October is here - Next cancer testing this month !!

So...here we are into October already! I chose the video clip of some
foliage because we won't be seeing much this year due to Hurricane Irene's
visit.

I'm now into my sixth decade or past the years of fifty somethings or if you're
still confused...I turned 60 years old last week! There have been some times in
my life when I never thought that I would make it to see this happen, but I did and I'm very thankful.

My next checkup at the cancer center is scheduled for October 31st which happens to be Halloween. I'll have bloodwork done, an exam and hopefully get my flu shot while I'm there too.

As my third year of remission is coming to a close, I'm finding less things to write about, but will try to keep it interesting none the less. As many of you know, October is Breast Cancer awareness month (you've seen the pink ribbons and decorations around maybe?) and I hope that all of you are still tolerating your treatments well and doing okay. It is indeed a horrible disease, as is any form
of cancer, but that is why we must have faith, hope and trust in our medical professionals and to God above. I'll be keeping you all in my prayers and thank
you all for the emails and support that you've been giving me. It really does help and it means a lot. THANK YOU!!!

Autumn Leaves

The singer in the video, Eva Cassidy, had a wonderful voice and talent that was cut short when she died of melanoma in 1996. In 1993, Cassidy had a malignant mole removed from her back. Three years later, during a promotional event for the 'Live at Blues Alley' album in July 1996, Cassidy noticed an ache in her hips, which she attributed to stiffness from painting murals while perched atop a stepladder. The pain persisted and a few weeks later, X-rays revealed that the melanoma had spread to her lungs and bones. Her doctors estimated she had three to five months to live. Cassidy opted for aggressive treatment, but her health deteriorated rapidly. In her final public performance in September 1996, at the Bayou, she closed the set with "What a Wonderful World" in front of an audience of friends, fans and family. She was subsequently admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Cassidy died at her family home in Bowie, November 2, 1996, at the age of 33. She was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Area Music Association. In accordance with her wishes, Cassidy’s body was cremated. Her ashes were scattered on the lake shores of St. Mary's River Watershed Park, a nature reserve near California, Maryland.

That said, cancer is a horrible disease and knows no age or limits and
this being Breast Cancer Awareness month, I'm saying some special prayers for those fighting it.

I recently had my cancer screenings and CEA blood test and so far
everything looks good. My oncologist wants me to have my next CT scan and CEA blood test in April of next year. I told him that our insurance provider will be changing and will have to notify them with contact info soon, so they can coordinate these expensive tests through the new healthcare provider which will be some kind of United Healthcare program.

We're still waiting on the information package which should be coming soon as enrollment is due by November 15th. I've always had some form of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, so I'm a little sad to be losing that as they seemed like a great provider and very helpful while going through my cancer tratments.

Flu Shot today - New Cancer Center

I went for my oncology visit and got the regular flu shot
while I was there. My oncologist said that the H1N1 symptoms
are different for each and for me would be the same, so
no other shot needed.

He also said that the media is over-hyping the H1N1 symptoms.

It's been about two hours now and my arm is just now feeling a bit
sore and I feel a siesta is coming soon.

Now I'm good until next April when I have my next PET scan.

Remission

I went to my oncologist today and was told that my cancer is in remission, total remission!

It was a very emotional moment after a year of a very strange, but enlightening journey that took many turns but ended on a good note.

Next, I'll be having the surgery to removed the mediport and will be monitored for the next five years. I feel that God and early detection saved my life and I will be forever thankful!

Blessings,
-Mike

May 11th - 2009

It's been almost a WHOLE YEAR since my diagnosis now. I'm starting to feel a little anxiety about my upcoming CT scans and blood tests. Eight more days!

Then a week after that I have an oncology appointment to have the port flushed and get the results of the procedures. I'm hoping that the scans are clean and I'll be able to have the mediport removed soon.

I hope that everyone had a Happy Mother's Day yesterday.

Neuropathy is much better, but still evident. More later...

A Day In The Life

I now have my dates for my scans!!! I'll be going into the hospital in Mid-to-late May for the scans and then have the followup with my Onclogist a week later. At this point I'm continuing to let the body heal from the toxic chemotherapy meds and feeling a little better with each passing day.

Now comes the waiting...as it's been said "the waiting is the hardest part" to find out if the chemo did what it was supposed to do. More later...

Happy St Paddy's !

I'll be going to the oncology center next week and we'll see where the road leads from there. It's been a long and winding journey since May of last year. Thanks to all for the supportive emails and comments!

Tomorrow is March 17th and everybody is Irish for a day.

May your best day in the past...be your worst day in the future!!!

Starting *Final* Round of Chemo

Today started off kinda bad, but ended a bit better because I wasn't going to let anything bother me during this final round of chemotherapy.

First of all, it started snowing here last Friday and didn't stop until last night and then a quick freeze settled in. With the gusty wind, it brought in windchills in the -10 to -3F range by this morning. So we got up early this morning to get a head start on a busy day.

My wife and I both got stuck from where the plow had dumped in front of our cars, so we were out there for quite awhile until we finally got both cars free from the snow. She left for work and called me when she got there to say that she made it okay and the highways were in much better shape. I then left for my chemo appt at 6:55am, even though I didn't have to be there until 8:00am. I was there by 7:30am and was able to get into the facility and wait until the staff showed up.

My white blood cell count was pretty low, but my oncologist said that it was within range and after discussing it with me, opted to continue without any delays. He also said that I've been a model patient (maybe he says that to all the patients?) and asked me if I'd be willing to talk with new patients that had some fear and/or concerns regarding the folfox treatments that I've been having. He said that a re-assuring veteran of the program could really calm a newer patient. Of course I told him that I'd be more than glad to speak with anyone that he wanted me to and I told him how my friend, Rob, is the main person that I, myself, had communicated a lot with when I was first diagnosed, and Rob has been a true friend throughout my whole journey and we still keep in touch via email, although we've never met due to the distance in where we both live.

Rob is now "cancer-free" and although I think I've posted his blog a few months back, here is another link to it :

http://rocamata.com/default.aspx

When I went into the treatment rooms, all of the other doctors and oncology nurses were coming by to wish me Merry Christmas and congratulations on finishing up this week. They are truly a great, professional and fun group and have really made it somewhat enjoyable (if that makes any sense?) to go through chemotherapy with.

Before leaving today, my oncologist spoke with me about the follow-up again and said it would about early summer (if all goes well) when I'd be having the mediport implant removed. I'll have to be monitored closely for a short period, then every 6-8weeks I'll go in to have both mediports flushed (it's a dual catheter port). After that some PET/CT scans and my follow up scope check. My bloodcounts are expected to recover slowly, but my immune system is low and I'm still at risk for catching infections from others while in the early follow-up stages.

So, day 2 tomorrow (Tuesday)of the treatments, they'll disconnect the pump then start the IVs before re-connecting the pump for the last time and on Wednesday (in 2 days) it will be out for good!

Now it's siesta time and I hope to wake up for the season finale of 'Prison Break' tonight.

Round 11 Finished - One more to go !!!

Today's treatments went well and the doc's report was very positive sounding. I had the mediport flushed, talked about some of the follow-up procedures and then was disconnected from "the pump" for the second to last time!

I have a dual mediport implanted and when I go for follow-up they will flush BOTH ports with the 4" needle at the same time. I'm glad this is only every 6-8 weeks or as needed depending on a variety of factors. At least I have piece of mind that I won't be leaving attached to the pump.

So, it looks really good for December 22nd, 23rd and the grand finale on December 24th (Christmas Eve). I'll have to take a cake, cookies and stuff for the oncology nurses and doctors. I feel very fortunate to have had a very compassionate and professional team of physicians and nurses during this whole journey.

Round 11 (of 12)

Well, I'm into my ELEVENTH Round of chemotherapy now. My oncologist told me today that the neuropathy will probably still be evident for another several months. For that reason, they will be doing follow-up bloodwork, CEA blood tests, PET/CT scans and mediport maintenance.

It went okay today and some of the nurses came by to "remind" me that the end is near. It's nice of them, but I don't need to be reminded. I'm kinda/sorta at the point where I've had enough. It will be great to be disconnected for the LAST time and to eventually have the mediport taken out of my chest.

That said, I still don't want to get ahead of myself because any little thing can change the schedule and/or progress, which has been very good so far with only one setback that delayed treatment back around cycle 5 I think?

Smooth sailing again...

I had my second treatment today of cycle 3 and all went well. My oncologist asked me if I've noticed my face being red (as it was today) and I told him that it always seemed to have a "sunburned" look for the first few days after the Oxaliplatin. He said that we'll just keep an eye on it.

While there in the infusion room, I met another guy about my age who is finishing his 12th cycle this week. He was also a stage III colon cancer patient. He is so happy to have made it and told me that week 10-12 were "very trying" but he could see the light at the end of the tunnel and he strived to make the last 3 cycles and finally made it. He said that the neuropathy was pretty intense in his feet, but not so much his fingers. I wished him well. He finished his treatment before mine and left. It was good to have someone to talk to that I could relate to for a short time today while being infused.

It's not a big deal though, I read or listen to mp3's, or sometimes just close my eyes and rest. It is an extremely busy clinic, but all of the doctors and nurses are very good to work with and offer advice and answer any questions that anyone has.

Treatment Delayed today :(

I wasn't able to continue treatment/infusions to day because of
1.(infection/blood ozzing from incision above port) and
2.(platelet count was low).

They sent me back to the interventional radiologist group and the doc cleaned, sutured and dressed the infected/open incision area. Only stings a little bit.

So, I go back tomorrow morning for bloodwork and see if they can proceed with the treatment.

I knew it was too good to be true, I had finally got an early appt for chemo today and wasn't able to get the infusions. The first day of the folfox treatment is the longest and I was hoping to get in and out by around noon time. Oh well, I can only trust that my oncology team (and I say "team" because my oncologist is away this week and he runs the oncology dept/clinic) is making the best decisions for me.

Infection !

I'm still hoping that this won't prevent me from starting my 3rd cycle of chemo this week, but I woke up this morning with a moderate burning sensation in my chest. After getting up and looking, it appeared to be a bacterial-type infection of some type overlapping the area of my mediport incision and about the size of a quarter.

I called my oncology group and the on-call doctor called in a prescription of oral Dicloxacillin 250mg capsules. Dicloxacillin is indicated for the treatment of infections caused by susceptible bacteria.

I'll speak with my oncologist in the morning and see if he wants me to come in immediately to look at it or wait until I go there for my regular appointment on Tuesday morning at 8:30am. I'm really hoping that I won't need to re-schedule and prolong the treatment plan. I want to get this done by the end of the year,

First week of chemo is finished !

I had a later appointment today and noticed that my portable pump started occasionally beeping about three hours before my scheduled appointment. I called the clinic and was told that it was beeping because the dosage was getting low, but after being asked and reading what was left, the nurse told me that there would be enough to last until I got there.

In driving to the clinic, I noticed that it was down to only 002, then 001 when I walked into the building. I had just sat down when it started beeping and didn't stop and the nurse came over and took the battery out of it and said "you're done." She then "unhooked me" and flushed the port and said I was good to go.

Before leaving, I spoke with my oncologist and was given some samples of Senokot, to help things move, so to speak. Other than that, I've had no nausea or feeling sick at all, just some mild sensitivity to cold beverages and food and some minor tingling in my fingertips, but very tolerable at this point.

I can only hope that every week goes as well as this, but I'm a realist and trying not to get ahead of myself and will take things as they come. I've learned that life IS a gift and you must stop and smell the roses when you can.