I met my radiation oncologist, Dr. Kenneth Russell, today for the first time. He immediately recognized my Brass Rat, so I definitely have a good feeling about him.
Radiation sounds like a pain. They basically strap me down in a Hannibal Lechter mask, attached to a board I lie on so I can’t move my head or neck, and they hyperextend my head so it’s like I’m looking straight up. Then they bombard my neck with X-rays for about 10 minutes. Insaaaane.
Looks like the main complication (long term) is likely to be that my major salivary glands on the right side of my neck are obliterated. So I may have less saliva in the future. Hopefully the ones on the left can pick up the slack.
As for the emotional distress, that’s mostly resolved. I’m thinking of buying a condo. It’s probably too expensive, but it’s pretty freaking sweet.
I was leaning alot more heavily towards it until today when my team of trusted advisors weighed in almost uniformly in opposition. It’s good to have a group as talented and deliberate as 5th West around.
A few months ago, my doctor told me that during strenuous exercise it is biochemically impossible to experience stress. This morning I put that to the test. After 3 hours at the gym (1.5 on the treadmill, 1.5 weights) I can report that this is either not the case or among the various emtions I am experiencing, stress is not a major player. When my heart was up at just over 200 bpm, I felt like I was going to collapse and die right there on the floor, but it did nothing to change my emotional state.
I had my 3rd chemo friday yesterday and so far things are going along just fine. Dave came along with me to the treatment, and it was once again nice to have someone there for moral support.
I had a bit more fatigue last night than the previous time, but today was back up to going into the city for gyros, comics and bubble tea. Mmm good.
Now I’m watching the 4400 with Dave and we plan to see a movei afterwards.
I waa goign to do a Lost Season 1 marathon with Heather, but she got sick. Ordinarily my immune system would brush aside whatever she has without any dificulty, but since my immune system is presently on vacation in Fiji, I figure it’s best to stay away from the most flu-ridden of my friends.
The right ventricle chamber is normal in size. The left ventricular chamber is at the upper limits of normal size. There are no focal wall motion abnormality. The left ventricular ejection fraction is computed at 66%, which is within normal limits (normal greater or equal to 50%). The range is 64-68%. ECG demonstrates regular rhythm and normal gating.
IMPRESSION:
1. NORMAL BIVENTRICULAR FUNCTION AT REST. 2. NORMAL LVEF – 66%
Once again, no big problems with the chemo. I woke up this morning and played some Dungeon Siege II, then Ali and Geeven came over, picked me up, and we went into town for gyros, bubble tea, and comics. We also stopped at the Univeristy Bookstore and I bought another 4 books for my to-read pile.
Stomach feels a bit upset now, as I sit on my couch, so I took some ativan. If it gets worse, I also have some steroids I can take, but I don’t think it’ll get to that point.
It’s just my luck that freaking nobody’s around this weekend. Dave’s got the whole usual crew all tied up with puzzle/game helping and Vick and Heather are both out of town. Of course, I can just see this as an opportunity to get some stuff done — like reading the 6 books I’ve purchased in the last week or so.
After spending a morning in meetings, I went for a delightful lunch with Heather (Indian Buffet followed by Ice Cream Cow Chips) and negotiated the vending of Dungeon Siege II. So that was a thumbs up outing if I’ve ever had one.
I dropped Heather back at The Code Mines and swapped her for Ali, who hanged out at The Hutch with me while I got my infusion. My neutrophils are back with a vengeance! They went from 420 / uL to 17,240 / uL (normal is 1800-7000).
So I’m pretty much indestructible at this point.
Anyway, the infusion was uneventful. I’m back home now. Just had a couple of slices of leftover pizza and 7 of the crazy vitamins my mother sent. I feel fline. The side effects don’t really start to hit until tomorrow, but hopefully I can manage some gyros and comics anyway.
I went in Friday morning at 8 for my blood work, a MUGA scan, and chemo. The schedule was to be: 8am blood, 8:30 MUGA, 11:30 doctor, 12:30 chemo.
Alas, things did not go this way. It wasn’t entirely unexpected that this would happen, but my white blood cell count was too low to begin the chemo. My neutrophils, which apparently are the primary infection fighting cells, were only 420 / uL. The normal range was something like 1800 – 7000 / uL.
This means next Tuesday and Wednesday they’ll inject me with growth factors to kick my bone marrow into go mode so by Friday I’ll have enough white blood cells to get the chemo.
Then every 2 weeks thereafter on Tuesday and Wednesday I’ll get growth factors before my Friday chemo. So at least now I won’t slip my schedule any more and it’s more well-known so people can schedule their visits to see me.
I went in to the Hutch and had some blood counts done today. I seem to be operating within normal parameters.
This is no guarantee that I’ll continue to have a decent white blood cell count by next Friday, but we’ll see. Dr. Petersdorf said there was "at least a fair to middling chance that my white blood cell count will be too low next Friday to do chemo" and that we’ll have to do growth factors. Let’s hope my marrow toughs it out. I’d rather just press on and get this taken care of.
I asked that they do a MUGA scan to get a baseline measurement of my heart function so we can tell if the Adriamycin does any damage. So they’re going to do that next week as well. And next time I get the blood work done, they’ll also check my liver enzymes to see how they’re doing. w00t!
The weekend went well. Ed, Ed’s fiancee Elaine, my mom and Jon were all in town. I had only very slight nausea and no vomiting. I felt worst on Sunday and Monday, but I was back at work on Monday.
Yesterday I felt pretty good and today I think I feel 100%. Though with my memory, I might just not remember what 100% feels like from a week ago.
When I feel my neck it feels like the tumors have shrunk a ton. I guess I could just be out of my mind, but I don’t think so. They feel at least 50% smaller.
Anyway, this Friday I’ll have a blood count to see how ye olde white blood cells are doing and then next Friday is my next scheduled chemo treatment. This time it should only take 3 hours, thank goodness. They’ll give me a blood test first and if my white blood cells are doing ok, shoot me up. If they aren’t, then they’ll give me some growth factors to stimulate the very marrow of my bones (which apparently, will hurt) and then give me my infusion of poisons the following Friday.
So let’s all hope that I don’t need any growth factors. Go go gadget marrow!