Hi everyone
It has been a long time since I posted to this blog so I thought it was time for a post chemo update.
It has been just over a year since they found the cancer had spread to my liver and removed it. Chemo followed that and chemo was done on March 5th of this year.
Since then I have been to see the oncologist a couple of times for blood work (everything is fine) and I have had one CT Scan which also was fine. So I have been in remission over a year now and all we can do is hope and pray that it won’t come back again. But since I made it over 4 years in remission last time, I won’t feel like I am out of the woods until I beat that. Every trip to get scanned is an incredibly anxious experience. The way it works is you get scanned and then you have a follow up with the oncologist in a day or two to review the results. If it has come back that is how and when you get the news. I dread these scans but at the same time I look forward to them because a clean scan is such a huge relief. You can imagine the stress that his has on Carol and me I’m sure!
The plan is to get scanned every 3 months for a year and then every 6 months for a year and then every year forever. I also get blood work every couple of months and I also have to keep up with the colonoscopies every few years. All in all I am pretty carefully watched and the good news is that they would catch anything very early which gives you the greatest chance of survival of course.
Unlike the first round of chemo I have not had any serious side effects this time. My neuropathy is the same and I will be on pain killers forever. Dealing with them is another whole story but I have been on them for 6 years now and I think I am pretty much used to them and what they do to you. Everything you take has some effect on your body including what you eat and drink, what medicines you take and what treatments they prescribe for you. Nothing is “free” because everything does something and you have to manage that as best you can.
The only weird side effect that happened this time besides my hair falling out on my legs and arm pits is that I have a small rash on my face that comes and goes for no apparent reason. It is only about the size of a quarter and it is the result of the 1 single does of Erbitux that I took. I stopped taking it after the first session because I got so sick and it left what I believe is a permanent rash! I can’t imagine what 6 months of it would have done but the rash is a known side effect of Erbitux in some people. I will not take that stuff again!
All in all Carol and I feel like we have dodged another bullet but we also know that we have to deal with the possibility of a recurrence. That is very tough on us and we have our days where it doesn’t go so well and other days where it just isn’t on our minds. I think the biggest “side effect” of cancer has been the mental stress of dealing with the possibility of the cancer coming back. It is a tough thing but we are trying our best to deal with it and we continue to fight the psychological battle every day.
We know we have lots of people (like you) who think about us and pray for us and that is unbelievably reassuring. Thank you for being there and thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Please know that they are appreciated.
Peace and love to you all!
John and Carol
