On a side trip, after Chemo I got to go see the ER cardiology lab. Seems I had severe a-fib. HR of 178-180 and racing heart. The knocked me out and hit me with the paddles. I guess I came to cussing them out.... ...I gotta be me. I was in that damn lab for 4 hours and threatened to unplug and walk out before they finally released me.
Damn Bro, you lose your hair that fast, wow! Don' forget to protect that dome if ya go outside. The solar can be brutal
I got two beenies that do the trick. I had a hank of hair pull,out yesterday and decided whth,,,,pre-empt baby!
Papas got a new ride. No more 60' limits, no more stuck inside the house for days on end. I took her for a maiden shake-down today and it handled hills, gravel and lawn well. 5MPH top speed on the flats. I'm liking it.
Today marks my half way point in chemo and radiation treatments. The tumors are shrinking and it is encouraging. Only thing is, I've been reduced to a broth sucker. I have no ability to to swallow anything but liquids due to my esophagus getting fried by the radiation. I miss solid foods. I'm told it is temporary. I hope it's true. It's rather odd to have nutritionists and doctors telling you to pig out on fats and fattening foods as much as you can stand. My weight is taking a hit, so far 25 pounds have gone away. Good thing I was rather bulked up when this all started.
Officially over the half way mark today. What everyday begins with: What my weeks end with: 3-4 hours of just sitting and waiting for all the infusions that make me feel sick:
Stay strong wiskas! Really great to hear the tumors are responding to treatment. Just think about that juicy steak after all this is done!
Thank you so much BBSmitz! I just got a hold of a ladicane prescription to numb my throat so I can eat. A steak was the first thing that came to mind. Honestly, I don't see how a non-positive mental attitude can get anyone through these treatments. A person has to make up their mind very early on that they are going to get busy living or get busy dying. Me? I choose to live. A quick look at the tally so far moves it just shy of $200,000. I've got 3 more weeks of treatments then 2 years of imunotherapies. Thank God, medicare kicks in on December 1, 22.
Only 3 more chemo treatments including Friday's. Only 10 more radiation treatments after today. The chemo makes me sicker each time I get infused. I could do nothing but lay around for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'll be so glad when they are over. I was able to get special funding for the treatments through the hospital. This means 100% financial aid. When that award letter arrived, I bawled like a baby for an hour. My bills are already over $250,000. But, what the hell! I'm still alive and semi-sassy so kicking this thing's ass is still the plan. My radiation oncologist is super pleased with the amount of tumor shrinkage. That, in turn, gives me a ton of hope.
Unfortunately, no nurses like that one. But I did get my chemo from an super adorable tiny nurse from India last Friday.
Hi Wiskas, Damn sorry to read all this but glad to see you're still active on here. I hope you get the best result possible from all this. Sorry I've been gone so long. I'll post something soon.
Dan! What a surprise. So good to hear from you. My love for this place has taken on a new level as I look back at the lives that grew up here. My admiration for every member past and present is immense. The only update I have at this week's end is that I only have one more chemo treatment next week and 3 more radiation blasts next week. Then It's on to 2 years of immuno-therapy. My radiation oncologist is super happy with the shrinkage of the main tumor and I can honestly claim better breathing and a lot less pain so far. The only big downfall is that the radiation has collateral damage in that it burns mu esophagus. It makes is extremely painful to eat and swallow anything. fortunately the treatments stop and 2 weeks recovery time should enable me to pig-out on Thanksgiving .This is the best I've felt in a long time. Proof that a strong positive mental attitude is working. My huge medical team is highly credited for helping me stay positive. They get a 10/10 and I feel really fortunate for every one of them. This whole life change has made me appreciate every single sunrise and sunset more that I have words for.
Great to hear you're almost done wiskas and glad the tumor was so susceptible to the chemo/radiation. Bet that T-giving meal is gonna taste like a million bucks.
I am so looking forward to being able to eat normally. Thanksgiving is usually one big pig out fest here. It'll be interesting when I get my next CT as to how much destruction the radiation and chemo has done on that tumor.
Well, I thought I was going for my last chemo yesterday. Instead, they are going to do that triple dose times 2. I had one Friday and get another round on the 28th of November. Being as how Sunday is the worst day for side effects we' have to wait to see how well I tolerated a massive dose. Basically I'm getting 6 doses crammed into 3 weeks. So far the plan is to go into immune therapy once weekly for a year starting by the end of December. All can change pending the next CT scan. My last scan was a best case scenario so I'm very optimistic. My emotions are really playing me a lot. Case-in-point: The wife was taking me for a ride to fill 4 prescriptions on Wednesday and I was glad to get out of the house and see the peak fall colors. The thought hit me.....that I could possibly be seeing my last fall display. I started sobbing uncontrollably. The sight was so awesome. I came to the conclusion that if it was my last glimpse at the best in fall tree colors... that it would do, it couldn't get any better than this. While I'm optimistic that the treatments will gain me more years, I'm realistic that, on average, I may only have a year left in this fight. My wife thought she'd be sneaky and pull mu oncologist aside to ask for a reality check. I wasn't supposed to hear but I did and he confirmed what I already knew. 1-2 years average life expectancy with 1 year already elapsed. He did tout the benefits and advances in the immune therapies available now. The best study I read was published by MAYO and the average 5 year survival rates were in the neighborhood of 45-56 percent. I like those odds for a one year investment of my time. This is all so surreal still. My only job is now to fight this crud. Cost/benefit anaysis thus far: + daily investment of 30 radiation -daily investment of 30 radiation +tumor has shrunk drastically - some pain, hard to swallow + weekly investment of 4 hour chemo - weekly investment of 4 chemo + benefits to be determined -Nausea, weakness fatigue + taking a ll these meds: - talking all these meds: + medications help a lot - I dislike taking medication + they help a lot with pain and nausea - Some are prone to addiction, -deal with that later + results of above: - results of above: THE POSITIVES OUTWEIGH THE NEGATIVES_____________
I can't imagine it Brother, you are strong and I am sure you will enjoy your world as long as possible. it does make this 67 year old think about and be grateful for the world around me.
Yes, It all seemed to change in the course of one month....FAST! I did not have this in mind for retirement. Then almost overnight I had problems breathing. I can't remember what it's like to not feel sick now. Coinciding with the pandemic, early detection was a no-go. It took more than 5 months to get a biopsy and diagnosis. Oh well, I get to play the cards as they lay. My life really took off on a deviated vector. Let's see where it goes.
The triple dose of chemo literally about killed me. I took out my whole immune system and I got to spend the last 8 days in the hospital. 6 days in ICU and 2 days in IntermediateCU. I got pneumonia and had tubes and IV's in both arms. One night....the worst one, they called my wife to the hospital at 1:30AM to be with me at the end. It's indescribable where your thinking goes in that situation. I could have left at any second. But my bog can of open whoopass got me through and here I am at home barely able to do anything, but at home nonetheless. I'm having serious thoughts of not going through the next triple round of chemo on Nov. 28.
I have pretty much decided to finish this race. 3X dose and all. I don't want to quit this close to the finish line. I'll have blood work labs then see the oncologist on Monday just before chemo. Then we'll go over the WBC, platelet and RBC numbers and decide. Otherwise, I feel like hammered shit still. Coughing has caused a separated rib and is excruciating. Loosing weight like crazy because I still can't swallow food.
