Journey

Nothing to exciting to report today, just the (now) usual blood draw for lab analysis to make sure I’m “OK” for Cycle 6 tomorrow. It’s quite the process of talking to various folks after getting the blood done. First there is the nurse who does the vitals and asks a number of questions. We discuss the cold I’ve had for the last 2 weeks, doesn’t seem to be too much f a concern. Then there is the doctors assistant who asks all the same questions in a bit more detail plus a little poking and prodding of my various lymph areas & my stomach/bowels, plus some stethoscope listening. Pretty thorough all in all. Then finally the oncologist doctor pops in, asks how I’m doing and if there are any questions. We talk about what’s next.

4-6 weeks after the end of Cycle 6, some time in late November or early December there will be a PET scan to see the status of the cancer. I’m believing it will be totally gone and treatments will be over. After that it’s periodic monitoring for some unspecified amount of time.

For the last couple of days I’ve had a sore throat and runny nose, both very annoying but not fatal… unless.

One of the things CancerCare drills into you about chemotherapy treatments is the need to be very concerned about infections. The main issue in my case would primarily be a low white blood cell count, which I have. That along with a bunch of other things make me more prone to infection.

The one thing CancerCare really emphasizes is if you have high temperature, hence this bad boy.

The “magic” number is 38°C. The advice if you see this number is to go directly to the ER, do not pass GO, just get there ASAP. Tell them you are on chemo and your are immediate bumped to Priority 2 and started on IV antibiotics. Priority 1 is in progress heart attacks and/or you’re about to die.

I’m good and the sore throat is letting up and the number above is me this morning, so no ER for me! 😀

Another chemo treatment. Hopefully, the 2nd last chemo treatment.  While I’ve been tolerating these treatments quite well physically, I’m definitely getting very tired of the process and the fact that it’s a constant reminder that I’m dealing with cancer. Treatment day plus pills and injections for several more days afterwards just keep putting the issue in my face. That plus every little feeling in my body gets put through the filter of “Is that something to do with the cancer?”.

Enough whining. I’m very fortunate to have so very few side effects and such positive progress on eliminating the cancer.

Today was a little different as Shirley was at another appointment during my treatment so there was nobody sitting with me, which for me at this point in the process was OK. However, I can really see the benefit of having somebody with you when you’re starting treatment or when things aren’t going good. Normally, most people undergoing treatment have one or more companions with them but today, there were several people, in beds, who appeared to be alone. Not good.

The treatment went about the same as previous sessions and the time flew by. As I’ve mentioned before the first 2 hours are quite busy with starting and stopping different IV drugs, and doing the 10 minute injection. The last hour of IV is generally a nap so I’m not the best company for that hour as I drift in and out.

Chris F. (Thanks!) dropped me off this morning and Shirley is doing the pickup and drive home. Getting closer to the end, yes!

A bit of apprehension leading into today as I check in at the hospital to get my blood work done and find out the results of last Thursday’s CT scan.

Thankfully, it’s all good news

• The tumour in my chest has reduced from 12.4 x 9.4 cm to 4.1 x 3.3 cm, an 88% reduction in area! This means prayer & chemo is working!
• As per previous tests, there has been no other cancer detected (Neck/Chest/Abdomen).  This means there has been no spread from the initial site, also a very good thing.

As good as this is I must admit I was a little disappointed. I really was hoping & believing it would be totally gone. I know I’m healed and it will just take a little more time for my body to catch up with the Word.

There are two more Cycles of chemotherapy planned at this point starting with #5 tomorrow. After Cycle 6 there will be another CT & PET scan followed by a decision on next steps, if any are required. I continue to feel well with minimal negative side effects. Still hitting the bike on a regular basis 🙂

Today is the CT scan to check up on the effect of the chemotherapy.

Just in case you’ve never seen or experiences a CT scan, this is what they look like. I’ve had a couple now so the process was familiar and went smoothly. The nurse that started my IV for the contrast injection was a riot. He had a constant upbeat banter with me and the other nurse he was working with. Interesting that this time after a 4 hr no eat, no drink rule I was asked to drink 2 large glasses of water right before the scan. Previous scans didn’t do this.

Today, I also broke a cardinal rule. I left the house in sweat pants, something I’ve told Shirley to never let me do. I never want to be “that guy” with the baggy, dumpy grey sweats roaming around in public. Now, these were quite nice Bench sweats in a tasteful dark blue colour that, I think, fit quite nicely. All the same I only wore them to the hospital and straight home where I changed back to jeans. Why the sweats? Well, if you show up for the CT scan with no metal in your clothing, you don’t have to change into a really stylish hospital gown 😉

Later in the Cycle is not so good for long distance, high intensity cycling. Who knew!

In today’s FOG ride I was starting to struggle as we came up to Hwy 44, 60km into the route. Would I push on to Birds Hill park, or listen to my body and cut the ride short a bit. The body won out and I took an easy pace back to the Legion parking lot via Henderson Highway. Pretty zapped when I got back and spent most of the afternoon laying around and napping.

I guess effects of the chemo on my blood chemistry really are taking a toll on my stamina and endurance. I know that things like WBC (White Blood Cell) and a whole lot of other things are well below normal levels.

In general, I’m still feeling quite well. Breathing is good and so is my appetite 🙂 Nothing to complain about here as the treatments seem to be having the desired effect. I’ll know more specifically how the treatment is going after the September 6th CT scan is reviewed with the oncologist on September 10th

Today’s ride was much better that last weeks! I was able to keep pace with the group, take my turn on the front several times, and get up the small hills on our route in an acceptable manner.

A couple of changes since last weeks disaster. The Karma road bike is fix with new shifter cables and housings and a shifting tune-up, and I have 200mg of Prednisone on board as part of my chemotherapy regime. While I’m sure this is not what the pros might use, I’m pretty sure this steroid is on the banned substance list!

This stuff gets you pretty jacked up. I was awake last night form 2-4am and then got up for a light breakfast and some reading. After that I caught a short nap before getting up for the day feeling quite talkative and energetic. I suspect there will be an early night crash to come, but generally a great day!

Today I’m back at St. Boniface Hospital for the start of Cycle 3 and the now familiar pills, injections and IV drugs which are having great effect on reducing the cancer symptoms.

However, just when you think you know what to expect, something new happens. Shortly after the Rituximab injection I started to have a little tickle in my throat and was coughing a bit. The nurse noticed this right away and started asking questions about it and took my vital signs (all good) and looked at the injection site for any redness etc. (none found). She then called the oncologist and they decided to classify this as a “reaction” to the drug. As a result I was give more Benadryl via IV and about an additional 30 minutes of monitoring before resuming the other chemotherapy drugs. The coughing was quite minor and stopped in about 10 minute so I didn’t think much of it but they took it quite seriously. The net result was that the session was a fair bit longer that the last time due to delay in getting started plus this mid-treatment time-out as well as a very lazy afternoon as the Benadryl seemed to make me quite tires/sleepy.