Ho ho ho! (Not just what Santa said to the three hookers). Greetings from downtown Corvallis, home of your future Emerald Bowl Champion Oregon State Beavers (and a big no-thanks to those schmucks at Boise State for screwing up all my bowl projections). I'm currently typing from a downtown Starbucks, being as they have Wi-Fi and Cheryl folks, well, don't. Updating this blog on a 28.8 modem is just a bit too slow for those of us who are members of the ADD generation.
Anywho, Cheryl is feeling fairly fine and dandy. She was only able to make it through 10 doses this time around, but isn't suffering too much from the bugaboo of side effects. Aside from a little nausea, some skin flaking on her face and a whole lot of fatigue, she's doing okay. We were able to escape the hospital fairly early Saturday afternoon, and have since been crashing at Casa Harper until the 26th, at which time we'll head for my folks in central Oregon, then home to Moscow on the 31st if all goes according to plan.
Other than that, no news to report. Thanks for everyone who stopped by to say hello in the hospital, and big thanks to Maren for putting me up and putting up with me for a couple of days. I've been told Santa is going to be very good to me, which is only fair, considering how much I've had to deal with this year :)
Monday, December 24, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Today's news of note (not much, really)
Another quiet day here at the hospital. Cheryl's tired, a bit bloated and nauseous but is doing fairly well. She will skip dose #10 due to a CO2 imbalance of sorts, but seems to be on course for about 12 doses, as predicted. And, as an added plus, we finally got her moved to a private room, so we can all stretch our collective feet, as it were.
Not too much to report at this time. Cheryl will probably be dozing the rest of the day, since she didn't get too much rest last night due to her suitemate's hacking cough all last night.
One of the nurses came by to pass along the news that another IL-2 patient of theirs had stopped by to say hello, and he was in full remission since finishing treatment. So that's good.
Not too much to report at this time. Cheryl will probably be dozing the rest of the day, since she didn't get too much rest last night due to her suitemate's hacking cough all last night.
One of the nurses came by to pass along the news that another IL-2 patient of theirs had stopped by to say hello, and he was in full remission since finishing treatment. So that's good.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
*Yawn*
Sweet merciful God, I'm tired. Not much sleep last night plus a long drive to PDX have me very worn out. You have no idea how truly sick I am of the many long drives we've been having to take since we moved to the Palouse. Wherever we move next, it's either going to be much closer to family, or waaaay too far away to drive.
Anywho, thanks to all for stopping by today. Cheryl's doing pretty good, a perfect 7-7 on IL-2 doses, and not suffering from side effects too badly; itchy, a bit nauseous, but she's lucid and the blood pressure's stabilized around 95/60.
I'm going to catch a bit of the Blazer game on TV then head over to our friend Maren's place to crash, which I imagine I will do for around 10 or so hours, then resume the vigil here at Providence tomorrow. Yeah, I'm too tired for any pithy comments tonight.
Dave
Anywho, thanks to all for stopping by today. Cheryl's doing pretty good, a perfect 7-7 on IL-2 doses, and not suffering from side effects too badly; itchy, a bit nauseous, but she's lucid and the blood pressure's stabilized around 95/60.
I'm going to catch a bit of the Blazer game on TV then head over to our friend Maren's place to crash, which I imagine I will do for around 10 or so hours, then resume the vigil here at Providence tomorrow. Yeah, I'm too tired for any pithy comments tonight.
Dave
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The weather outside is frightful
It's just barely warm enough to rain here in Moscow, to which I say, bah phooey. Give me snow any day of the week (being as I am one of the 10 Finest Snow Drivers in the Free World, snow gives me no problems whatsover).
I'm currently packing clothes and trying to clean this joint up for the kittie caretakers while we're both absent during the break. When last I checked with the missus, she was a little loopy on Dilotid (sp?) to keep the nausea at bay while the IL-2 did its stuff. The side effects pretty much came on quickly, so I've revised the over/under on max doses from 12 to 11. I could be wrong. This has been a horrible football handicapping year for me.
I'll be down in Portland this time Wednesday, so anyone needing to get a hold of me can use the trusty cell option.
I'm currently packing clothes and trying to clean this joint up for the kittie caretakers while we're both absent during the break. When last I checked with the missus, she was a little loopy on Dilotid (sp?) to keep the nausea at bay while the IL-2 did its stuff. The side effects pretty much came on quickly, so I've revised the over/under on max doses from 12 to 11. I could be wrong. This has been a horrible football handicapping year for me.
I'll be down in Portland this time Wednesday, so anyone needing to get a hold of me can use the trusty cell option.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
I'm off to Portland!
Just thought I'd post a quick blog entry. I'll be heading to Portland tomorrow in anticipation (!) of the next cycle of IL-2. Dave will be meeting me mid-week, so I'm flying out of Lewiston tomorrow morning and meeting the Parents in Portland.
Most of the blog entries next week will come from Dave. Unfortunately, my computer is having problems with the internet, so I won't be able to respond to emails. Think happy positive thoughts cuz this is the next step to get me healthy!
Again, I'd love to see anyone who's willing to show up at the hospital. Give me a call on my cell phone, and I'll pass on the room number.
Cheryl
Most of the blog entries next week will come from Dave. Unfortunately, my computer is having problems with the internet, so I won't be able to respond to emails. Think happy positive thoughts cuz this is the next step to get me healthy!
Again, I'd love to see anyone who's willing to show up at the hospital. Give me a call on my cell phone, and I'll pass on the room number.
Cheryl
Friday, December 7, 2007
News! News!! News!!!
So we had a checkup in Portland yesterday to go over the CT scan and blood tests from last week. Dave and I had each come up with best/worst case scenarios in our heads (not shared), and went in to the appointment nervous as hell. I was hoping that we would have no change, and no new tumors. Dave was hoping for decrease in size of tumors. Regardless, we agreed to go waste money after the appointment at the Spirit Mtn Casino to take our minds off of whatever the current prognosis was. The blinky lights are hypnotizing.
Our doctor, Dr. Todd Crocenzi, is a quiet, soft-spoken man who shows little emotion. He started the appointment just checking on how I was feeling then got to some of the basics he gleaned from my latest round of tests.
1. I am slightly anemic and have slightly elevated white blood cell count, likely as lingering side effects from the IL-2 treatment 5 weeks ago.
2. The CT scan and PET/CT scans are somewhat hard to compare, however,
I waited until we left the Oregon Clinic office to cry. I made it to the car, actually. Dave and I hugged and cried in the car (well, actually, we hugged and kissed outside the doctor's office first), and kept saying, in stunned voices, "I never expected this good a' news!" We are both fully aware that this is not the end, and we have a lot to go through still before I'm healthy, but as this is the first concrete good news we've had, both of us are flying high right now.
We went to the casino. I lost my shirt. Guess I already had my good luck for the year. Maybe we should plan that trip to Vegas for next year.
Our doctor, Dr. Todd Crocenzi, is a quiet, soft-spoken man who shows little emotion. He started the appointment just checking on how I was feeling then got to some of the basics he gleaned from my latest round of tests.
1. I am slightly anemic and have slightly elevated white blood cell count, likely as lingering side effects from the IL-2 treatment 5 weeks ago.
2. The CT scan and PET/CT scans are somewhat hard to compare, however,
He could not see any nodule or tumor in the area in my lower abdomen which was thought to be a lymph node
Soooo, did he just say what I thought he said???
He could not see the nodules in my stomach lining seen in the PET scan in August.
Is this good news? Is the doctor smiling? Oh, my, he's smiling a little bit. What this all means is that it appears that the IL-2 treatment is having some affect on my tumors. I'm not out of the woods. This is not The Cure. I'm still having stomach problems, and there are likely lesions still in my stomach lining, but they are not visible in the CT scan. Dr. Crocenzi asked, "So, do you feel up to another cycle of IL-2?" I believe my response was, "Hell yeah!" So, I go back to the hospital the week of Dec 17-22 (Cycle 3), and again Jan 7-13 (Cycle 4). I'll feel a little sick on Christmas, but I think its gonna be worth it. Four weeks after Cycle 4, we will do a PET/CT scan and have the surgeon who did the original endoscopy and found my cancer do another one to compare the results to what Dr. Stiller saw in August. If things continue to go as they are going, we may not need another series of treatments after January. Oh boy.I waited until we left the Oregon Clinic office to cry. I made it to the car, actually. Dave and I hugged and cried in the car (well, actually, we hugged and kissed outside the doctor's office first), and kept saying, in stunned voices, "I never expected this good a' news!" We are both fully aware that this is not the end, and we have a lot to go through still before I'm healthy, but as this is the first concrete good news we've had, both of us are flying high right now.
We went to the casino. I lost my shirt. Guess I already had my good luck for the year. Maybe we should plan that trip to Vegas for next year.
Monday, December 3, 2007
BCS Follies and other news
As Foghorn Leghorn would say, "now wait just a cotton pickin' minute": How is it that the Beavers can defeat Oregon in the Civil War (in a surprisingly entertaining game, as well), finish above said Ducks in the Pac-10, but still end up going to the crappier bowl game?
Just another reason to abolish the abomination that is the BCS and institute a playoff system, if you ask me. However, it sounds more like the Beavers won by losing, because if you've ever been to El Paso...well, let's just say, Excitement Capital of the World, it is not. When the most exciting thing to do is visit the shantytown of Cuidad Juarez...
Yeah. The Emerald Bowl may not have quite the, ahem, "prestige" or "tradition" that the Sun Bowl has, but it's not in the armpit of America, either.
If you think I'm joking, go down to El Paso sometime.
Anywho, I had a grand old time watching the Civil War game (in HD, bless ESPN), as the Beavers backup QB and backup RBs ended up proving victorious over the Ducks 5th string QB, 3rd string RB and soon-to-be-canned special teams coach, who cost the lightning-yellow and thunder-green a chance at victory. Cheryl was greatly disappointed, so I kept the hooting, hollering and incessant displays of the Beaver Victory Dance to a bare minimum.
We're gearing up for our visit to Portland, where we hope the doctor will say that, yes, the IL-2 treatment is working (yay!)...which means another 12 go-rounds of IL-2 over the next several months (blegh). At least we know there's a few other treatments available should the news be less than stellar, however, since the oncology nurses had good news during the last set of treatments, we're going in feeling guardedly optimistic.
Still, if'n you have some spare mojo to send, we'll take all we can get.
Now I just have to finish up Xmas shopping before the Amazon.com cutoff for free shipping. If anyone on our shopping list has ideas for what they'd like, let us know, 'cause we're really stymied right now.
Dave
Just another reason to abolish the abomination that is the BCS and institute a playoff system, if you ask me. However, it sounds more like the Beavers won by losing, because if you've ever been to El Paso...well, let's just say, Excitement Capital of the World, it is not. When the most exciting thing to do is visit the shantytown of Cuidad Juarez...
Yeah. The Emerald Bowl may not have quite the, ahem, "prestige" or "tradition" that the Sun Bowl has, but it's not in the armpit of America, either.
If you think I'm joking, go down to El Paso sometime.
Anywho, I had a grand old time watching the Civil War game (in HD, bless ESPN), as the Beavers backup QB and backup RBs ended up proving victorious over the Ducks 5th string QB, 3rd string RB and soon-to-be-canned special teams coach, who cost the lightning-yellow and thunder-green a chance at victory. Cheryl was greatly disappointed, so I kept the hooting, hollering and incessant displays of the Beaver Victory Dance to a bare minimum.
We're gearing up for our visit to Portland, where we hope the doctor will say that, yes, the IL-2 treatment is working (yay!)...which means another 12 go-rounds of IL-2 over the next several months (blegh). At least we know there's a few other treatments available should the news be less than stellar, however, since the oncology nurses had good news during the last set of treatments, we're going in feeling guardedly optimistic.
Still, if'n you have some spare mojo to send, we'll take all we can get.
Now I just have to finish up Xmas shopping before the Amazon.com cutoff for free shipping. If anyone on our shopping list has ideas for what they'd like, let us know, 'cause we're really stymied right now.
Dave
Monday, November 26, 2007
Things are starting to ramp up again!
Hi All
I have my next CAT Scan tomorrow morning here in Moscow at the hospital. Oh boy. I get to drink a barium fruit smoothie tomorrow morning! I hear its the latest thing. No, really! Well, maybe not really, but that's part of the protocol I have to follow. The scan tomorrow will help my doctor assess whether (a) the Interleukin-2 is working, or (b) the tumors are continuing to grow. I'm a little nervous, as I feel like this one test will decide my fate. Well, not really, but both Dave and I are tired of waiting and want to get on to the next phase of my treatment, whatever it is. We're hoping I'm in the 5-7% of IL-2 patients where the tumors actually shrink, but will take an arrest of growth, and no new tumors! The test results to go my doctor at the Oregon Clinic in Portland, and we have an appointment next week to go over them and to plan the next step. I may be a bit nervous about tomorrow, but the trip to Portland is beginning to give me nightmares!
On the other hand, Thanksgiving was loads of fun! We decided not to drive across the state to the Willamette Valley, and instead spent Thursday here at home, cooking dinner and watching football/basketball/whatever sport was on TV. We had invited a number of people to dinner but only one person could make it. Dave and I cooked Cornish Game Hens rather than turkey, and had a ball! After an evening of playing Tripoli and Vanessa and Dave's Wii (wheeee!), we settled down for a long night of sleeping off waaayyyy too much food. On Friday we set out for Stanfield (near Hermiston), 3 hours south, to my brother and sister-in-law's house for a day-after-Thanksgiving-feast of prime rib with their family and my parents... and more playing of Wii. Good grief. Did everyone get one of these Wii things and we're behind the times? Sheesh! We spent the night and stayed just long enough on Saturday to watch my beloved Duck football team lay a big stinker in L.A. SIGH. No national championship, no Rose Bowl, only bitter, bitter disappointment. I'm still trying to overcome the depression from that one.
Its supposed to snow overnight. I think Dave is hoping for a blizzard so we can go for a walk and I can hit him in the face with a snowball.
It's the little things in life that make it all worthwhile. ;)
Until Next Time!
Cheryl
I have my next CAT Scan tomorrow morning here in Moscow at the hospital. Oh boy. I get to drink a barium fruit smoothie tomorrow morning! I hear its the latest thing. No, really! Well, maybe not really, but that's part of the protocol I have to follow. The scan tomorrow will help my doctor assess whether (a) the Interleukin-2 is working, or (b) the tumors are continuing to grow. I'm a little nervous, as I feel like this one test will decide my fate. Well, not really, but both Dave and I are tired of waiting and want to get on to the next phase of my treatment, whatever it is. We're hoping I'm in the 5-7% of IL-2 patients where the tumors actually shrink, but will take an arrest of growth, and no new tumors! The test results to go my doctor at the Oregon Clinic in Portland, and we have an appointment next week to go over them and to plan the next step. I may be a bit nervous about tomorrow, but the trip to Portland is beginning to give me nightmares!
On the other hand, Thanksgiving was loads of fun! We decided not to drive across the state to the Willamette Valley, and instead spent Thursday here at home, cooking dinner and watching football/basketball/whatever sport was on TV. We had invited a number of people to dinner but only one person could make it. Dave and I cooked Cornish Game Hens rather than turkey, and had a ball! After an evening of playing Tripoli and Vanessa and Dave's Wii (wheeee!), we settled down for a long night of sleeping off waaayyyy too much food. On Friday we set out for Stanfield (near Hermiston), 3 hours south, to my brother and sister-in-law's house for a day-after-Thanksgiving-feast of prime rib with their family and my parents... and more playing of Wii. Good grief. Did everyone get one of these Wii things and we're behind the times? Sheesh! We spent the night and stayed just long enough on Saturday to watch my beloved Duck football team lay a big stinker in L.A. SIGH. No national championship, no Rose Bowl, only bitter, bitter disappointment. I'm still trying to overcome the depression from that one.
Its supposed to snow overnight. I think Dave is hoping for a blizzard so we can go for a walk and I can hit him in the face with a snowball.
It's the little things in life that make it all worthwhile. ;)
Until Next Time!
Cheryl
Monday, November 19, 2007
Redrum?
All quiet on the blogging front thus far. Classes are out for the week here at WSU, and combine that with the fresh half-inch of snow, there's a real Shining vibe here on campus.
Redrum? Redrum?
Cheryl and I braved the freezing rain and cold winds Saturday evening to watch my Oregon State Beavers unexpectedly redrum the Cougars 52-17, thusly ending any bowl chances for Wazzu (it's always fun to crush another team's hopes and dreams, leaving a hollow shell in our wake) while ensuring a possible Vegas Bowl berth for the forces of good. By halftime, what was left of the student section left to go get warm, dry and hopped up on schnapps, and the orange ponchos easily outnumbered the crimson sweaters.
What a bunch of wussies. I'm an old school Beaver; watching my team get blown out in the pouring rain, that's nostalgia, man. That's vintage 1990s-era Beaver football, and we got hopped up on schnapps before the game.
Young people these days...
On Friday, Cheryl and I had an opportunity to experience the Nintendo Wii for the first time, and now that our muscles have stopped aching (no joke), we desperately want one. If you'd like to get us one for Christmas, that'd be great, but I imagine we'll pick one up for ourselves beforehand. Extra controllers/games, however, might be an excellent suggestion.
No news from the Oregon Clinic as yet regarding the latest PET scan, but Cheryl will be bugging them some time this week to make sure they didn't forget about us here in the frozen wastes of western Idaho.
Redrum? Redrum?
Cheryl and I braved the freezing rain and cold winds Saturday evening to watch my Oregon State Beavers unexpectedly redrum the Cougars 52-17, thusly ending any bowl chances for Wazzu (it's always fun to crush another team's hopes and dreams, leaving a hollow shell in our wake) while ensuring a possible Vegas Bowl berth for the forces of good. By halftime, what was left of the student section left to go get warm, dry and hopped up on schnapps, and the orange ponchos easily outnumbered the crimson sweaters.
What a bunch of wussies. I'm an old school Beaver; watching my team get blown out in the pouring rain, that's nostalgia, man. That's vintage 1990s-era Beaver football, and we got hopped up on schnapps before the game.
Young people these days...
On Friday, Cheryl and I had an opportunity to experience the Nintendo Wii for the first time, and now that our muscles have stopped aching (no joke), we desperately want one. If you'd like to get us one for Christmas, that'd be great, but I imagine we'll pick one up for ourselves beforehand. Extra controllers/games, however, might be an excellent suggestion.
No news from the Oregon Clinic as yet regarding the latest PET scan, but Cheryl will be bugging them some time this week to make sure they didn't forget about us here in the frozen wastes of western Idaho.
Friday, November 9, 2007
HAPPY FRIDAY!
Hi All!
Hooray 3 day weekends! Busy day at work today, and I was happy that 4:00 came around.
This weekend: fall cleaning. Whoopee. But boy howdy our apartment needs it! Neither of us have been particularly motivated to clean lately, so its time. Thanksgiving is coming up, and we're inviting people over for dinner. Probably want to get the piles of magazines and Magic cards off the floor! Since my Ducks are not playing Saturday, that'll give us plenty of time to clean!
Not the most exciting life, but hey! It's a 3-day weekend!
Cheryl
Hooray 3 day weekends! Busy day at work today, and I was happy that 4:00 came around.
This weekend: fall cleaning. Whoopee. But boy howdy our apartment needs it! Neither of us have been particularly motivated to clean lately, so its time. Thanksgiving is coming up, and we're inviting people over for dinner. Probably want to get the piles of magazines and Magic cards off the floor! Since my Ducks are not playing Saturday, that'll give us plenty of time to clean!
Not the most exciting life, but hey! It's a 3-day weekend!
Cheryl
Thursday, November 8, 2007
As if this year didn't already suck the big one
One of my few joys during the workweek is NBC's Thursday night comedies. Around 8 o'clock, I fire up a martini (or three) and Cheryl and I settle in to watch My Name Is Earl, The Office and 30 Rock (although Scrubs I can live without). Truly, it is one of the few high points of my week.
(The fact that three TV shows are the highlight of my week speaks volumes as to the podunkitude of our current area of residence.)
Now, with the WGA strike, those shows are being shut down for the immediate future - and probably most of the year, to hear the posturing on both sides.
Great. Now what am I supposed to do on Thursday nights? Watch NBA basketball? Is this what the world has come to?
(Addendum: it has been pointed out that, yes, I do own a large screen TV and have a voluminous DVD collection, so I should quit whining (but I whine so well)).
Dave
(The fact that three TV shows are the highlight of my week speaks volumes as to the podunkitude of our current area of residence.)
Now, with the WGA strike, those shows are being shut down for the immediate future - and probably most of the year, to hear the posturing on both sides.
Great. Now what am I supposed to do on Thursday nights? Watch NBA basketball? Is this what the world has come to?
(Addendum: it has been pointed out that, yes, I do own a large screen TV and have a voluminous DVD collection, so I should quit whining (but I whine so well)).
Dave
All quiet on the western front
Been a while since the blog has been updated, but there just hasn't been much to report other from the continuing trickle of medical bills (which, thankfully, insurance picks up all but a smidgen of). No word from the hospital as yet regarding when Cheryl goes in for her next PET scan, but I'll assume it'll be sometime in the very near future.
We will be splitting Turkey Day between our house with friends and expatriates in the area and her brothers' place in the Hermiston area - a much, much closer drive than all the way to Eugene. We've just been traveling so much lately ('specially me), I don't think I've got many more long drives in me without a lengthy sabbatical.
The day where I enjoyed lengthy road trips is long, long past. What's the phrase, "getting old ain't for sissies?" Ain't that the truth...
Dave
We will be splitting Turkey Day between our house with friends and expatriates in the area and her brothers' place in the Hermiston area - a much, much closer drive than all the way to Eugene. We've just been traveling so much lately ('specially me), I don't think I've got many more long drives in me without a lengthy sabbatical.
The day where I enjoyed lengthy road trips is long, long past. What's the phrase, "getting old ain't for sissies?" Ain't that the truth...
Dave
Friday, November 2, 2007
Things are just going along as usual...
Not much to add at the end of this week. Despite some serious skin peeling, I'm feeling better -- well enough that Dave and I are going to try a new restaurant in the area -- a tricky action at the best of times in the Moscow/Pullman area. Its been given good reviews, so hopefully we'll get through with a nice meal!
Today was reminder that its good to have friends while going through a difficult time. I read an article recently about breast cancer survivors who noted that a close group of friends with whom you can pour out your fears, dreams, and hopes helps relieve stress. Talking about my cancer diagnosis to friends and relatives certainly helps, and I'm grateful to all of you I've poured my guts out to recently. This morning I spent time with a friend who is going through similar (but not identical) stressful times, and as he/she noted, being able to turn to someone and say "I know exactly how you feel!" is such a relief sometimes.
The Cancer Support Center at Providence Medical Center gave me a list of online cancer support groups, and I'm still a little shy about beginning to use these resources. There are surprisingly few local (Moscow/Pullman) cancer support groups for general "cancer" -- breast cancer, colon cancer, yes, but not more general groups for all kinds of cancer. Perhaps that will be a goal for me next week. I'm good at procrastinating ;) I guess while its good to talk through many of these issues, I think I'm getting tired of talking about it. Lets get on with life! Cancer? What Cancer?
The most positive aspect about this week is that I'm finally getting back to finishing the master's thesis. I haven't opened up any of the computer files in 2 1/2 months, and I'm getting some editing done on the first four chapters today. I need to finish this for both Dave and I. Completion is good!
Cheryl
Today was reminder that its good to have friends while going through a difficult time. I read an article recently about breast cancer survivors who noted that a close group of friends with whom you can pour out your fears, dreams, and hopes helps relieve stress. Talking about my cancer diagnosis to friends and relatives certainly helps, and I'm grateful to all of you I've poured my guts out to recently. This morning I spent time with a friend who is going through similar (but not identical) stressful times, and as he/she noted, being able to turn to someone and say "I know exactly how you feel!" is such a relief sometimes.
The Cancer Support Center at Providence Medical Center gave me a list of online cancer support groups, and I'm still a little shy about beginning to use these resources. There are surprisingly few local (Moscow/Pullman) cancer support groups for general "cancer" -- breast cancer, colon cancer, yes, but not more general groups for all kinds of cancer. Perhaps that will be a goal for me next week. I'm good at procrastinating ;) I guess while its good to talk through many of these issues, I think I'm getting tired of talking about it. Lets get on with life! Cancer? What Cancer?
The most positive aspect about this week is that I'm finally getting back to finishing the master's thesis. I haven't opened up any of the computer files in 2 1/2 months, and I'm getting some editing done on the first four chapters today. I need to finish this for both Dave and I. Completion is good!
Cheryl
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Feeling Better Every Day
Hi All
As you saw from Dave's mini-blog, we made it back home on Monday night.
The week of treatment was nearly as icky as the first cycle, but since I had a feeling what was to come, I think I responded to many of the symptoms a little better. I had friends visit on Monday, both in the morning and evening, which was wonderful! Of course, Monday night, I had a surprise drop in my blood pressure to the tune of ~73/39. I had to spend most of Monday evening talking with friends Sarah and Larry lying flat on my back. There was a thought the next day that this might not bode well for my long-term tolerance of the treatment, but nine doses later, that thought was nixed. I had similar side-effects as the first cycle (temperature, chills, nausea, aches & pains, dry flaking itching skin, low blood pressure, etc.) and I was treading along through my 9th dose.
On Thursday, I was put on medication to keep my blood pressure up. We skipped Dose 10, then went ahead with Dose 11. After 10 doses, they couldn't keep my pressure above 85 systolic without medication, so that was it for doses of IL-2. On average, most people tolerate one less dose during their second cycle than their first cycle. 12 doses for cycle 1, 10 doses for cycle 2 seems pretty good to me. One of the nurses mentioned that one of the other IL-2 patients was only able to receive 2 doses the whole week, so I feel pretty darn good! When I go in for the 3rd cycle, the body should have "forgotten" about IL-2 and it will be back like the Cycle 1 side effects.
Since I was given no more doses after Thursday a.m., I felt pretty good the rest of the week. Tired, yes, but much more lucid! I could actually have conversations! Watch TV! Eat! That is why we were able to come home a few days early this time around. I've been hanging around here watching TV (no bon-bons! though thanks Blair for the choc truffles!!!), and am planning on doing some work here at home Thursday/Friday, then back to Orofino on Monday a.m.
Some of you may have seen a recent blog entry about low blood platelet counts. We are still somewhat foggy about this, so I won't be able to give you any information other than we were told by two different sets of nurses that low blood platelet counts seems to have some anecdotal correlation with a positive response to IL-2. I had low platelets, and the doctors and nurse practitioners were very excited about that. We go in for a CAT scan in November, then an appt back in Portland to assess the utility of the IL-2 treatment. That CAT scan will pretty much hold our treatment future and possible prognosis.
Everyone continue to keep Dave and I in your thoughts. We've got another month to wait. SIGH. We'll be spending Thanksgiving here and at my brother's. We've just had way too much time in the car. Its gonna be a Long November.
Cheryl
As you saw from Dave's mini-blog, we made it back home on Monday night.
The week of treatment was nearly as icky as the first cycle, but since I had a feeling what was to come, I think I responded to many of the symptoms a little better. I had friends visit on Monday, both in the morning and evening, which was wonderful! Of course, Monday night, I had a surprise drop in my blood pressure to the tune of ~73/39. I had to spend most of Monday evening talking with friends Sarah and Larry lying flat on my back. There was a thought the next day that this might not bode well for my long-term tolerance of the treatment, but nine doses later, that thought was nixed. I had similar side-effects as the first cycle (temperature, chills, nausea, aches & pains, dry flaking itching skin, low blood pressure, etc.) and I was treading along through my 9th dose.
On Thursday, I was put on medication to keep my blood pressure up. We skipped Dose 10, then went ahead with Dose 11. After 10 doses, they couldn't keep my pressure above 85 systolic without medication, so that was it for doses of IL-2. On average, most people tolerate one less dose during their second cycle than their first cycle. 12 doses for cycle 1, 10 doses for cycle 2 seems pretty good to me. One of the nurses mentioned that one of the other IL-2 patients was only able to receive 2 doses the whole week, so I feel pretty darn good! When I go in for the 3rd cycle, the body should have "forgotten" about IL-2 and it will be back like the Cycle 1 side effects.
Since I was given no more doses after Thursday a.m., I felt pretty good the rest of the week. Tired, yes, but much more lucid! I could actually have conversations! Watch TV! Eat! That is why we were able to come home a few days early this time around. I've been hanging around here watching TV (no bon-bons! though thanks Blair for the choc truffles!!!), and am planning on doing some work here at home Thursday/Friday, then back to Orofino on Monday a.m.
Some of you may have seen a recent blog entry about low blood platelet counts. We are still somewhat foggy about this, so I won't be able to give you any information other than we were told by two different sets of nurses that low blood platelet counts seems to have some anecdotal correlation with a positive response to IL-2. I had low platelets, and the doctors and nurse practitioners were very excited about that. We go in for a CAT scan in November, then an appt back in Portland to assess the utility of the IL-2 treatment. That CAT scan will pretty much hold our treatment future and possible prognosis.
Everyone continue to keep Dave and I in your thoughts. We've got another month to wait. SIGH. We'll be spending Thanksgiving here and at my brother's. We've just had way too much time in the car. Its gonna be a Long November.
Cheryl
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Back home safe and sound
Oy, me am tired. Over the span of three days, I drove from Moscow to Boise to Bend to Albany then back to Moscow.
Cheryl is tired, itchy and piddling like a fiend but is in pretty good shape. She's camped out on the couch catching up on her soaps.
We'll have a more detailed entry later.
Dave
Cheryl is tired, itchy and piddling like a fiend but is in pretty good shape. She's camped out on the couch catching up on her soaps.
We'll have a more detailed entry later.
Dave
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Good news, everyone!
Futurama is coming back, yes, oh my.
For more relevant news on the cancer front, Cheryl was informed by one of her nurses that she had a low platelet count. That sounds bad, but lo, there is anecdotal evidence that a low platelet count means the IL-2 treatment is working.
Mind you, anecdotal evidence isn't quite, y'know, empirical evidence, but good news will be taken in any way, shape or form here at INB headquarters.
The latest info from Portland is that Cheryl is skipping dose #10 due to a CO2/pH imbalance - I'll pretend I know what that means - and, while she is tired, bloaty and itchy, she is not as tired, bloaty and itchy as she was during her previous stay at Providence. This, too, is a good thing.
Dave
For more relevant news on the cancer front, Cheryl was informed by one of her nurses that she had a low platelet count. That sounds bad, but lo, there is anecdotal evidence that a low platelet count means the IL-2 treatment is working.
Mind you, anecdotal evidence isn't quite, y'know, empirical evidence, but good news will be taken in any way, shape or form here at INB headquarters.
The latest info from Portland is that Cheryl is skipping dose #10 due to a CO2/pH imbalance - I'll pretend I know what that means - and, while she is tired, bloaty and itchy, she is not as tired, bloaty and itchy as she was during her previous stay at Providence. This, too, is a good thing.
Dave
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Wednesday in the hospital Post
I'll make this one short and sweet. I'm lucid, a little tired, itchy, and have just received my 7th dose of IL-2. I'm in relatively good shape this time around, through 2 more days of this may change my demeanor a bit. Last night I had the chills (rocking the bed!), and my blood pressure had been mostly good, though there have been a few low points, where the nursing staff gave me some liquids to coax that wacky pressure up to more normal.
Dave will likely blog remotely for me in the next few days. Thanks for all the support, everyone!
Cheryl
Dave will likely blog remotely for me in the next few days. Thanks for all the support, everyone!
Cheryl
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Today's update is brought to you by the letter "O"
Cheryl's feeling a little "ooky" but is otherwise doing okay. Since she's not exactly in the mood to get out of bed and get the computer, I'm in charge of the blog right now. She's getting her 5th dose of IL-2 tonight and is doing pretty good. Slight fever, and her blood pressure did bottom out at an impressive 75/30 at one point, but she's remarkably lucid and in good spirits...if a bit itchy.
Dave
Dave
Monday, October 22, 2007
Hospital Stay Take 2: Day 1, Part 2
Well, they say that the side effects come quicker your second time through, and I am here to tell you that "they" are right. I've already had chills, and I think my appetite is going south.
Ah, well. Such is life on Interleukin-2
Cheryl
Ah, well. Such is life on Interleukin-2
Cheryl
Hospital Stay, Take 2: Day 1, Part 1
Hi Everyone!
Yep. Its that time of the month again. I was admitted to Providence Portland Medical Center this morning to begin the 2nd 1-week cycle of Interleukin-2. Oh Boy. Well, I'm not excited about being in the hospital but I'm certainly hopeful for a positive result from the regimen I will under go for the rest of the week!
Dave, unfortunately, could not make the trip this week, but I am ably assisted by my able assistants: my parents, Bill and Rose Mary. Take a bow, folks! They will read/sleep through the week here, spending their days with me, and the nights at their motorhome. I'll likely be able to entertain them for today, maybe tomorrow, then it gets a little tricky. If I am unable to put in a blog entry, they will pass info on to Dave at home, and he will get you all the news here from Portland.
Last time in the hospital, we determined 2 things:
1. Compazine decreases my ability to pee
2. I am allergice to many adhesives
The nurses have #1 down, and already made sure that it is noted in my chart not to give me compazine. But do you know how many people I had to tell to make sure they did not use any adhesives directly on my skin for a dressing on my triple lumen catheter (central line)? 3 nurses and 2 doctors. I had to describe hives, itching, taking benedryl, red marks, swelling, etc., to 5 different people! All they needed to do was just put a skin protectant on my skin prior to placing the dressing over my catheter, but they kinda playfully ignored me a bit. but I ended up getting my way in the end, with help from one of the nurses. Hopefully that allergy is now in my chart!!
I've already had one visitor today (thanks for the chocolates, Blair!!!!!! They were/are yummy), and mom and dad went to Burgerville USA for lunch. So now we wait until 3 pm for my first IL-2 treatment. The nurses and doctors here say the side effects should show up quicker than last time. I guess I should eat more chocolates before my appetite disappears again!
Cheryl
Yep. Its that time of the month again. I was admitted to Providence Portland Medical Center this morning to begin the 2nd 1-week cycle of Interleukin-2. Oh Boy. Well, I'm not excited about being in the hospital but I'm certainly hopeful for a positive result from the regimen I will under go for the rest of the week!
Dave, unfortunately, could not make the trip this week, but I am ably assisted by my able assistants: my parents, Bill and Rose Mary. Take a bow, folks! They will read/sleep through the week here, spending their days with me, and the nights at their motorhome. I'll likely be able to entertain them for today, maybe tomorrow, then it gets a little tricky. If I am unable to put in a blog entry, they will pass info on to Dave at home, and he will get you all the news here from Portland.
Last time in the hospital, we determined 2 things:
1. Compazine decreases my ability to pee
2. I am allergice to many adhesives
The nurses have #1 down, and already made sure that it is noted in my chart not to give me compazine. But do you know how many people I had to tell to make sure they did not use any adhesives directly on my skin for a dressing on my triple lumen catheter (central line)? 3 nurses and 2 doctors. I had to describe hives, itching, taking benedryl, red marks, swelling, etc., to 5 different people! All they needed to do was just put a skin protectant on my skin prior to placing the dressing over my catheter, but they kinda playfully ignored me a bit. but I ended up getting my way in the end, with help from one of the nurses. Hopefully that allergy is now in my chart!!
I've already had one visitor today (thanks for the chocolates, Blair!!!!!! They were/are yummy), and mom and dad went to Burgerville USA for lunch. So now we wait until 3 pm for my first IL-2 treatment. The nurses and doctors here say the side effects should show up quicker than last time. I guess I should eat more chocolates before my appetite disappears again!
Cheryl
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Another entry in the "Thank God We Have Health Insurance" Files
So, we got our first bill from Providence Medical Center today for Cheryl's first week of treatment.
Guess how much it was.
Go on, guess.
Nope, guess again.
Higher.
Higher.
Stumped?
Don Pardo, tell us how much it is.
Try over $65,000.
I told Cheryl to stay out of the minibar, but noooooo...she had to have her the macadamia nuts.
The bulk of the bill - $51,000 worth - was the Interleukin-2. Holy cats, this stuff is worth its weight in gold. Actually, since gold is selling for about $500 or so an ounce these days...and each dose probably weighed in at around eight ounces, lemme see...I'll have to take off my socks for this one...man, it's worth more than its weight in gold!
I should find me an Interleukin mine and stake a claim or sumthin'.
Fortunately, Cheryl's catastrophic coverage (and I think this qualifies as catastrophic) will pick up all but six grand per year, which is expensive but nonetheless more affordable than what the final bill is going to be here. At least, it'd better or some hapless insurance adjustor is going to meet Angry Dave.
Either that, or, well, you don't need both kidneys, I'm told...
Dave
Guess how much it was.
Go on, guess.
Nope, guess again.
Higher.
Higher.
Stumped?
Don Pardo, tell us how much it is.
Try over $65,000.
I told Cheryl to stay out of the minibar, but noooooo...she had to have her the macadamia nuts.
The bulk of the bill - $51,000 worth - was the Interleukin-2. Holy cats, this stuff is worth its weight in gold. Actually, since gold is selling for about $500 or so an ounce these days...and each dose probably weighed in at around eight ounces, lemme see...I'll have to take off my socks for this one...man, it's worth more than its weight in gold!
I should find me an Interleukin mine and stake a claim or sumthin'.
Fortunately, Cheryl's catastrophic coverage (and I think this qualifies as catastrophic) will pick up all but six grand per year, which is expensive but nonetheless more affordable than what the final bill is going to be here. At least, it'd better or some hapless insurance adjustor is going to meet Angry Dave.
Either that, or, well, you don't need both kidneys, I'm told...
Dave
Sunday, October 14, 2007
So here's the update I promised
Yes, I know. I promised a long update to the blog on Thursday. Obviously, that did not happen. Well, here you go.
Since coming back from Portland, life has been relatively boring. Most of the side effects were gone as of Wednesday, but I'm still feeling a little icky in the tummy. That may be due to the lack of food going through my digestive tract for 5-6 days. I'm feeling much better today. The itchy dry skin is still around. Aveeno is currently my life saver. I love baths! Oatmeal baths are just an excuse for me to lie in a hot tub reading a book and turning into a prune. But I've never really needed an excuse for that!
I go back to work tomorrow (Monday) in Orofino. I'm still having some sleep pattern funny business, and have been waking up pretty early. Gosh darn that week of being woken up every 2 hours for vitals! So I'll head out at 6 am for work tomorrow.
The next phase in our Cheryl Gets Healthy Master Plan is to go back to Providence Medical Center in Portland for another round of IL-2 the week of October 22-27. Oh Boy. Can you tell how excited I am? On the one hand, this is the best option for remission. On the other, it makes me feel ookey. Hmm. I guess we'll go for ookey for now, as the other option is, well, no option. If any of you want to visit me in the hospital, I would advise swinging by on Monday afternoon. I can't guarantee I'll be in a talkative mood later in the week (Sorry Dave T. and Rhiannon...I tried to carry on a conversation, but, um, I was extra-loopy/ookey).
Life is slowly getting back to normal. Football, football, football! I made a horrible batch of zucchini bread today. Dave went to a Magic event this morning, and just got back home. Life moves on.
Cheryl
Since coming back from Portland, life has been relatively boring. Most of the side effects were gone as of Wednesday, but I'm still feeling a little icky in the tummy. That may be due to the lack of food going through my digestive tract for 5-6 days. I'm feeling much better today. The itchy dry skin is still around. Aveeno is currently my life saver. I love baths! Oatmeal baths are just an excuse for me to lie in a hot tub reading a book and turning into a prune. But I've never really needed an excuse for that!
I go back to work tomorrow (Monday) in Orofino. I'm still having some sleep pattern funny business, and have been waking up pretty early. Gosh darn that week of being woken up every 2 hours for vitals! So I'll head out at 6 am for work tomorrow.
The next phase in our Cheryl Gets Healthy Master Plan is to go back to Providence Medical Center in Portland for another round of IL-2 the week of October 22-27. Oh Boy. Can you tell how excited I am? On the one hand, this is the best option for remission. On the other, it makes me feel ookey. Hmm. I guess we'll go for ookey for now, as the other option is, well, no option. If any of you want to visit me in the hospital, I would advise swinging by on Monday afternoon. I can't guarantee I'll be in a talkative mood later in the week (Sorry Dave T. and Rhiannon...I tried to carry on a conversation, but, um, I was extra-loopy/ookey).
Life is slowly getting back to normal. Football, football, football! I made a horrible batch of zucchini bread today. Dave went to a Magic event this morning, and just got back home. Life moves on.
Cheryl
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
And.... We're back to the Palouse
hey, everyone, its Cheryl! Yes, after a week of getting Dave's blog ditties, I'm back in control of the keyboard here at "INB" Central Command.
I'm quickly on my way to bed from here (my parents drove me home today -- Dave got home Monday p.m.), and I'll post something longer tomorrow. In the meantime, I want to thank all the kind words, emails, phone calls, cards, silk flowers, and visits to the hospital I received last week. Its amazing when something not fun happens, but everyone still wants to be involved.
Love, Cheryl
I'm quickly on my way to bed from here (my parents drove me home today -- Dave got home Monday p.m.), and I'll post something longer tomorrow. In the meantime, I want to thank all the kind words, emails, phone calls, cards, silk flowers, and visits to the hospital I received last week. Its amazing when something not fun happens, but everyone still wants to be involved.
Love, Cheryl
Monday, October 8, 2007
Back in...Albany?
Plan A (get out of hospital, drive back to Moscow) got scratched due to general ookiness. Plan B (drive part way to Moscow, crash at motel) also scratched. Hence, the fallback Plan C, drive down to Albany and spend the night at Cheryl's folks' place. And, at this point, since I need to be at work tomorrow, it looks like Cheryl will spend the next few days here and then return to Moscow either by plane or by car.
She is feeling much better now, little if any nausea, mostly just lethargic and a wee bit dizzy, but her appetite is back somewhat. I imagine she'll be sleeping things off for next day or two.
She is feeling much better now, little if any nausea, mostly just lethargic and a wee bit dizzy, but her appetite is back somewhat. I imagine she'll be sleeping things off for next day or two.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
The trouble with master plans...
...is that they seldom seem to work out the way we'd intended.
The plan was to get Cheryl out of the hospital yesterday and either drive to her folks or get part way back to Moscow before sacking out in a Motel 4.6 or somesuch. Unfortunately, that pesky blood pressure didn't get back into good numbers until the late afternoon, and by the time we could have been checked out, it would have been midnight. So we spent another night at the hospital.
Cheryl is feeling much better now and hopefully the nice doctor will come in, discharge us and send us on our merry way very shortly. That would be good, since I am perilously low on clean underwear at this point.
The plan was to get Cheryl out of the hospital yesterday and either drive to her folks or get part way back to Moscow before sacking out in a Motel 4.6 or somesuch. Unfortunately, that pesky blood pressure didn't get back into good numbers until the late afternoon, and by the time we could have been checked out, it would have been midnight. So we spent another night at the hospital.
Cheryl is feeling much better now and hopefully the nice doctor will come in, discharge us and send us on our merry way very shortly. That would be good, since I am perilously low on clean underwear at this point.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Last Cycle Blues
It's a little after 9:00 p.m. here at Providence, and I'm spending the night here so Cheryl and I can (hopefully) get out of here a little early tomorrow. It doesn't look like Cheryl's going to be getting the last IL-2 dose as she's been given two boluses and is getting a third as her blood pressure has been stuck at 74/39 for the past hour or two, and that's too low. Still, 12 for 14 is pretty good in the greater scheme of things.
Cheryl's still a little loopy/sleepy/knocked on her ass, not so much from the IL-2 treatments but the various drugs they're giving her to combat the side effects. Dilantin, Demerol, Benadryl...all sorts of stuff that's going to keep you pretty non-responsive to the rest of the world.
Nonetheless, Cheryl's been a real trooper through all of this and I'm very proud of her. I wish I could be more useful than just refilling her water bottle. Every little bit helps, I know, but it's still damn frustrating.
Cheryl's still a little loopy/sleepy/knocked on her ass, not so much from the IL-2 treatments but the various drugs they're giving her to combat the side effects. Dilantin, Demerol, Benadryl...all sorts of stuff that's going to keep you pretty non-responsive to the rest of the world.
Nonetheless, Cheryl's been a real trooper through all of this and I'm very proud of her. I wish I could be more useful than just refilling her water bottle. Every little bit helps, I know, but it's still damn frustrating.
Day 5 Update - in the home stretch now
Well, Cheryl was a perfect 11 for 11, but decided to forgo dose #12 due to "general ookiness," and I can't blame her. It sounds like she'll probably get just one of the last two scheduled doses before getting discharged on Saturday morning. And she's getting moved to a private room, so much the better.
Cheryl is feeling much better, but still suffering somewhat from nausea, itching and other intestinal maladies.
And I must extend many, many thanks for Miss Ann and Maren for putting me up this week. We owe you two big time, and may take you up on those future offers of a place to crash.
Cheryl is sleeping fitfully now and all in all doing fairly well, but that's just from my layman's opinion.
Dave
Cheryl is feeling much better, but still suffering somewhat from nausea, itching and other intestinal maladies.
And I must extend many, many thanks for Miss Ann and Maren for putting me up this week. We owe you two big time, and may take you up on those future offers of a place to crash.
Cheryl is sleeping fitfully now and all in all doing fairly well, but that's just from my layman's opinion.
Dave
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Day 4 Update
It's time once again to spin the Wheel...of...Side Effects! Don Pardo, tell us what we've won.
"It's itchiness, Dave, in addition to the nausea, cramping and other intestinal ailments!"
Rats. I was hoping for the $39 ceramic dog, or at least being able to take the rest on a gift certificate.
All in all, things are going fairly well. Cheryl's not loopy but pretty tired from all the meds she's getting, but is a perfect 9 for 9 on IL-2 doses. I've slathered a boatload of some kind of oatmeal-based lotion on Cheryl to hopefully relieve the itchiness (because hydrocortisone is bad, but, wait a minute...oatmeal? When did oatmeal relieve itching? It there nothing this wonder grain can't do?)
Powerful stuff, that oat bran.
Right now, Cheryl is half-dozing while she gets a saline drip in preparation of dose #10 this afternoon. There's so many IV bags, empty and otherwise, hanging from the IV whatchamadoozit that it looks like a Christmas tree. No, really, Santa, you shouldn't have.
Unrelated Note To Anything: You know you are getting old when you like getting socks for Christmas.
I was hoping to have an article done for Star City this week, but between tending to the ailing wife and lack of testing resources, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. So, Craig, if you're reading this, I really do have a good excuse for missing my deadline; the cancer ate it. Plus, Cheryl's computer (which I'm using at present) is really annoying to use as the right shift key, Enter key and up arrow key are so close together I keep hitting one instead of the other.
The things I have to go through, I swear.
Lunch just arrived, so you know what that means: I get to bogart Cheryl's ice cream.
What? We can always get more...
Dave
"It's itchiness, Dave, in addition to the nausea, cramping and other intestinal ailments!"
Rats. I was hoping for the $39 ceramic dog, or at least being able to take the rest on a gift certificate.
All in all, things are going fairly well. Cheryl's not loopy but pretty tired from all the meds she's getting, but is a perfect 9 for 9 on IL-2 doses. I've slathered a boatload of some kind of oatmeal-based lotion on Cheryl to hopefully relieve the itchiness (because hydrocortisone is bad, but, wait a minute...oatmeal? When did oatmeal relieve itching? It there nothing this wonder grain can't do?)
Powerful stuff, that oat bran.
Right now, Cheryl is half-dozing while she gets a saline drip in preparation of dose #10 this afternoon. There's so many IV bags, empty and otherwise, hanging from the IV whatchamadoozit that it looks like a Christmas tree. No, really, Santa, you shouldn't have.
Unrelated Note To Anything: You know you are getting old when you like getting socks for Christmas.
I was hoping to have an article done for Star City this week, but between tending to the ailing wife and lack of testing resources, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. So, Craig, if you're reading this, I really do have a good excuse for missing my deadline; the cancer ate it. Plus, Cheryl's computer (which I'm using at present) is really annoying to use as the right shift key, Enter key and up arrow key are so close together I keep hitting one instead of the other.
The things I have to go through, I swear.
Lunch just arrived, so you know what that means: I get to bogart Cheryl's ice cream.
What? We can always get more...
Dave
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Day 3 Update
We have encountered some turbulence, the captain advises you to return to your seats and fasten your seat belts...
Up until about 4:00 yesterday, things were going swimmingly. We'd just gone for our walk around the oncology ward and all seemed well. Unfortunately, the bugaboo of the dreaded side effects finally showed up. Cheryl was suddenly wracked with horrible chills and was shaking so hard I thought I'd have to call the nurse for "a young priest and an old priest."
Cheryl was pumped full of drugs to bring the chills under control, but since then, she's been nauseous and cramping and lots of other things you really don't want to hear about, and her blood pressure got down to a really fun 82/56 at one point. Since Cheryl's always had low blood pressure, we're keeping our eyes on that. Since most of these meds have a sedative effect, she's sleeping most of the time now, so I don't think we'll me making too many walks around the ward anymore.
I got her a few books from Powell's, or, as we bibliophiles like to call it, "heaven," including a sushi cookbook so she can finally get around to making me some California rolls when she recuperates. And, amazingly, I managed to not spend $100+ this time.
Tomorrow is another day, however...
Cheryl will get her seventh dose of IL-2 at 3:00 today, marking the halfway point. Actually, since most patients can only manage between 11-13 doses, we're most likely past the halfway point.
I'll take the good news anywhere I can find it these days.
Up until about 4:00 yesterday, things were going swimmingly. We'd just gone for our walk around the oncology ward and all seemed well. Unfortunately, the bugaboo of the dreaded side effects finally showed up. Cheryl was suddenly wracked with horrible chills and was shaking so hard I thought I'd have to call the nurse for "a young priest and an old priest."
Cheryl was pumped full of drugs to bring the chills under control, but since then, she's been nauseous and cramping and lots of other things you really don't want to hear about, and her blood pressure got down to a really fun 82/56 at one point. Since Cheryl's always had low blood pressure, we're keeping our eyes on that. Since most of these meds have a sedative effect, she's sleeping most of the time now, so I don't think we'll me making too many walks around the ward anymore.
I got her a few books from Powell's, or, as we bibliophiles like to call it, "heaven," including a sushi cookbook so she can finally get around to making me some California rolls when she recuperates. And, amazingly, I managed to not spend $100+ this time.
Tomorrow is another day, however...
Cheryl will get her seventh dose of IL-2 at 3:00 today, marking the halfway point. Actually, since most patients can only manage between 11-13 doses, we're most likely past the halfway point.
I'll take the good news anywhere I can find it these days.
From the Department of Fortuitousness
Cheryl mentioned how much Prilosec made her tummy feel better. Funny how, while she was swigging Pepto, Maalox and Gaviscon, I didn't think that Prilosec was now an over-the-counter medication.
If we'd started her on that, we probably never would have discovered the tumors in her stomach lining until...well, it really would have been "get your affairs in order" time.
Just something to think about.
Dave
If we'd started her on that, we probably never would have discovered the tumors in her stomach lining until...well, it really would have been "get your affairs in order" time.
Just something to think about.
Dave
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Hospital: Day 2 -- A new beginning
Last night wasn't too bad. I slept pretty good between the regular vitals checks every two hours. Perhaps that is because I was doped up with Benadryl. It seems the adhesive from the dressing covering my catheter contains some substance I am allergic to. Hives on the chest and neck was fun. Even more was the removal of said dressing, pulling it off other hives. Oh, the stinging of antibiotic gunk and skin protectant was not so fun. But I survived and got some happy fun Benadryl to allow me the sleep of the mostly dead. That sleep, however, was offset by multiple bathroom breaks. Because I have low blood pressure naturally, they put me on IV fluids overnight, lets just say I had to tote a big wobbly thingy with me into the potty a number of times during the night! Plus the poor nurses have to come look at my, um, results, before they can be flushed. Ahhh.
Side effects not too bad this morning. I have a teeny temperature, some flushing, but that's about it. The nurses say I shouldn't expect the worst stuff until Wednesday. It'll be like I have the flu. Whoopee. Water weight gain hasn't started yet. Be thankful for small favors. I get my next dose in 1/2 hour, then it'll be breakfast time.
One positive thing both Dave and I got from the last 24 hours: Prilosec kicks ass! My tummy feels the best it has in months. I'm sooo gettin' me some of that when I'm discharged on Saturday!
I'll probably blog some more later (or Dave will). Until then...
Cheryl
Side effects not too bad this morning. I have a teeny temperature, some flushing, but that's about it. The nurses say I shouldn't expect the worst stuff until Wednesday. It'll be like I have the flu. Whoopee. Water weight gain hasn't started yet. Be thankful for small favors. I get my next dose in 1/2 hour, then it'll be breakfast time.
One positive thing both Dave and I got from the last 24 hours: Prilosec kicks ass! My tummy feels the best it has in months. I'm sooo gettin' me some of that when I'm discharged on Saturday!
I'll probably blog some more later (or Dave will). Until then...
Cheryl
Monday, October 1, 2007
What a first day!
Hey, everybody! Cheryl here!
Since Dave did the blog entries for from earlier today, thought it was my turn to do some blogging. We left Moscow on Saturday afternoon to my parents' after midnight. Dave got up moderately early on Sunday to head up to Portland for a Magic tournament, while I hung out with my parents. The original plan was to play golf. However, it is late September in the Willamette Valley. Rain. SIGH. So we went out for breakfast, and went back to the house to nap, read, stitch, or watch pro football. NFL is not my cup o' tea (give me college ball any day), but it was fun to watch ex-duck Joey Harrington play well. My nephew Clifford showed up during the afternoon to visit, before I head into the hospital. He just got home from completing the Marines recruit training in San Diego. Many of you know how I feel about the war taking place in the Middle East right now, but I just want to focus here on how proud I am of him. Cliff had a goal, knew what he wanted, and made the adult decision to go for it, achieving that goal his first try. I can't tell you how many times I've told friends, relatives, and acquaintances that the only truly way to be happy is to do what makes you happy. Jobs are jobs are jobs, but if you have something that truly makes you happy in a career, you are blessed. We finished off the evening by playing cribbage. Dave and I finished the night with a 4-2 game lead on the parents. Take that!
I had to arrive at the hospital in Portland at 7:30 a.m. That means we have to leave Albany by 5:30 am. Ugh. The alarm went off at 4:30, and Dave hit the snooze 3 times. Like clockwork, after the 3rd attempt at extending our sleep, I heard a door open, slipped feet shuffle across the carpeted living room, open the door to our bedroom, and look in at us. "Yes, we're up," I call out, before my mother had the chance to rouse us from our warm, comfy snuggling. The door closes, we snuggle in further, but its too late. Dave gets up, turns on a horribly bright light, and we proceed to put the clothes on, brush the hair, and get ready to head to the hospital. I slept pretty well, though had a dream that we were late, and Dave wouldn't hurry, as he sat in the middle of a pile of toys that he said needed to be sorted into "Ebay", "Yardsale", and "Goodwill" piles. The alarm woke me up just as I was yelling at Dave. Good thing I didn't yell in my sleep!
Traffic was OK. Its amazing how many cars are on the road between Salem and Portland at 5:30-6:00 a.m. Traffic never slowed down, really, until we were nearly at the hospital. We got up to the floor, found our room (shared with a very nice woman with a whole heck of a lot of terminal cancer), and began to entertain, oh, 6-8 people who did the poking, proding, and blood taking. Oh boy.
At 9:00 am, I was taking down to the Cardiovascular unit, and received my "triple lumen catheter", better known as a central line. The insert a long tube into one the large veins in your neck, which is extended into the upper chamber of the heart. They gave me anti-anxiety medication prior, though I'm not sure I actually had a response. A shot of pain killer is injected into the area (which definitely hurts), and then they snake the tube down to the heart. The snaking part felt weird! After that, it was back to my room. Dave and I hung out for the rest of the afternoon, and my parents showed up right around 3:00, and saw me get my first dose. They first start an IV of glucose, and then mix in the Interleukin-2 into that. It took 15 minutes to empty the pump, but they kept it in my catheter for another hour.
So far my symptoms aren't too bad. I'm a bit flushed, though no fever, a single hive on my chest, and my heart is beating faster. These are nothing in comparison to the symptoms I'm likely to feel by Wednesday afternoon. Oh, boy, flu symptoms.
I'll update you more tomorrow. Its too hot to have a laptop on my lap.
Cheryl
Since Dave did the blog entries for from earlier today, thought it was my turn to do some blogging. We left Moscow on Saturday afternoon to my parents' after midnight. Dave got up moderately early on Sunday to head up to Portland for a Magic tournament, while I hung out with my parents. The original plan was to play golf. However, it is late September in the Willamette Valley. Rain. SIGH. So we went out for breakfast, and went back to the house to nap, read, stitch, or watch pro football. NFL is not my cup o' tea (give me college ball any day), but it was fun to watch ex-duck Joey Harrington play well. My nephew Clifford showed up during the afternoon to visit, before I head into the hospital. He just got home from completing the Marines recruit training in San Diego. Many of you know how I feel about the war taking place in the Middle East right now, but I just want to focus here on how proud I am of him. Cliff had a goal, knew what he wanted, and made the adult decision to go for it, achieving that goal his first try. I can't tell you how many times I've told friends, relatives, and acquaintances that the only truly way to be happy is to do what makes you happy. Jobs are jobs are jobs, but if you have something that truly makes you happy in a career, you are blessed. We finished off the evening by playing cribbage. Dave and I finished the night with a 4-2 game lead on the parents. Take that!
I had to arrive at the hospital in Portland at 7:30 a.m. That means we have to leave Albany by 5:30 am. Ugh. The alarm went off at 4:30, and Dave hit the snooze 3 times. Like clockwork, after the 3rd attempt at extending our sleep, I heard a door open, slipped feet shuffle across the carpeted living room, open the door to our bedroom, and look in at us. "Yes, we're up," I call out, before my mother had the chance to rouse us from our warm, comfy snuggling. The door closes, we snuggle in further, but its too late. Dave gets up, turns on a horribly bright light, and we proceed to put the clothes on, brush the hair, and get ready to head to the hospital. I slept pretty well, though had a dream that we were late, and Dave wouldn't hurry, as he sat in the middle of a pile of toys that he said needed to be sorted into "Ebay", "Yardsale", and "Goodwill" piles. The alarm woke me up just as I was yelling at Dave. Good thing I didn't yell in my sleep!
Traffic was OK. Its amazing how many cars are on the road between Salem and Portland at 5:30-6:00 a.m. Traffic never slowed down, really, until we were nearly at the hospital. We got up to the floor, found our room (shared with a very nice woman with a whole heck of a lot of terminal cancer), and began to entertain, oh, 6-8 people who did the poking, proding, and blood taking. Oh boy.
At 9:00 am, I was taking down to the Cardiovascular unit, and received my "triple lumen catheter", better known as a central line. The insert a long tube into one the large veins in your neck, which is extended into the upper chamber of the heart. They gave me anti-anxiety medication prior, though I'm not sure I actually had a response. A shot of pain killer is injected into the area (which definitely hurts), and then they snake the tube down to the heart. The snaking part felt weird! After that, it was back to my room. Dave and I hung out for the rest of the afternoon, and my parents showed up right around 3:00, and saw me get my first dose. They first start an IV of glucose, and then mix in the Interleukin-2 into that. It took 15 minutes to empty the pump, but they kept it in my catheter for another hour.
So far my symptoms aren't too bad. I'm a bit flushed, though no fever, a single hive on my chest, and my heart is beating faster. These are nothing in comparison to the symptoms I'm likely to feel by Wednesday afternoon. Oh, boy, flu symptoms.
I'll update you more tomorrow. Its too hot to have a laptop on my lap.
Cheryl
Hold off on the flowers, please
As much as Cheryl and I do love fresh flowers, the Oncology Ward here at Providence does not allow flowers of the non-plastic variety.
In lieu of flowers, we would appreciate it if you rooted for Wes Welker to have 120 receiving yards and two touchdowns for the New England Patriots tonight so my fantasy football team can have a winning week.
Dave
In lieu of flowers, we would appreciate it if you rooted for Wes Welker to have 120 receiving yards and two touchdowns for the New England Patriots tonight so my fantasy football team can have a winning week.
Dave
Oh bother
I was at least hoping to get a jump start on testing for Magic: The Gathering State Championships here in the hospital, but the hospital's firewall has told me that MWS is a no-no.
Bah. PokerStars is right out as well.
Well, frak. What am I supposed to do now?
Bah. PokerStars is right out as well.
Well, frak. What am I supposed to do now?
Contact Info for Visitors...
Hi
I've you want to come to the hospital, call Dave's or Cheryl's cell phones and we can give you the room number. Email requests will also work. Hopefully we will be moved into a private room today or tomorrow, so posting the room may not help. If you can't reach us, ask at information on the 1st floor and they can point you in the right direction.
Cheryl
I've you want to come to the hospital, call Dave's or Cheryl's cell phones and we can give you the room number. Email requests will also work. Hopefully we will be moved into a private room today or tomorrow, so posting the room may not help. If you can't reach us, ask at information on the 1st floor and they can point you in the right direction.
Cheryl
We've made it to Providence
Hi ho, Dave here, typing away while Cheryl gets her central line (ick) stuck in. Fortunately, she's been given some nice potent painkillers, so I'll get to deal with Loopy Cheryl for a few hours before she begins her first interleukin treatment at 3:00.
We're in Unit 5k, the Oncology floor, for those in the area wishing to visit (however, I don't advise coming today, we're just getting settled in and the parade of nurses and doctors looking to poke, prod and extract vital bodily fluids is neverending). And, sadly, the oncology ward is "booked up" so Cheryl is having to share a room with another patient. This also means I can't crash here, but that might be for the best as I go stir crazy whenever I'm in one place for too long.
There's always Powell's Books, at least. Maybe I can pick up some Get Fuzzy anthologies for Cheryl.
On the bright side, one of the oncology nurses came by to kindly ask Cheryl for some of her blood for some cancer studies (and to be a willing guinea pig for various new thermometers for oncology patients), and he expounded upon many of the new melanoma treatments coming out, which he was very excited about. So if the IL-2 doesn't work (but it will), it certainly sounds like we'll have Options B, C, and D available to us. Which is more than you could say five years ago.
We'll keep you all updated as the week continues. Happy thoughts, of course, are always appreciated.
Dave
We're in Unit 5k, the Oncology floor, for those in the area wishing to visit (however, I don't advise coming today, we're just getting settled in and the parade of nurses and doctors looking to poke, prod and extract vital bodily fluids is neverending). And, sadly, the oncology ward is "booked up" so Cheryl is having to share a room with another patient. This also means I can't crash here, but that might be for the best as I go stir crazy whenever I'm in one place for too long.
There's always Powell's Books, at least. Maybe I can pick up some Get Fuzzy anthologies for Cheryl.
On the bright side, one of the oncology nurses came by to kindly ask Cheryl for some of her blood for some cancer studies (and to be a willing guinea pig for various new thermometers for oncology patients), and he expounded upon many of the new melanoma treatments coming out, which he was very excited about. So if the IL-2 doesn't work (but it will), it certainly sounds like we'll have Options B, C, and D available to us. Which is more than you could say five years ago.
We'll keep you all updated as the week continues. Happy thoughts, of course, are always appreciated.
Dave
Friday, September 28, 2007
Because, as we all know, The Office cures cancer
If you weren't aware, NBC's The Office (of which Cheryl and I are ginormous fans) has started a promotion where you can run and be part of your own branch of Dunder Mifflin.
Suffice it to say, the Michael Scott in me made me go to www.DunderMifflinInfinity.com and become the branch manager of the Tacoma, WA branch (home of the largest wooden geodesic dome and finest in wood pulp processing odors in the world). Now, all I need is 15 employees...
My staff here at WSU can attest that I am a kind and benevolent boss/despot (I have a pink sash that says "Overlord" around here somewhere that I wear to amuse/intimidate my minions), so if working for me and making thousands of Schrutebucks appeals to you, head on over to www.DunderMifflinInfinity.com, signup for a myNBC account (like you don't already have a bajillion of those already) and apply for employment at the Tacoma, WA branch using this code:
ambdqexuna
With your help, we can become the largest mid-size paper product supplier to the entire Pacific Northwest. And cure rabies.
Dave Meddish
Regional Manager, Dunder Mifflin, Tacoma, WA
Suffice it to say, the Michael Scott in me made me go to www.DunderMifflinInfinity.com and become the branch manager of the Tacoma, WA branch (home of the largest wooden geodesic dome and finest in wood pulp processing odors in the world). Now, all I need is 15 employees...
My staff here at WSU can attest that I am a kind and benevolent boss/despot (I have a pink sash that says "Overlord" around here somewhere that I wear to amuse/intimidate my minions), so if working for me and making thousands of Schrutebucks appeals to you, head on over to www.DunderMifflinInfinity.com, signup for a myNBC account (like you don't already have a bajillion of those already) and apply for employment at the Tacoma, WA branch using this code:
ambdqexuna
With your help, we can become the largest mid-size paper product supplier to the entire Pacific Northwest. And cure rabies.
Dave Meddish
Regional Manager, Dunder Mifflin, Tacoma, WA
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Details about Interleukin-2 (IL-2) Treatment
Good morning, all!
Sorry I haven't added a post in the last few days. I just haven't had anything else to add.
After talking with the nurse at Providence Medical Center, and reading through a packet of information she sent me, I think the next week is going to be very, um, interesting, if nothing else.
I check in to the hospital at 7:30 a.m. They will take Dave and me to my very own private room on Floor 5K (the oncology floor) where we settle in, and I then get a central intravenous line into my upper chest or neck to allow for ease of getting my doses. After all that, I will get my first dose around 3:00 p.m. Monday afternoon. I then get doses every 8 hours through 11 p.m. Friday night up to 14 doses. Because of side effects, the majority of people have to skip at least one dose, with an average of 11-12 doses taken. I'll then be released some time on Saturday morning, depending upon whether I continue to have any side effects.
Oh, the side effects. Oh boy. Nausea and diarrhea. Itchy skin and flushing. And Capillary Leak Syndrome. Sometimes the Interleukin-2 (IL-2) will result in blood leaking from capillaries into adjacent tissues, resulting in low blood pressure. Oh Boy.
The nice thing about Providence, is that I can get up and move around between doses. There is a kitchen with snacks and drinks. I'm only hooked up to the intravenous line for the dose (20-30 min), and then I'm cut loose. Of course, I may not feel up to much of anything. The nurse told me to expect a feeling of general malaise, or, as she put it, general blech. I can't leave Floor 5K after I start the IL-2 treatment, as if my blood pressure suddenly drops, they don't want to have to pick me up off the sidewalk outside after I faint. Additionally, they have to take vital signs every 2 hours around the clock. So I won't be feeling well, which will be compounded by the fact that I won't be getting ANY good sleep. Bah. But that's what you have to do to get well from the Evil Melanoma!
Dave has a choice. He can either (a) sleep on a cot in my room nightly, (b) pay for a motel room, or (c) go stay with a friend. All three options have their pros and cons. The nice thing about staying at the hospital is that he will be close, very close, and its free! On the other hand, cots are uncomfortable, he'll have to eat hospital cafeteria food or leave for meals, and the vitals-check-every-two-hours may result in a lack of sleep. Staying at a motel room would allow for a place to get away for a bit, but we'd have to pay for a week of it! If he stays with friends, he'll be a bit farther away from the hospital, but will have meal options and have a place to get away from the stress of the hospital. I have a feeling he will use a mix of both (a) and (c). We shall see.
The documentation sent to us from the hospital brought a little more clarity on how the IL-2 treatment schedule works. We start with one week in the hospital, 2 weeks off, one week in the hospital, then a month off. After 1 month, I will go through a PET scan to determine whether there was any change in my tumors (no growth or a decrease in size). We are rooting for either at this point, but a decrease is the best result! My doctor will then decide whether to do another cycle or not, for up to 6 cycles. During our consultation visit, I'm pretty sure he said that even if there is no obvious change after the 1st cycle, we'd do it again, as sometimes change doesn't show up until a couple of cycles. We'll see. While I tried to stay focused during the consultation visit, Dr. Crocenzi has a quiet, monotonous voice, and at times I'll admit that I zoned out. Oh lordy -- shades of sleeping through college classes!
They try to make the oncology floor as informal as possible. I can bring my own jammies, and a favorite pillow. They have wireless internet, so the laptop is coming with me (!), and a cell phone is allowed. When I'm feeling up to it, I'll try to blog every day to keep you all updated. I won't know my room number until we get there. You can either email me, phone me, or ask at the front desk for my room number if you visit. There are no set visiting hours, so you can come whenever you want. I'd love to hear or see from many of you.
OK. I'd better get to work. I'm currently sitting in a coffee shop in Pullman getting ready to get some thesis work done. Dave has a medical procedure requiring general anaesthesia this morning. I dropped him off at 7:00 am at the hospital, and then took off for the coffee shop. Hey! Just because I didn't stay around the hospital waiting room for 3 hours sitting on pins and needles does not mean I don't care! Those chairs are uncomfortable! They don't have wireless internet! Its sooo long! Besides, isn't that what cell phones are really for?? That way you don't have to wait around? That's what I think, anyway... ;)
Cheryl
Sorry I haven't added a post in the last few days. I just haven't had anything else to add.
After talking with the nurse at Providence Medical Center, and reading through a packet of information she sent me, I think the next week is going to be very, um, interesting, if nothing else.
I check in to the hospital at 7:30 a.m. They will take Dave and me to my very own private room on Floor 5K (the oncology floor) where we settle in, and I then get a central intravenous line into my upper chest or neck to allow for ease of getting my doses. After all that, I will get my first dose around 3:00 p.m. Monday afternoon. I then get doses every 8 hours through 11 p.m. Friday night up to 14 doses. Because of side effects, the majority of people have to skip at least one dose, with an average of 11-12 doses taken. I'll then be released some time on Saturday morning, depending upon whether I continue to have any side effects.
Oh, the side effects. Oh boy. Nausea and diarrhea. Itchy skin and flushing. And Capillary Leak Syndrome. Sometimes the Interleukin-2 (IL-2) will result in blood leaking from capillaries into adjacent tissues, resulting in low blood pressure. Oh Boy.
The nice thing about Providence, is that I can get up and move around between doses. There is a kitchen with snacks and drinks. I'm only hooked up to the intravenous line for the dose (20-30 min), and then I'm cut loose. Of course, I may not feel up to much of anything. The nurse told me to expect a feeling of general malaise, or, as she put it, general blech. I can't leave Floor 5K after I start the IL-2 treatment, as if my blood pressure suddenly drops, they don't want to have to pick me up off the sidewalk outside after I faint. Additionally, they have to take vital signs every 2 hours around the clock. So I won't be feeling well, which will be compounded by the fact that I won't be getting ANY good sleep. Bah. But that's what you have to do to get well from the Evil Melanoma!
Dave has a choice. He can either (a) sleep on a cot in my room nightly, (b) pay for a motel room, or (c) go stay with a friend. All three options have their pros and cons. The nice thing about staying at the hospital is that he will be close, very close, and its free! On the other hand, cots are uncomfortable, he'll have to eat hospital cafeteria food or leave for meals, and the vitals-check-every-two-hours may result in a lack of sleep. Staying at a motel room would allow for a place to get away for a bit, but we'd have to pay for a week of it! If he stays with friends, he'll be a bit farther away from the hospital, but will have meal options and have a place to get away from the stress of the hospital. I have a feeling he will use a mix of both (a) and (c). We shall see.
The documentation sent to us from the hospital brought a little more clarity on how the IL-2 treatment schedule works. We start with one week in the hospital, 2 weeks off, one week in the hospital, then a month off. After 1 month, I will go through a PET scan to determine whether there was any change in my tumors (no growth or a decrease in size). We are rooting for either at this point, but a decrease is the best result! My doctor will then decide whether to do another cycle or not, for up to 6 cycles. During our consultation visit, I'm pretty sure he said that even if there is no obvious change after the 1st cycle, we'd do it again, as sometimes change doesn't show up until a couple of cycles. We'll see. While I tried to stay focused during the consultation visit, Dr. Crocenzi has a quiet, monotonous voice, and at times I'll admit that I zoned out. Oh lordy -- shades of sleeping through college classes!
They try to make the oncology floor as informal as possible. I can bring my own jammies, and a favorite pillow. They have wireless internet, so the laptop is coming with me (!), and a cell phone is allowed. When I'm feeling up to it, I'll try to blog every day to keep you all updated. I won't know my room number until we get there. You can either email me, phone me, or ask at the front desk for my room number if you visit. There are no set visiting hours, so you can come whenever you want. I'd love to hear or see from many of you.
OK. I'd better get to work. I'm currently sitting in a coffee shop in Pullman getting ready to get some thesis work done. Dave has a medical procedure requiring general anaesthesia this morning. I dropped him off at 7:00 am at the hospital, and then took off for the coffee shop. Hey! Just because I didn't stay around the hospital waiting room for 3 hours sitting on pins and needles does not mean I don't care! Those chairs are uncomfortable! They don't have wireless internet! Its sooo long! Besides, isn't that what cell phones are really for?? That way you don't have to wait around? That's what I think, anyway... ;)
Cheryl
Monday, September 24, 2007
Whoops! Change of Plan!
Well, I got a call from Portland today and...
I start treatment this Monday, October 1, and will be at Providence until Saturday, October 6. Visiting hours are 24/7, so come whenever you want to the hospital to visit. I may not be feeling all that well, but will certainly appreciate the visit.
I won't know my room number until I arrive on Monday. I'll have my laptop, so you can email me for the room number.
Cheryl
I start treatment this Monday, October 1, and will be at Providence until Saturday, October 6. Visiting hours are 24/7, so come whenever you want to the hospital to visit. I may not be feeling all that well, but will certainly appreciate the visit.
I won't know my room number until I arrive on Monday. I'll have my laptop, so you can email me for the room number.
Cheryl
Friday, September 21, 2007
Poked and Proded
I want to start this post by thanking everyone for the great words and support I've gotten from so many family and friends over the past couple of weeks. Others have mentioned, and I'm finding, that the structure and extent of a physical and emotional support network makes this journey through cancer a hell of a lot easier to bear.
Yesterday I had the Pulmonary Function Test. The respiratory therapist conducting the test kept me in stitches! Cracked me up! But Hooray! I'm within the normal range of fat 35-year-old females. Today I get blood drawn, and on Tuesday I get on the treadmill for a stress test. All these tests are to make sure my system is in good enough shape to tolerate the Interleukin-2 treatment. No pneumonia for me, thank you very much.
After swinging by the doctor's office for the blood tests, I'll go buy some fresh fish for dinner, stop by the grocery store for coffee, and head home to do some laundry. Oh, boy, our life is very exciting. Tomorrow is house cleaning, quality husband time, and pedicure day. Even with cancer, life certainly moves on!
Cheryl
Yesterday I had the Pulmonary Function Test. The respiratory therapist conducting the test kept me in stitches! Cracked me up! But Hooray! I'm within the normal range of fat 35-year-old females. Today I get blood drawn, and on Tuesday I get on the treadmill for a stress test. All these tests are to make sure my system is in good enough shape to tolerate the Interleukin-2 treatment. No pneumonia for me, thank you very much.
After swinging by the doctor's office for the blood tests, I'll go buy some fresh fish for dinner, stop by the grocery store for coffee, and head home to do some laundry. Oh, boy, our life is very exciting. Tomorrow is house cleaning, quality husband time, and pedicure day. Even with cancer, life certainly moves on!
Cheryl
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
We Have a Plan. All Hail THE PLAN
Hi Everyone!
What a busy couple of days! We left Moscow on Monday afternoon, and arrived at my parents in Albany that night. We hung out with Mom and Dad, talked football, and settled in for a nice sleep. Since the plan for the day was to spend the afternoon dealing with some nasty issues, we did the only thing we both thought was appropriate in the morning: Go to the Zoo!
Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh, my! And howler monkeys, and elephants, and bald eagles, and poison dart frogs, and sturgeon, and, oh, gosh, a whole heck of a lot more! Oh boy. That was fun. We got there a little late (11:00), and had to leave by 1:15 to get to the doctor's office across town. We didn't get to see the lions or penguins. Bah.
The meeting with Dr. Crocenzi was good. Not much new information regarding melanoma (yes, melanoma bad; melanoma very bad; most people eventually succumb; melanoma bad---yeah, yeah, yeah, been there, done that). He spent 1/2 hour going over every possible treatment option, down to the smallest detail of each, then discussed with us what our goals were and what we wanted to do. One of the things I've noticed about doctors: they like to put ALL the cards on the table, describing each and every one without giving you a judgment on each, let you make a valiant effort to pick the right one, then backtrack and tell you which one you should have picked, even though you don't have the knowledge to make the best pick. Grr. Just Tell Us What To Do!
After I sniffled for a bit (he did get me kleenex), with Dr. Crocenzi we chose to start the Interleuken-2 treatment.
What a busy couple of days! We left Moscow on Monday afternoon, and arrived at my parents in Albany that night. We hung out with Mom and Dad, talked football, and settled in for a nice sleep. Since the plan for the day was to spend the afternoon dealing with some nasty issues, we did the only thing we both thought was appropriate in the morning: Go to the Zoo!
Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh, my! And howler monkeys, and elephants, and bald eagles, and poison dart frogs, and sturgeon, and, oh, gosh, a whole heck of a lot more! Oh boy. That was fun. We got there a little late (11:00), and had to leave by 1:15 to get to the doctor's office across town. We didn't get to see the lions or penguins. Bah.
The meeting with Dr. Crocenzi was good. Not much new information regarding melanoma (yes, melanoma bad; melanoma very bad; most people eventually succumb; melanoma bad---yeah, yeah, yeah, been there, done that). He spent 1/2 hour going over every possible treatment option, down to the smallest detail of each, then discussed with us what our goals were and what we wanted to do. One of the things I've noticed about doctors: they like to put ALL the cards on the table, describing each and every one without giving you a judgment on each, let you make a valiant effort to pick the right one, then backtrack and tell you which one you should have picked, even though you don't have the knowledge to make the best pick. Grr. Just Tell Us What To Do!
After I sniffled for a bit (he did get me kleenex), with Dr. Crocenzi we chose to start the Interleuken-2 treatment.
I will be starting a treatment regimen starting in early- to mid-October, likely October 7, at Providence Medical Center in Portland.
Interleuken-2 treatment is currently the best treatment available for Stage 4 metastatic melanoma. 15% of all patients respond either by zero-growth in tumors or a reduction in growth. 1/2 of that 15% have reduction to the point that the tumors disappear. That is the best statistics you can find for a melanoma treatment. Yes, forget statistics. They suck.
I won't go into too much detail, but basically it supercharges the body's immune system, hopefully inciting leukocytes to attack cancer cells. Of course, it may also attack other cells in the body as well, resulting in some fun side effects! There are some dangerous side effects, such as low blood pressure and organ failure, but these are extremely rare. These side effects are the reason for a required hospital stay during treatment.
The fun I will likely go through could include a rash, itchy skin, fever, nausea, diarrhea, and extreme water weight gain. My doctor said it is not unusual for a weight gain of up to 10-15 pounds! Of Water! PER TREATMENT SERIES! There goes my grand master plan of losing some weight in time to wear a bikini next summer!
The treatment can only be done during a week-long hospital stay (oh, boy!). I will be in the hospital for one week, getting interleuken-2 treatments 3 times each day, then I can go home for 2 weeks. I then go back to the hospital for another week of treatment, then I can go home for a month. The treatments (14 in all) are paired this way, resulting in a treatment regimen extending over the next year. During the month off, I will get a PET scan to determine whether my cancer is responding to treatment. The side effects are tied to the treatment, and should disappear within 1-3 days after the end of each treatment cycle. Yippee.
I go in this week for a pulmonary function test, a treadmill stress test, and bloodwork. Luckily, all could be scheduled in Moscow/Pullman/Lewiston, so I could go home for the time being until my treatment starts. The cats are happy to see us, though my tomato plant, I think, is giving up the ghost.
That's all for now. Think good thoughts, and if any of you in the Portland area get bored the week of October 7, come on over and see me. I might need entertaining. Beyond just Dave (sorry honey!).
Cheryl
Friday, September 14, 2007
A dose of reality about Cancer
I was doing some basic research on cancer, and came across some great words of wisdom from the American Cancer Society's Cancer Survivors Network. This is from the web page of a person who has been going through treatment for metastatic malignant melanoma, and it gave me some hope and made what is to come less scary. I'm finding that much of advice from these survivors of cancer really help me feel like my life is not over, no matter how nebulous the future seems.
1. If you are an engineer, take your engineering hat off and toss it. They can give you odds of success that you should ignore, unless it is zero. Most of the odds of success in these cases are based on the general population. There are many factors such as age and general health that can impact your odds considerably, but are not figured in, because they just do not have enough data. Just knowing it is possible to beat it should be enough to encourage you to do everything possible to be in the survivor camp.
2. Stay positive. Make sure you are sleeping well at night, and if not, learn to meditate so you can. I have not had any problem sleeping at night since I was diagnosed. You need to be well rested to beat this. Your body will do a lot, but it needs help from you.
3. Work out in your mind why you want to beat this, and use it for motivation.
4. Prayers do work. The more people you can get praying for you the better.
I'm not particularly religious, but I do believe in spirituality. Good thoughts and prayers are more than welcome.
Cheryl
1. If you are an engineer, take your engineering hat off and toss it. They can give you odds of success that you should ignore, unless it is zero. Most of the odds of success in these cases are based on the general population. There are many factors such as age and general health that can impact your odds considerably, but are not figured in, because they just do not have enough data. Just knowing it is possible to beat it should be enough to encourage you to do everything possible to be in the survivor camp.
2. Stay positive. Make sure you are sleeping well at night, and if not, learn to meditate so you can. I have not had any problem sleeping at night since I was diagnosed. You need to be well rested to beat this. Your body will do a lot, but it needs help from you.
3. Work out in your mind why you want to beat this, and use it for motivation.
4. Prayers do work. The more people you can get praying for you the better.
I'm not particularly religious, but I do believe in spirituality. Good thoughts and prayers are more than welcome.
Cheryl
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Because pugs is funny
I freely admit, I am not a dog person. However, Cheryl has her heart dead set on a pug, and even though they are drooly, snarfly and shed like fiends...gosh darn it, they're funny. They exist to make you laugh. So at one point in the future we'll get a pug to fit into our already strange household.
That's why this made the two of us chuckle like fiends. And, I must admit, Governor Fattpants is an awesome name for a pug: Dog Breeders Issue Massive Recall of '07 Pugs.
That's why this made the two of us chuckle like fiends. And, I must admit, Governor Fattpants is an awesome name for a pug: Dog Breeders Issue Massive Recall of '07 Pugs.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
And we're off to Portland!!!
Hi All!
Cheryl here, with the latest news. Since Dave wrote the first entry, I'm taking control of this one. I finally heard from the Oregon Clinic (http://www.oregonclinic.com/) late yesterday afternoon, and now have an appointment with Dr. Todd Crocenzi on Tuesday, September 18. This will be a consultation visit, and hopefully with the doctor we can plan a course of action.
Let me just say: having a plan, planning to plan, or even the hint that we could soon create a treatment regime makes both Dave and I feel a whole heck of a lot better. The worst part of the past month has been the feeling of helplessness brought on by a whole lot of waiting. I want to get on this as soon as possible! I'm young (relatively!), healthy (relatively!), and am hoping for an aggressive treatment plan, as right now I can take just about anything. I guess we'll see after next week.
On a (more) personal note, I think both Dave and I have done a pretty good job of moving forward after the diagnosis. There have been both good and bad days, but we're both committed to beating this thing and doing whatever we need to do. Currently, its very easy to put cancer aside in my brain, especially with cats, husband, work, and thesis taking up a good portion of my time. Additionally, I don't feel sick, for the most part. I wake up every morning between 4 and 5 am with some nausea and stomach cramps. These are symptoms of the cancerous ulcers in the lining of my lower stomach, but they only appear when I'm hungry, and go away after eating or after a healthy swig of Pepto (mmm). I have the same energy and appetite, and I'm not losing weight. Heck, I played softball on Sunday afternoon! We won both games, by the way. I had two good hits, and an additional blooper that got me to 1st base!
Both Dave and I plan to keep this blog going, both for a source of information for our vast collection of friends and family, but also for our own sanity. Writing a blog about something that is growing inside of me (and likely will not need to be potty-trained later) feels a little odd. If I wax on a little too poetically, bear with me. So long as I don't fall into archaeology techno-babble, I should be understandable! If any of the following words/phrases slip into my posts, close the window and come back later: x-ray fluorescence, National Register eligibility, chi square, projectile point morphological variability, coprolite, transect interval, paradigm shift, faunal assemblage, and on and on and on...
Well, coprolite might be acceptable! ;)
Cheryl
Cheryl here, with the latest news. Since Dave wrote the first entry, I'm taking control of this one. I finally heard from the Oregon Clinic (http://www.oregonclinic.com/) late yesterday afternoon, and now have an appointment with Dr. Todd Crocenzi on Tuesday, September 18. This will be a consultation visit, and hopefully with the doctor we can plan a course of action.
Let me just say: having a plan, planning to plan, or even the hint that we could soon create a treatment regime makes both Dave and I feel a whole heck of a lot better. The worst part of the past month has been the feeling of helplessness brought on by a whole lot of waiting. I want to get on this as soon as possible! I'm young (relatively!), healthy (relatively!), and am hoping for an aggressive treatment plan, as right now I can take just about anything. I guess we'll see after next week.
On a (more) personal note, I think both Dave and I have done a pretty good job of moving forward after the diagnosis. There have been both good and bad days, but we're both committed to beating this thing and doing whatever we need to do. Currently, its very easy to put cancer aside in my brain, especially with cats, husband, work, and thesis taking up a good portion of my time. Additionally, I don't feel sick, for the most part. I wake up every morning between 4 and 5 am with some nausea and stomach cramps. These are symptoms of the cancerous ulcers in the lining of my lower stomach, but they only appear when I'm hungry, and go away after eating or after a healthy swig of Pepto (mmm). I have the same energy and appetite, and I'm not losing weight. Heck, I played softball on Sunday afternoon! We won both games, by the way. I had two good hits, and an additional blooper that got me to 1st base!
Both Dave and I plan to keep this blog going, both for a source of information for our vast collection of friends and family, but also for our own sanity. Writing a blog about something that is growing inside of me (and likely will not need to be potty-trained later) feels a little odd. If I wax on a little too poetically, bear with me. So long as I don't fall into archaeology techno-babble, I should be understandable! If any of the following words/phrases slip into my posts, close the window and come back later: x-ray fluorescence, National Register eligibility, chi square, projectile point morphological variability, coprolite, transect interval, paradigm shift, faunal assemblage, and on and on and on...
Well, coprolite might be acceptable! ;)
Cheryl
Sunday, September 9, 2007
The first post in our cancerblog
Man plans, God laughs.
- Anonymous
Cheryl and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary back in August. We'd just purchase a mondo home entertainment system, so we'd agreed that that was going to be our present to each other. Nonetheless, Cheryl picked up a copy of The Best of Alec Baldwin from Saturday Night Live, since we're both fans of the sickness and wrongness that is Alec Baldwin, Funnyman. Yes, it had all the classics; Canteen Boy, Schwetty Balls, but our personal favorite was a sketch where Baldwin played a clueless soap opera actor attempting to pronounce medical terms. To wit:
"I've got bad news. We think it could be the Big C: Canker! It could be benig, it could be mal-ig-NANT. We're hoping it's benig."
I realize it doesn't quite have the same humor quotient on the written page, but trust me, it's quite chuckle-worthy.
So where am I going with this?
Three years ago, Cheryl had a nasty irregular mole removed from her right shoulder, leaving her with a nifty six-inch Franken-scar on her back. The doctors removed lymph node as well and declared her cancer-free.
A couple of months ago, Cheryl started having stomach problems, early morning nausea and cramping. Antacids didn't solve the problem. Then the suggestion was maybe a gall bladder infection. Finally, Cheryl had an endoscopy and had the ol' camera-down-the-throat to get a good look in her tummy and take some biopsy samples.
A week later, we got the news, and it wasn't good. Metastatic melanoma. And, no, it was not benig.
Yeah, that week was a lot of fun. Lots of crying and sleepless nights.
A PET scan the following week brought more bad news. The cancer had spread to her right ovary and one nebulous spot in her lower GI tract.
To say we were kind of a mess would be an understatement, especially if you started looking at stats regarding metastatic melanoma on line - you get a lot of "don't take too long to get your affairs in order." Once it gets into your innards, you see, it's all but guaranteed to come back.
Okay, that's the ugly part. Now the good news.
The cancer is presently operable, and isn't anywhere really "bad", like in the bone marrow, liver, brain, lungs, or pancreas. The scalpel jockey...I mean, the surgeon... could currently operate and remove all the cancer.
Also, Cheryl was able to find a number of cancer survivor stories online, once she gathered her courage after her last foray, which were a lot more optimistic than previous reports. They're doing some amazing stuff with melanomas these days - being as melanomas are increasing considerably these days; thank you, sun worshippers.
Last week, we saw an oncologist down in Lewiston. Because we are in a small population center, cancer specialists are few and far between, so we had to wait two and a half fracking weeks to see this guy. He recommended putting off surgery, since by the time Cheryl recovered from the cutting, odds are the cancer would be back.
There's a number of treatment options, including a melanoma vaccine (!!) which he mentioned had seemingly cured some of his patients. He recommended going to either the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica or the Oregon Clinic in Portland, both of which have doctors doing a lot of cutting edge melanoma research. We thought Portland would be the best option in terms of proximity, and he would set up an appointment for us.
That, unfortunately, was a fracking week ago, and we have yet to hear back. As of Monday, we start calling every hour, on the hour, until we at least hear something. The American health care system has many positive aspects. This, unfortunately, is not one of them. (We are incredibly thankful, however, for having health insurance at this time).
All in all, we're pretty positive. Cheryl refuses to let this get her down, and I remain convinced that we're going to beat this thing. I refuse to accept any other outcome. We have too much stuff to do, least of all popping out introverted red-headed albinos who will eventually rule the world.
Rather than try to email everybody with updates, better minds than mine (thanks Jamie) suggested that we start a blog to keep people apprised of our progress and write down our thoughts of the day. We'll keep this updated as often as possible to let you all know how things progress.
- Dave
- Anonymous
Cheryl and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary back in August. We'd just purchase a mondo home entertainment system, so we'd agreed that that was going to be our present to each other. Nonetheless, Cheryl picked up a copy of The Best of Alec Baldwin from Saturday Night Live, since we're both fans of the sickness and wrongness that is Alec Baldwin, Funnyman. Yes, it had all the classics; Canteen Boy, Schwetty Balls, but our personal favorite was a sketch where Baldwin played a clueless soap opera actor attempting to pronounce medical terms. To wit:
"I've got bad news. We think it could be the Big C: Canker! It could be benig, it could be mal-ig-NANT. We're hoping it's benig."
I realize it doesn't quite have the same humor quotient on the written page, but trust me, it's quite chuckle-worthy.
So where am I going with this?
Three years ago, Cheryl had a nasty irregular mole removed from her right shoulder, leaving her with a nifty six-inch Franken-scar on her back. The doctors removed lymph node as well and declared her cancer-free.
A couple of months ago, Cheryl started having stomach problems, early morning nausea and cramping. Antacids didn't solve the problem. Then the suggestion was maybe a gall bladder infection. Finally, Cheryl had an endoscopy and had the ol' camera-down-the-throat to get a good look in her tummy and take some biopsy samples.
A week later, we got the news, and it wasn't good. Metastatic melanoma. And, no, it was not benig.
Yeah, that week was a lot of fun. Lots of crying and sleepless nights.
A PET scan the following week brought more bad news. The cancer had spread to her right ovary and one nebulous spot in her lower GI tract.
To say we were kind of a mess would be an understatement, especially if you started looking at stats regarding metastatic melanoma on line - you get a lot of "don't take too long to get your affairs in order." Once it gets into your innards, you see, it's all but guaranteed to come back.
Okay, that's the ugly part. Now the good news.
The cancer is presently operable, and isn't anywhere really "bad", like in the bone marrow, liver, brain, lungs, or pancreas. The scalpel jockey...I mean, the surgeon... could currently operate and remove all the cancer.
Also, Cheryl was able to find a number of cancer survivor stories online, once she gathered her courage after her last foray, which were a lot more optimistic than previous reports. They're doing some amazing stuff with melanomas these days - being as melanomas are increasing considerably these days; thank you, sun worshippers.
Last week, we saw an oncologist down in Lewiston. Because we are in a small population center, cancer specialists are few and far between, so we had to wait two and a half fracking weeks to see this guy. He recommended putting off surgery, since by the time Cheryl recovered from the cutting, odds are the cancer would be back.
There's a number of treatment options, including a melanoma vaccine (!!) which he mentioned had seemingly cured some of his patients. He recommended going to either the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica or the Oregon Clinic in Portland, both of which have doctors doing a lot of cutting edge melanoma research. We thought Portland would be the best option in terms of proximity, and he would set up an appointment for us.
That, unfortunately, was a fracking week ago, and we have yet to hear back. As of Monday, we start calling every hour, on the hour, until we at least hear something. The American health care system has many positive aspects. This, unfortunately, is not one of them. (We are incredibly thankful, however, for having health insurance at this time).
All in all, we're pretty positive. Cheryl refuses to let this get her down, and I remain convinced that we're going to beat this thing. I refuse to accept any other outcome. We have too much stuff to do, least of all popping out introverted red-headed albinos who will eventually rule the world.
Rather than try to email everybody with updates, better minds than mine (thanks Jamie) suggested that we start a blog to keep people apprised of our progress and write down our thoughts of the day. We'll keep this updated as often as possible to let you all know how things progress.
- Dave
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