Thursday, 30 June 11
Today has been better, digestively, than the preceding four or five days. I have been able to eat eggs, soup and a baked potato without major repercussions. I furnished stool samples to LabCorp this morning for analysis; results are expected early next week. We are looking for bacteria, parasites or any other explanation for my woes, other than the CPT-11 chemo itself. Thus June draws to a close, easily the most difficult month for me in recent history. My prayer pager is vibrating almost nonstop, and others are interceding without paging. Either way, thank you for remembering me.
Wednesday, 29 June 11
My chemo schedule has been changed in view of the digestive difficulties I have been experiencing for the past seven days. Instead of getting chemo each week for four weeks, with the following two weeks off, we are going to do just two weeks of chemo, then take one week off. This 2/1 plan will then be repeated - two half cycles equating to a full chemo cycle. Thus I did not receive any chemo today, and my week of rest has begun. My cbc results from today were perfect. I lost 7 pounds this past week, no doubt due to the chemo, marking my first such weight loss since this story began in January 2004.
Tuesday, 28 June 11
I suffered several bouts of diarrhea yesterday. This condition was mitigated with a mix of Imodium, Pedialyte and Kaopectate. The levee is holding thus far, and I am restarting my intake of food, walking carefully and slowly on the proverbial egg shell of caloric consumption. I have an appointment with my oncologist tomorrow. Maybe I will get another CPT-11 infusion. Perhaps this diarrhea has bacterial origins and is not caused by chemo. The most recent CBC tests show an elevated white cell count, which could indicate an infection. The other thing to try to understand is why the 1st CPT-11 infusion did not trigger such a GI response, given my experiences following the 2nd CPT-11 infusion. It would be great if this diarrhea is not a function of CPT-11, since this would provide encouragement to stay the course with this chemo agent.
Sunday, 26 June 11
My body has spent most of this weekend flushing itself
out - many bowel movements over an extended period of time that fortunately were not violent. Diarrhea was not exactly what happened Friday, Saturday and into the wee
hours of Sunday morning. I think my body was just resetting itself, but it could be a precursor of diarrhea. There have been no watery deposits made into the toilet, no blood
either. My appetite is good, no fever, no chills. I am not dizzy, cold, hot, or unusually fatigued. I am hungry and need to eat, but I do not want to trigger a volcanic eruption, so I
must try peaches, pears, bread, jello and rice. I am inclined to take Imodium, but if I do, will it send my intestines back into hibernation, only to awake with further wrath later
his week?
My mistake: beginning CPT-11 on 17 June 11, experiencing no GI activity within 2-3 days, and not taking action. I was concerned about the possibility of diarrhea
being instigated by CPT-11; why usher the condition into being via a laxative? By the time the reset began, two CPT-11 infusions had been accomplished and I was
double-booked. I must try to mitigate this moving forward - I do not see how I can withstand 4 consecutive weeks of CPT-11 administered in three cycles of six weeks each
without a more proactive approach to digestive management.
You can just call me 'raw hide' until further notice.
Friday, 24 June 11
I elected not to take the Emend anti-nausea med on
the day after chemo (Thursday) and on the 2nd day after chemo (today). I believe that constipation is more of a threat than nausea. Emend will prevent nausea but it will also
shut off my bowels, like Zofran and Kytril. My GI tract began to reward my initiative today with several measured, tolerable intestinal events, and I do not feel as if I will vomit.
Diarrhea is a frequent side effect of CPT-11, but no incidences have been sustained thus far from this sequence or from the treatments associated with the 4th recurrent
tumor.
Monday is coming, and I need to return to work. My prayer request is for a system reset, for rest and for strength. My prayer is for the Lord to bless those
who bless me with prayers.
Wednesday, 22 June 11
CPT-11 infusion #2 was accomplished today after verification of good CBC results. The plan is to do four weekly CPT-11 infusions, then get off the drug for two weeks, perform a MRI and repeat until three clean scans have been obtained. So the cycle has changed from a monthly MRI to a MRI every six weeks. Avastin will be used on a bi-weekly basis, after the wound from my port implant has healed.
The prayer pager was down for one day early this week - it is back on line now. Thanks to my friends from the Northeast for notifying me of the pager problem!
Tuesday, 21 June 11
Today was a bit rough for me at work; the effects of the CPT-11 were more pronounced than yesterday. I received a new pray page from Zip Code 97325 just at the right time this afternoon.
Sunday, 19 June 11
Father's day 2011, my 8th such event since the brain tumor onslaught. A very nice day from every point of view - the phone call from my son Aaron in Italy, the gathering at the restaurant, the movie at home, the laughter and memories made. The energy two days after the CPT-11 infusion.
Saturday, 18 June 11
I feel great today! I am forcing myself to
take it easy, but I am not one to sit still for long. You keep praying and I'll try make my heart very quiet and just rest.
Friday, 17 June 11
A port was installed this morning in my chest to mitigate the reluctance of my veins to accept any more infusions. I probably should have done this five years ago, but I had no way of knowing back then that I would have five recurrences. I left hospital slightly sedated, being steered like a hot air balloon to visit my oncologist. CBC tests were acceptable, so I received a load of CPT-11 chemo via the new port. This is the first time I have taken 260 mg of this agent - your prayers are solicited! Prayers for energy, strength, integration and cognizance.
Wednesday, 15 June 11
Thanks for all of the prayers, pages, emails and the facebook notes. Your words of encouragement do make a positive difference and I appreciate your support!
Tuesday, 14 June 11
A CAT scan was run today on my chest and showed no issues. I have had a cough for a couple of months, which has mostly abated now, but we wanted to check just to ensure that there are no complications from my lungs when the CPT-11 chemo begins Friday.
Monday, 13 June 11
Well the routine MRI from Friday did not
produce the desired routine results. A 3.5 mm enhancement has been identified by the radiologist. The MRI was repeated on a higher power machine today
and the spot is more defined, but it appears in only 2 of the 3 MRI planes. Thus my 5th recurrent tumor has arrived, but we will destroy with several full rounds
of CPT-11 administered over the next four months. Each tumor recurrence is greeted with a stronger and stronger response. The swine will eventually be
destroyed, by the grace of God. I will be getting a port on Friday, as my veins are becoming less cooperative with every needle poke.
Friday, 10 June 11
Another routine MRI was accomplished today. The images look clean to me, but the radiologist's report will be received Monday. This scan included a new incident; I failed to remove my prayer pager from my person prior to the start of the scan. I took note of this fact about 3/4 into the procedure when I felt the pager's vibrations. I carefully removed the pager from my jeans, and was impressed with the magnetic pull being applied to the pager by the MRI machine. I held the pager up in a more or less fixed position so that the technician could stop the scan if warranted. I took care not to move my head during all of this so as to preserve the validity of the MRI images. The tech told me after the scan that the pager should be ok, but the pager battery might be discharged.
Wednesday, 08 June 11
I have a CD changer in the trunk of my car that accommodates six discs. I occasionally test my memory by trying to recall the names of the discs loaded in the magazine. Today I
completed a test that lasted several days. I simply could not remember the title of one of the six discs. I pulled the cartridge from the changer and
discovered, to my delight, that only five CDs were actually loaded. I could not remember the 6th disk because there was no 6th disk. Little mental victories like this are encouraging; they are answers to my daily prayer for strength, energy, integration and cognizance.
Monday, 06 June 11
Allied troops hit the beaches of Normandy, France, 67 years ago this day in the furtherance of the campaign against Germany. Truly this was the greatest American generation. Next time you see a soldier in uniform, thank him or her for their service to our country. Shake the hand of war veterans, young and old. Buy a veteran lunch or dinner.
Wednesday, 01 June 11
Austin graduated from High School this fine day. I am so proud of him, along with Andrew, from the Class of 2007 and Aaron, from the Class of 2009. I am proud of all of my children, but the ceremony tonight was Austin's special day of recognition. How quickly they grow! Austin was in 5th grade when this brain tumor story began in January 2004.
