Well, this past Friday I had my last Chemo treatment finishing my 12 weeks of Chemotheray and today I met with my Oncologist Dr. Kukunoor to review the results of my CatScans I had shortly after Thanksgiving.
Dr. Kukunoor read through the report rather quickly and many of the terms I could not comprehend but the bottom line is that it was an overall good report. Dr. Kukunoor said the the scan of my neck area showed enlargement of the lymph system and when I asked him if that was good, Dr. Kukunoor responded with, "That is terrific!" The scan of my chest and abdomen showed no new areas of cancerous tissue and the tumor in my right axillary has responded to the chemotherapy and shrunk to the point that Dr. Kukunoor now wants to radiate the area to remove any microscopic cells that may be lingering about. Neither the CatScan nor PetScan can pick up these micrscopic cells if they are there. The radiation treatment will consist of 30 daily treatments that shoukld last no longer than 5 minutes, far less than the 35 treatments I went through last year that lasted anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes. I asked Dr. Kukunoor about side affects of radiation and he said that because of the proximity of the area to be radiated side affects should be few if any at all, again unlike my neck area which was packed with many vital tissues from the esphoagus and windpipe to salivary glands and the voicebox.
Dr. Kukunoor said he wants to wait about three weeks before the treatments begin so that puts me at about mid-January. In the meantime I have an appointment on Dec. 30th to meet with a radiation oncologist and also a dermatologist to examine side affects I am currently suffering from the 5FU and Urbatux drugs that I have been receiving. Overall though, Dr. Kukunoor said I was doing extremly well and he said he will see me again in two months. I did at the end ask Dr. Kukunoor if I would be able to indulge myself into an alcoholic cocktail every now and then and he gave me the green light, so at least the Holidays will be filled with more than one kind of Spirit!
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Year's filled with Love, Joy and most of all Good Health! Thanks for your continued prayers and as always I sincerely appreciate each and everyone of you!
May God Bless each of you!
Tom
Monday, December 22, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Halfway Home......but
Well, today I met with Dr. Kukunoor who did a physical examine of my right axillary and said the newest tumor seemed to be a bit smaller so he wants me to get a scan, specifically a CT Scan so he can get a better idea as to how much the tumor may have shrunk. The scan is scheduled for December 1st, the day I return to Phoenix from my Thanksgiving vacation back in Pittsburgh. Depending on what the scan reveals, the chemo treatments could be extended beyond the initial 4 to up to as many as 7 total. As long as it can be determined the Chemo is working and the tumor is shrinking, those will be the determining factors.
Everything else was fine as far as my vitals were concerned and overall I feel extremly well. My eating has returned to almost normal (Thanks God, just in time for Thanksgiving) and hopefully it will stay that way.
During Fridays treatment session, my blood counts came back much improved over the prrevious weeks numbers. My WBC was up to 4.31 and NEU was 3.28. The HGB came in at 10.8 and HCT was 31.0 and PLT was 211. The RBC was 3.48, still a little low there.
The weather was beautiful after I got out of my appointment around 10:30 a.m. so I went over to Stonecreek golf course and hit 51 balls on the range after putting for about 20 minutes. I wanted to play 9 holes but the course doesn't offer a 9 hole rate and after hitting the 51 balls I was too tired to play 18 so I went home for a restful afternoon.
I get my third all day treatment this Friday, and then carry the fanny pack for the next 4 days and then I will skip my next one day treatment as I will be home and Dr. Kukunoor said that I will just get that treatment when I return to Phoenix, so I get a little break there and hopefully I will feel as normal as possible for the 11 days I am at home.
So, my next update probably won't be until after the Thanksgiving Holiday, unless something warrants otherwise!
I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving with family and or freinds and hope you cherish the time spent with those closest to you. I know I will!
God Bless you all!
Everything else was fine as far as my vitals were concerned and overall I feel extremly well. My eating has returned to almost normal (Thanks God, just in time for Thanksgiving) and hopefully it will stay that way.
During Fridays treatment session, my blood counts came back much improved over the prrevious weeks numbers. My WBC was up to 4.31 and NEU was 3.28. The HGB came in at 10.8 and HCT was 31.0 and PLT was 211. The RBC was 3.48, still a little low there.
The weather was beautiful after I got out of my appointment around 10:30 a.m. so I went over to Stonecreek golf course and hit 51 balls on the range after putting for about 20 minutes. I wanted to play 9 holes but the course doesn't offer a 9 hole rate and after hitting the 51 balls I was too tired to play 18 so I went home for a restful afternoon.
I get my third all day treatment this Friday, and then carry the fanny pack for the next 4 days and then I will skip my next one day treatment as I will be home and Dr. Kukunoor said that I will just get that treatment when I return to Phoenix, so I get a little break there and hopefully I will feel as normal as possible for the 11 days I am at home.
So, my next update probably won't be until after the Thanksgiving Holiday, unless something warrants otherwise!
I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving with family and or freinds and hope you cherish the time spent with those closest to you. I know I will!
God Bless you all!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Round #2
Well, today I began my second round of the four scheduled 4 day chemo treatments which are in conjunction with my weekly one hour treatments. So far the side affects have been minimal with no signs yet of fatigue or nausea. The only prominent side affect was the acne type rash that Dr. Kukunoor said 1 in 10 people get and of course I got it! I should be so lucky in the lottery! After the initial treatment I felt the rash coming on and when I went and had the nurses at the chemo center look at it I was told that I was just having a reaction to Decadrol and that it would go away by itself. This was on a Friday when I should have also had a second one hour treatment but lo and behold no one ever mentioned that I was scheduled for this treatment even though they went into the computer and wrote down the rest of my appointments for the rest of the month for me. By Monday my nose was peppered with with white pockets of puss and black dried scabs from where the skin had blistered and bled. My entire nose was a deep red as if it was on fire and the rash spread up above my eyebrows and across my forehead and into my scalp and also down onto my chest. I called the nurses station again on Monday and this time when they saw my face they now determined that I had the rash I had told them about three days earlier. I was also suffering from mouth sores mostly located on the inside front of my lower lip and my tongue was extremly sensitive to any kind of heat. Even luke warm water would make my eyes water as if I had bitten into a hot pepper. Well the nurse gave me three precriptions, one for my mouth and two for the rash, one oral and one gel treatments. When I went to the Pharmacy to have them filled I was told that the they were out of the Gel and would not be able to get it until the foloowing day. This put me 4 days behind where I should have been had they acted diligently when I first contacted them the previous Friday. Needless to say I was not pleased by this and then to top it off when I went for my treatment the next Friday they finally realized I missed the treatment on the previous Friday and tried to cover themselves by saying that they probably bypassed that treatment because of the rash. This was a bogus claim because if it were true than I would've gotten the prescriptions on Friday instead of the follwoing Monday. You don't deal with the same nurse on every visit but I made it clear to the third nurse who gave me my treatment the neither of the two nurses on the previous Friday or Monday visits ever made a comment about bypassing a treatment or even that I had missed one. It was nothing more than them trying to cover themselves for this blunder. I had an appointment with Dr. Kukunoor on this past Wednesday and I made sure Dr. Kukunoor was aware of this. By now the rash is about 90% clear of my face but I still have red splotches on my chest but they do not itch like the ones that were on my face. Dr. Kukunoor wants me to continue with both the oral and gel prescriptions for the ramainder of the treatments to make sure the rash stays under control and for that I am grateful.
Todays bloodwork, drawn before the treatment began showed the majority of my counts to be below the low end of normal but they decided to go through with the treatment and I will get a booster shot on Tuesday when the fanny pack is removed to get my counts back up in the normal range. My WBC (White Blood Count) was 2.25 and the normal range is 3.70 to 10.1 and my RBC (Red Blood Count) was 3.90 and the normal range for that is 4.06 to 5.58. My Neutropenia count, another form of white blood cells was 1.57 and the normal range for those is 1.63 to 6.96. These cells turn into white blood cells and because the count was so close to normal this was the determining factor in going on with today's treatment. My Lymphopenia counts were .431 and normal for that is 1.09 to 2.99. This is another type of white blood cell. All of these are critical in the immune system in fighting off infections. My hemaglobin cout was at 12.3 and the normal range for that is 12.9t o 15.9 so I was pretty close there and there were about 4 other counts that were in the normal range but I don't have a detailed description of what they are or what they do and because they are in the normal range I'm not to concerned about them.
So other than that my eating is good, swallowing is better and energy level is good too. Dr. Kukunoor said that if this is as bad as it will gets, he said "Ill take it!" to which I replied to him,
"You can have it"" :)
Dr. Kukunoor did tell me that he spoke with Dr. Rodriguez who did the axillary dissection and they went over the operative report and Dr. Rodriguez said the the lymphnode that he wanted to remove for the biopsy procedure was wrapped around nerves and capillary tissues which prevented him from removing the entire node thru surgery. He removed as much of it as was possible. Dr. Kukunoor said that this is why he wants to be as aggressive as possible with the chemo and if after the treatment is done and the subsequent PetScan comes back clean than radiation to that area will be the appropiate follow-up. I asked Dr. Kukunoor what he meant by the PetScan coming back clean and he said the PetScans do not pick up microscopic cells, so as long as there are no other masses found elsewhere within my body at the time of the PetScan than this means it is clean and targeted radiation to the area will be the protocol to follow. When I asked Dr. Kukunoor as to how he would stage this cancer he said that the cancer in my neck was staged as a Stage 4B and he would now classify this as a Stage 4C. When I asked him which was worse he said the Stage 4C was worse because it had moved.
So now I have my friend for the next 4 days and then hopefully I'll return to normal. No hair loss as of yet but this is only the second treatment so if memory serves me well I believe it was at least two treatments last year before I saw the hair begin to fall out, so as the Zen Master in "Charlie Wilson's War" said, "We'll see!" I will close with that as I realize this was a lengthy post and there are more things I can go into to but this is enough for now. I will update probably next week sometime after Tuesday's pack removal.
Todays bloodwork, drawn before the treatment began showed the majority of my counts to be below the low end of normal but they decided to go through with the treatment and I will get a booster shot on Tuesday when the fanny pack is removed to get my counts back up in the normal range. My WBC (White Blood Count) was 2.25 and the normal range is 3.70 to 10.1 and my RBC (Red Blood Count) was 3.90 and the normal range for that is 4.06 to 5.58. My Neutropenia count, another form of white blood cells was 1.57 and the normal range for those is 1.63 to 6.96. These cells turn into white blood cells and because the count was so close to normal this was the determining factor in going on with today's treatment. My Lymphopenia counts were .431 and normal for that is 1.09 to 2.99. This is another type of white blood cell. All of these are critical in the immune system in fighting off infections. My hemaglobin cout was at 12.3 and the normal range for that is 12.9t o 15.9 so I was pretty close there and there were about 4 other counts that were in the normal range but I don't have a detailed description of what they are or what they do and because they are in the normal range I'm not to concerned about them.
So other than that my eating is good, swallowing is better and energy level is good too. Dr. Kukunoor said that if this is as bad as it will gets, he said "Ill take it!" to which I replied to him,
"You can have it"" :)
Dr. Kukunoor did tell me that he spoke with Dr. Rodriguez who did the axillary dissection and they went over the operative report and Dr. Rodriguez said the the lymphnode that he wanted to remove for the biopsy procedure was wrapped around nerves and capillary tissues which prevented him from removing the entire node thru surgery. He removed as much of it as was possible. Dr. Kukunoor said that this is why he wants to be as aggressive as possible with the chemo and if after the treatment is done and the subsequent PetScan comes back clean than radiation to that area will be the appropiate follow-up. I asked Dr. Kukunoor what he meant by the PetScan coming back clean and he said the PetScans do not pick up microscopic cells, so as long as there are no other masses found elsewhere within my body at the time of the PetScan than this means it is clean and targeted radiation to the area will be the protocol to follow. When I asked Dr. Kukunoor as to how he would stage this cancer he said that the cancer in my neck was staged as a Stage 4B and he would now classify this as a Stage 4C. When I asked him which was worse he said the Stage 4C was worse because it had moved.
So now I have my friend for the next 4 days and then hopefully I'll return to normal. No hair loss as of yet but this is only the second treatment so if memory serves me well I believe it was at least two treatments last year before I saw the hair begin to fall out, so as the Zen Master in "Charlie Wilson's War" said, "We'll see!" I will close with that as I realize this was a lengthy post and there are more things I can go into to but this is enough for now. I will update probably next week sometime after Tuesday's pack removal.
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Pack is Back!
And no, I don't mean the Green Bay Packers! In an unscheduled but highly anticipated rematch of two heavyweight sluggers, this is a sanctioned 12 week bout between the "Polish Hammer" going up against "Mr. C". The first round got started last Friday with the "Polish Hammer" attacking "Mr. C' with a barrage of anticancer drugs, which similar to last year will go on for 4 days followed by a two week lull to allow the drugs to do their thing. In addition to this a diet of alkalizing foods will commence in an effort to bring the "Polish Hammer's" body Ph to a level that "Mr. C." will not be able to sustain itself in, along with a new round of herbal remedies supplied by my longtime ringside coach Mary Phoenik. Hopefully this 1-2-3 punch will be enough to deliver a permanent knockout blow to "Mr. C" and end this thing once and for all! I will continue to work and live as normal as life as possible for as long as possible during the next twelve weeks. Side effects will more than likely be the same as last year with a few possible new ones.
I will update this site as the rounds progress and see how the judges (doctors) score the rounds.
Stay tuned for my next update!
I will update this site as the rounds progress and see how the judges (doctors) score the rounds.
Stay tuned for my next update!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Rolling Along
Yesterday I met with Dr. Rodriguez for a follow-up to my axillary dissection that he performed on me two weeks ago to the very day. While there was still some swelling under my right armpit it had seemed to go down a little. Dr. Rodriguez again elected not to lance it as he feels it will continue to go down on its own buty advised me to keep a close eye on it and call him if I see any noticeable changes. It is all just fluid build up from the lymph nodes being removed.
After my appointment with Dr. Rodriguez I went bowling in my league and had one of my best nights since returning to the recreation in May. I had a 659 series on games of 222-171 & 266. I had the first 8 strikes in a row in the third game before leaving a 7 pin in both the ninth and tenth frames. I closed both frames with spares for a perfect game in that I had no opens. I then broke the news to my teammates of my recent developments and upcoming schedule of things to come. But like work I will continue to bowl as long as I can. Fortunately my cancer is on my right side and for those of who don't know it, I bowl lefthanded!!!!!!!!!!!
Today, October 1st I had an eight o'clock report time at Scottsdale North Hospital for a scheduled eleven o'clock procedure to have a port implanted in my chest in preparation for my upcoming chemo treatments. Everything went well and I was out of there by two o'clock. I was attended to by most of the same team that removed from previous port back in May and they were just as kind and gentle as before. It was good to see them all!
The port this time was placed opposite of the last one, this time being on my right side instead of the left and it was placed into a vertical vein instead of a horizontal artery so hopefully I won't have the complications I had last time with the port operating as efficiently as it should. I was awake during the whole procedure and felt no discomfort as they cut into my right jugular vein above my collarbone, which wasn't done last time. This was to insert the tube into the vein and then another incision was made below the collarbone to implant the port itself. The Dr. said she would be sure to make it even with the scar on my other side so that I would have a matching pair fo scars! For that I thanked her kindly!
After leaving the hospital I came home for about an hour and a half as I had an indoctrination scheduled for four o'clock at the chemo treatment center. This basically entailed going over everything that would take place, what drugs I would be given, what side effects I could expect and a detailed briefing of things that I could do to best prepare for the oncoming onslaught. Since I had already been through this once and really didn't need a lot of explanation the nurse said this was one of the easiest indoctrinations she had ever done!
My treatments will begin this Friday, and the good news is I will only have to wear the fanny pack for four days instead of five and since I'm off on Saturdays and Sundays this should minimize the amount of work time missed due to the problems that might arise while wearing the pack. Last year I wasn't working so it was easier to cope with as I usually didn't shower for the five days I wore the pack. I don't think my co-workers would appreciate it if I did that again and then showed up for work.
So, I will continue to work and bowl for as long as I can, keeping in mind the drugs will zap both my physical strength and immune system.
Well, the pain in my neck is starting to become noticeable so I will sign off for now and go take a "Happy Pill" and head off to bed.
Thanks to those of you who continue to follow my journey and for your continued prayers and well wishes. As always I appreciate them all whether made known to me or not!
God Bless you all!
After my appointment with Dr. Rodriguez I went bowling in my league and had one of my best nights since returning to the recreation in May. I had a 659 series on games of 222-171 & 266. I had the first 8 strikes in a row in the third game before leaving a 7 pin in both the ninth and tenth frames. I closed both frames with spares for a perfect game in that I had no opens. I then broke the news to my teammates of my recent developments and upcoming schedule of things to come. But like work I will continue to bowl as long as I can. Fortunately my cancer is on my right side and for those of who don't know it, I bowl lefthanded!!!!!!!!!!!
Today, October 1st I had an eight o'clock report time at Scottsdale North Hospital for a scheduled eleven o'clock procedure to have a port implanted in my chest in preparation for my upcoming chemo treatments. Everything went well and I was out of there by two o'clock. I was attended to by most of the same team that removed from previous port back in May and they were just as kind and gentle as before. It was good to see them all!
The port this time was placed opposite of the last one, this time being on my right side instead of the left and it was placed into a vertical vein instead of a horizontal artery so hopefully I won't have the complications I had last time with the port operating as efficiently as it should. I was awake during the whole procedure and felt no discomfort as they cut into my right jugular vein above my collarbone, which wasn't done last time. This was to insert the tube into the vein and then another incision was made below the collarbone to implant the port itself. The Dr. said she would be sure to make it even with the scar on my other side so that I would have a matching pair fo scars! For that I thanked her kindly!
After leaving the hospital I came home for about an hour and a half as I had an indoctrination scheduled for four o'clock at the chemo treatment center. This basically entailed going over everything that would take place, what drugs I would be given, what side effects I could expect and a detailed briefing of things that I could do to best prepare for the oncoming onslaught. Since I had already been through this once and really didn't need a lot of explanation the nurse said this was one of the easiest indoctrinations she had ever done!
My treatments will begin this Friday, and the good news is I will only have to wear the fanny pack for four days instead of five and since I'm off on Saturdays and Sundays this should minimize the amount of work time missed due to the problems that might arise while wearing the pack. Last year I wasn't working so it was easier to cope with as I usually didn't shower for the five days I wore the pack. I don't think my co-workers would appreciate it if I did that again and then showed up for work.
So, I will continue to work and bowl for as long as I can, keeping in mind the drugs will zap both my physical strength and immune system.
Well, the pain in my neck is starting to become noticeable so I will sign off for now and go take a "Happy Pill" and head off to bed.
Thanks to those of you who continue to follow my journey and for your continued prayers and well wishes. As always I appreciate them all whether made known to me or not!
God Bless you all!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Ready for another round!
Today, I called the office of Dr. Francisco Rodriguez, who last week performed an axillary dissection of my right armpit area. The call was to tentatively schedule a follow-up to that procedure and also concern over swelling and tenderness in that particular area. I was told that the Dr. would see me later that same afternoon. After arriving at the office and a short wait I was visited by Dr. Rodriguez and greeted with the abysmal, "I have bad news or you". He went on to say that the pathologist report had come back only yesterday from the dissection and it showed that the cancer was now present in that area and that I should get a hold of Dr. Kukunoor as soon as possible. He did say he attempted to contact Dr. Kukunoor himself, but Dr. Kukunoor was on vacation. Needless to say I was somewhat at a loss as to what pertinent questions to ask, but Dr. Rodriguez basically said that surgery was not the answer due to the complexity of nerves, muscle and other tissues in the area but that I would require further treatment. He did not go into detail as to whether this would involve another round of chemo, radiation or both so I'm sure Dr. Kukunoor will discuss this with me when I meet with him in the near future. Aside from the tenderness and swelling in that area and I have no other pain except for my ongoing swallowing issues and I'm not sure if that is tied into this or not. So again, I will post more as things develop but this is where it stands right now!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Busy Week
Well, this week was a very busy week as far as Dr. appointments and procedures were concerned. It started on Monday with a Barium Pill Swallow study that was conducted at 8:30 a.m. at the Scottsdale North Hospital. It was about a 20 minute procedure in which I was given Brium liquid to swallow followed by a Barium pill. A visual screen was placed where I as well as the Dr. could see where the two items went and it confirmed what I had been saying all along. The liquid Barium was going into my lungs and the pill went no further than the base of my tongue and stuck there. Attempts to move the pill along by drinking water failed and I ended up having to cough it back up. It was not that large of a pill!
Tuesday, I had an Axillary Dissection performed on my right armpit area to remove lymph nodes that had illuminated during my last two PetScans and were deemed metabolically active. This was done at Paradise Valley Hospital and I was there from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. mostly due to the prep work and tests that had to be done before the procedure and about two hours for the sedation to wear off. I'm still a little tender in that area but there is no major pain. I did go to work the following two days ignoring the instructions to give 24 hrs for the anethesia to wear off, and I regret not following the instructions as I suffered severe headaches and nauseau toward the end of my shift on the first day back. I did feel better the second day though.
Friday, at 6:00 a.m. again at Scottsdale North Hospital I had an Endoscopy and Dilatation of my esophagus by my GE Dr. Bradford Gelyzad. The dilatation was done not with the expandable Donut I had been told about previously, but rather with two tubes of different diameters that were inserted into my mouth and down my throat to expand the esophagus. I was coming out of the sedation during this procedure because I remember seeing the rust colored plastic/rubber hose and remeber the Dr. speaking to me, but I don't remember feeling anything at all. I had a bite block in my mouth, which was placed there for the Endoscopy and made insertion of the tube easy for the Dr. Swallowing later in the day was noticibly easier in that food would not get hung up at the top of the esophagus, but being that my tongue is still swollen, chewing and eating in general is still difficult and aspiration through the trach persists. I should have a follow-up with Dr. Gelyzad sometime with the next 10 to 14 days for a follow-up.
So aside from awaiting the Pathologists report on the Axillary Dissection and the follow-up with Dr. Gelyzad nothing else to report on at this time. Hopefully the swelling in my tongue will go away with time as all of this is being attributed to Radiation side effects, and I'll be able to return to a normal diet. Until then eating will continue to be a struggle and great discomfort but I know it is important in maintaining my overall well-being. The majority of my diet will probably continue to be of the liquid type for the short time being, until these side effects subside.
My next posting will probably be when I get the results back from the Pathologist.
Tuesday, I had an Axillary Dissection performed on my right armpit area to remove lymph nodes that had illuminated during my last two PetScans and were deemed metabolically active. This was done at Paradise Valley Hospital and I was there from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. mostly due to the prep work and tests that had to be done before the procedure and about two hours for the sedation to wear off. I'm still a little tender in that area but there is no major pain. I did go to work the following two days ignoring the instructions to give 24 hrs for the anethesia to wear off, and I regret not following the instructions as I suffered severe headaches and nauseau toward the end of my shift on the first day back. I did feel better the second day though.
Friday, at 6:00 a.m. again at Scottsdale North Hospital I had an Endoscopy and Dilatation of my esophagus by my GE Dr. Bradford Gelyzad. The dilatation was done not with the expandable Donut I had been told about previously, but rather with two tubes of different diameters that were inserted into my mouth and down my throat to expand the esophagus. I was coming out of the sedation during this procedure because I remember seeing the rust colored plastic/rubber hose and remeber the Dr. speaking to me, but I don't remember feeling anything at all. I had a bite block in my mouth, which was placed there for the Endoscopy and made insertion of the tube easy for the Dr. Swallowing later in the day was noticibly easier in that food would not get hung up at the top of the esophagus, but being that my tongue is still swollen, chewing and eating in general is still difficult and aspiration through the trach persists. I should have a follow-up with Dr. Gelyzad sometime with the next 10 to 14 days for a follow-up.
So aside from awaiting the Pathologists report on the Axillary Dissection and the follow-up with Dr. Gelyzad nothing else to report on at this time. Hopefully the swelling in my tongue will go away with time as all of this is being attributed to Radiation side effects, and I'll be able to return to a normal diet. Until then eating will continue to be a struggle and great discomfort but I know it is important in maintaining my overall well-being. The majority of my diet will probably continue to be of the liquid type for the short time being, until these side effects subside.
My next posting will probably be when I get the results back from the Pathologist.
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