I've got cancer on the run!

Today I met with my oncologist and we discussed the results of my recent PET/CT scan, and I have excellent news: the PET scan was negative. This means there was essentially no PET activity which means the cancer has been killed. My lymph nodes are almost back to normal size and even the large clumps of cancerous lymph nodes are no more. This is great news for my prognosis but it does not change my current chemotherapy treatment regimen. The last thing that we want to do now is claim victory and prematurely stop the attack. We need to continue as if the scan was never performed and pretend that we don’t know what my current status is. I am now half way through my chemo regimen.

I am going to try to post pictures of my PET/CT scan. I visited the radiology department at the hospital and a radiologist showed me a fused PET/CT image both from the scan I had before chemo and the one I had on Monday. The images I saw were amazing. Before chemo it appeared as though my entire chest was inundated with cancerous lymph nodes, and now those are all but gone. I am very excited about this recent news, and I would like for everyone to see it for himself or herself. Look for a post in the next few days with these pictures.

I promise, I am not a Vampire!

I found it sort of strange that I was possibly going to need someone else’s blood so close to Halloween, but it turns out that I will not. My red blood cell count has gone up just enough to at least postpone a transfusion. However, as I continue in my chemo regimen, my red blood cell count has slowly been trending downward, despite the red blood cell booster shot I get every week. It is most likely only a matter of time before I will need a transfusion.

Today I also had a second PET scan. I will not discuss the results of this scan until Wednesday with my oncologist. I am looking forward to this visit, because it will essentially show how effective the chemo has been at killing the cancer cells in my lymph nodes. I hope to see some images of the scan myself, and if possible, take some home with me. If they let me, I will bring the images home and include it in a future post. I would like to show both this most recent PET scan as well as the original before any chemo.

Call for blood!

Today, I received some not so good news. Before each chemo treatment, the nurses take a little blood and run a CBC (complete blood count). My white blood cell count is cyclic depending on which chemo drugs were recently administered. Today, my white blood cell count was very low from the Nitrogen Mustard given last Thursday. Friday I was given a Neulasta shot which will boost my white blood cell count, but it takes a while to take effect and it should start working in the next few days. My red blood cell count has been consistently low and getting lower. The normal range is 4.0 – 6.0 million cells per cubic millimeter. For the last few weeks my count has been between 3.0 and 4.0. So, I have been given a red blood cell booster shot each week in attempt to bring that up. Today, my count was 2.88. So it is getting worse. My doctor is having me come in on Monday to see the result of my booster shot today, and based on those CBC results, we may decide that a blood transfusion is necessary. If it is necessary, I will soon find out if my loving sisters offer to give blood or bone marrow has expired!

Next week will be a long and busy week for me. On Monday I have a PET scan. Before that, I will go to my oncologist to give blood for the CBC test. Based on the results, if a transfusion is necessary, I am not sure how soon my oncologist will schedule it. But even if it is not scheduled next week, which it most likely will be, I have two chemo treatments scheduled. One on Wednesday, the second on Thursday, and then a Neulasta shot on Friday. And on Wednesday I will meet my oncologist before my chemotherapy to discuss the results of the PET scan. I will be sure to post a blog entry concerning that meeting, because I am sure everyone is as interested as I am to find out the amount of cancer cells that still remains in my body. I am going to request to see the PET scan images myself, and if possible, I would like to get a copy and possible post that in my blog. We will see…

One third down, two to go...

This last Thursday I had another appointment with my oncologist. We discussed the option of Radiation therapy, but so far a decision has not been made. To clarify, if I do end up getting radiation therapy, I will not start that until a couple of weeks after chemotherapy is completed. Therefore, if it does happen, it won’t start until around Christmas time. This means that my doctor still has a lot of time to seek the advise of other oncologists to ensure that the best decision is made. I feel extremely confident in my doctor and I know that he will only recommend what is best for me.

I started the second third of my chemotherapy regimen on Thursday and I am beginning to feel the cumulative effects of chemo. Fatigue is getting worse, and a few side effects are starting to become noticeable that did not exist in the first third. My fingertips and toes are slightly numb, and bouts of nausea are more common. I still think that my side effects have been minimal and I am very lucky, but I do expect things to start getting worse.

I scheduled a second PET scan that will be on Monday Oct. 29th. This PET scan will hopefully show either a reduced amount of cancerous cells, or a complete lack of cancerous cells. However, no matter the results of the scan, my chemotherapy will remain the same. A negative PET scan could assist my oncologist in the radiation decision, but that is all. I will have another PET scan after chemo is complete to determine if the chemo was successful, and every six months thereafter to determine if there is a relapse. The first two years are the most crucial as that is when there are the most recurrences. But that is getting too far in the future, and right now I need to take it one day at a time

Radiation Decision

This week I start the 2nd third of my chemo regimen. This means that I am one third done and have only 8 weeks to go. This last week was not too bad, but I did experience a cough and shortness of breath, which are both side effects of the Bleomycin. I thought I had caught a cold at first, but the cough was un-productive and lasted a little over a day and was definitely not a result of a cold. Once again, fatigue is the most difficult to cope with. It definitely appears that the side effects of chemo are cumulative because the muscle shaking and general fatigue are both getting worse. But I am still able to go to work 5 days a week, for roughly 40 hours per week.

This Thursday I meet with my oncologist before chemo. My doctor, Dr. Kenney, by my opinion is a great oncologist. He has a passion for lymphoma and his mentor is on the board of the leukemia/lymphoma society. He has access to experts both through his mentor and at Stanford, which developed the chemo regimen that I am on called Stanford V. At my upcoming appointment we will likely make a decision on one final treatment option: radiation. Typically radiation is administered in conjunction with chemotherapy for patients on Stanford V. However, radiation is usually only administered to large masses of cancer, which the average patient usually has. My case is slightly unique in that I don’t have large masses. Instead, my cancer has spread to many lymph nodes throughout my abdomen (my PET scan looked like a Christmas Tree instead of flood lights!). I do have a few clumps of lymph nodes that collectively may be considered a large mass. My doctor is getting many second opinions to help him decide what would be the best course of action for me. Radiation increases the cure rate of lymphoma because it attacks the larger areas where cancer is likely to relapse. Unfortunately it also has a risk of causing secondary cancers later in life. The debate with me is that if we decide to radiate, we would have to radiate a large portion of my chest, which would put me at risk of exposing multiple organs to radiation and thus increasing my risk of secondary cancers. It is a difficult decision for my doctor because I am young and he does not want to cause a secondary cancer later in life, but he also wants to increase my probability of being cured.

I will post the result of Thursday’s appointment and the latest on the radiation decision as soon as possible.

Gone!

Gone, baby, gone!
It feels better, it looks better--I'm much happier.
Just a little nippy. Brrr!
Thanks so much for my wonderful winter hats--I'm DEFINITELY getting some use out of them now!

Going... Going...

Here is a progression of the hair loss over the course of a couple days. The pillow in the second picture isn't very clear, but trust me, everywhere I went a trail of tiny hairs followed me: hair all over the shower, hair all over my shoulders, and as you can sort of see, hair all over my pillow. The hair loss wasn't very flattering, and came out in scattered bald patches all over my head (primarily on the sides) so I decided it was time to pull out the razor.......

Oct 10 update

I thought visitors to my blog would be interested in my work. This is a picture of the Adam Aircraft A-700. I work as a Materials and Processes Engineer which basically means that I decide what materials are used for each part, and I also help solve processing issues that arise during manufacturing of the aircraft. To determine what materials to use, I coordinate tests that determine the strength and other critical properties of the materials. That is my job in a nutshell.

As an update, I am still doing pretty well, but I had a rough week. I had to rely on anti-nausea pills a few times, which is more frequent than after previous chemo treatments. I also experienced a lot of bone pain as a side effect of the white blood cell booster. My fatigue is still the hardest to cope with, and most noticeable is the uncontrolled shaking that I experience in my muscles. I feel shaking in my legs when going up and down stairs, shaking in my arms and hands when doing tasks that require a lot of coordination or strength, and I even hear it in my voice at times. But all things considered, I am doing very well and my chemo nurses have been impressed.

Tomorrow (Thursday) I will have my fourth chemo treatment.

December Calendar

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November Calendar

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October Calendar

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My new do

As promised...here is a picture of my new haircut. After losing even more hair in the shower this morning, I realized it was time to go for the gold and get it all cut off.

That's more than just leaves falling!

Yesterday it became official...my hair has decided to part ways with my head. I guess it is fitting. Fall is here, the leaves are changing colors and falling off the trees. My hair is following suit. So far it is not too noticeable if you could see me. My hair does not stand up as much as it used to because it is now thinner, but I don't have any bald spots...yet.

This weekend I think I will cut my hair really short just to save time. It is ridiculous how long it takes to wipe the hairs off my body after a shower...not to mention how long it takes to clean the shower. I will post a picture after my haircut.

I feel fairly well after my double dose of chemo this week. So far I am very fatigued, but I don't have any nausea. That is all my news, so until next time...

GO ROCKIES!

Initial Post

This is my initial post of this blog. I will try to update this as frequently as possible with pictures as well as commentary.
I appreciate the support that everyone has given me so far. It is a great reminder of how wonderful my family truly is. I decided to title the blog Cancer Shmancer (Rebecca's idea) to illustrate that I am stronger than the cancer and in the end I will beat it.

Included in this post are pictures of my first chemo treatment. You can see the room where the chemo is administered. It is nice room with a lot of natural light, confortable reclining chairs, and motivational pictures of cancer survivors.

Update: Today was the first of two back-to-back chemo treatments which makes up my third week. I will go back tomorrow morning for the second half of this third week. I also go in Friday morning for a white blood cell booster shot and a red blood cell booster shot. Today's treatment went well, and I have so far not felt any side effects beyond fatigue. As with every other treatment, the worst of the side effects are expected to hit 24-48 hrs afterward.

To help everyone understand my chemo regimen, I will try to explain it. The total duration of the chemotherapy is 12 weeks. This comprises of 3 sets of 4 week blocks. In each block I receive different drugs depending on the week. Week one and three are similar and weeks two and four are identical. Week one I receive Mustargen (a form of mustard gas!), Adriamycin, and Vinblastine. Weeks two and four I receive Vincristine and Bleomycin. Week three I receive Etopiside, Adriamycin, and Vinblastine on day one, and Etoposide again on day two. I also take Prednisone every other day orally as well as an antiviral and antibiotic. After weeks one and three I receive the white blood cell booster I mentioned earlier, and I receive the red cell booster as needed based on blood test results. At one point I may need a transfusion if these are not sufficient. Each of these drugs cause different side effects. Almost all cause hair loss, so I am almost guaranteed to lose my hair which should start any day. So far nausea has been rare, but fatigue has been constant. Muscle fatigue is noticeable from uncontrolled shaking. I also get occasional bone pain caused by the white blood cell booster. The good news is, so far my crohn's disease seems to be under control and not negatively affected by the chemo.

That is a lot of information, so feel free to ask me if you would like clarification.

Why you need a port

Ports are wonderful things. They may look bad right after they are implanted (as you can see) but they make IV treatments and butterfly needles seem brutal. It is my opinion that every human should have a port implanted when they are born...just in case. Seriously though, I simply rub Lidocaine on the port an hour before treatment, and when they stick the needle in I feel nothing. For my first treatment I had not had the port implanted yet, and my vein hurt for over a week. The Mustard gas is very caustic to veins. But because the port dumps the catheter right into the superior vena cava, the drugs get diluted quicker, and no damage is done to veins. I see no down sides, other than what looks like a skinned over eyeball sticking out of your arm (or chest). Or as Rebecca says, a dog squeaky toy (she thinks it should squeak when you push it! She thought it would be fun to bring in a squeaky toy and just as the nurse inserts the catheter, Squeak!). Although you do need to get a heprin shot to keep the line clean after each use and once a month for maintainence after chemotherapy is completed.

Everyone should get one!