On thursday, July 23rd I had my first radiation treatment and then my first day of round 4 chemo. Radiation went fine on Thursday, then we spent all day at BI; it was a very long day!
I woke up very sick on Friday morning, I spent most of the day yesterday throwing up; however, luckily I made it through radiation without moving (that could be disasterous, we don't want to burn the good cells). Today, Saturday, I'm still feeling pretty lowsy, we went back to BI for the last day of chemo for round 4 (no radiation on the weekends - hooray!). Luckily we have tomorrow off, then its back to radiation Monday thru Friday. In 11 days or so I have to have my white count checked to make sure my immune system is doing alright.
We believe that the sickness caused this round was because we eliminated the strongest (most expensive) anti-nausea drug because I had done so well switching the the Carbo-Platnium last time. Well we ended up going out and buying the Emend ($$$ anti-nausea med after all), so hopefully it kicks in and I feel better soon. Lesson learned, don't skimp out on the anti-nausea meds, they help!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
We Are Adding a Lazer Show!
The outcome of the previously mentioned good news brings us to a more aggressive treatment plan; we are adding radiation into the mix!
Tomorrow, Tuesday July 21st, we are going to BI for "mapping"; which is where they use a CT Scan and contrast to map out and tattoo the spots where the masses exactly lie. This will allow a quick easy set up on a daily basis for the actual treatment. Radiation treatment will be Monday through Friday for 5 1/2 weeks (28 treatments).
Because I'm such a "complicated case" Dr. B. (the radiation doc) wants to follow my treatment personally; therefore the only off site option was Waltham - we'll take it! When it comes to going M-F for treatment Waltham is a much better option than Boston. The only catch comes on days when I also have chemotherapy. On chemo days we have to go to Waltham for radiation and then straight to BI for chemo. (Coffee Anyone?!) My first day of radiation is Thursday, July 23rd, which also begins my next round of chemo (thr, fri, sat).
We have also decided to eliminate (we=Dr. H) the shot that increases my white cell count; evidently when a person is doing chemo and radiation the shot doesn't help enough to benefit the situation. Which is great news, because then we will actually have one day out of the week that we won't have to go to BI! It's just a matter of being very careful to stay away from germs.
Additional Side Effects:
Radiation causes additional fatigue (tiredness) on top of the chemo fatigue, (6pm bedtime here I come!) It also causes scaring of the lungs, sore throat, and cough.
The extended plan:
As of now, we are planned to have 28 radiation treatments and two rounds of chemo; after this I will go for a PET Scan (full body). On the PET Scan they will be looking to see that: the (hopefully smaller) size of the masses in the thymus, making sure the liver masses haven't changed, and making sure there aren't any new masses elsewhere. If all of the above is true then we will talk about the possibility of surgery, removing what is left of the masses in the thymus.
I will continue to work through all of this. Dr. B assured me that I could get 7am appointments in Waltham that would last 15-20 minutes each, from there I will go straight to work and hopefully not hit too much traffic. The Carbo platinum chemo also helps with being able to work; last treatment I was in a much better condition than previous treatments.
It'll be busy, tiring and expensive...
John and I know that the road to recovery is never an easy one, but it will forever remain an optimistic road!
Tomorrow, Tuesday July 21st, we are going to BI for "mapping"; which is where they use a CT Scan and contrast to map out and tattoo the spots where the masses exactly lie. This will allow a quick easy set up on a daily basis for the actual treatment. Radiation treatment will be Monday through Friday for 5 1/2 weeks (28 treatments).
Because I'm such a "complicated case" Dr. B. (the radiation doc) wants to follow my treatment personally; therefore the only off site option was Waltham - we'll take it! When it comes to going M-F for treatment Waltham is a much better option than Boston. The only catch comes on days when I also have chemotherapy. On chemo days we have to go to Waltham for radiation and then straight to BI for chemo. (Coffee Anyone?!) My first day of radiation is Thursday, July 23rd, which also begins my next round of chemo (thr, fri, sat).
We have also decided to eliminate (we=Dr. H) the shot that increases my white cell count; evidently when a person is doing chemo and radiation the shot doesn't help enough to benefit the situation. Which is great news, because then we will actually have one day out of the week that we won't have to go to BI! It's just a matter of being very careful to stay away from germs.
Additional Side Effects:
Radiation causes additional fatigue (tiredness) on top of the chemo fatigue, (6pm bedtime here I come!) It also causes scaring of the lungs, sore throat, and cough.
The extended plan:
As of now, we are planned to have 28 radiation treatments and two rounds of chemo; after this I will go for a PET Scan (full body). On the PET Scan they will be looking to see that: the (hopefully smaller) size of the masses in the thymus, making sure the liver masses haven't changed, and making sure there aren't any new masses elsewhere. If all of the above is true then we will talk about the possibility of surgery, removing what is left of the masses in the thymus.
I will continue to work through all of this. Dr. B assured me that I could get 7am appointments in Waltham that would last 15-20 minutes each, from there I will go straight to work and hopefully not hit too much traffic. The Carbo platinum chemo also helps with being able to work; last treatment I was in a much better condition than previous treatments.
It'll be busy, tiring and expensive...
John and I know that the road to recovery is never an easy one, but it will forever remain an optimistic road!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Optimism
We went into BI this morning to get the results of the CTscan that I had done this past Saturday. Doctor H. was very pleased that the thymus mass had "shrunk considerably", the liver doesn't look like it has changed much but we can't be sure.
The decision has been made to change the type of chemo that I am receiving. The new type that I began today, should give me less nausea and vomitting, with a very slight decrease in effectiveness (definately worth it). Dr. H. said to us that he was going to present and discuss my most recent scan with the other doctors and get everyone's thoughts on what the next step should be. Later in the day he came back to say that we will be meeting with the radiation doctor in 2 weeks. We all agree that we want to be aggressive in fighting the cancer that we know I have (in the thymus). After a couple more treatments we will do a PETscan to see what things look like. The only risk that is higher with this type of chemo is that it will lower my white count significantly, which means going in for a shot on Sunday that will help replenish the white count.
The IV took 3 stabs today. Putting a port in (permanent line that they can tap into for IVs, etc) is looking like it might end up happening. My nurse said that she would give me one more treatment round and see how it goes.
So overall, it was positive feedback - we are defiantely happy with the tentative news. This round of chemo will be today, tomorrow, Saturday, and the shot on Sunday.
We meet with the radiation doctor on Thr. July 16th, I'll let you know how it goes!
PS: it is painful to type with an IV in your hand - ouch!
The decision has been made to change the type of chemo that I am receiving. The new type that I began today, should give me less nausea and vomitting, with a very slight decrease in effectiveness (definately worth it). Dr. H. said to us that he was going to present and discuss my most recent scan with the other doctors and get everyone's thoughts on what the next step should be. Later in the day he came back to say that we will be meeting with the radiation doctor in 2 weeks. We all agree that we want to be aggressive in fighting the cancer that we know I have (in the thymus). After a couple more treatments we will do a PETscan to see what things look like. The only risk that is higher with this type of chemo is that it will lower my white count significantly, which means going in for a shot on Sunday that will help replenish the white count.
The IV took 3 stabs today. Putting a port in (permanent line that they can tap into for IVs, etc) is looking like it might end up happening. My nurse said that she would give me one more treatment round and see how it goes.
So overall, it was positive feedback - we are defiantely happy with the tentative news. This round of chemo will be today, tomorrow, Saturday, and the shot on Sunday.
We meet with the radiation doctor on Thr. July 16th, I'll let you know how it goes!
PS: it is painful to type with an IV in your hand - ouch!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)