Cancer Sucks!Cancer is a mind fuck. It fucks with your emotions. Knowing that you are going to die in some period of time is hard to stomach. It takes me 3 days to come around from that kind of news... and them I am back to normal. It also fucks with your schedule, Carol and I have been back and forth, 100 miles round trip, to Rapid City Cancer Center, a good 50 days since the beginning of the year, we also made two trips to Denver, to National Jewish Health, 3 weeks and one weekend... cancer, it is time consuming.
When you go through cancer it is important to have a support team. I like that Facebook provides ease of contact with old and new friends, a forum to share information about my fight and how important you all are in my life. My mother's second husband, Bob, died of lung cancer. He wrote a poem, that when I find a copy, I will share with all of you, entitled "I would rather have cancer" as opposed to dying from a heart attach, as he would have time to talk to each of his friends, to tell them how much they meant to him. Friends, I want you to know that your comments are unbelievably uplifting. I encourage you to keep in contact with your friends who are fighting health issues, you will be a blessing to them too.
I had my first chemo therapy treatment yesterday, the 7th of July. I tolerated the treatment well.
I have to admit that I was pretty apprehensive about the procedure. My luck on this journey has not been stellar. I didn't qualify for treatments based on genomic structure of the cancer: ALK or EGFR-1. The ALK and EGFR-1 treatments are very specific to a mutation of the gene structure in the cancer and are very effective and have very few side effects. The treatment plan I am engaged in is a more standard chemotherapy. The chemicals that are being used are for lack of a better word are poisons (cytotoxic) and many people have adverse reactions to the process. I didn't.
I share this medical anthology to raise awareness about how we deal with health issues like cancer. I found, when I began this journey that people don't like to talk about this kind of stuff (I avoided it myself) and they really should be less hesitant about the subject. My religion requires that "my private life is my public life" and so I am comfortable sharing this with you, if one person is educated, I have contributed to the Karma of man.
The Rapid City Hospital Cancer Care Center is a very nice facility, fairly new, well maintained, the building is pleasantly decorated and comfortable. The staff is wonderful, courteous, well trained and has a pleasant sense of humor... they are all very special people.
The chemo treatment area consists of about a dozen rooms that face a central nurses station. Each room has either a bed or a recliner, my room had a recliner, and a comfortable chair for a family member or friend, a couple of stools for the staff, a desk and a TV. There are 3 bathrooms reserved for cancer patients, and other bathrooms for guests and staff. The chemotherapy drugs are strong poisons and the hospital doesn't want non-cancer patients exposed to the drugs, for their safety. We were told that at home, that the patient should flush the toilet twice to get rid of the chemicals expressed while pooping and peeing.
Our nurse informed Carol and I that there should be no smooching or other hanky-panky for 3 days until the chemicals are gone from my body.
Generally:
Don't go out in the sun, cover up, wear a hat and SPF 15 sun block. Pretty much standard procedure.
No aspirin or Ibuprofen. No problem here, I haven't used a bottle in 67 years.
Wash hands often. I put a Purell hand sanitizer in my pocket this morning.
Avoid crowds and/or people not feeling well. I will wear a mask. I am planning to attend my 50th class reunion this summer.
Any sign of infection, seek medical attention immediately. You will likely be admitted to the hospital for a few days.
In general, keep alcohol consumption to a minimum.
Avoid contact sports or activities that could cause injury. There goes judo and rock climbing... NOT!!! Planning on breaking both of these rules this summer... I promise I will be careful.
Wear a mask while mowing the grass or working in the garden. Both disturb the ground and expose the patient to pathogens that are normally controlled by the immune system, the chemotherapy drugs used reduce the ability of the immune system to fight off these pathogens.
Get good rest. I have had lots of practice recovering from the lung surgery back in February and 15 days or radiation treatments in April. I was sleeping 10 to 12 hours a day and a 2 to 3 hour nap after lunch. Now I sleep 8 - 9 hours at night and take a 45 minute nap about every other day.
Stay active and keep doing the things you love.
After all the does and don'ts discussed, the infusion began.
First an IV was started. Four drugs were infused.
1. Palonosetron - anti-nausea, to keep me from throwing up
2. waited for 45 minutes, then a dose of Dexamethosone - a steroid, to reduce allergic reactions to the chemo drugs. It gives a boost of energy, was warned to not overdue the added boost. Sam Rudd and I went for a slow one mile walk, the longest I have walked since the surgery... it felt great! And I feel good today. One side effect that I did experience was that I still had energy at bedtime and was up until about 3 am watching episodes of "Game of Thrones" on my Kindle.
3. waited for another 20 minutes, then a dose of Pemetrexed. Premetrexed is an anti-cancer (cytotoxic) chemotherapy drug and is classified as an "antimetabolite" agent. Generally it is well tolerated by most patients and can be used long term to control cancer.
4. another wait, then hooked up to blood pressure cuff and oxygen sensor, a dose of Carboplatin was infused. Carboplatin is a cytotoxic chemotherapy drug and is classified as a an "alkylating" agent. Carboplatin is one of those drugs that gets your hair to fall out. The medical community generally assumes that most people will develop an allergy to Carboplatin by the 7th treatment, so it is typically used 4 to 6 times. The typical allergic reaction is the inability to breath. In the middle of my treatment, the woman in the next room had a reaction and there were 6 nurses in her room in a heartbeat. Carol says I became pretty anxious for a couple of minutes. Scary stuff.
Then it was all done, just a few minutes shy of 2 hours. I felt good, maybe a bit spacey, glad I had Carol to drive home. We made it home without incident. Rested for a bit. Sam and I went for a walk about Ruby Road, about one mile, with a couple hundred feet of elevation change, at just over a mile of elevation. It is a beautiful walk, the hills, rocks, trees and wildlife are breathtaking, didn't see another person, quiet, we live in heaven.
David Scott reminded me that I always yelled at my judo students during randori, "attack", attack", "attack". Fuck Cancer!
Keep up the good fight and remember that every day is a great day!
Love, Van
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