Day +10 - Back at the Keyboard

Seems like it has been forever since I sat down to update the blog. I have to thank my lovely wife, Julia, for stepping in for me on June 12. That day started off so normally, but went down the tubes in a hurry. Things did not get better over the next 48 hours.

When doctors tell you that there are certain things that are going to happen to you after a treatment, you usually filter out about half as just being for the oddball in the crowd. When they told me what the side effects for the chemo I was taking would be I just chuckled to myself, thinking, bring it on. I breezed though the side effects of the first two chemos, why would this be any different.

What I failed to take into account was that the goal of this chemo was to completely wipe me out. To be able to kill the cancer, there were going to be some innocent bystanders taken along with it. I was told that I could suffer any of the following: mouth sores, skin rashes, nausea, diarrhea, loss of appetite and hair loss. I felt that I would maybe touch a few of those, but certainly not all of them.

Let’s go down the line.

Mouth sores—This was the first thing that hit me. My tongue was the first to feel the discomfort. They aren’t sores as much as tender spots that have now going all the way down my throat. My tongue has swollen quite a bit. I now know what it’s like being Gene Simmons.

Skin rashes—this didn’t really hit me until yesterday. It is not what I had envisioned. I just added about 20 years on to my age in about 24 hours. I have unexplained bruises on my legs that are about and inch in diameter. I have reds spots virtually everywhere. It looks like I had a severe case of goosebumps and decided to shave my legs.

Nausea—This has been the least of the crew, but I have thrown up three times now just trying to take pills. Nothing major, but they are the kind of sessions that make your guts explode since there is nothing there to throw up.

Diarrhea—This has now taken over my world. If I can make it an hour without taking a trip to the bathroom, I pat myself on the back. You have to understand, I first have to get out of bed, unplug my IV pole from the wall, wrap up the cord, walk to the bathroom, urinate into the hand held urinal and then proceed to position yourself just above the little catcher (hat) they have sitting in the middle of the toilet. After completing the mission, I then wash up and finally put the plug back into the wall. Then it’s a call to the nurse to come to her thing. This is not an operation that you do at the last minute. Planning is extremely important. I didn’t do that one time, but we’ve talked enough about that.

Loss of appetite—I have survived on mandarin oranges and Sprite for the last three days. Even things that I love sound like liver. Yet through it all I stopped losing weight days ago. No one wants to believe me that I’m retaining water, but how can you eat virtually nothing for days and stay the same weight? This Mayo Diet plan I created isn’t working. I’m going to have to go on a diet after a get out.

Hair loss—Well, all of you guys out there that have been jealous of that unbelievable thick head of hair that I possess, today is your day. When I dried my hair this morning I noticed more hairs on the towel than fans at a Flock of Seagulls concert. The inevitable will happen in the next day or two when I get my first buzz job. Pray for me.

The last two days have been a battle with fever. It will get up to 103 degrees and they will make me put ice under my arm pits and at my crouch. They then hooked me up with a cooling blanket that helps lower my body temperature. In between I have uncontrollable shakes. These are more than just shivers but they come and go. I’ve been in the high 99’s this afternoon so I’m hoping that I might get down to normal tomorrow.

The big news of the day was my white blood count. It actually went from .20 to .60.This may not sound like much, but that is the first indication that the returned stem cells are doing their job. If I could do a back spring , this would be the perfect occasion. I received two units of blood yesterday, but that only contains red cells. I then received a unit of platelets today. Those two types of cells can be taken from others. White cells on the other had would become terribly confused and attacking my body as a foreign object.

I’ve been told that things should start getting better once my white count gets back to normal. This is one of those times that I look forward to the 4 AM wake up call when they take my blood. I’ll know by 7 AM if things are continuing to improve. My fingers are crossed.