Sunday, November 18, 2007

Almost Normal... But Not Yet!

A little discouraging news today, loyal readers. Nothing bad with regards to treatment not working or anything like that, but the symptoms are definitely taking longer to get rid of. I haven't really compiled a list yet, but here they are (in descending order of "problem"):
  1. Jaw / tooth / mouth / throat pain. This is easily the worst part of the chemo - Not as sharp as the Neupogen was, but it feels like how I felt following my wisdom teeth removal for five days every other week. This one starts about 48 hours after treatment, and goes for about five days. Right now, its almost gone (thank God). Percocet barely takes the edge off. This will be one I'll be talking to the doc about next week.
  2. Constipation. Understand, I've never really had constipation. I can crap like Big Ben rings in the hours (sorry for that visual, but wanted to explain myself). I now essentially get a traffic jam in my gut for about a week, and it hurts. I've tried Colace, Metamucil, some nasty sodium drink the pharmacist recommended... Its hard to go. This will last for another few days, and then I'll be going regularly again for a week. Another one that will be getting a review by Dr. Szarka.
  3. Weakness / dizziness. The day after treatment I was awake, but very, very weak. Today, I thought I was great but felt a little dizzy while out. May be from the lengthy hibernation time I've had the last few days, but we will see -- This is a new one to treatment 2.
  4. Tiredness. This is the grand standard of chemo side effects. Its hard to describe, as there are different "tired" feelings. A few days after treatment, its hibernation tired - I just sleep and sleep. Other days, it just feels like I'm tired earlier than I normally would be at night.
  5. Neuropathy. This is a neat one, ha ha. The meds I'm on can do some odd things to the nerve endings in your appendages, so I've had some numbness in a few of my fingertips. Relatively mild, and its not overly bothersome. Also, it went away before treatment 2, which is a good thing.
  6. Doubt / Depression / Mental. Huh? What? Well, this one really only happens for two days -- Days 3 & 4 -- When my steroid from the treatment day wears off. I just get feelings like what if the treatment wont work, etc. etc. I will now refer to them as the Pity Party Days.
  7. Pain in my port shoulder. I'm not sure this one is related to treatment or not. About a year ago, I got a shot of cortizone in my left shoulder due to some pain I was having. It started hurting again in the midst of treatment 1. The orthopedic guy said I might need another shot someday, so it may just be wonderful timing.
  8. Hair loss. I'm shedding like a family pet. My darling wife Suzanne is at the point where she WANTS my head shaved, as she's the one getting to vacuum the couch.
Other than 1 and 2, overall I think I'm pretty lucky with symptoms (there's some really nasty ones that can occur). Still, it sucks knowing that most of the above will get worse before they get better. However, as long as its working and does its job, I'm good with it.

The other question I'm going to bring up to my oncologist is WHY its chemo then radiation. They give you a month off between chemo and rads; What's keeping a few of the Hodge cells from travelling outside the radiation field? Wouldn't it make better sense to have a few extra cycles of chemo AFTER radiation, just in case? While I'm not trying to add extra months to treatment, I also want every chance that this thing won't return.

OK, enough about treatment. For the first time in a few weeks, we got out to breakfast with my brother in law's family. Normally its breakfast before or after church, but church probably isn't the safest place for me presently (days 7-10 are supposed to be when your white counts are lowest). As for breakfast, if I can go to work tomorrow, I figure I can go to the restaurant.

Nudy's Restaurant is a small chain (3 restaurants) with probably the best breakfasts out by where we are. I downed a huge breakfast burrito (did I mention I'm not having nausea problems, ha ha). We give them problems as we have to seat 8, but they know we're regulars now.

My next treatment is still a week and a half away, so I'm hoping things will be great for Thanksgiving. Getting Hodgkin's or not, I have a lot to be thankful for. I'm getting treatment, the treatment appears to be working, and we caught this thing early. The rest of my family is healthy, my work is still going strong even through chemo, and what I have is something that is cured for the vast majority of people. This, in an odd way, might even be a blessing -- My priorities were screwed up, a wake up call that gives me a chance to change that around is a good thing. I just wish my counts would allow me to go to church without risk.

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