The Peaks and Valleys of the Cancer Cycle (OFT & 8/12 done)

(a long update)

I haven't posted in a while, again, but that isn't because I have nothing to report, rather that I've been quite busy.   Work has been busy, and I had another pretty long "One Fun Thing."

Two close friends of Sarah and I (Ben and Marv) had decided to come out and visit.  At first it was supposed to be a surprise for me, set up by the three of them, but the actual planning of that was difficult and I was eventually let in on the secret.   These were two friends from Pharmacy school whom we've known, well, since we started that over 10 years ago.  

The plan was that they were flying in Friday afternoon.  I had an Infectious Diseases conference that morning, so I got up early, went to that, and left in the early afternoon to the airport.  It was already snowing that morning, but they had no issues with their flight.  However, when trying to decide what to do for lunch, I had hoped to hit Boulder Beer's "The Pub."  Sarah had spent a half day working at her clinic up in Boulder and suggested that HWY 93 was getting uglier.  So, with the prospect of the entire Metro Denver area being covered in snow, we decided it best to stay nearby and ended up getting a delicious lunch at the Old Capitol Grill, which is a favorite of ours.   After that, we walked over to Coors for a "short tour." No touristy trip to downtown Golden is complete without a trip up to the observation deck on Lookout Mountain and we got a few pictures up there.

When we got back, Ben, Marv, and I decided we would play a little Wii.  Ben was insightful enough to bring extra controllers, and so we spent some time with Sports Resort.  Time slipped away fast and we missed dinner, but not the opportunity to get a late night snack at Q-doba just before closing.   After that was more Wii into the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday we took the Lucy to doggy-day-care, and then did some walking on 16th street mall before stopping for a snack at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and lunch at Rock Bottom Brewery.  In the afternoon, we decided to bowl at the Golden Bowl.   This was a good time, and of course I lost overall.  I'd say it is because I could not find a ball appropriate to my fingers, but a good craftsman never blames his tools.   Ben, Marv, and I spent the late afternoon throwing the football around while Sarah picked up Lucy.  I even got in a few punts, which turned out well considering what a bad idea that could be in a neighborhood.   After that, we decided on a pizza dinner at Tony Rigatoni's.  It was great fun to relax and re-tell stories from school.  We also talked about the NFL draft, the Brewers, our favorite power tools, our home projects, they told us all about their kids, Ben shared some insights on army weaponry and his recipe for pork, and we basically told stories that only those people who share a profession can appreciate.  Ben and Marv fueled up on coffee, and I had two Cokes which would allow for another late night of Wii Sports Resort, Punch-Out, and Mario Kart.  

Sunday morning came early and we decided to hike a local mountain behind our neighborhood with the dogs.  This was great, and pretty good exercise too.  After that, we had a quick breakfast before heading off to the airport for their early afternoon flight.  All in all, this was one of the most fun weekends I've had in a long time.  I really miss those guys, and I hope to get up to Wisconsin to see them both again this fall.

I had planned on possibly getting a quick bike ride in that afternoon, but I was pretty wiped.  This was just as well considering it did rain on and off all afternoon, so instead I took a nice nap.  I was actually quite shocked I was able to stay up as late into the morning as I was playing video games.  The three of us hadn't done that since, well, college.   So, I slept a bunch on Sunday afternoon, then Sarah and I watched some TV, and then I went to bed early for "Chemo Monday."

"Chemo Monday" started fairly early for us.  We dropped Lucy off at doggy-day-care, again, and then got to the infusion center at quarter to 10am.  Our appt was at 11am, but they need an hour to draw blood, etc. Due to the clotting issues I had last time, not to mention my arm debacle, we wanted to do the blood through the port.

And of course, the port was clotted again.  This was probably one of the most frustrating moments in my cancer treatment to date.  I'm not sure why, but this was one where I was really holding back the tears of frustration.  I haven't had many moments like this to date, and I was especially surprised by it after such a perfect weekend.  It wasn't so much the clotting that bothered me, but what this means is that first Cath-flo has to be ordered.  (20 minutes?) Then it needs to be given and you must wait for it (30 minutes).  If it is still clotted, and in my case it was, you need to wait another 30 minutes.  Finally and miraculously, my blood could be drawn, thus avoiding ANOTHER dose (and 60-90 more minutes).  This is just the start, because even a "stat" lab takes about an hour before you can be signed off on getting your chemo.   So, with that, we've easily added another couple of hours to the day, and the only thing that makes the day worse is making it longer.  

Why is that?  It isn't the time waste, I can easily deal with that.  It is the smells of the place.  By now I have an hyper-acute sense of smell, ESPECIALLY in the cancer center, and so that, combined with the fact that I can never get my temperature regulated appropriately in the chemo chair, had me very frustrated.   As always, I brought a bunch of books, magazines, and videos, and didn't hardly touch any of them.  Once again, I basically laid back and tried to sleep my way out of the day.

It was lunch time before chemo could even get started, and so Sarah asked what I wanted.  All I wanted was a diet coke and a "fruit and walnut" salad from McDonald's.   As many of you know, McDonald's is one of my favorite places in the world.  I don't know why, always has been, but I love absolutely everything about it.  Still, with the way I've been losing tastes for varoius food, I've been VERY careful around McD's.  Still, fruit, walnuts and yogurt seemed safe.

Finally, the chemo was started.  I did spend a little time reading a book, but not for the complete duration of the chemo.  We finally left just after 5pm, ending another long day at the infusion center.  We picked up Lucy, and I had Sarah pick me up yet another Fruit and Walnut salad for dinner.  I actually had some chicken sandwich and some ice cream too.

When I got home, I was in my usual chemo stupor.  So, I crashed on the futon in the basement to watch some TV.  I fell asleep during the Brewer game, and decided to go to bed around 8pm.   I should have just slept on the futon with the game on.   I couldn't hardly sleep all last night despite "chemical help."  I suppose it may be due to my naps on Sunday, and then a very full night of sleep on Sunday night, and then several naps at chemo.  In either case, today is the typical Tuesday after.  I'm in the chemo fog, I'm dizzy, I'm already behind on my fluid intake orders per cancer RNs, and want nothing but to lay around today.   By this afternoon I should be a little back to normal.  If my grammar or spelling is incorrect, I blame the treatment.

I should also update on my arm.   My vein is still rock hard and hot.  The pain of the arm itself has subsided tremendously.  It is still there, but nothing like it was.  What I now have are some weird back-of-the-hand cramps.  It is odd enough I cannot accurately describe it.   I also had a little cramp in my hand playing Mario Kart, but I do not think due to gaming, since you basically very loosely hold the steering wheel controller.  Possibly some electrolyte thing, but the oncologist suggested the hand neuropathies were due to Velban and would eventually get better.

So, to really quickly summarize this long post, I had a great weekend with some old friends.  My arm is much better.  Then I had a pretty frustrating and painful chemotherapy day, but, I'm now done with 8 of my 12 sessions.   Who's counting?