Round TEN has started !

Or 'cycle' ten, although at this point it seems like a boxing match and it's in 'round' ten. It's been a long ride from the hot humid summer days of treatment to the colder fall into winter weather treatment days. I needed gloves and had to dress warm and needed two blankets during treatment today. The nurses are very helpful in that respect.

I had an early appointment this morning and decided to update this blog before laying down for awhile. I went in for bloodwork, then had my exam and then got the 'poke' in the port (for some reason it really hurt today, and a new oncology nurse, maybe a technique issue?), anyway, I'll try to avoid her for the rest of my visits if possible.

After the needle was in and the dressing applied, they started me on the usuals, aloxi and compazine and when that was done, the dreaded Eloxatin (brand name) of oxaliplatin along with leucovorin. After that was finished, they flushed the port and hooked me up to the portable pump of 5-FU (fluorouracil) and sent me on my way.

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It really knocked me down with today's treatment, more so than I can remember, but I know that the end is near and that helps a lot

3/4 Finished with Chemotherapy :)

Today I went and had my portable infusion pump of 5-FU disconnected which ends my 9th cycle !

I'm now 3/4 through my treatments!!!

I asked my doctor what the next steps would be when I finished my treatments at the end of this year and when could I have the surgery to remove the implanted mediport with catheter.

He said that upon completing treatments that I would need to come in to have the port flushed every 6-8 weeks, have some blood tests and that he would be ordering scans and we'd take it from there.

I asked if the mediport could come out if the scans looked okay and he said he likes to keep them in until after the followup colonoscopy which would be in May of 2009 for me.

Cold and Windchills - 9th cycle continues

Today was the coldest day yet that I had to drive to my chemo treatments. It wasn't too bad driving there at 7:45am (about 35 degrees with a windchill that made it feel like 25 degrees). I wore a winter coat, sweater, warm shirt, undershirt and GLOVES.

Coming home I was shivering the whole way home and couldn't wait to put on an extra pair of socks and a heavy sweater, even though the heat was on and it was 77 degrees inside! The oxaliplatin is the worst chemo med in my opinion. Maybe in the near future they will have something that only kills the bad cells and not the good cells with it?

I came home, got warmer and decided to have a nap. Naps are your friend during chemo infusions. I'm hooked up to my infusion pump of 5-FU and will be going back tomorrow. Due to the numbness in my fingers, this is taking me a much longer time to type, so I'll keep it short and update later in the week.

October 1st already !

I had a bad night with fever, chills, sinus congestion, sore throat and muscle aches, along with a rash that developed again under my left arm. I'm using Niacin powder for the rash and pumped the recommended dosage of Tylenol for the fever.

Went to bed at 9:30pm last night and woke up at about 2:00am literally soaked with sweat. I had to get up and sleep (or what should have been sleep) in a recliner.

More Tylenol this morning (2 at 7:00am) and took one more at 9:30am as I was leaving for the clinic.

Bloodwork looked good and temp was 98.7 (normal), so they proceeded to inject me with Fluorouracil and then re-connected me to the portable pump of 5-FU and sent me on my way.

Still not feeling great or 100%, but glad that I was able to continue treatments!

Oh yeah, my friend Rob got an excellent report from his follow up colonoscopy and is now officially cancer free!

4th Cycle Complete (1/3 of the way)

I started and finished my 4th cycle of the Folfox treatment this past week and for the most part it went well. My next milestone will be finishing my 6th cycle (the halfway point) which should occur in early October is no setbacks.

The week started with a little bit of a pinch when the oncology nurse inserted the needle into my mediport, but I was able to whisper to the oncology nurse whose technique from last cycle gave me NO pain at all (zilch!) and she said that she would make a point to look for me to do the "poke in the port" on my next scheduled cycle start. I told her that I don't know how or what she did, but she has been the only one so far, to insert it with no pain at all.

As for the chemo, it was the same routine, a long first day with the infusion and sent home with the pump of 5-FU, then a little shorter on the second day with the IV and then more 5-FU in my holster pump to infuse overnight until I got in today for the exam and disconnect, where they flush the port with saline and give it a heparin lock.

I had an early appointment today, so I was out by 10am and had a nice breakfast (with hot coffee and not my favorite iced coffee) with my sister, Cathy, who recently had her colonoscopy. Even though they only found and removed one polyp, her doctor wants to see her in a year, due to my situation (sibling/family history?).

It got very hot and humid over the past 2 days, but all in all, it's been a cool August and the heat isn't bothering me like it did during July.

I can't stress enough to get yourself checked (scope) because it is a LOT easy than having surgeries and chemotherapy for six months. Early detection is a key factor and I truly believe that it is what saved my life along with the help of God!

Second Cycle - Finished !!!

I went for my bloodwork and pathology today and it looks very good I was told. I'm feeling pretty good about that and not sweating the minor side effects that I've had because they've been very tolerable so far.

My exam went well also with excellent blood pressure and no problems with infection, the mediport or any other symptoms. My oncologist said that I was doing so well that I can have next week off !

I had my mediport flushed/cleaned and was "un-hooked" from the portable pump of 5-FU and sent on my way...feeling pretty good I might add :)

On a side note, one of my cousins who is a nurse at another medical center sent me this link. You might have heard about the main author ? She has helped many to not just survive, but to eradicate their cancer : (Thanks Cheryl!)

http://www.amazon.com/Heal-Your-movie-expanded-version/dp/B000Y04R96/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_2_img?pf_rd_p=304485601&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-2&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1561706280&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=16RD3F8NJQ8E787V10ST

Happy Birthday Dad and tomorrow is my wife, Anne's Birthday :)

Oncologist

About a week after being discharged from the hospital, I returned to the surgeon's office and had the staples removed. We then talked about oncologists and I was referred to the chief of oncology at a nearby, hospital-affiliated clinic.

I met with the oncologist and was told about the diagnosis and treatment which he strongly recommended. I was also examined and had many questions answered.

My diagnosis was stage 3 colon cancer and the plan was to hit me hard for six months with chemotherapy. He told me that the surgeon had removed the malignant tumor and twenty six lymph nodes, of which only three had cancer cells in them, but because it had spread that far, I was staged as a 3.

The treatment plan is a curative one and is called "Folfox". It consists of Oxaliplatin, Leucovorin and 5-FU. He also said that I should have a "mediport" implant which would save me from a lot of needle pokes in my arms. An appointment was made for a "chemo training session" and the chestport surgery.