Fix One, Break Ten

HOORAY… Oh-oh!

Yesterday I posted this update on Facebook for my family and friends, “Good news – chemo has been suspended for now. The glands are nearly back to 100% normal. This will give me time to help fix some of the other issues that the chemo ‘broke’.”

Here are some of the replies:

• “That’s GREAT news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
• “awesome”
• “Good news!!”
• “Thank God! That’s the best news all day!”
• “That is fantastic news!!!!!! It’s nice to hear good news like that.”

Yup, it IS pretty great news. As far as the swollen glands go, the chemo has been most effective. However, it wasn’t because I was such a ‘good boy’ that the doctor suspended my treatments… I was scheduled to go another two rounds to insure that even the internal glands that weren’t visible on my body surface were shrunk back to normal.

Nope, it certainly wasn’t because I was a good boy… not at all.

After checking my latest blood work, seeing and hearing about all the other things breaking down in my body, the doctor pulled the plug on chemo.

I Crawled Into the Clinic

Each round of chemo builds on the previous one. I was already wiped-out tired all the time from the past three rounds. I definitely was NOT looking forward to round 4. I coughed a deep-congested cough non-stop as the nurse led me to my chair. She gave me a mask and instructed me to keep it on while I was in the hospital.

She took my blood pressure and temperature – 101.3F (38.4C) – and continued to ask me a battery of preliminary questions about my health since my last round. Here is what I told her:

• The cough has been constant and continuous pretty much all year. Several rounds of anti-biotics – as recently as last week – plus two inhalers have had no effect whatsoever.
• My nose runs constantly.
• Shortness of breath – even carrying on a conversation winds me.
• I have NO appetite.
• Fevers are a nightly thing – sometimes as high as 102.4F (39.1C)
• Soaking night sweats are common, as much as four out of every five nights.
• My body temperature seems to have no regulation. I’ll be cold one minute and burning up the next.
• My lip sore just won’t heal – I’ve had it since the end of August, a full two months now.
• I have frequent, urgent, burning urination – a sign of bladder infection.
• My eyes are crusty and red – a sign of eye infection.

The nurse shuffled through the papers in my file and found the latest blood work results which I had submitted just the day before. She shuffled some more and came back to the original page, tapping her pen to her lips saying, “You’re white blood cell counts are extremely low. Based on this and all the other things you’re dealing with, I doubt the doctor will continue chemo treatments this time.”

The clinic holds about 25 people and it took about 30 minutes for the doctor to make his way around to me. He asked me to remove my mask so he could look at my neck glands. Of course, the first thing he saw was the glaring lip sore. “EWE”, he said. I told him it was every bit as painful as it looked. The doctor had made some notes on my lip sore the last time I was in and was shocked to see how much worse it had gotten.

He glanced over my blood work and the nurse’s notes. He asked me a few more questions and then confirmed what the nurse had already suggested, “We’re stopping chemo treatments for now until we get all these other matters looked after.”

I Couldn’t Perform Under Pressure

I was surprised when the doctor told me the first thing he wanted to address was my lip sore. I told him I felt the bladder thing was more urgent… quite literally. He gave me one of those little sample bottles. Wouldn’t you know, Mr. Frequent-Urgent-Burning had to drink three cups of water and a cup of orange juice AND wait for about an hour before I could squeeze out enough urine to make a decent sample. This is the same guy who went every five minutes for a whole hour last night before finally being able to get some sleep. (After this, I ‘only’ had to go every 30-45 minutes throughout the night.)

Is it any wonder I’m drop-dead tired?

As for the lip, the anti-biotics the doctor prescribed are supposed to be administered within 72 hours of the initial breakout. It’s been two months! The pharmacist warned me that because of the timing, the pills might not work. Well, that’s comforting.

In the meantime, side effects of this medication includes:

• headaches
• diarrhea
• dizziness
• nausea and vomiting

Fix one, break ten!

How Are You Going to Make Lemonade This Time Russy?

This is the real challenge, now isn’t it? And this is the whole point of this blog. No matter what is going on in your life, there is always something better for you to choose to focus on. (I expect Maggie to remind me of what I’m writing here – LOL)

The fact that chemo has been suspended now means that my body can begin the cleansing and rebuilding process. To be sure, there are a LOT of issues to deal with. By focusing on what’s already good, I can help myself rebuild that much more quickly.

• No more chemo for now – HOORAY!
• Drug plan that pays all my medication expenses – FANTASTIC
• Family and friends who are totally focused on the bright side – PRICELESS

With all that going for me – and much more – you know I have to Love That Feeling!

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