Oh, man, those days off are so wonderful. Enjoy your weekend!
Sorry to hear about this, buddha_david. I wish you all the best and a speedy recovery.
I wouldn’t fret too much about the family stuff or any negativity that it brings to your situation. Just focus on yourself and your chariot and the journey that lies ahead.
Buddah_david, over 30 years ago my (now ex) husband was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, stage IIA. (Don’t know the type., maybe they didn’t even have the subtypes then but I know he had the classic Reed-Sternburg cells.) He was in his late 20’s at the time. Now he has stage 4 lung cancer but he had 30+ YEARS of a great life. I wish the same, or BETTER, for you.
I know I wasn’t going to open this thread until after this weekend but just wanted to mention how life generally knows when to keep throwing basic everyday crap at you no matter where or when you are. For example, on Wednesday, after leaving my cardiologist’s office (the last doctor I need to see until Monday afternoon) my vehicle’s engine suddenly started running very rough, to the point where it was violently vibrating while accelerating. Took it to the shop, turns out a couple spark plugs had gummed up and failed. Nothing that a (fairly expensive) tune-up couldn’t fix.
However, my mechanic was concerned about WHY the plugs had failed the way they did. He concluded there was a slow but persistent fuel/oil leak coming from somewhere in the engine itself, and the only permanent fix would be a complete engine rebuild – which would be way too expensive to justify for a car that’s 30 years old. He said we should adopt a “wait and watch” attitude to see if the problem got any worse, otherwise just accept that I’ll be getting $800 tuneups ever 15,000 miles for the near future.
It felt kinda weird discussing “end of life options” for my vehicle. :dubious:
Wow. I haven’t been around the 'dope much lately, and just now saw this thread. This is rough news, indeed.
Hang in there, my friend. Kick some cancer ass.
Hope you had a good weekend and were able to do some fun stuff to take your mind off things and are feeling mentally refreshed.
Good luck for tomorrow with the Port-a-Cath.
buddha_david, I had a port installed when I did chemo back in 2015, and it was the best thing ever. My veins are crap, and if every treatment had involved another stick there wouldn’t have been enough Ativan to deal with the anxiety. Good luck with the (very minor) surgery.
Funny thing – it’s not so much about “feeling refreshed” as it is about catching up on all the stuff that’s been pushed aside. Got work done on my car, bought a new pair of shoes (which had to be returned since they were the wrong size – who knew that Nike & New Balance used completely different sizing scales!!) and did as much housework that would be considered “exercise” to the cancer people.
The doctor wants to start chemo on Wednesday, the day after the Port-a-Cath surgery, which is much earlier than expected but I’m eager to get this show on the road anyway. The other option was to do the first round in the hospital, starting on Friday, which I’d like to avoid if possible. He’ll also be doing “hydration therapy” on Thursday to make sure I don’t drop dead, I guess.
I don’t know if you’ll see this before your surgery, but when I got my port put in my mouth was incredibly dry for the rest of the day. I had mine around noon, and tried to eat some french fries when I got home, which immediately turned into paste in my mouth. It went away next day, though. I got to wait about two weeks to start chemo.
Add me to the list of strangers wishing you well. I 'm also embarking on the cancer journey (invasive breast cancer), with surgery scheduled next week. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with so much crud, family and otherwise, while trying to deal with the huge emotional shock of a cancer diagnosis. It seems to me cancer sucks up your entire emotional reservoir, so there’s little left for dealing with family, engine rebuilds, and any other health issues, minor or not, your body springs on you. I hope you get a long respite from all that.
I’ll be cheering you on from here in Washington.
Another random internet stranger signing on to wish you well. 2016 was the year of all the cancers in my family, although none was Lymphoma. Chemo sucks, but it has its moments that are random, funny, sweet.
Wishing you all the best.
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TIL: Apparently, “twilight sedation” with Versed does NOT always cause amnesia, nor is it always intended to; in fact it’s considered a “side effect” with about 60% of people experiencing it. :dubious: Everything still went well, there was no pain and the “otherworldliness” of the drugs made it go very quickly, but the doctor did have my neck crinked at a very uncomfortable angle during the prodecure. Something to keep in mind in case I ever have a colonoscopy, I guess…
And now for today’s family drama: I was complaining to an Aunt about the fact that some family members apparently hadn’t answered by mass email from last week, and she insisted that I was sent a very long email from my Seattle Aunt who has lung cancer (she had read it, but had already deleted it) where she not only expressed sympathy, but gave advice about choosing an oncologist and also talked about the recent advancements in lymphoma treatment (i.e. antibody treatment…) It sounded suspicious so I confronted my Father about it, and as it turned out, she had actually responded to HIS email which was written before my own. Presumably she either thought she was responding to me directly, or that my Father would forward it to me automatically – which he never did, of course. In fact, I was never copied on the conversation about my cancer which apparently lasted much longer than I had known about.
(This really is the root issue of the Family Drama, btw. Father’s convinced just about everyone that he should be the go-between for distributing information, when in fact nothing is further from the truth. For example, a few years ago, my sister-in-law suffered a miscarriage while traveling abroad, and to make a long story short, Father stepped in and told everyone that letters of sympathy should be send to HIM directly. It wasn’t any of my business and I think my brother probably approved the arrangement, but frankly, I doubt very much that all of those letters were ever passed on.)
Glad to hear it all went well. Sounds like you got some good drugs, at least.
Family stuff sounds like a pain in the ass, so my sympathies.
I’m also one of those people who remembers everything while taking Versed. No, colonoscopies are not fun. Survivable, but not fun. It helps if you let the anesthesiologist know before any procedure, so they can at least make things more comfortable.
Is there anyone in the family who is more reliable who can help you sort this mess out? No one has time for this nonsense while they’re dealing with cancer.
Nah, they’re all pretty much screwed up in the head in their own unique ways, like Anna Karenina said. It’s tricky this week because I need rides & stuff every day, but by next week, I should be back to driving myself everywhere.
Chemo Round #1 done, huzzah. Oddly, the most serious side effect was sudden, severe pain & swelling in my right arm & shoulder, plus a few other areas, where the largest tumors are. The doctor was baffled – he thought perhaps my pain meds had run out (and he had no pills stronger than Tylenol – what kind of doctor’s office doesn’t carry hydrocodone or oxy??) but it felt much worse than that. Funnily enough, after the session was done, by the time I got to CVS to pick up some Norco the pain had subsided to its typical dull roar. Hmmf. Why do I always have to be so special.
No serious nausea yet, just some queasiness & malaise like I ate something that didn’t agree with. Doctor did give me Zofran for when it gets too bad. Also got serious dry mouth, so I’m drinking lots of water (which I’m supposed to do anyway) plus some ginger ale, which, believe it or not, tastes bloody awesome after chemo.
All in all, not nearly as bad I thought it would go. knocks on wood
Doesn’t sound too bad so far. I got weird pains too, especially when trying to go to sleep at night. Not intense pain, but a dull ache that seemed to come from deep within my bones, ugh. Thinking back, at least for me the day after was rougher than the day of the treatment. Hope you do well tomorrow.
Did they give you the Zofran IV with the treatment, or just the pills? I only remember using the pills once, either the IV took care of most of the nausea or there just wasn’t much to take care of. Definitely keep hydrating, but like I said, don’t freak when it comes out the other end pink!
One down, eleven to go, right? Try to ignore the family drama as best you can. I know how that goes, too. We lost my sister last month and our family has been worse than worthless through a tough time.
Anyway, this random internet stranger will be rooting for you, keep kicking its ass. I’m a firm believer in technology but I also believe the combination of technology and attitude is what got me through the ordeal. You sound like you have the right outlook.
congratulations, I’m glad it went so well.
I’m glad you’ve gotten going with your treatment! If you continue to have dry mouth issues, check out Biotene products. I used a mouth spray that worked surprisingly well.
Question: For those who suffered alopecia, how long did it take before hair started falling out? The nurse said I was almost certain to suffer hair loss, despite the anecdotes of people who said it never happened to them.
Hair started to fall out after first treatment and before second treatment. Don’t recall exactly, but probably a few days to a week after first treatment. My hair was fairly long at the time, so it was kind of a mess to deal with. Got it cut short and it was much easier to handle – no piles of 14 inch strands lying about.
Hope all is going well. Stay hydrated and don’t forget your fiber! 