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| Spencer and I had the opportunity to go to the 2nd game of the World Series |
Well it is me again and yes we are still seeing more doctors and hospitals than any person should ever be required to see.
October 14th to October 18th: During these days we spent more time meeting with doctors and looking at what would happen as far as my care was concerned (I have become very high Maintenance). We have been setting up many appointments along with working through the insurance to get the proper approvals to do the treatments the doctors want to do. This will allow us to get going with the process of my treatment.
October 19th: Well this morning started out as most of them have lately with Lisa and I heading off first thing to a doctor’s appointment. This appointment is a little more special because we are having an operation to install a (and I know I don’t know how to spell this) Port-a cath so treatments will be easier (we are affectionately referring to it as my third nipple). This is a port that is installed in my chest under the skin that has a catheter that goes directly into a artery going into the heart. This will allow easy access to draw blood and to administer the “cocktails” that the doctors and nurses call Chemotherapy. The surgery went well and now I have a port that they tell me will make thing much easier.
October 20th: Remember the “fitting” I had for Radiation Treatment? Well it is now time for the treatment I was fitted for. I arrived at the appropriate time and the process began. It started with the radiation team (we will call them my radiation Pit Crew RPC for short) getting me into the mold that they made of me back on fitting day. This was a little like dressing a turkey for a thanksgiving feast but as you can see from the photo (I forced the RPC to take) I am anything but golden brown. This process of getting me just right took about an hour and then it was time to move into the CT Machine. The mold along with my very small Tattoo (on my belly rather than my back so no luck on the “Tramp Stamp”) will make sure the radiation is directed to the proper spot. So once in the CT Machine we were ready to start. They told me that it would take about 45 minutes and that for that time I had to stay absolutely still or they would have to start over. At this point I thought this would be easy but little did I know. This was the longest 45 minutes of my life and by the time it was over I was felt like I was ready to go completely crazy. Following the procedure I got dressed and the doctor asked to meet with me to discuss how things had gone. Well he was very nice and informed me that I probably would not feel the full effects of the radiation for about 4 to 6 weeks (remember the back pain that started all of this). So we will have to wait and see on this one.
October 21st: The day started out with a trip to see Doctor Weis. At this point we discussed that the Biopsy results were back from the Colon and it is as we suspected it is Malignant and it did start (they think) in the Colon. At this point we discussed treatment options which are not a lot due to the fact that the tumors in my colon are inoperable. So the options are to do nothing and just let this grow and spread (does not seem very smart) or to start Chemotherapy as soon as we can and try to beat this back. As you can probably imagine this was not a tough decision to make. We scheduled our first of many Chemotherapy visits. The first of them will be a question and answer session with one of the infusion nurses. This session is only done every two weeks and the next one is tonight so we scheduled it so as not to delay treatment. At 6:00pm we headed back to Huntsman and had our first chance to meet Keen the infusion nurse. Keen was very nice and explained the entire process and really did a lot to make us more comfortable with what was going to happen next. We also set up our first appointment for Chemotherapy for Monday October 25th first ting in the morning. I was told chemo sessions will last 7 to 8 hours wow.
Well at this point I don’t know about you but Lisa and I have had enough for one week. So we decided to take Friday off and I went to work to clear my mind.
October 25th: We are facing our first Chemotherapy session and I can’t even explain what is going through our minds. We arrived at the infusion center at 7:30 for a 8:00 appointment and we are told that Keen would be my nurse for the day. This is a great thing in my mind and does a lot to calm my nerves. So first of all she inserts the tube into my port and draws blood so the lab tests can be done to make sure I am healthy enough for the treatment. Following this we wait about 30 minutes for the labs to come back and then when they have confirmed I am healthy enough to receive treatment the party begins. From this point on I have decided we will refer to Chemo days (Mondays every other week) as “Poison Mondays”. So the labs came back and we are ready for the poisoning to begin. Due to the fact that Dr. Weis decided to hold off on one of the drugs the process only took about 6 hours not the 7 or 8 we were told, so we were out at about 2:00 and the party of side effects started. The list of side effects is quite long and they are different for each one of the different drugs that make up the “Full fox” chemotherapy treatment. The other special thing about my treatment is that the last (poison) drug is administered over two days following the fun at the infusion center. Before leaving I was hooked to a pump that I will need to pack around for two days. The pump came with a bag (European Shoulder Bag not a purse) to carry the pump in. When I saw the bag I informed my wife and Keen that I would not be hauling a ESB/purse around with me and that we would need to stop and buy a fanny pack that could be used. When hearing this Keen and some of the other nurses proceeded to decorate my bag for me. It said Dave’s man purse on one side and it’s a satchel on the other side.
October 26th and 27th: We are now hot and heavy into the side effect that are sensitivity to cold (it feels like I am being shocked when I grab a cold door handle or drink a soda and my feet and hands are always cold), very tired, nauseated, dry skin, and muscle cramps just to name a few. They told me that I have a 50% chance I will keep my hair. It was a great day when the home care nurse showed up at work to disconnect the pump. The fact that I need to pack this thing around for 2 days is going to take some getting used to.
October 28th: This was a really great day thanks to a couple of great friends. The day started with an early flight out of SLC for my son and I to Oakland California. Then after spending some quality time together my son and I had the opportunity to go to AT & T Park and attend Game 2of the World Series. Wow what a great experience this was. I was struggling with the side effects but it was great to be there with my son and to experience something we will never have an opportunity to do again. And to make it even better the Giants won the game 9 to 0.
October 29th to November 1st: We continue to work through the side effects and they are for the most part done by Monday the 1st.
November 1st to November 7th: Wow an uninterrupted week at work. This Was a wonderful thing and I was able to get a lot of things accomplished. I continued to get stronger all week and by Friday I was feeling great.
November 8th Poison Monday # 2: We started the day at the lab to get the tube installed into the port and to draw the blood needed to confirm that I was healthy enough to receive the poison. Then we went to an appointment with Dr Weis. This appointment was the standard fair and check-up of my health. We also reviewed my reactions to the first treatment and confirmed the process going forward. We got to the infusion center at about 10:00 and the treatment (Poisoning) started. I was lucky enough to again get Keen as my nurse and I was glad to see this. Keen seems to understand my twisted sense of humor (if she doesn’t at least she humors me by laughing at my jokes). This time all the drugs were administered and we didn’t get out of the infusion center until 6:30. Wow what a long day but I left with the pump and I felt really good to get home.
November 9th to November 17th: What a roller coaster ride. Some of the side effects were less like the leg cramps due I think to the new medication. The other side effects got worse this time, I was not quite as strong as I was for the first poisoning. By the 17th the side effects are mostly gone and I am climbing the ladder towards feeling better.
It is amazing through all of this the blessings that are coming our way. in the subject line I refer to “The Worst of Times and at the same time The Best of Times. I do this because a lady in my ward who’s son is in remission from Leukemia said this in a talk she gave a couple of weeks ago and it really hit home. They we are having a lot of struggles but we continue to be blessed more abundantly than I feel we deserve. I know this is due in some part to all the prayers that are being offered on our account. We are so thankful for all that we have and for all that we are learning from these experiences.
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| Chemo Treatments |
Dave
