Day 73

I was hoping to schedule the follow up chest scan for early next week but they can only see me on Friday the 25th at 9am. That means I will not know results until the 28th, at best. As you can imagine, I'm pretty interested to see if the past 11 nightmare weeks have cleaned this crap up. Reznick is pretty sure it did as he is also looking at the blood markers and they have cleared it.

I had another evening of throwing up and was given the option of going to the ER or witing until later this morning and getting fluids from Reznick. I chose to wait and will go in at 10 for a couple hours. I'd really hoped I was done sitting in there but I need some help and they are much better than the er.

I've heard from 3 different people that Greg was settled when he passed and that provides me great comfort. I can't type this out without tears filling my eyes and, at the right time, I look forward to meeting some of his family and friends.

Another thing I'm looking forward to is eating some El Pollo Loco. I had it the weekend before treatment started and have stayed away (because everything tastes strange) and I do NOT want to ruin the EPL. So, I am starting to think about it, which is good, and wondering when is the right time to plan a trip over to South Federal. It might be as early as the weekend of the 26th..........  This might not seem like a big deal if you are in Cali as you can find EPL's evey mile or so but it's 33 miles round trip from my house.

The hi temp is expecting to be around 16 today with a low around 0. That makes for a long day.

Day 72

Last night was really rough and I am glad I have the day to rest. Not long after 8pm I got really sick and it wiped me out. The bad thing was that it happened twice and I didn't think I had anything left for the 2nd round but I did. It was hard to get to sleep and I still feel really crappy.

A while ago I mentioned Greg and posted a link to his site. The week after I started treatment, he was diagonsed with some severe cancer that had spread through his body. Greg passed away on Sunday afternoon and, although I do not know the details, I tell myself that he was with his family and not in any pain. I have not been able to check his web page yet as it would be too hard to read about it. As I feel stronger, I will read it but I'm not ready for that emotion right now.

Jen and I went in for the Neulasta shot yesterday and ran into Gary and his wife Julie. I mentioned him early on when they were taking some jazz out of his head. It turns out that he was on a similar schedule as I was and we saw each other every 3 weeks. Well, yesterday was pretty much my last day and, for the first time, we asked him what he had going on. It's pretty severe with stem cells and a transplant and months of treatment. Again, it's hard to feel lucky right now feeling as I do but I realize it's true and I am pretty lucky. This could have been much worse and I'm really fortunate that it wasn't.  I do hope Gary is able to get through this as he is a very nice guy and someone I will check in on.

I am going to try and sleep for a couple hours.

Sam

Day 70

It's been a long weekend as I have gone to Centennial hospital both days for hydration. Yesterday they gave me anti nausea and it totally wound me up so they gave me something to knock me out and it did. I was home Saturday at noon and got out of bed on Sunday morning. Today seemed better but I got sick this evening and lost a lot of liquids. I will be at Reznicks tomorrow for a shot and will see if they think I should take more fluids. They have gone into the port for 7 straight days and it's pretty sore although it's still better than being dehydrated.  I'm really just looking to add days since then end of treatment as I know the more time there is, the better I will feel. It does feel good, especially with how I feel right now, to have the pressure of work off my plate for 2 weeks.  At some point, I hope my arms and legs catch up as I am so tired and sore right now. I'm not confident that I could walk around the block as my legs are exhausted. I'm not sure that there is anything I can do to help with the exception of resting.

So, that is all for tonight. I am currently downstairs watching some tv knowing tonight will be a long one. There are these awful burps associated with my treatment and each one makes me question if I will throw up. Like I said earlier, adding days since treatment will help and I look forward to tomorrow.

I'm Done.

Day 68

I am getting ready to go upstairs for the last day of Chemo treatment. As you might be able to imagine, this is pretty exciting although not as much as when the day is over. Just about 6 hours left....

Late Day 66

It's late Wednesday night and I'm up to get something to drink. The past 2 days of chemo have been the same with me sleeping most of the time. I'd imagine it's like the last couple days od a jail sentence and I'm just trying to get through it.  2 more days of treatment and it should be over and that is exciting. I hope for the best over the next 5-7 calendar days as those tend to be the toughest days.

Sam

Day 64.1

I talked with Reznick and he said it would take 3-6 months for me to be back to normal. He said the heavy metals stay in the body for a while.

I've also been told that I'm very close to being classified as anemic. That means my body is not creating enough Red Blood cells. I am now getting a new medication to help generate red blood cells and it's called Aranesp and it's only about $3000 a shot and I only need to one I'm getting today. This condition is not a normal thing for me and is a condition of the chemo. In the most extreme cases, a blood transfusion is necessary. They do not feel that I am in that catagory.

So, I've got a couple minutes left for today and then we are heading home. Jen and I watched the Bourne Ultimatum and it was pretty good. We have the Hoax for tomorrow.

I will try to post tomorrow.

Sam




 Aranesp
Sam Williams

Day 64

I am at the oncologist office waiting to meet with Reznick before starting treatment. I can not define how I currently feel as I have about 5 percent excitment about this being the final round and 95 percent dread about having another round to complete.  It's like entering the 4th round of a fight with Mike Tyson (circa 1986 not 2007) and knowing I am not going to throw a punch and will stand there taking a beating. Does that sound like fun to you? Ya, i didn't think so.

My hair is just starting to grow back and now I will get Etoposide again and it will kill the hair. One question I have for Reznick is the timing of full recovery and being back to normal. I feel about 80 percent today and think another 2 or 3 weeks would get me back to normal.

He is on his way into the room and i will write later.

20 days left......
Sam Williams

Very Early on Day 63

I was having a hard time sleeping tonight and came down to the computer for the first time in a few days. I was looking at Saturday's hockey scores and then decided to go to Greg Liptak's page and check on him. I had some info about Greg on the blog a few weeks ago and then took it down and I just left the link to his blog. Greg is currently in Hospice and resting comfortably with his family. Greg's parents left a post on Friday and talked about educating people to get checked for colon cancer before it's too late. It sounds like many of Greg's friends are now getting checked and that is a little good news in this sad time. I wish Greg and his family the best.

Today marks the last day of the 3rd cycle(Day 21) and tomorrow will be the start of the 4th and final round of chemo.I'm not really sure what to say about it. Of course, I am looking forward to it being over but... I also realize what the next 2+ weeks will be like. I don't really have anything to say about any of this and just want to get it over with.

I will post again on Monday.
Sam

January 3rd

I do not remember what "day" it is and don't have a calendar handy.

I've been working and it's gone pretty well. Although I feel good, it's far from 100 percent and there are many little things still going on. I've been eating a little better but that is a crapshoot as some things seem okay and make me feel sick later. We ate some pasta last night and felt sick almost instantly. I took the anti nausea medicine and went to bed at 630pm. I'll be at work tomorrow until noon and then I have a 1pm breathing test the goes for one and a half hours. I will then go to the lab and give blood to get ready for the 4th and final round of chemo and that starts next Monday.

Since the 3rd round really knocked me out for the first 14 days, i've decided to take the final 3 weeks of treatment off work so I can get through this without worrying about anything other than my health. With the current state of the title insurance industry, this was a very tough decision as things are not great and it's hard to ask for 3 more weeks off. I am fortunate and have the support of my management which makes this much easier.  I do have short term disability and will get some compensation for those days off. At this point, I do not know if that is a full amount or a percentage of pay and right now, either is fine as we just want to get past this.

I talk with someone at the office today whose father was recently diagnosed and it's pretty bad. He's already had some surgery and the dr's have yet to give him a recovery percentage. From the start, i have know that my cancer is 85-95 percent curable. It would suck to go through any of this without knowing your chance of survival.

Hope everyone had a safe New Year and 2008 is starting off well.


Sam Williams