Chemo Cycle #1 of 3

The First 21 Days of Treatment
You will notice my chemo treatment regimen is listed on each day.  The drugs listed are the chemo drugs that I will take that day.  There are also anti-nausea medications that I won't bother to list.  Wikipedia.org is a great place to research these drugs.  Don't worry about the listed side effects... I'm a tank ; )  


11 Jan - Monday - Cisplatin/Etoposide: 9am-330pm.  Today was good.  There are very few side effects today : )  Thank you Melissa and Dennis for EVERYTHING!  Thank you, Donna Mae and Christina for "TEAM JARID"!  Thank you, Mom, for the ESSENTIAL OILS and the DIFFUSER.  My room is filled with healing aroma... instead of man-foot-smell!  Ok, don't worry.  I will post all the really real facts etc when there is something to report... I won't try to make anyone think there's nothing going on.  Today was chill ; ) Go Team!!

12 Jan - Tuesday - Cisplatin/Etoposide/Bleomycin: 9am- 440pm of pure infusion time... ugh.  I'm happy to report that the only side effects I have experienced today are foggy thoughts (yeah, I'm not very quick on the draw today) and sleepiness.  The doctor said that it would not be out of the ordinary for me to experience a mild fever later tonight... nothing yet.  I'm sleepy, hungry and I'm pretty sure this body was designed not to break easily.  I'm also thankful, thankful for my support group and thankful for this resilient body.  ; )
13 Jan - Wednesday - Cisplat/Etop: 9am- 230pm.  Another good day in chemoland.  Truly, there is nothing to report.  I start with an hour of hydration and electrolytes IV drip.  Then they give me some anti-nausea meds.  Then and hour each for the Cisplatin and Etoposide (Bleomycin is much quicker).  Then another hour of hydration and electrolytes.  Today, one of the nurses tried to speed up the Cisplatin drip to only 45 minutes... she didn't tell me that she was going to do this, and I wondered why it hurt when it started to enter my system.  My usual nurse, nurse Chinn, came in and changed it back to 1 hour so that it would enter my system slower.  No need to rush, especially when I'm doing so well taking it by the hour!  Nurse Chinn is great!  The only side effect so far is weariness.  The simple solution is to nap whenever I wish ; )
        Donna Mae kept me company again today.  I taught her how to play Thirteen (a card game) and she picked it up quick enough to kick my butt a few times!  Christina is bringing me an iced, decaf, soy latte tomorrow!
14 Jan - Thursday - Cisplat/Etop: 9am-3pm.  I'm treated so well!  Between Dennis and Melissa, all of my Stanton family, and the nurses, I'm treated like sleepy, drugged up royalty!  Roy, the pharmacology Phd, who assigns my chemo and drug support, gave me some pills to help with the acid reflux that I'm beginning to experience.  It's not really working yet, but hopefully it will start to help by tomorrow.  Roy is like a bearded angel in a white lab coat.  ; )  Christina  brought me an iced, decaf, soy latte today and introduced me to a show called Flashforward!  Then she took me home... then she sat in traffic for about 2 hours, trying to get home... Thank you and I'm sorry!  I think Josh will come see me tomorrow, horrah!
15 Jan - Friday - Cisplat/Etop: 9am-225pm.  They made great time today.  This morning was not the best.  I experienced much more nausea than usual, but it faded away with the appropriate food and meds.  They also game a lorazapam to help with the nausea... it doubles as an anti anxiety and that made things very easy.  I was sleepy all day... more than usual.  Josh watched movies with me and the day went very quick!  Thanks Josh!  And thanks Dennis and Melissa for getting me whatever I wanted for dinner to celebrate the end of the week!!
19 Jan - Tuesday - Bleomycin: 9-1130am.  Hmm, bleomycin gave me a fever today.  Not bad so far.. only about 100 degrees.  They said it probably would.  I have been sleeping almost all day since returning from the hospital and I will go back to sleep soon, I think.  No breathing issues (that's the big concern with Bleo).  Tried to take a bite of dinner a few minutes ago and was struck with sudden nausea, but it's passed now.  I'll try to eat again in a few minutes, but I'm really not in the mood.  Nothing sounds good.  Water is nice *smiles*.  It's a full week until the 26th, horrah!!  Thank you so much, Team Jarid!  Your support means a LOT to me!
26 Jan - Tuesday - Bleomycin: 2 hours or so.  Last Tuesday, the Bleo kicked my butt.  Today, I am feeling very well!  My white blood cell count is even lower, 0.6.  This is to be expected.  We scheduled a visit for Friday, to check my counts again.  Hopefully 0.6 is my baseline.  White blood cell counts are supposed to drop like this, then suddenly rise again.  Our hope is that I will have a higher count on Friday, so that we can stay on my treatment schedule.  If the count is still so low on Monday, the solution will be to postpone Cycle #2 for a week and give my counts a chance to raise back up to a healthy level.  Rockin on!

White Blood Cells

Ok, special update.  Today I went to Harborview for a blood test.  They like to check electrolyte, sodium, white blood cell etc levels on a regular basis with chemo patients.  The results of today's test are exactly what we would expect them to be at this stage of the treatment. 

White blood cells are the body's front line of immune defense.  The more the better.  The standard white blood cell count for a healthy person ranges from 1.8 to 7.0.  My count is 0.86.  Basically, I don't have an immune system right now.  ...horrah  ; )  Blessed, as I am, I have a clean hospitable apartment to live in.  Being locked up here won't be so bad.  I can't go to public places, restaurants, stores, library etc for a while... probably until I'm done with treatment.

VISITORS:
I LOVE my visitors.  But I have to ask anyone who has been sick or overly exposed to a sick somebody to wait until they are feeling better to come see me.  Nurse Chinn says that she'll drive away sniffly visitors with a stick!  She's sweet.  The consequences of my catching a cold, infection or fever of 100.4 or higher is an immediate trip to the emergency room.  They even told me not to pet the cats... ugh!

It's lame, but it's the road to what they're saying is an almost sure recovery from cancer... so be patient through this with me.  Thanks guys!

Go Team!

Summary #1

Here ends Summary #1.  I will continue summarizing my treatment in Chemo Cycles 1-3.  This is ah.... archive material.


11 Jan 2010 - Monday
Chemo #1 - thus begins the 63 day saga that will be Chemotherapy.   Today, we will begin the first of 3, twenty-one day cycles.

5-8 Jan 2010
Somewhere in here, I'll visit the UW Male Fertility Clinic for sperm banking. Harborview decided to utilize their discretionary fund to provide me with a 50% discount on fertility services.  Chemo depletes the male sperm count, but the body usually corrects its sperm count within a year, or two, of completing treatment.  This is just a precaution.  

5 Jan 2010 - Tuesday
The Pulmonary Function Lab administered tests that recorded my current lung function so that we can set a base line.  This went well.  There will be several pulmonary function labs during the course of my treatment.  With a baseline, we can tell how I am doing, if my lung function has dropped or raised, etc, due to the chemo.

4 Jan 2010 - Monday
A port was installed under the skin below my collarbone somewhere.  This protects my veins from frequent injection damage.  It feels and looks just about the way one would imagine. 

31 Dec 2009 - Thursday 
Meet with the oncologist to prepare for chemotherapy. 

22 Dec 2009 -Tuesday 
New news, new plan

21 Dec 2009 - Monday
CT scan #2 was uneventful

17 Dec 2009 - Thursday
Meet with the surgeon/urologist, Dr. McLung.  He said that I am healing very well from the surgery.
Met the oncologist, Dr. Lee.  She examined me and scheduled me for more blood tests and another CT scan.
Gave blood to the lab.

30 Nov 2009 - Monday
Met with Dr. McClung to review biopsy and CAT Scan. The biopsy was inconclusive, so they're going to take a better look.  They are going to set up an appointment with an Oncologist (cancer specialist) for me in the near future.

19 Nov 2009 - Thursday 
Had a very smooth surgery.
Made it home by 1pm!

17 Nov 2009 - Tuesday
Financial Center opted to cover 100% of my medical bills through 5.17.10!
Met with Kay for preop information.
Met my Anesthesiologist to determine the best anesthesia for me.
Had a chest x-ray and a CAT scan
Blood test came back indicating normal organ function etc!

16 Nov 2009 - Monday
Visit Harborview Medical Center for the first time.
Financial Center was too understaffed to meet with me, so we made an appointment for tomorrow.
Met my urologist, Dr. Christopher McClung.
Met Kay Longhi, the urology Patient Care Coordinator. 
Let the lab draw more blood for tests.