You are looking at posts that were written in the month of February in the year 2008.
Posted on February 5th, 2008 by Cam.
Categories: Let's talk.
Hospital today to check in with my haematologist. He is happy. I am happy. I was pretty happy before I found out he was happy, but now I am happier seeing him as happy as he was. My Kappa light chains are a key indicator for active cancer growth in my body. Up until my re-staging to Multiple Myeloma, they were hovering around the low 20′s in count. Not enough to cause any concern. The blood test just before my re-staging showed a massive and rapid jump in the light chain count to about 114. This was enough to get me started on chemo that afternoon.
Today I finished my first 21-day cycle (of four) for this course of chemo. My bloods revealed that my Kappa light chains have come back down to 18 which is brilliant. It essentially means that the chemo is doing a good job and that treatment is going very well. I had no nastiness to report on really, as I have been feeling quite chuffed with how things are going. I get tired when I walk, my feet are hot at night (peripheral neuropathy due to amyloidosis), my ribs have pretty much melded themselves back together, I have been off all pain medication since Sunday and Elizabeth made a fantastic curry last night. Things couldn’t be better.
We also spent some time talking with the specialist nurse at the Haematology Care Centre who took time to explain my high-dose therapy procedure coming up in mid-April. That is when I need to take it a little easier. I will be having a central line put into my heart from my jugular or just under my collar bone. This tube will allow the high-dose chemo to be injected directly into a large pool of blood without doing too much damage to my tissue. The line will stay in for about 2 weeks so they can take daily blood samples and inject whatever they need into me without having to tap a new vein every time.
I will go in for daily checkups at the care centre where they can check my temperature and sample my blood. Any sign of febrile neutropenia (indicates infection) and I will be admitted to the ward to continue the treatment. It is quite common to get an infection during this time, but the thinking is that if they can keep me as an outpatient as long as possible, I will be more comfortable at home. I bring in my PJ’s each time I have a check up so that I can go straight into isolation if need be. Very slick operation!
The high-dose chemo will essentially get rid of my bone marrow. Not natural they tell me. The goal will be to remove the lesions at the same time as the marrow. Thankfully, they see fit to return the stem cells that were harvested from me at the end of last year back into my blood stream two days after my ‘marrow cleansing diet’. I will be back on the same injections into my belly that I was on to increase stem cell production during this time also.
This whole process will take about two weeks and to expect to be the most tired soul I have ever been. My hair will fall out, my digestive tract will be damaged, my energy will disappear and my bones will ache. I should be honky doory though by the beginning of May to become an Uncle for the first time. Not many people have the privilege of having a bone marrow transplant whilst becoming an Uncle, although I am not sure if there are many specific studies on this exact phenomenon.
I will then spend the next two months in convalescence, basically recovering. It will be a slow process of getting my fitness back and colour back in my cheeks. In preparation, I will be starting ‘chemo gym’ next week. There is a gym locally that opens up a few times a week with volunteers that work with chemo patients to assess them and give them a training program to work with while they go through chemo and to prepare for chemo. Sounds fantastic. The more I can do to get into shape now before heading into nasty days, the better I will be in recovery. Once again, very well looked after. I get free massages, and so does Elizabeth because she is a carer. I cannot say enough about how well I feel we are cared for in all respects.
My specialist today told me that he won’t spend too much time with me today because he needs to tend to some sick people. Fine with me. We left pretty darn happy. My new cycle starts Thursday. This time I am only taking tablets for the first 4 days of the 21 cycle. No need for the 4-days-on, 4-days-off Dexmethasone. I just take it all in the first four days with the other cytoblastics and take the rest of the cycle off. Things are looking good.
Posted on February 2nd, 2008 by Cam.
Categories: Let's talk.
In the last few days I have been seeing this year coming up as being far more than about being sick. It has come about recently I suppose due to the way that I am able to be treated in a way that still allows me to get other things done. At the moment, chemotherapy is quite manageable, but this is how it is for me at this moment.
For others, similar treatment is a focus, there is no choice, and I am sure my time will come. I do not want to make it seem that I think such therapy is easy as there are so many different types of chemo and so many ways that different people respond to it. For me though, at this time, I feel like I am getting through it with minimal disruption to the rest of our lives.
I have been finding it really rewarding to be doing other projects while I have been having treatment. I have been working on a variety of projects involving educational web development, silver jewellery design, an online urban/community development forum, a local newspaper production, documentary making and trying to motivate myself to do some languages and music learning/recording. Now I do realise that there are a lot of things to do to get these all going and maintained, but this year is a good year to get them going.
I think the opportunity that I have in the moment of being sick, but not too debilitated, has given me a greater fire in my belly to get things done. They are the same passions that I have had for years. It is just that now, that some other options are limited, I know what projects I can realistically accomplish and I am very excited by them. I am surrounded by people also that are very supportive and passionate about the same kind of ideas, and I am loving working with them.
Also, aside from being sick, I am seeing this year as being a big year because of what I can see happening in the lives of my family and friends. It is an exciting time of deepening of relationships, having babies, moving houses, starting new jobs, starting new projects, chewing over faith issues, settling down, stirring up, enjoying stability, being shaken up. It begs the question why do we need TV soaps, celebrity gossip, reality tv etc. to stimulate this part of our brain (sorry, did I just say stimulate ?) when there should be more than enough in our own lives and the lives of those around us to engage us in life.
Talking about engaging in life, I hope you have been having many pleasant Gregorian Chanting experiences over this week. I personally got banned within the first few days of the dedicated week, but I didn’t want to dampen anyone else’s excitement/enjoyment during this time.
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