This time next week I'll undergo the LAST treatment for lymphoma. Thank God.
The first five didn't bother me much, physically. Looking back, it was the emotional reaction to my whole experience - the diagnosis, the initial treatments - that got me down. Physically, it wasn't so bad except for the four days I spent in the hospital because of three degrees of fever. Four days in a hospital for any reason is a nightmare, and it made me paranoid about getting infections when my white cell count was down.
The last two have begun to beat me down. I still get around, and I'm less of a couch potato than I was earlier, but I'm much more tired at the end of the day than I was.
What's remarkable is that they found blood clots in my left leg, behind the knee and in the ankle, and for that reason the swelling still hasn't gone down despite taking Coumadin and getting shots of Arixtra daily for nearly two weeks. The swelling was the original symptom that lead to all this. The active cancer cells are long gone, but not the swelling. The nurse at the clinic who deals with blood chemistry problems is mystified. She says they'll likely refer me to a cardiologist to deal with the blood clots.
So, if I can get through next week, and if a cardiologist can perform a miracle to get the swelling down, I can begin getting back to normal.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
what a difference ten years make
Here we are, looking at the end of another decade (although, technically, it doesn't end for another year, but explaining why isn't worth the energy).
Ten years ago, I was feeling good because it appeared that world peace was about to break out. The Soviet Union was gone, the Berlin Wall was down, the Pope had visited Cuba, and the Parliament of Scotland opened for the first time since 1707. Well, OK, that last item wasn't all that relevant to my false sense that the world was in very good shape, but it helped.
Wow, what a fool I was for being so naive and misinformed. The news media will be full of stories over the next few days detailing all that went wrong in the past decade, ranging from the disputed presidential election in Florida in 2000 to the disasters of September 11, 2001, and downhill from there.
However, on a personal level, this decade has been good to us. Our children finished undergraduate school, and two earned master's degrees. They are all gainfully employed except our son, who's in the third year of dental school. My wife is a ten-year breast cancer survivor, and she's still employed despite budget cuts where she works. I am on the verge of being declared a lymphoma survivor. Better yet, we've been given two beautiful and healthy grandchildren, with a third due in April.
I hit the ripe old age of 65 this year, which is remarkable because a lot of us children of the Cold War never really believed we'd live this long. I've now worked for my employer longer than the three other cities I've worked for in the past and plan to stay on for a few more years if they'll have me. I can't retire soon; I need to pay for my wife's new kitchen and my new Corvette!
To my faithful few regular readers, and the occasional random reader, I wish you nothing but good in 2010 and every year afterwards. May God have mercy on us all.
Ten years ago, I was feeling good because it appeared that world peace was about to break out. The Soviet Union was gone, the Berlin Wall was down, the Pope had visited Cuba, and the Parliament of Scotland opened for the first time since 1707. Well, OK, that last item wasn't all that relevant to my false sense that the world was in very good shape, but it helped.
Wow, what a fool I was for being so naive and misinformed. The news media will be full of stories over the next few days detailing all that went wrong in the past decade, ranging from the disputed presidential election in Florida in 2000 to the disasters of September 11, 2001, and downhill from there.
However, on a personal level, this decade has been good to us. Our children finished undergraduate school, and two earned master's degrees. They are all gainfully employed except our son, who's in the third year of dental school. My wife is a ten-year breast cancer survivor, and she's still employed despite budget cuts where she works. I am on the verge of being declared a lymphoma survivor. Better yet, we've been given two beautiful and healthy grandchildren, with a third due in April.
I hit the ripe old age of 65 this year, which is remarkable because a lot of us children of the Cold War never really believed we'd live this long. I've now worked for my employer longer than the three other cities I've worked for in the past and plan to stay on for a few more years if they'll have me. I can't retire soon; I need to pay for my wife's new kitchen and my new Corvette!
To my faithful few regular readers, and the occasional random reader, I wish you nothing but good in 2010 and every year afterwards. May God have mercy on us all.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Five down, THREE to go
Well, nuts. I've been counting down the chemo treatments from the beginning and, according to the schedule, next Tuesday should be my sixth and final treatment.
Not so fast.
Yesterday, the doctor apologized for not telling me the last time we met that I should have eight, not six, treatments. He is concerned because the "pet" scan showed a minute trace of cancer cell activity in the bone marrow - so minute that it wasn't detected when the lab first saw the scan results, but did show up when they were testing a more sophisticated and sensitive machine.
So, instead of being done by Christmas, I'll be done on (or about) February 1.
Meanwhile, I feel fine despite having low white cell and red cell counts during the first 10 - 14 days after each treatment. I'm confident I will feel a helluva lot better when my body finally rids itself of the chemicals but I'm grateful that the chemicals rid my body of active cancer cells.
Stayed tuned . . .
Not so fast.
Yesterday, the doctor apologized for not telling me the last time we met that I should have eight, not six, treatments. He is concerned because the "pet" scan showed a minute trace of cancer cell activity in the bone marrow - so minute that it wasn't detected when the lab first saw the scan results, but did show up when they were testing a more sophisticated and sensitive machine.
So, instead of being done by Christmas, I'll be done on (or about) February 1.
Meanwhile, I feel fine despite having low white cell and red cell counts during the first 10 - 14 days after each treatment. I'm confident I will feel a helluva lot better when my body finally rids itself of the chemicals but I'm grateful that the chemicals rid my body of active cancer cells.
Stayed tuned . . .
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Thanksgiving in Seattle
Two cousins, our first grandchildren, got to share space and toys for the first time last week.
Friday, November 13, 2009
four down, two to go
I'm now four down and two to go with the chemo treatments for lymphoma, and the good news for me is that my "pet" scan shows no active cancer cell activity. A "pet" scan is not like an X-ray. It traces a radioactive glucose solution that runs through your body starting about an hour before the scan. Because the cancer cells gobble up the glucose faster than normal cells, they "light up" on the scan so the doctor can see where they are located.
The scan showed some enlarged tissues but the doctor said they are scar tissue or dead tissue that will be absorbed by the body.
The most obvious sign, for me, is that my swollen left foot and leg have gone down dramatically in the past few days. Today I wore shoes, not sandals, for the first time since this whole thing started back in August.
Light at the end of the tunnel!
The scan showed some enlarged tissues but the doctor said they are scar tissue or dead tissue that will be absorbed by the body.
The most obvious sign, for me, is that my swollen left foot and leg have gone down dramatically in the past few days. Today I wore shoes, not sandals, for the first time since this whole thing started back in August.
Light at the end of the tunnel!
Monday, November 02, 2009
Lymphoma, cont'd
I'm way overdue to update this blog with the status of my treatment for lymphoma. My half dozen regular readers already know my status, but I've promised to update this, so here it is:
I'm now three down, three to go, with the chemo treatments. I got the first three treatments every two weeks, not the standard three weeks, because trial work in Germany for my kind of lymphoma and the treatment I'm getting indicates some marginal benefit for getting them every two weeks - plus, I should be done before Christmas. I'm now on a once every three weeks schedule to allow me to travel to Seattle to see my first granddaughter at Thanksgiving . . . and I'll still finish before Christmas.
Remarkably, I've experienced no nausea. Fatigue, if any, has been marginal but they say it will build up. The main problem has been the low white cell count that occurs after each treatment. I get a follow-up shot the day after treatment to prod the bone marrow into generating more white cells, but that takes ten to fourteen days to kick in. During that time I have to be very careful about exposure to viruses or bacteria of any kind. After my second treatment, I wasn't so careful. I developed a three-degree fever that resulted in my being hospitalized for four days while they waited for blood cultures to come back. They were negative, which means it could have been anything. If they had come back positive, they would have replaced my port.
Another remarkable thing is that I still have most of what little hair I had left, although my doctor says the hair loss occurs slowly.
A bigger issue for me is that the swelling in my left ankle and leg is reduced but has not gone away. My oncologist reminded me how bad it was when he first saw me, and says his objective is to get the swelling reduced one hundred percent.
So, here I am at the halfway point, trying to stay out of harm's way while swine flu and other nasty bugs are in the air (and on door handles, and escalator hand rails, and other things we touch). I'm also waiting to see if I get "chemo brain," or a befuddlement that sets in as you near the end of the treatments. Since I'm befuddled more often than not anyway, it might be hard to know if that becomes an issue.
Stay tuned . . .
I'm now three down, three to go, with the chemo treatments. I got the first three treatments every two weeks, not the standard three weeks, because trial work in Germany for my kind of lymphoma and the treatment I'm getting indicates some marginal benefit for getting them every two weeks - plus, I should be done before Christmas. I'm now on a once every three weeks schedule to allow me to travel to Seattle to see my first granddaughter at Thanksgiving . . . and I'll still finish before Christmas.
Remarkably, I've experienced no nausea. Fatigue, if any, has been marginal but they say it will build up. The main problem has been the low white cell count that occurs after each treatment. I get a follow-up shot the day after treatment to prod the bone marrow into generating more white cells, but that takes ten to fourteen days to kick in. During that time I have to be very careful about exposure to viruses or bacteria of any kind. After my second treatment, I wasn't so careful. I developed a three-degree fever that resulted in my being hospitalized for four days while they waited for blood cultures to come back. They were negative, which means it could have been anything. If they had come back positive, they would have replaced my port.
Another remarkable thing is that I still have most of what little hair I had left, although my doctor says the hair loss occurs slowly.
A bigger issue for me is that the swelling in my left ankle and leg is reduced but has not gone away. My oncologist reminded me how bad it was when he first saw me, and says his objective is to get the swelling reduced one hundred percent.
So, here I am at the halfway point, trying to stay out of harm's way while swine flu and other nasty bugs are in the air (and on door handles, and escalator hand rails, and other things we touch). I'm also waiting to see if I get "chemo brain," or a befuddlement that sets in as you near the end of the treatments. Since I'm befuddled more often than not anyway, it might be hard to know if that becomes an issue.
Stay tuned . . .
Friday, September 25, 2009
going public about Lymphoma
Four weeks ago tomorrow, my left ankle swelled to the size of a softball, with no pain or other symptoms. I'd spent the day cleaning my pool, painting the front door, and other such Saturday tasks, and decided to mow the front lawn before it got dark. I noticed my ankle for the first time when I sat down to put on socks and shoes.
Two weeks ago today, I went to see my doctor for the third time. By now, the swelling was all the way up my left leg but still without any other symptoms of illness - no fever, no weight loss - only a rash on the back of the leg. She'd theorized it was an infection, or a blood clot, or shingles. She sent me back over to the imaging center to recheck for a blood clot and ordered a cat scan of my abdomen. When she saw the bigger picture, she put me in the hospital to be seen by specialists and be prepared for a biopsy.
A mass behind the kidney suggested Lymphoma or kidney cancer, the former being preferable if you have a choice. After more testing, probing and scanning, the verdict came in: Lymphoma. Large B-cell Lymphoma, to be more specific, which is treatable.
The oncologist who saw me at the hospital prescribed chemo treatment, and I've already undergone the first one. I suffered none of the dreaded side effects of chemo but they tell me I will lose my hair, or what's left of it. After watching it go slowly for about 40 years, I can deal with that!
Why am I telling you all this? Mainly, to raise your awareness of Lymphoma, a strange disease. The disease can be asymptomatic or the symptoms can be very subtle, such as a swelling of lymph nodes. Seeing your doctor is very important if you feel little lumps in your neck, under your armpit, or other places where there usually are no lumps. The symptoms are often associated with other diseases. There are no identified causes. The disease strikes people of all ages. There are many varieties of Lymphoma, and treatments vary according to type. I'm being given a treatment that has come into wide use in the past two years with very good results.
The lymph system itself is a mystery to most people. You can visualize a heart or a stomach, but the lymph system sounds like one of the "humors" that medieval physicians believed existed in the body. It runs through the body and performs a variety of necessary jobs like sending armies of white cells out to fight infection.
Because the lymph system runs throughout the body, surgery is not a treatment option. Chemo treatments are. I may go into more detail on that later, but that's all for now. I might add that my left leg is still swollen and may not get back to normal for another couple of weeks, which is painful enough without also keeping me from getting into my new Corvette without crawling across the driveway and up under the steering wheel. As kids used to say, bummer!
Two weeks ago today, I went to see my doctor for the third time. By now, the swelling was all the way up my left leg but still without any other symptoms of illness - no fever, no weight loss - only a rash on the back of the leg. She'd theorized it was an infection, or a blood clot, or shingles. She sent me back over to the imaging center to recheck for a blood clot and ordered a cat scan of my abdomen. When she saw the bigger picture, she put me in the hospital to be seen by specialists and be prepared for a biopsy.
A mass behind the kidney suggested Lymphoma or kidney cancer, the former being preferable if you have a choice. After more testing, probing and scanning, the verdict came in: Lymphoma. Large B-cell Lymphoma, to be more specific, which is treatable.
The oncologist who saw me at the hospital prescribed chemo treatment, and I've already undergone the first one. I suffered none of the dreaded side effects of chemo but they tell me I will lose my hair, or what's left of it. After watching it go slowly for about 40 years, I can deal with that!
Why am I telling you all this? Mainly, to raise your awareness of Lymphoma, a strange disease. The disease can be asymptomatic or the symptoms can be very subtle, such as a swelling of lymph nodes. Seeing your doctor is very important if you feel little lumps in your neck, under your armpit, or other places where there usually are no lumps. The symptoms are often associated with other diseases. There are no identified causes. The disease strikes people of all ages. There are many varieties of Lymphoma, and treatments vary according to type. I'm being given a treatment that has come into wide use in the past two years with very good results.
The lymph system itself is a mystery to most people. You can visualize a heart or a stomach, but the lymph system sounds like one of the "humors" that medieval physicians believed existed in the body. It runs through the body and performs a variety of necessary jobs like sending armies of white cells out to fight infection.
Because the lymph system runs throughout the body, surgery is not a treatment option. Chemo treatments are. I may go into more detail on that later, but that's all for now. I might add that my left leg is still swollen and may not get back to normal for another couple of weeks, which is painful enough without also keeping me from getting into my new Corvette without crawling across the driveway and up under the steering wheel. As kids used to say, bummer!
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