Round #7

I went in yesterday and met with my oncologist. He said things were going well and that I was definitely responding to the chemo. This, of course, is good news.

It was a pretty uneventful round of chemo. My counts were a little low so they only gave me 75% of my normal dosage. Oddly enough, I -can- tell the difference. I don't feel as toxic as I have in the past.

Also, some of my normal side-effects aren't as prevalent as they usually are after chemo. The tingling in my fingers and toes isn't that bad, the metal taste in my mouth is only minor and I don't feel as fatigued.

I have one more round of chemo before my second colonscopy on August 3rd. I'm hoping that brings me some more good news.

I have to admit, since my diagnosis the majority of the news about how I'm responding and doing has been good. I hope it keeps up and I can be rid of this illness in a few more months.

CEA Counts

Before I left for the office this morning I received a call from my oncologist's office. The nurse wanted to tell me the results of my latest CEA count.

CEA counts are used to measure the progress of colon cancer patients especially. Normal for people without cancer is a count of 0-3. With cancer patients it can be as high as 100 or worse. My last count was 14.

But this morning when they called me, they told me that my count was at 2! Which is within the range of a person without cancer!

Of course, this doesn't mean I'm cured, but it's just another reassurance that the chemo is working.

Round #6

I met with my oncologist today. He informed me that he spoke with the surgeon that I want to do my surgery and they both agreed that the best course of action was removing the entire colon. They figure that there is something in me that caused the dual primary tumors and that leaving any of the colon is essentially playing with fire.

This is a little contradictory to what the surgeon originally told me, as she seemed to originally recommend only partial removal of the colon with annual colonoscopies. Not the story seems to have changed.

My options basically are:

1) an ilestomy bag
2) a continent ileostomy
3) partial removal of the colon

Option #3 is dangerous because it increases the recurrence of more caner. Option #1 sounds just awful ad Option #2 doesn't sound much better than #1.

I think the decision is up to me. All the options suck and I don't know what to do.

Round #5

After my awesome week off, I went back for treatment yesterday. Since I had the extra week between treatments most of my side-effects had faded and so far this chemo hasn't been too bad.

I have the 5FU pump with me 'til tomorrow morning. Normally I will sleep as much as possible when I have the pump, but I think that's partially to be blamed for the anti-nausea medicine. So far I haven't taken any today even though I had a hardy lunch.

Still no word on the date of my surgery. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that since I'm responding so well to chemo that maybe, just maybe, I won't even need surgery. It's a long shot and probably wishful thinking, but you never know.

Week Off

I went to the cancer center yesterday, the same one I always go to for treatment and was prepared to spend the next three days sleeping.

They accessed my port, as always and ran a CBC. Turns out that my neutrophil count was so low (~.5) that they decided to delay my treatment for a week. After all the begging I did of my oncologist, I ended up getting the week off treatment anyway!

I'm quite happy about this, though it's unfortunate that my counts are so low. I just need to be careful to stay away from germy people and things. But I feel great and I'm glad I have a few extra days to get the still remaining toxicity out of my system.

It'll be a good week, I hope.

ER

I went to the ER on Friday night with "severe abdominal pain". It was not my choice to go to the ER, but when I called my oncologist he instructed me that they needed to do a scan to make sure I wasn't having a blockage.

What I thought would be a few hours ended up taking up most of my weekend. I was just released from the hospital this morning. Luckily it was none too serious. The pain in my abdomen went away on its own after a couple of bowel movements.

Also, the CT scan I received confirmed that I am responding to the chemo. Both my tumors have shrank, which is excellent news.

I had never spent the night in the hospital so it was a bit unsettling. Luckily it wasn't too horrible. Though when my doctor told me he would release this morning, I was ecstatic.

It's good to be home.

Round #4

I started round #4 this morning with a digital rectal exam from the oncologist. He's a busy man and didn't even remember examining me the first time, which makes me wonder. But he reviewed his notes, stuck his finger inside me and said that the rectal tumor had definitely shrunk.

This was very good news and says that the chemo is working. I had suspected this all along as I was seeing improvements in my bowels and in other areas. I was happy but not completely ecstatic. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's a cautious optimism.

I asked him about inserting a week between this treatment and the next one, but he said if it was just a matter of toxicity that he'd rather not. Of course, it's my body and my treatment and I have the right to do what I want -- but I'll stick with his advice for now.

It's Tuesday afternoon and I've been sleeping a lot. I have the pump with me and I just prefer to sleep when it's with me. Then I don't have to deal with it as much.

Time to go lay in my bed for another couple hours.