

By the next morning I'm already feeling the chemo kill my appetite and my mouth getting all numb. This is par for the course, but the appetite thing really worries the nurses and they even suggest marinol, the drug from marijuana that increases appetite. I tell them that I'll at least eat dinner so it's not a big deal which seems to pacify them... I took a stroll and rested. Resting is about all I feel up to when I start to feel the "Adria" get to me.

:gross part:
One thing I have to do while on chemo is collect my urine so they can test it for blood; the "Ifos" damages your bladder, but they give me drugs for that. So EVERY time I pee, I have to pee in a pitcher and leave it in the bathroom. That wouldn't be so bad. I've mentioned before that you take on this whole smell of chemo as the drugs are infused througout your body, well this includes the urine and that makes having to collect it pretty icky. First, wierd smell of my "chemo-sweat" is gross, my stomach is rambunctious, the urine is especially punjent, and there just seems to be no escaping it. Did I mention this is EVERY time I pee and they have me drink loads of water....
:end gross:

The rest of the time is pretty much the same, just hanging out, drinking loads of water, making a few laps, and sleeping tons. Thankfully, that was it for a while!

On the rest

That's what I'm up to right now. I got back Tuesday eve and went straight to bed. Tuesday was actually a long day of me going to the SCCA for some meetings and getting some scans. Started early, but somehow ended late... such is the medical world.

I had to fast for the scans so I was starving by the time I got out of there. It was probably the worst thing I could have eaten, but since my buddy lives in the neighborhood, so I could smell the food; I had Pagliacci's. Just a pizza place.... My taste buds were ineffective, so I loaded up the chili pepper and enjoyed it! Actually was really good, if more bland than normal on account of my taste-buds.

About the time I finished that, my father called and said he was a half hour away, so I could expect him soon. I marched back to the apartment and gathered my things together and tried to leave it as I had found it. Big Thank you to Allan for putting up with me again; I owe him a real visit in which I don't have to be in hospital; that goes for Amber, too.

Father arrived shortly there after and with minor difficulty we got out of there by 1:30 ish. The drive back was uneventful, and actually decent considering the sunlight...

At my meetings only one thing really came out; Radiation treatment to begin soon, and that will 6 weeks of getting "microwaved"(no, not really) and then just check-up's to make sure this doesn't come back...

Still planning for the "Chemo Shmemo" Party, aka. F--- Chemo, Let's Dance Party! I'm hoping to have it on a weekend, so please feel invited!!!!

Round 4 is in the bag

Whew, that was blah! But, now I'm out of there for a while, hopefully a long while! The nurses had a small send off for me, but I was still dragging so no back-flips from me. I beat it out of there as soon as I could and am now holed up at my buddies until tomorrow for a morning of meetings/scans/chats.

I had to eat something and all I cold think about in the hospital was either Pagliacci's or pho. I chose pho and it was good.

Just keeping well rested for now.

Round 4

Today, I begin round 4! This is scheduled to be the last round and that's good! I'm actually kind of tired from the drive up so I'll update later...I'm doing fine for now, and despite my best efforts I won't get started on my chemo drugs until 5ish and won't be discharged until Monday AM...

Here's another story!

When I was last in the SCCA, I mentioned, I met a young woman starting her cancer treatment. I was surprised to see anyone near my age who wasn't working there. I started a conversation with her and in that conversation I suggested it was nice for me to have a blog so people I didn't have a chance to always talk to were able to keep up on my status. Here's a link to her blog!

http://baldheadsaresexy.blogspot.com/

No 5th Round, get ready to celebrate

Alright, I was pretty convinced that I'd be doing a 5th round of chemo and today told my Dr., "Yes, I'd like to go ahead and do it."  Surprisingly, she was pretty resistant and said that she had no medical evidence that a 5th round would be beneficial.  She also indicated that what led her to suggest a 5th round was how well I've been doing with my chemo and often they will use a 5th and 6th round when the tumor has been shown to be resistant or large.  Neither has been the case for me, so it looks like this last round will be it for my chemo and it will be onto radiation.

I'm going to start planning the "Chemo shmeemo" party!!!!

And, did I mention?!?!?

My favorite part! Hair is falling out freely! You know what that means..... no more shaving for a while!!!! YES! Not that I was doing it anyhow, I figured I'd be losing the hair agin soon so didn't bother with it much at all, lazy me, I know!

More blood work reveals that I still have blood!

Yep, they keep drawing my blood, but they don't seem to be able to get it all; I keep going back, silly me!

Finally got a decent count today, platelets are a bit low, but not scary low so I just have to monitor how I'm feeling, which overall isn't terribly bad. White blood count is up, so I don't need to worry so much about what I eat.

I've pretty much decided to go ahead with a 5th round, I'll have a couple small questions for my chemo doc, but otherwise I'm very convinced! I mean, if that woman I first met in the hospital can take 6 rounds, then I'm sure I can do 5, I mean really! Secretly, it's just so I can see the nurses more, just kidding, or am I?!

Blood work 2/23

Another check of my blood count today shows I'm still low in WBC and actually my platelets dropped also... For now I just have to keep doing what I've been doing and laying low. That has been boring, but I've been making a lot of headway on a few of my projects that have been on the back burner...

BTW, this means I get another blood count Wednesday!

Blood work 2/20

Par for the course, my blood work came back with low WBC. This means I need to be careful of undercooked foods and mindful of any signs of infection/illness. Being kind to my right arm, which is usually the one they draw from, I insisted on the left... It's worth the extra little bit of pain to spare my right, believe me!

That said, I'm feeling pretty good, did some grocery shopping while in town, and that about sums it up.

I'll remark that my last post seemed pretty "blah." That is purely a result of how I was feeling physically; emotionally I'm still high spirited and this isn't really getting to me other than being frustrated this is such a time consuming process!

None of this counts as a vacation, none of it!!!!

I've neglected this, totally irresponcible on my part.

I made it through this round in the usual fashion, and my father picked me up at got me back home with no problems.

My stay in the hospital didn't go as well as I planned; I got sick of the food sooner, I got more tired sooner, and that all frustrated me, sooner. I did have some great nurses that helped to keep my spirits up(keep it clean people), and a young woman I met at the SCCA even came to visit me! I must be doing something right!

Since I've been back I've felt nowhere near myself and have been trying to. My stomach felt unsettled until today and now I've got an appetite again. There is a chemical odor you get from the chemo and that started to get to me so I used a home remedy for that(epsom salt bath). Otherwise, I am holding up pretty dang well and I get to have bloodwork tomorrow! I've just been trying to keep busy here at home and I'm looking forward to when I get all this behind me.

My plans for this round!

Well the last couple rounds haven't been all that I wanted them to be, but I'm not that concerned.

My first round was really just getting to know the ropes, I did that.
My second round actually ran me down quite a bit, I didn't like that.
This round I intend on working out to some degree everyday to keep my body in the lead here!

Otherwise, I'm still keeping on! Impossibly hard to play sports with an I-V tree attached, dang it!

Round III begins with the sun; in Seattle, in February!!?!?!?!??!!??!

Yesterday started early with Mark coming to the house and picking me up in the snow and fog. The bit of snow at the house had me feeling guilty about the whole trip up, but Mark was more than reassuring, and when we got outside of Ellensburg it became clear I didn't have anything to worry about! I do owe Mark a car wash though. Before heading off we stopped in at my Father's and said a quick goodbye and then were off.

It was pretty foggy through most of the valley, but there were some occasional clearings and we noticed off in the distance this strange thing called sun light. That really lifted our sprits and we kept seeing more and more sun until we crossed the pass, with no problems by the way, and were treated a green and sunny west side. Who knew!?!?!

My first appointment was a blood draw at 10, and I was late for that, but a blood draw doesn't require the promptness that my other appointments do so I wasn't at all worried about that. I checked into the SCCA for that and they accessed my port and took some blood to get started. It was still sunny out in Seattle, so I tried to encourage Mark that he didn't have to hang out at SCCA especially with REI so close... I went to my next appoinment, a chest CT scan, and that took longer then I would have liked. I had forgotten that you have to be injected with a marker and they hold you for observation after that, and that took another half hour. Mark and I were planning on heading out to Red Mill, so this was really cutting into that. Again, Mark was totally cool about the situation and agreed to go after all my appointments.

I got to my last appointment and that took at bit longer than I anticipated and I was really getting hungry, so I knew I'd be ready to eat a big meal at Red Mill!!!! We drove straight over to Red Mill, in the sun, and enjoyed those super burgers and onion rings! Then, it was back to my old digs at UWMC. I got a new nurse and was (umbilically) with beaker, it was great! Currently the juices ARE flowing!

All in all it was a really nice day, but chilly! Mark thanks for everything, I owe you pal!

Ready to go again

Round three took some effort ot get pinned down, but I start on the 11th.

Good friend Mark has graciously volunteered to drive me up there, so that's set. Just getting things in order here before I have to go back up there.

I'm still anxious to get this all done. I'm actually getting pretty stir crazy and I've even been doing a lot of activities....?

Just to clear things up

I just read that last post and it reads a bit ambiguously, so I thought I'd try to clear that up now.

Yes, it all was very good and clean from the surgery!!! And, that is what I expected.

I was getting pretty used to the idea of not having to do anything further as far as chemo and radiation, I'm really anxious to get back to normal, but they still want me to proceed with the original plan of additional rounds of chemo and the radiation. I agree, and chemo will start again the week of Feb 9.

In my discussion with my chemotherapist, Dr. Rodler, we talked about the possibility of a 5th round just to be sure. This will be an option, but Dr. Rodler also needs to be sure I continue to do well with the chemo in the first place. I am more concerned with my cardiovascular system and made mention of that. Basically that concern is delt with by just switching chemo drugs if my cardiovascular system were in danger.

I remain well, and am anxious to get this all behind me! All my best,
Adam.

Updates from Seattle today

I know all the tissue they took tested negative for any signs of cancer tissue.
Never-the-less, they still plan to proceed with the original plan, and if I'm really interested I can even have a fifth round of chemo but that would depend on my really wanting it and continuing to do well with it in the first place.

This will start up again in Feb...

In Seattle for the week.

Drove to Portland to visit mother, then drove to Seattle today. It's been sunny on this side of the state which is a welcome change!

Just an update on how I'm healing

Sorry I haven't updated much.  Really not a lot to tell.  I continue to heal well.  The sticky stuff from the tape they use has finally washed away and I'm able to let water run across the wound.  I've been lucky and not felt much pain from the site except when getting up and down from a seated position, so I usually end up standing around all the time, LOL! 

I get to meet with my doctors Jan 27th for a check up and I hope to be done with this sort of thing for a while.  That will, of course, depend on the docs.  I remain optimistic!

Back from surgery

Real quick, to get the word out:  I'm back form surgery.  Went well, they got what they wanted, and I got a big hole in me!!!  With this new "pocket" I think I'll install a zipper and start working for a Colombian cartel...hmmm!  Longer story and a picture to follow!

The Day of Surgery

Well, I got there early. Had to wake my buddy up at 6AM, sorry dude! Then we took me to the hospital: cleansed with Hibocleanse, fasted for over 12 hours, and as ready as I'm going to get! Then I have to wait, and wait, and wait! ARRRGH! Frustrated I'm ready to chew someones ear when they tell me they are on the way down for me. Finally!

I get to the pre-op room and dress down and talk to my anesthesiologist. He says they can keep me awake for the surgery, but it would take longer and they'd have to do a spinal tap. Well, I'm not anxious for that so I just let them do a general. I'm laying there when one of my docs comes in(a resident) and lets me know what they intend on doing. Then, a huge flood of nurses, taking vitals, asking questions, putting these weird socks on my legs to increase circulation, more questions, drug allergies?, any implants?, loose teeth?, etc etc. They want to give me an I.V. and I'm telling them I've got a port, can't you use that? Apparently not, so they end up sticking me for some blood, and to administer drugs. Blood work comes back good, 50 Hematocrit and they start rolling me into the OR. The Anesthesiologist is saying how great the room is and I'm noticing the "slice" of me they have pictured on the Plasma screen from my MRI.

I'm still chatting away, glad that things are rolling when the Anesthesiologist says that he's giving me the drugs. Those must be some great drugs because the last thing I remember is him saying that, me saying something smart and some movement of my arms by the nurses and then I'm half awake back in the surgical recovery room telling them to keep me on oxygen because I like it! At some point during this time in recovery my doctor comes to see me and says it went well (I think that's what he said) He shook my hand anyway. Next I'm wheeled off to the room I'll have for the night. I just vege out for a while and let the drugs wear off. I'm feeling nothing, but tired and it's hard to stay awake. I had asked them to take a picture of the cut when I was opened up, they did that for me and here it is:

From Surgery II

By way of explaining the picture, the cut runs from left to right, in the picture, on my upper right groin. You can see my hip to the left of the picture and the top of my right leg in the foreground.

Longest drive to Seattle, EVER!

And that's saying something because I've had some long drives to Seattle in my day...

I started early in the Tri-Cities thinking I could hop a bus and then have my sister pick me up after the surgery. I went to the bus station and found out, after I was already there, that the morning bus was canceled. So, I called my ride(Thank you Matt) back and we headed up to the Airport. Saw that the lines were huge and didn't want to wait around, so I decided to just go home so I could check on flights. As we were leaving my sister called and said her fiance had to go up today because all the passes were closed and his son has a dental appointment also. I was bound and determined to get up there so I gladly accepted. Didn't know what I was getting into!

After a while it shakes out that I should meet them in Yakima, where I can leave my car at his place, then we'll head down to I-84 and then come up the I-5 from Portland. At this point I'm just itching to go, I need to make sure I'm there and I can get this all done! We get headed out and it is totally dry, even breezy, and warm on the east side of the state. No inclement weather to speak of. We are driving through the gorge and noticing how full all the waterfalls are along the way. These little trickles have become raging cascades...Odd I thought for this time of year. Still just trucking along.

We cross into Washington again and get back on the I-5. People are calling me telling me that this and this is closed, they are going to close I-5 etc etc. And, the rain really starts to fall. Just a huge amount of rain. We drive for several miles, 60 or so, when we begin to start looking for an exit for a break. Still raining, and peculiarly, some of the exits are closed and that water looks high, is that a parking lot or a lake... We pull into one of the exits, but everything looks closed so we get back on I-5 for about 10 more miles when we find a decent rest stop. I'm in the restroom as I overhear the radio indicating that they are closing I-5 in 15 minutes from Exit 58 to 68. Crap! I'm not sure which exit we had taken, but I'm moving quickly to get back on the road. I informed Jeff, my sister's fiance, and we grab his son and are off shortly!

Well that was the closest it really got for us, but it was weird to see all those little towns totally blacked out and at one point the water looked nearly a foot below the road level!! Exciting stuff! The rest of the drive was rain, rain, and more rain. It slowed all traffic down, but we finally made it. Jeff and his son dropped me off at my buddy Allan's and then they went to where they were going to stay. I was due at 6:45 and so I went to bed almost directly...

Surgery Scheduled

OK, it's been confirmed, finally!  I'll be getting cut up on Thursday, Jan 8th 2009!  Nurses will call with pre-surgery instructions Jan 7th!