This update is long overdue, but with treatment in the mornings and then a full work day, I've been exhausted by the time I get home and just don't feel like writing. Then the weekends come and the last thing I want to do is sit at the computer when the weather is so nice.
Treatment to date:
Treatments are easy and painless, I've had nine of my 21 when you include treatment this morning. The treatment makes me feel nauseous, and I'm tired all the time, but it isn't terrible (the nausea is by far worse than the fatigue). I also have a nasty metallic taste in my mouth all the time, but it is worse just after the treatment. I miss about 1-2 hours of work each day depending on the start time of the treatments which range from 8:15 am to 9:30 am. Most are at 8:15, so I'm usually at the office by 10 am. At 12:30 I head home and nap for 30 minutes, then back to work.
The few unusual side effects I have are my super hunger (for foods I normally do not crave), and rash-like itchiness on my legs (not the treatment area). The rash-like itching comes & goes so I can deal with it, but the hunger is all the time. And I'm not hungry for green veggies and fruit. I want ground beef, bean, rice, pizza, french fries. Yesterday (Sunday) Julie & I sat outside with Bica at a local sports bar and had a large order of buffalo wings & two orders of french fries. I ate almost everything. Friday night I got a large spicy meatball pizza with six mini burgers, I barely gave Julie a bite. My appetite is voracious.
Best Sister Ever:
My sister sent a care package when I was a week into my treatments which included one of the nicest gifts I've ever received. A note-chain (I don't know the right term for it) where she got well wishes from friends and family, created 21 notes (for each day of my treatment) from those well wishes, and created a looped chain from each note such that each day I break a link in the chain and read that days note. As there are fewer links in the chain, I can see my remaining treatments get lower & lower, plus I get to read all of those well wishes one treatment at a time. It is an amazing gift.
Subject Line:
The subject line of this post (did I mention I have cancer?) comes from a TV show Julie and I watch on Hulu called Archer. An adult cartoon sort of about a spy (Archer) and the dysfunctional agency he works for, but really it's just a set up for rude comments and sex jokes. Anyway on Sunday (after the wings-french fry fest described above) we watched the most recently available episode and damn if Archer didn't get cancer (male breast cancer...) and damn if he wasn't saying a lot of things that I've been saying, like "you know I have cancer, right" when Julie tells me to put my clothes away.
The episode was funny, but maybe hit a little to close to home. Julie & I were laughing pretty hard when we watched it though.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
"Lead Ball Clamp" And Other Fun Stuff
Disaster averted. I called the drs office this morning and they were able to get the insurance issue straightened out. It was, I'm told, a coding error after all. So I only spent a few hours at work today before heading off to sibley hospital to get my first radiation treatment. Or so I thought.
A slight digression. Once you have chosen radiation therapy at Sibley, you are given a barcoded card (basically a library card) and when you get to the cancer center you scan the barcode at a handheld scanner/barcode reader station, and proceed to the dressing room. The dressing rooms (there are two, one for men & one for women) contain three changing rooms, six small lockers, and one bathroom. One bathroom. Did I mention nausea is one of the primary side effects of radiation therapy? And there is only one bathroom for the dozens of nauseous patients who come & go during each of my visits. Anyway, in the changing room I have to get naked, put on an "open in the back" hospital gown, and then a hospital robe, and then put my shoes back on. There isn't a good place to hang your clothes in the room (although valuables go in one of the small lockers and you keep the key), but there is a coat rack outside the dressing rooms where I will be hanging my suits.
So after checking in (barcode) and changing, I come out of the dressing room in hospital gown & robe, wearing dress shoes. You know something is the matter with you when you're looking like that big of an ass.
Digression over. So today while sitting in my hospital gown/robe/dress shoes attire, sitting in the waiting room with Julie, I get called back. Here we go, showtime, going to get my tattoos for triangulation and my first dose of radiation. Or not. Instead the two very nice nurses/technicians take me back to the machine that will be blasting me from the top and bottom, and tell me today will just be x-rays to confirm the physicist has correctly pinpointed the blast zones of my abdomen. Still I have to disrobe and take off my shoes, leaving the on the open in the back gown, and get on the radiation table. The mold of my upper back they took last week is there and I have to get back into the same position as before.
Instead of high levels of radiation I was just getting low level x-rays, but they still take the same precautions as the real thing, which means my sole remaining testicle (righty) gets placed in a lead ball clamp. Probably the most frightening part of all of this is having the nurses raise my ball and place it in the cold metal cup, then start screwing the top down over it. I was telling Julie, as we waited for the bus home today, more women have held my ball and penis in the last 12 months than all the other years put together.
It's cold and uncomfortable. Your hands are behind you gripping handle bars, and you are of course trying not to move, and you have a big lead ball attached to your... ball. The head of the radiation machine is about the size of an extra-large pizza, and it rotates on an arm top to bottom, coming very close as it does so. The pizza head stays on top first to blast the radiation, then rotates under me to black from my back, and then I'll be done.
So that's what I have to look forward to tomorrow morning at 7:45 am. Tattoos and my first radiation dose. Schedule changes a few times but for the most part the treatments are at 8:15 am. Treatment runs through the first week of August, I think August 3rd is my last scheduled treatment date with the possibility of 4-5 additional doses thereafter.
I'm probably making this sound worse than it is. Sibley's cancer center is very nice, seems state-of-the-art, and this sounds like it will be much less intense than chemo. The early morning treatments (and my side effects) will throw off my work out routine, I'm not pleased about that, but I've taken a few weeks off for vacations and such before. I still plan to run in the mornings, but my 5-7 miles average will probably switch to 2-3.
A slight digression. Once you have chosen radiation therapy at Sibley, you are given a barcoded card (basically a library card) and when you get to the cancer center you scan the barcode at a handheld scanner/barcode reader station, and proceed to the dressing room. The dressing rooms (there are two, one for men & one for women) contain three changing rooms, six small lockers, and one bathroom. One bathroom. Did I mention nausea is one of the primary side effects of radiation therapy? And there is only one bathroom for the dozens of nauseous patients who come & go during each of my visits. Anyway, in the changing room I have to get naked, put on an "open in the back" hospital gown, and then a hospital robe, and then put my shoes back on. There isn't a good place to hang your clothes in the room (although valuables go in one of the small lockers and you keep the key), but there is a coat rack outside the dressing rooms where I will be hanging my suits.
So after checking in (barcode) and changing, I come out of the dressing room in hospital gown & robe, wearing dress shoes. You know something is the matter with you when you're looking like that big of an ass.
Digression over. So today while sitting in my hospital gown/robe/dress shoes attire, sitting in the waiting room with Julie, I get called back. Here we go, showtime, going to get my tattoos for triangulation and my first dose of radiation. Or not. Instead the two very nice nurses/technicians take me back to the machine that will be blasting me from the top and bottom, and tell me today will just be x-rays to confirm the physicist has correctly pinpointed the blast zones of my abdomen. Still I have to disrobe and take off my shoes, leaving the on the open in the back gown, and get on the radiation table. The mold of my upper back they took last week is there and I have to get back into the same position as before.
Instead of high levels of radiation I was just getting low level x-rays, but they still take the same precautions as the real thing, which means my sole remaining testicle (righty) gets placed in a lead ball clamp. Probably the most frightening part of all of this is having the nurses raise my ball and place it in the cold metal cup, then start screwing the top down over it. I was telling Julie, as we waited for the bus home today, more women have held my ball and penis in the last 12 months than all the other years put together.
It's cold and uncomfortable. Your hands are behind you gripping handle bars, and you are of course trying not to move, and you have a big lead ball attached to your... ball. The head of the radiation machine is about the size of an extra-large pizza, and it rotates on an arm top to bottom, coming very close as it does so. The pizza head stays on top first to blast the radiation, then rotates under me to black from my back, and then I'll be done.
So that's what I have to look forward to tomorrow morning at 7:45 am. Tattoos and my first radiation dose. Schedule changes a few times but for the most part the treatments are at 8:15 am. Treatment runs through the first week of August, I think August 3rd is my last scheduled treatment date with the possibility of 4-5 additional doses thereafter.
I'm probably making this sound worse than it is. Sibley's cancer center is very nice, seems state-of-the-art, and this sounds like it will be much less intense than chemo. The early morning treatments (and my side effects) will throw off my work out routine, I'm not pleased about that, but I've taken a few weeks off for vacations and such before. I still plan to run in the mornings, but my 5-7 miles average will probably switch to 2-3.
Monday, July 4, 2011
To Irradiate Or Not To Irradiate, That Is The Question
At least that's the question by my insurance company, which has denied the claim by my doctor to allow me to be treated with radiation. This treatment was supposed to begin tomorrow, 7/5. But let me start from the beginning...
In my last post I noted how my cancer had, unfortunately, returned and I was electing radiation treatment over chemo. Since that post (6/20) I have had several more doctors appointments meeting with the two doctors who offer the treatment. First up was the Cancer Center at Sibley Hospital where I was getting a consultation for radiation treatment. Then we visited with Washington Oncology Hematology for the chemo consult, where is where I received my chemo last year.
I also called & spoke to the surgeon who did my cancer surgery last year (left radical orchiectomy).
All three doctors said the same things: First, it sucks that it came back and it really shouldn't have. Second, since it did come back, this is exactly where you would expect it to return (abdomen). Third, very treatable and I again have two options; three weeks of chemo (BEP) or three weeks of radiation.
Chemo never sounds like fun, and unlike last year when I had a single, somewhat weak drug (carboplatin) for just one (huge) dose, this time I would have to have 3 weeks of BEP. BEP is a much more powerful series of drugs, these are the ones that saved Lance Armstrong. Interestingly my oncologist, Dr. Fishman, told me he contacted "the famous Dr. Lawrence Einhorn" about my case. When Julie & I sat with a blank look on our faces ("the famous Dr. who?"), Fishman explained that Einhorn was the doctor who led the team that saved Lance Armstrong. Apparently Einhorn is the one who pioneered the BEP chemo cycle. So Fishman contacted Einhorn about my case, and Einhorn thought (like any good oncologist) that BEP/Chemo was a great way to treat my cancer, but admitted that radiation was just as likely to achieve the desired result.
While chemo sounds miserable, had any of the doctors said it was the preferred method of treatment, I'd have said "let's do it." But all things being equal, I'm going to choose the (slightly) easier option. Going with BEP chemo would almost certainly meant taking 3-4 weeks off from work. This is an almost daily treatment regimen which requires IVs in between treatment to hydrate, booster shots for your immune system, etc. And of course doing this chemo course would remove BEP as a treatment option down the road if my cancer ever does return (just like I'll never again get carboplatin, the drug I had last year).
Radiation, on the other hand, is also daily treatment for 3 weeks. But this treatment takes less time (15 mins) and would allow me to continue working, although possibly on an abbreviated schedule. The level of radiation I'd be receiving is significantly less than say prostate cancer. So having radiation now at a lower lever means I could conceivably still get radiation at higher levels later in life should cancer return.
Prior to receiving radiation treatment you have to have a mapping appointment, which I had on 6/27. My mom was in town and went to the appointment with me so she could see the hospital, meet some of the staff, and see people coming & doing for treatment. At that appointment they do a 360 degree CT Scan of your body and put three marks on you (one on the belly and one on each side/love handle). Right now I have temporary marks in those areas but tomorrow (7/5) with my first treatment, I was to have the permanent tattoos put into place (mole size). Those tattoos become the marks the drs use to triangulate the location for the series of radiation blasts my body will absorb.
Or should be absorbing. Now with this letter from my insurance company (talk about ruining my day yesterday... had a bit of a pity-party when I read that letter) denying the treatment, I don't know what to think. I hope this is just a coding misunderstanding, although the letter is awfully damn specific. I have an email in to our benefits admin at the office who fights with the insurance company for employees all the time, and I'll call Sibley in the morning (Sibley, coincidentally, is both the name of the hospital AND my radiologist, although there is no relation there otherwise) to see if they can get this fixed. The temporary marks on my body which have already lasted a week will not last forever. So I don't know if I'm getting tattooed and irradiated tomorrow or not.
If for some reason insurance really will not cover this (inconceivable, radiation is the preferred method of post-testicular cancer treatment when caught early) but they will cover chemo, then that's what I'll do. Losing my hair, taking 3-4 weeks off from work, and being otherwise totally miserable aside, I'll do what I have to do.
In my last post I noted how my cancer had, unfortunately, returned and I was electing radiation treatment over chemo. Since that post (6/20) I have had several more doctors appointments meeting with the two doctors who offer the treatment. First up was the Cancer Center at Sibley Hospital where I was getting a consultation for radiation treatment. Then we visited with Washington Oncology Hematology for the chemo consult, where is where I received my chemo last year.
I also called & spoke to the surgeon who did my cancer surgery last year (left radical orchiectomy).
All three doctors said the same things: First, it sucks that it came back and it really shouldn't have. Second, since it did come back, this is exactly where you would expect it to return (abdomen). Third, very treatable and I again have two options; three weeks of chemo (BEP) or three weeks of radiation.
Chemo never sounds like fun, and unlike last year when I had a single, somewhat weak drug (carboplatin) for just one (huge) dose, this time I would have to have 3 weeks of BEP. BEP is a much more powerful series of drugs, these are the ones that saved Lance Armstrong. Interestingly my oncologist, Dr. Fishman, told me he contacted "the famous Dr. Lawrence Einhorn" about my case. When Julie & I sat with a blank look on our faces ("the famous Dr. who?"), Fishman explained that Einhorn was the doctor who led the team that saved Lance Armstrong. Apparently Einhorn is the one who pioneered the BEP chemo cycle. So Fishman contacted Einhorn about my case, and Einhorn thought (like any good oncologist) that BEP/Chemo was a great way to treat my cancer, but admitted that radiation was just as likely to achieve the desired result.
While chemo sounds miserable, had any of the doctors said it was the preferred method of treatment, I'd have said "let's do it." But all things being equal, I'm going to choose the (slightly) easier option. Going with BEP chemo would almost certainly meant taking 3-4 weeks off from work. This is an almost daily treatment regimen which requires IVs in between treatment to hydrate, booster shots for your immune system, etc. And of course doing this chemo course would remove BEP as a treatment option down the road if my cancer ever does return (just like I'll never again get carboplatin, the drug I had last year).
Radiation, on the other hand, is also daily treatment for 3 weeks. But this treatment takes less time (15 mins) and would allow me to continue working, although possibly on an abbreviated schedule. The level of radiation I'd be receiving is significantly less than say prostate cancer. So having radiation now at a lower lever means I could conceivably still get radiation at higher levels later in life should cancer return.
Prior to receiving radiation treatment you have to have a mapping appointment, which I had on 6/27. My mom was in town and went to the appointment with me so she could see the hospital, meet some of the staff, and see people coming & doing for treatment. At that appointment they do a 360 degree CT Scan of your body and put three marks on you (one on the belly and one on each side/love handle). Right now I have temporary marks in those areas but tomorrow (7/5) with my first treatment, I was to have the permanent tattoos put into place (mole size). Those tattoos become the marks the drs use to triangulate the location for the series of radiation blasts my body will absorb.
Or should be absorbing. Now with this letter from my insurance company (talk about ruining my day yesterday... had a bit of a pity-party when I read that letter) denying the treatment, I don't know what to think. I hope this is just a coding misunderstanding, although the letter is awfully damn specific. I have an email in to our benefits admin at the office who fights with the insurance company for employees all the time, and I'll call Sibley in the morning (Sibley, coincidentally, is both the name of the hospital AND my radiologist, although there is no relation there otherwise) to see if they can get this fixed. The temporary marks on my body which have already lasted a week will not last forever. So I don't know if I'm getting tattooed and irradiated tomorrow or not.
If for some reason insurance really will not cover this (inconceivable, radiation is the preferred method of post-testicular cancer treatment when caught early) but they will cover chemo, then that's what I'll do. Losing my hair, taking 3-4 weeks off from work, and being otherwise totally miserable aside, I'll do what I have to do.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Cancer Strikes Back
It wasn't supposed to be this way. Last year's cancer diagnosis was tough, but the surgery was likely curative and any follow up treatment (I opted for chemo) would finish the job if any cancer cells were still around. That's how it was supposed to work.
And I've spent the last year getting chest x-rays every 3 months, blood work more often then that, and I needed a follow up CT scan after a year. This month was the 1 year anniversary, and last week on June 14th, 2011, I had that follow up scan.
Unfortunately just after taking the exam the doctor called to tell me there was a tumor in my abdomen, exactly where you'd expect to see cancer come back if it was going to, and that I needed more tests and consults immediately.
We spent a miserable weekend worrying and telling friends and family that the cancer was likely back, but otherwise didn't know anything. Today we saw both the radiologist and oncologist, and it's sort of a good news/bad news situation.
Bad news: I do have cancer again.
Good news: It is treatable and the prognosis is again excellent.
I also, again, have treatment options. Radiation therapy or (a different) chemo. Last time chemo was my preference, it was just one (albeit large) dose of chemo that seemed to have less severe potential long term side effects. This time, however, radiation appeals the most. The chemo I would have to take would be much more potent, much more often. Almost daily for two months strait.
The radiation won't be fun either, but it is 3 weeks of daily radiation at a dose that's lower than most other cancers require.
I'm still digesting the news so I don't have much to add, but I expect to get through this just as I did before. Expect better (and more frequent) posts in the coming weeks.
And I've spent the last year getting chest x-rays every 3 months, blood work more often then that, and I needed a follow up CT scan after a year. This month was the 1 year anniversary, and last week on June 14th, 2011, I had that follow up scan.
Unfortunately just after taking the exam the doctor called to tell me there was a tumor in my abdomen, exactly where you'd expect to see cancer come back if it was going to, and that I needed more tests and consults immediately.
We spent a miserable weekend worrying and telling friends and family that the cancer was likely back, but otherwise didn't know anything. Today we saw both the radiologist and oncologist, and it's sort of a good news/bad news situation.
Bad news: I do have cancer again.
Good news: It is treatable and the prognosis is again excellent.
I also, again, have treatment options. Radiation therapy or (a different) chemo. Last time chemo was my preference, it was just one (albeit large) dose of chemo that seemed to have less severe potential long term side effects. This time, however, radiation appeals the most. The chemo I would have to take would be much more potent, much more often. Almost daily for two months strait.
The radiation won't be fun either, but it is 3 weeks of daily radiation at a dose that's lower than most other cancers require.
I'm still digesting the news so I don't have much to add, but I expect to get through this just as I did before. Expect better (and more frequent) posts in the coming weeks.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Plenty of Other Fish in the Sea
This first note doesn't have anything to do with cancer, but I don't have any other place to relate this story. Today is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. For the last three years my wife and I (and our dog) have come out to our beach condo in Ocean City, MD for the entire TG week. This year, to combat eating and drinking too much, we're trying to maintain our normal jogging routine for the first time over the holiday.
We've been pretty good. We came out Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning we jogged 4.5 miles on the beach. Monday morning we didn't jog but did get up early and let Bica off leash on the beach and went out for a few miles of wandering, frolicking. Today, Tuesday, we ran for about 5.5 miles. On the way back home, running south on the beach, I could see a fellow female jogger looking at a hulking mass lying in the waves 50 or so feet ahead. "Please don't be a beached fish" I thought to myself. As we approached, sure enough, it was a beached fish. I say hulking mass but this wasn't a whale or anything so dramatic. The other jogger thought it was a Rockfish. I don't know what kind it was, merely that it was the biggest fish I'd ever seen that close up. And it was still alive.
We stopped near the woman and I started taking off my jogging pants and jacket (I had on shorts and a long sleeve shirt under), shoes and socks. I had on convertible running mittens, like these, that are fingerless in one mode and mittens in the other. I had been running in the fingerless mode but converted them to mittens and walked over to the fish.
The sea was angry that day my friends (kidding).
I don't want to embellish the size of this (for lack of a better term) rockfish. In reality I think it was probably 30 lbs and maybe 3.5 feet long. Fisherman can tell me if that's a reasonable size or weight, or of those are even remotely close to reality. He was big, heavy, and looked like he was about to die.
The other jogger had tried a few times to drag him out to the ocean, but each time she got him in the waves he washed right back up. She didn't have any gloves and could only grab his tail. I tried her method once too, but it merely filled the fish's gills with sand and probably made his breathing even more labored.
Cold waves washed over my legs and hands, but it was otherwise unseasonably warm out and I was flushed from running. I tried picking the fish up and he was heavy and limp. Not wiggling or trying to escape my grasp. I waded out to the breakers, about waist high, and threw the fish as far out as I could (about 6 inches). The tide was going out, so getting past the breaking point did it.
He didn't swim away initially. In fact the three of us thought he was dead as we watched him float on top of the waves, lying on his side, unmoving. But the tide was pulling him the right way at least and he wouldn't wash back up. As I slowly took off the fishy gloves and put back on my pants and jacket, his tail started to move a little and he righted himself . By the time I had my shoes and socks back on he was swimming slowly. And soon he disappeared from sight, and we jogged away (before he could beach himself again).
So that was my good deed for the day. Maybe it makes up for the 3.5 lobster I ordered boiled alive for my dinner this past Saturday night?
As for medical updates, I had my first follow up on October 26th. We had come back from Portland, OR, on a redeye that morning. I was off from work that day already, so I'd scheduled the appointment knowing it would be a miserable day, but not wanting to take another off.
The appointment went fine. I gave blood and then had a chest x-ray. I have to have a chest x-ray every 4 months, blood work at every appointment, and a ct-scan once a year. In February of 2011 I have my next chest x-ray & blood work. In June of 2011 I'll have my ct-scan.
I assume the x-ray & blood looked good as I never heard from the doctor. His office will call if there is ever anything wrong. I have to believe I'll never have one of those calls.
We've been pretty good. We came out Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning we jogged 4.5 miles on the beach. Monday morning we didn't jog but did get up early and let Bica off leash on the beach and went out for a few miles of wandering, frolicking. Today, Tuesday, we ran for about 5.5 miles. On the way back home, running south on the beach, I could see a fellow female jogger looking at a hulking mass lying in the waves 50 or so feet ahead. "Please don't be a beached fish" I thought to myself. As we approached, sure enough, it was a beached fish. I say hulking mass but this wasn't a whale or anything so dramatic. The other jogger thought it was a Rockfish. I don't know what kind it was, merely that it was the biggest fish I'd ever seen that close up. And it was still alive.
We stopped near the woman and I started taking off my jogging pants and jacket (I had on shorts and a long sleeve shirt under), shoes and socks. I had on convertible running mittens, like these, that are fingerless in one mode and mittens in the other. I had been running in the fingerless mode but converted them to mittens and walked over to the fish.
The sea was angry that day my friends (kidding).
I don't want to embellish the size of this (for lack of a better term) rockfish. In reality I think it was probably 30 lbs and maybe 3.5 feet long. Fisherman can tell me if that's a reasonable size or weight, or of those are even remotely close to reality. He was big, heavy, and looked like he was about to die.
The other jogger had tried a few times to drag him out to the ocean, but each time she got him in the waves he washed right back up. She didn't have any gloves and could only grab his tail. I tried her method once too, but it merely filled the fish's gills with sand and probably made his breathing even more labored.
Cold waves washed over my legs and hands, but it was otherwise unseasonably warm out and I was flushed from running. I tried picking the fish up and he was heavy and limp. Not wiggling or trying to escape my grasp. I waded out to the breakers, about waist high, and threw the fish as far out as I could (about 6 inches). The tide was going out, so getting past the breaking point did it.
He didn't swim away initially. In fact the three of us thought he was dead as we watched him float on top of the waves, lying on his side, unmoving. But the tide was pulling him the right way at least and he wouldn't wash back up. As I slowly took off the fishy gloves and put back on my pants and jacket, his tail started to move a little and he righted himself . By the time I had my shoes and socks back on he was swimming slowly. And soon he disappeared from sight, and we jogged away (before he could beach himself again).
So that was my good deed for the day. Maybe it makes up for the 3.5 lobster I ordered boiled alive for my dinner this past Saturday night?
As for medical updates, I had my first follow up on October 26th. We had come back from Portland, OR, on a redeye that morning. I was off from work that day already, so I'd scheduled the appointment knowing it would be a miserable day, but not wanting to take another off.
The appointment went fine. I gave blood and then had a chest x-ray. I have to have a chest x-ray every 4 months, blood work at every appointment, and a ct-scan once a year. In February of 2011 I have my next chest x-ray & blood work. In June of 2011 I'll have my ct-scan.
I assume the x-ray & blood looked good as I never heard from the doctor. His office will call if there is ever anything wrong. I have to believe I'll never have one of those calls.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
In my last update I forgot to mention my hair. To start, I didn't lose it from the one super-dose chemo I had to take, maybe it thinned out a little, but nothing crazy or noticeable at all. I had let my hair go, no haircuts, for months. Six at least, maybe 8 months. My hair was longish even before I stopped getting haircuts, so by the time our summer vacation rolled around my hair was as long as it had been since college.
So when we got out to Ocean City, MD for our vacation, one of the very first things I did was have Julie cut my hair. It was long enough to meet the minimum donation length for one of those "we give sick kids wigs" charities, and I wanted to see if my hair could do some good. Since I was at the minimum donation length, they might just sell mine off and not actually use it for sick kids, but whatever, it was something I wanted to do.
Julie had never cut my hair before, but after putting it up in several pony/pig-tails (6 or so) she chopped them off leaving me with about 3 inches of hair on my head. Of course it was all uneven, so she spent a while cleaning it up and except for one spot that was cut significantly shorter than the rest (one of the pony tail spots) she did a good job. Two weeks at the beach with a significantly lighter head was nice.
In fact since then I've kept my hair reasonably short, and Julie's been the one doing all the cutting.
Two more brief items:
1. Cold is still here, although just a soar throat and minor head congestion at this point. I've already been to the doctors twice for this, but seeing as how this is week 3 of a cold I'm going to go to an urgent care today, assuming they're open on Columbus day.
2. I ran my first post-cancer race on Saturday. Not really a race so much as an obstacle course. The Warrior Dash (Mid-Atlantic) http://www.warriordash.com/register2010_mid-atlantic.php. It was a tough race to run, but I think only b/c I had not run in two weeks and I was still a little sick. My lungs and legs were not up to race, which was just a 5K with some easy and some tougher obstacles. We were super muddy by the end, but had a good time.
That's all I've got for now.
So when we got out to Ocean City, MD for our vacation, one of the very first things I did was have Julie cut my hair. It was long enough to meet the minimum donation length for one of those "we give sick kids wigs" charities, and I wanted to see if my hair could do some good. Since I was at the minimum donation length, they might just sell mine off and not actually use it for sick kids, but whatever, it was something I wanted to do.
Julie had never cut my hair before, but after putting it up in several pony/pig-tails (6 or so) she chopped them off leaving me with about 3 inches of hair on my head. Of course it was all uneven, so she spent a while cleaning it up and except for one spot that was cut significantly shorter than the rest (one of the pony tail spots) she did a good job. Two weeks at the beach with a significantly lighter head was nice.
In fact since then I've kept my hair reasonably short, and Julie's been the one doing all the cutting.
Two more brief items:
1. Cold is still here, although just a soar throat and minor head congestion at this point. I've already been to the doctors twice for this, but seeing as how this is week 3 of a cold I'm going to go to an urgent care today, assuming they're open on Columbus day.
2. I ran my first post-cancer race on Saturday. Not really a race so much as an obstacle course. The Warrior Dash (Mid-Atlantic) http://www.warriordash.com/register2010_mid-atlantic.php. It was a tough race to run, but I think only b/c I had not run in two weeks and I was still a little sick. My lungs and legs were not up to race, which was just a 5K with some easy and some tougher obstacles. We were super muddy by the end, but had a good time.
That's all I've got for now.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Time Off For Good Behavior
Been a long time since I last posted, which is mostly due to nothing new to add to the cancer updates. But I thought it might help to put down some of what has happened in the last few months, and what will happen over the next few, in case I ever want to look back on this.
Late in August Julie & I finally got to take our summer vacation. Two weeks at our condo in Ocean City, MD,with our dog. It was a great time, sunny and hot almost the entire time. We drank a lot of beer in the sun on our West (bay) facing balcony, watching people in the park and boats on the water. We ate crabs, taco pizza (Julie's favorite), ate donuts (Fractured Prune, my favorite), took horseback riding lessons one day, laid by ocean everyday.
I bought a couple of kites, a regular one and then a stunt kite which uses two kite strings and allows you much greater control which you can use to make the kite do fun tricks. It took me a few days to get the hang of it, but once I did I really enjoyed it. By the second week of our vacation the winds were fairly consistent, and I was able to spend hours (really, hours) in northside park with my wife and dog, performing stunts with the kite. Julie even managed to fly it a few times really well.
But all good things must come to an end, and eventually our vacation ended. It was hard coming back to work after that much time off. But both Julie & feel back into our daily routine of eating better and not drinking (weekdays), running 5 or so miles a day, and spending some weekends at the beach.
Now jogging has caused me some problems. I assume that the chemo is to blame for this, but my legs/body do not recover from the runs like they used to. It used to be that after running 5 or 6 miles a day four days in a row, I'd be tired but could still do well on Friday before taking weekend off. Now I find I can only run 4.5 to 5.5 miles a day, and that by Wednesday my legs and body are already exhausted. When Friday rolls around I am barely able to run, my body is just too tired. But come Monday my legs feel fresh as ever. I want to believe this is temporary and that eventually I'll get back to my earlier stamina, but even if this is my new running reality it's not that bad. In some ways it is nicer than before, as now I also can't run very fast so I'm now only a little faster than Julie. So now we run and talk more, whereas before we ran and I yelled (coach Tony) at Julie to run faster, harder, etc.
I'd also been pushing myself harder in push-ups and pull-ups/chin-ups in the evenings. 3-4 days a week I would come home from work and walk Bica as normal, but then I would spend 20-30 minutes on push-ups and pull/chin-ups. I used to do those exercises in the morning after running, but switching to the evenings was a much better way to do it. I was stronger in the evenings, and it curbed my appetite (always hungry when I first get home) and enabled me to wait for dinner until Julie came home.
But all of that has been on hold for more than a week. Last weekend Julie & I went to NYC, me for a long weekend with Julie staying longer for a conference. We had a great time in the city but on Monday morning I woke up feeling rough. I had an 8 am train back to DC so I said my goodbyes to my wife and walked to Penn Station. It was a really nasty day, but the train wasn't crowded and I had a good book to keep me occupied. But as the train rolled south I kept feeling worse and worse. I'm pretty sure I had a fever and defintely had chills. I still had to pick Bica up from her daycare so instead of walking her home so I reserved a zipcar while on the train. When I got to DC I took the metro home feeling worse and worse. I put on warmer, more comfortable clothes, took some tylenol, and then grabbed the zipcar and drove up to get Bica. She was crazy excited to see me, and I her, but I was more and more out of it. I got her home and she was exhausted from daycare so we both laid on the couch and snoozed for a few hours.
When I woke up it was around 4 pm. I was shivering and felt horrible. I took Bica for a walk, came back and heated up soup, and slept for another hour. By 6 I took Bica out again (for her last walk of the day, I'm ashamed to say), took Nyquil, and slept until 1 am. At 1 I got up and ate some soup, drank some juice, and emailed my office to say I wasn't going to be in on Tuesday.
I didn't make it to work for the rest of the week. The Nyquil helped me sleep, but I was almost delirious, and each time I woke up I was drenched in sweat. I'm not kidding, I was soaking wet. So much so that when I would wake up not only would I be soaked, but so would the sheets and the bed. I'm used to sore throats that after a day or so turn into head colds, that a day or two later are gone. This one did turn into a head and chest cold, but the sore throat never left. In fact it still hasn't, I still don't feel good. But I do feel better, and there is no way I'm staying home from work again this week.
I did go to a dr, who thought it was just a tough cold but still gave me a z-pack. I always thought it was a virus and not bacterial, as the z-pack hasn't done anything yet I suspect that's the case. Wednesday night Julie came back from NYC to take care of me and she was great, but of course she now has the cold so I'm taking care of her. We went to Ocean City this weekend on Friday and made our homemade chicken noodle soup. We ate that Friday and Saturday. Took Bica to the beach on Saturday, it was a very pretty day and we all had a great time, even with the colds. We just slept on the beach for hours, but it was great.
Came back earlier this morning and made another batch of chicken noodle. Julie's sleeping the day (and I hope her cold) away, I'm here taking care of her and the dog. What I don't know is if my cold was so severe because of cancer/chemo (just like my legs don't recover from running as quickly as before), of if this was just a particularly nasty cold. Is my immune system just in bad shape right now? Will I now have to deal with more severe colds for the foreseeable future?
In my last update I talked about the inflamed vein in my groin/lower stomach called phlebitis. I can still feel the vein, although it no longer hurts (I've also not been touching it). I will have to make an appointment to have that looked at again, as the doctor thought it should already have gone away by now.
At the end of this month I will also have to go back to the doctor to begin my follow up cancer treatment. This will involve getting regular tests to see if my cancer shows signs of coming back. While I want to believe the cancer is gone forever and there will be no further treatments needed, each test will certainly be stressful.
I'll write again when the tests are scheduled or have happened.
Late in August Julie & I finally got to take our summer vacation. Two weeks at our condo in Ocean City, MD,with our dog. It was a great time, sunny and hot almost the entire time. We drank a lot of beer in the sun on our West (bay) facing balcony, watching people in the park and boats on the water. We ate crabs, taco pizza (Julie's favorite), ate donuts (Fractured Prune, my favorite), took horseback riding lessons one day, laid by ocean everyday.
I bought a couple of kites, a regular one and then a stunt kite which uses two kite strings and allows you much greater control which you can use to make the kite do fun tricks. It took me a few days to get the hang of it, but once I did I really enjoyed it. By the second week of our vacation the winds were fairly consistent, and I was able to spend hours (really, hours) in northside park with my wife and dog, performing stunts with the kite. Julie even managed to fly it a few times really well.
But all good things must come to an end, and eventually our vacation ended. It was hard coming back to work after that much time off. But both Julie & feel back into our daily routine of eating better and not drinking (weekdays), running 5 or so miles a day, and spending some weekends at the beach.
Now jogging has caused me some problems. I assume that the chemo is to blame for this, but my legs/body do not recover from the runs like they used to. It used to be that after running 5 or 6 miles a day four days in a row, I'd be tired but could still do well on Friday before taking weekend off. Now I find I can only run 4.5 to 5.5 miles a day, and that by Wednesday my legs and body are already exhausted. When Friday rolls around I am barely able to run, my body is just too tired. But come Monday my legs feel fresh as ever. I want to believe this is temporary and that eventually I'll get back to my earlier stamina, but even if this is my new running reality it's not that bad. In some ways it is nicer than before, as now I also can't run very fast so I'm now only a little faster than Julie. So now we run and talk more, whereas before we ran and I yelled (coach Tony) at Julie to run faster, harder, etc.
I'd also been pushing myself harder in push-ups and pull-ups/chin-ups in the evenings. 3-4 days a week I would come home from work and walk Bica as normal, but then I would spend 20-30 minutes on push-ups and pull/chin-ups. I used to do those exercises in the morning after running, but switching to the evenings was a much better way to do it. I was stronger in the evenings, and it curbed my appetite (always hungry when I first get home) and enabled me to wait for dinner until Julie came home.
But all of that has been on hold for more than a week. Last weekend Julie & I went to NYC, me for a long weekend with Julie staying longer for a conference. We had a great time in the city but on Monday morning I woke up feeling rough. I had an 8 am train back to DC so I said my goodbyes to my wife and walked to Penn Station. It was a really nasty day, but the train wasn't crowded and I had a good book to keep me occupied. But as the train rolled south I kept feeling worse and worse. I'm pretty sure I had a fever and defintely had chills. I still had to pick Bica up from her daycare so instead of walking her home so I reserved a zipcar while on the train. When I got to DC I took the metro home feeling worse and worse. I put on warmer, more comfortable clothes, took some tylenol, and then grabbed the zipcar and drove up to get Bica. She was crazy excited to see me, and I her, but I was more and more out of it. I got her home and she was exhausted from daycare so we both laid on the couch and snoozed for a few hours.
When I woke up it was around 4 pm. I was shivering and felt horrible. I took Bica for a walk, came back and heated up soup, and slept for another hour. By 6 I took Bica out again (for her last walk of the day, I'm ashamed to say), took Nyquil, and slept until 1 am. At 1 I got up and ate some soup, drank some juice, and emailed my office to say I wasn't going to be in on Tuesday.
I didn't make it to work for the rest of the week. The Nyquil helped me sleep, but I was almost delirious, and each time I woke up I was drenched in sweat. I'm not kidding, I was soaking wet. So much so that when I would wake up not only would I be soaked, but so would the sheets and the bed. I'm used to sore throats that after a day or so turn into head colds, that a day or two later are gone. This one did turn into a head and chest cold, but the sore throat never left. In fact it still hasn't, I still don't feel good. But I do feel better, and there is no way I'm staying home from work again this week.
I did go to a dr, who thought it was just a tough cold but still gave me a z-pack. I always thought it was a virus and not bacterial, as the z-pack hasn't done anything yet I suspect that's the case. Wednesday night Julie came back from NYC to take care of me and she was great, but of course she now has the cold so I'm taking care of her. We went to Ocean City this weekend on Friday and made our homemade chicken noodle soup. We ate that Friday and Saturday. Took Bica to the beach on Saturday, it was a very pretty day and we all had a great time, even with the colds. We just slept on the beach for hours, but it was great.
Came back earlier this morning and made another batch of chicken noodle. Julie's sleeping the day (and I hope her cold) away, I'm here taking care of her and the dog. What I don't know is if my cold was so severe because of cancer/chemo (just like my legs don't recover from running as quickly as before), of if this was just a particularly nasty cold. Is my immune system just in bad shape right now? Will I now have to deal with more severe colds for the foreseeable future?
In my last update I talked about the inflamed vein in my groin/lower stomach called phlebitis. I can still feel the vein, although it no longer hurts (I've also not been touching it). I will have to make an appointment to have that looked at again, as the doctor thought it should already have gone away by now.
At the end of this month I will also have to go back to the doctor to begin my follow up cancer treatment. This will involve getting regular tests to see if my cancer shows signs of coming back. While I want to believe the cancer is gone forever and there will be no further treatments needed, each test will certainly be stressful.
I'll write again when the tests are scheduled or have happened.
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