Tenth

No chemo for me this week! Yay! Okay not really yay because I didn't have chemo because there's a problem with my port, but I'm still happy I didn't have a treatment this week.

My port-o-cath is clogged. That's my internal IV port that's just under the skin on my chest. A catheter runs from it, up under my collar bone, punches into my jugular, and the catheter continues down the vein to one of the big vessels next to the heart. I love it. They don't have to find a new spot every week to start an IV, and my veins aren't being damaged by the chemo because of the size and the flow volume of where the chemo gets dumped into my system.

Over time though, the catheter can get a build-up of gunk - mostly proteins that are apparently sticky molecules, and the end of the catheter can irritate the vessel and cause a little flap of scar tissue to form. So they pumped my port full of a fluid called TPA or Activase which is supposed to break the gunk down. Kind of like a drain cleaner. Yum. If it doesn't work I get to go to the hospital for an xray to see if there's a twist or something in the catheter.

We debated on having the chemo just in a vein, but I didn't want to, and they didn't really want to do that either, and since my blood counts are low enough I could use a small break in my schedule anyway, we'll just skip it this week. So I'm not any less tired, but my morale is up with this unexpected break. And it also means I get to eat this weekend. Hence, back to my original "Yay!".

Cheers

Ninth

Chemo again today. It went okay. They've added IV Magnesium to my schedule cuz I'm so low and my vitamins don't cut it anymore. Deficiency can lead to muscle weakness, cramps, and gut issues, among other things. It's not a bad infusion, it just keeps me in the chair longer every Wednesday.

I think this is the end of the seventh month on this schedule? I'm doing the next month as planned but then I'm taking a break for a month. That's my plan, but I haven't told the doc yet, so I hope he doesn't talk me out of it.

Cancer still sucks, and chemo still sucks. I haven't been to work for a while because of the fatigue. I start to shake sometimes when I do the dishes at home - I can just imagine they'd be thrilled to have me around all that delicate glassware and hot acid lol.

Sorry this post is kind of a downer - but the steroids I'm on (oh my lovely favorite Dexamethasone) kept me up last night, and the third treatment in a cycle generally puts me down a bit anyway. Just thought I'd better make my monthly post.

And I'm going hunting in a couple of months, so I'm excited about that. Well, I'll be in the forest wearing orange and sitting under a tree and napping while others hunt, but that's close enough for me at the moment. =)

Cheers

Eighth

So don't get too excited, but I got my latest scan/test results today with my chemo. This drug is not only slowing the cancer's growth, but slowing growth enough that the tumors and lymph nodes are actually shrinking. My tumor markers are down to almost a quarter of what they were three months ago.

The best we had hoped for was that it would slow growth enough that the spots wouldn't get any bigger - so for the tumors to be smaller and the scans showing the growth intensity was down... just, wow.

I'm having a hard time accepting news this good - all I can seem to focus on is that it means 4+ months more of chemo for me (I've had 5 months of continuous chemo so far this time). The doc thinks my body should tolerate it that long on this schedule, and if the drug is still working but my blood counts are too low, we'll start adjusting the schedule and down time so I can stay on it.

I asked, since the cancer is responding to this drug, if increasing the dosage would do more for me. But my blood counts are getting lower week to week, and he feels that increasing the dosage would do more harm than good - that my counts would plummet fast enough that I would have to miss some treatments, or discontinue treatments earlier. In other words, "it ain't broke at the moment, don't try to fix it".

Cancer still sucks, and chemo still sucks. I'm getting more fatigued week to week, the side effects still suck, and I catch every bug or virus that comes within a half mile of me which sucks. I'm short-tempered and whiny and frustrated at the people closest to me because I know they'll put up with it and it really isn't fair to them, and that sucks.

But it's awful nice to have some evidence that this crap is doing some good and buying me some time down the road. I just hope it's buying me some time down the road on my bike - I've had it out just THREE TIMES so far this year and to ride to work no less, not fun wander rides with my gang. It's really starting to piss me off. By the way, I'm going to start being a bitch out in public more often, so I can reserve some of my nice self for the people who have to spend the most time with me. I know you're overjoyed at the prospect of my bitchiness, seeing as I've been so sedate and cheerful thus far. (*grin*)

It's late, I'm either going to try and get some sleep, or play more video games... ah hell, who am I kidding... Wish me luck, maybe my cow will get her crossbow this morning...

Cheers