Week 10 blood results

Hi

For those of you who like this sort of thing, here are the results of my blood tests just prior to Week 10’s dose. As you can see, I am way below normal for most of these but still good enough that we didn’t have to skip a week. The one area that is the most likely to cause them to skip a week is my platelet counts but they actually went slightly up since last time so, while very  low, they are still holding up enough to keep going.

All in all about what you would expect after 10 sessions of chemotherapy so no cause for alarm at all, just need to keep an eye on them

That’s it for now

Love and Peace

John

My "War on Cancer"

Hey everyone..just wanted to check in and let you know that I am raring to go for Week 10 tomorrow!! We have reached double digits and we only have 3 sessions to go. This past week has been pretty much as expected, nothing unusual going on. I have lots of pain in my mouth but I have medicine for that.  My fingers have developed several fissures, or cuts, that hurt like the dickens but Carol keeps them at bay with Neosporin at night. I am dealing with diarrhea also but that is handled with lots of Imodium AD. And there is the nausea which is always there but also handled by meds. Mentally I am fatigued and worn down but not much  you can do about that except hang in there and wait for it to get better after the 12^th session. So basically we are holding our own on all fronts.

 

I was thinking about the phrase “The War on Cancer” which is something you used to hear a lot more of than you do now. It used to be a pretty common phrase when people talked about cancer. I never really took the words personally but when I think about it, there really is a war going on here. I am being attacked on all sides, not only by the cancer cells but also by the chemotherapy itself. And while this opponent is powerful and tough to beat,  I do have weapons in my arsenal to fight back. I have medications for some side effects,  I have a tough fighter (Carol) helping me lead the battle, I have my own determination and faith, and I have my super secret weapon which is all of you and your prayers and support. Your support and prayers are an unbeatable force to be reckoned with and I want you all to know how much I appreciate your help.

This truly is “A war on cancer” and it gets scary when you bring those words down to the personal level where the war is for your life and winning is everything. But I “Refuse To Lose” this one!

So tomorrow we go to the battleground yet again for a major battle with the enemy and we will take our hits but we will not give up. All I can say is “Sorry cancer…this is one war that you do not win. You lose”

Peace and Love

John

Weekly update

Hi folks

Sorry for not updating recently but there really hasn’t been too much to tell. Week 9 is going pretty much exactly like Weeks 7 and 8. I was extremely sick and nauseous from Friday until today even with all the anti nausea medicine. I am sleeping over 12 hours a night and still feel completely exhausted. I can definitely tell that the cumulative dosages are staying longer and building up in my body. I would have to say that fatigue, disorientation and general “chemo fog” are actually the worst side effects right now. Besides the nausea, I have fissures on my finger tips and cuts in my mouth but all of that is manageable with ointments and special mouthwash. There is nothing you can do about the fatigue and the rest of it though and that is what kills you down the stretch.

 

With 3 sessions to go over the next 6 weeks it is going to be a limp to the finish line. One thing I am prepared for that caught me totally by surprise last time is recovery time. Last time I figured it would take 2 weeks for me to get back to full strength after the last dosage. In reality, I was not able to get back to full strength for over 2 months! So I am not expecting anything less this time which means missing some work and just relaxing until I am back to “normal”. It will be interesting to see if it is longer this time or not but I would be very surprised if I was anywhere near normal before around May. We’ll see how it goes but that is what I am gearing up for right now.

 

There really isn’t much else to tell you these days, our lives are completely on hold during this time. Carol has to pick up the slack for everything around the house so she is constantly on the go doing house stuff. I don't ever feel like doing anything out of the house so we really haven’t done much for fun either.  It can be a strain living like this day in and day out. Its hard on both of us but somehow we just put our minds to it and just do it, whatever it takes.

 

Our plan right now is to see how long it takes me to recover from the  last session and then head to a beach somewhere and just relax for a week but we can't even plan that until we see how these last few sessions go.

Anyway, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we are heading to the end of this so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and we will get through this

Peace and Love,

John and Carol

Dolphins Feeding at our beach

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share some amazing shots that Carol and I took yesterday after I got back from Chemo. We see them feeding once in awhile like this where they come way out of the water but we have never gotten these kinds of shots. I am including the best 3 for you to check out. They were feeding for about 20 minutes then they moved on. There are some black ones and some silver/gray ones. I don't know if these are 2 different kinds of dolphins or if they change color at certain ages. It was really amazing to get these shots because usually they aren’t out of the water far enough or long enough to snap the shot

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

 

As for chemo…Week 9 is in the books, (and in me) so we only have 3 more sessions to go and I am determined to stick it out for the entire 12 sessions. I had thought about quitting somewhere between Week 8 and Week 12 if things got too bad, but now I am “all in” as they say in poker.

 

I am expecting this week to be about the same as the last 2 weeks so that means I will be sick and on the toilet from now until Wed or Thur of next week. The other thing that is going on now is the fingertips are developing cuts and bleeding. This is a normal side effect and Carol puts ointments on them and tapes them up with gauze. Right now its on 3 fingers so I kind of look the Mummy when she is done..but it works!

 

So I will check back in once I get through the worst of this week and we will be looking ahead to Week #10!!

Peace and Love

John

Week 9 Preview and CT Scan results

Hi everyone

The power of prayer is an amazing thing! I saw my oncologist today and we reviewed the results from my CT Scan on Monday and we have a clean bill of health!!! I get completely stressed out waiting for the results of these tests because these are the meetings where you first hear that you have “something” and that “something” can be, and usually is, cancer. Understandably I am gun shy about getting these results because twice in my life they have brought devastating news to us.

 

What made it even more stressful today was this: At the last CT Scan they thought they saw something in one of my lungs. I did not share this with anyone because it was very unclear what they were seeing and these doctors are very OVER cautious due to lawsuits, etc. My oncologist said it was probably nothing and gave it a 90% chance that it was nothing. Because it was pretty dubious, they decided to wait a few months and re-do the scan so they could compare. Because it was all so unlikely I did not share this with anyone.  You can imagine how we felt going into the office today, we were pretty freaked out. But the good news is that all is well in there and what they thought was something turns out to be nothing. Tonight Carol and I will get a very good nights sleep!

 

I want to thank all the Angels out there for your prayers and positive thoughts. It worked!

 

So now we are off to Week #9 tomorrow and I will go there with a smile on my face because  I know there is no cancer in me!! After that we have 3 sessions to go and then we are DONE!

I don't know if anyone is all that interested in blood tests but I am attaching a picture that shows what the basic blood test results “should be” and what my numbers were back in Sept and what they are today.

I don't know what all the different tests mean but you can figure out most of them (RBC=Red Blood Count; WBC=White Blood Count., etc) What is interesting is to see that some of them are quite low based on today’s test but they are still high enough for them to give me Week #9 without skipping a week or two. We will hope that these numbers stay high enough that we can finish this thing on schedule which is FEBRUARY 26, 2010. Mark your calendars, that is V for Victory Day. Or maybe its F for Freedom from Chemo Day. Whatever we call it , it’s the day that Carol and I can start  getting our lives back to normal and normal is looking very nice right now!

 

Peace and Love!!

Thank God for a clean CT Scan!

Thank YOU for all your prayers and positive thoughts!

 

John and Carol

Getting ready for Week 9!

Hi

Well we are heading into the final stretch now. We have 4 more sessions left with the next one on Friday, Jan 15^th.  Before that though, I have a CT Scan scheduled for tomorrow (Jan 11^th ). I will get the results of the scan on Thursday when I see the doctor so I will be a nervous wreck until then! Please keep us in your prayers this week, this scan is very important and we really need a clean result!

 

One thing that could cause a slight change in plans is how my blood tests come back. Before every chemo treatment they do a complete work up  because there are certain numbers that will cause them to skip a treatment. For example, if your white or red blood cells get below a certain level, they can't give you the chemo. So far my results have all been good enough but last time my platelet count was pretty low. If that goes lower then it is possible they would skip a week to give the body a chance to build back up. I really don't want to skip a week at this point, it only drags this thing out that much further. They will draw blood on Thursday when I see the doctor and then we will know on Friday morning what we are doing…..With only 4 sessions left I would rather plow ahead than skip a week and have to extend this into March.  I will update everyone about all this on Friday. By then I will have the CT Scan results and I will either be done with Week #9 or I will be skipping a week and getting a “break”.

Think positive thoughts and send them our way!!!!

Peace and Love,

John and Carol

Week 8 Update

Hi everyone

Well I think we got the dosage finally figured out. This time we went with a dosage in between the ¾ and the full and it seems to be right. I got my treatment on NY eve and felt good enough to have some friends over that night. The next couple of days were what I would expect..felt nauseous and dealing with some diarrhea now. On Sunday I even felt well enough to take a quick ride to the beach with Carol and took some pictures of the shore birds (attached). It was very cold but we bundled up and it was good to get out of the house!

Today I am feeling yucky again but nothing I can't handle so I am going to stay at this dosage for the last 4 treatments.

 

I have a big milestone coming up next Monday, Jan 11^th when I will get another CT Scan. These are very nerve wracking for me because this is where they would see anything bad going on inside me. Of course this is also where they give me the clean bill of health so I get very anxious going into these things. Please keep us in your prayers this week and pray for a clean scan ok?

Let's start the new year with some good news!!!

Love and Peace!

John and Carol