Let me just get this out of the way:
a little over a week ago, I went in for an MRI of my abdomen, and a CT scan of my chest.
The idea was to get a baseline for comparison throughout my treatment.
Well, that was the medical reason. For me, and for just about any other person, non-medical,
the scans were to see if there were any little bad guys hanging out in my guts....
WELL, I AM THRILLED AND RELIEVED TO REPORT THAT THERE WAS NOTHING.
nothing.... not even any hints of anything. no metastases, no cancer, NOTHING.
phew.
okay, now that the GOOD news is out of the way, let's move on to the OTHER news...
ALSO GOOD.
I am currently in the midst of my first chemo treatment.
I will have a small pump in an ugly black nylon bag (I know some sea monsters who will have to remedy that...). The pump is a small box, about the 6 inches long, with a little plastic cartridge filled with the chemo/poison attached to it. (Today's favorite quote from my chemo-nurse [more on her later]: "If you get any of the chemo outside of the tube or the pump, make sure you put it in a plastic bag. This is a caustic chemical, and is technically considered a toxic material." AWESOME! as it is slowly being pumped into my body....) From the pump comes 6 feet of narrow plastic tubing; finishing of the tubing is a needle that is poked in my shiny new port. Big slab of plastic sticky tape covering the port, needle and smooth boy-chest.
Every two or three minutes, the pump makes a quiet motorized 'pumping' sound and tiny amount of poison is shoved into my jugular. This will go on, day or night, for 46 hours. Then, we take out the needle, clean the sight, possibly put a Hello Kitty (Fiona's favorite... thanks Ashley) bandaid over it, and hang out for two weeks. Repeat.
The doctor's visit today was amazing, obviously, with the good news. The oncologist met, and visited with my parents, and then along comes the chemo-nurse, Maya's new favorite person (dripping sarcasm.)
OBVIOUSLY, this woman is used to having an audience of 87 year old grannies who's common sense went out of fashion with the poodle skirt, and who's idea of nutrition is shaved carrots in orange jello or anything with mayonnaise. The nurse talked so slow, and spent about an hour walking us through a packet of information (WHICH I GOT TO TAKE HOME.....) at a snail's pace, spelling everything out like my native language was not English, highlighting every single line of type as she went along....
Some gems:
- have small aluminum cans of chocolate flavored protein shakes on hand in case you have decreased appetite. maybe I would have as many as 6 to 8 a day
- "One thing that could happen is ...*in a whisper* constipation. If that happens, drink warm prune juice. Has to be warm. If that doesn't appeal, eat prunes, but warm them up."
- you need sodium. eat top ramen.
- you need to drink about 2 quarts of liquid a day. coffee is an anti-liquid. jello, ice cream and milkshakes count as liquids.
and it goes on and on...
anyway, several hours in now and I'm feeling great, no side effects so far. having to lug this pump around is no fun, and my port is still a little tender, but other than that things are going smoothly... more updates tomorrow.
Interesting, the play by play. Good reads for this curious mind.
ReplyDeleteWeirdly, I love hearing stories about super unhelpful nurses. Makes me aware. And Top Ramen? Really??
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear everything is going well, except for the nurse, of course. :p (Teacher, remember there are no stupid questions), but if there's nothing, why the chemo? An insurance policy of sorts? Nosy AND curious!
ReplyDeleteinsurance is exactly right,
Deletealso, the scans can only pick up cell clusters that have reached certain size
(in the millions of cells...)
so the chemo is meant to wipe out any tiny tiny little floaties (IF there are any: I don't believe there are) before they can plant themselves on any healthy tissue...
Hello from Boston (well, Cambridge actually) I just wanted you to know I am thinking of you and I am glad you doing so well and making cool stuff. Oh, yeah and Mark said it best on FB or somewhere. Maya rocks! and your little girl seems like an awesome kid too.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're still feeling good! Don't forget to eat your Jell-o! :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear the scans look clean and that your first round is going ok. I love that eating or drinking prunes that are not warm will open the gates of hell. Thinking of your and your crew. Matt.
ReplyDeleteMaya - do you remember the nurse who, when we spotted some deer (and in my possibly incorrect memory - a fawn, but probably not because it was January...) on Mt Talbert out the delivery room window, told us how her husband likes to shoot them?
ReplyDeleteIve been following the posts. You all are in my prayers.
ReplyDeleteGoing to attempt to tape the sonogabitch to my chest! 2 days sucked now it's 5 days of looking like a euro tool. Wonder how the skin likes duct tape?
ReplyDeletenot sure what you're getting at there Bryan. do I know you?
DeleteNope just another young dude with cancer. colon mets to the liver. Came across the blog by keywords. Hate the pump, wearing it right now. Did not have to tape it, put it in zip bag then in an ankle brace, cut holes in it and wove a belt through, strapped that bitch tight to my chest next to port . Looks hilarious but can move about more freely. Drawback is a feel the vibration with each dose of poison.
DeleteAw man, I couldn't take that vibration... the noise alone keeps me up at night, and i've got it 6 feet away, as long as the chord will go. They gave me an ugly black nylon bag to carry the pump in, had to make something better, now I've got it slung at my hip like a holster.
Deletestrength, man.