Beating Cancer

“yep,

"Well ya see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."
last edited: 11/05/07 6:31:04 AM”

“Thanks all. I'm sure the CT scan will show what the scan 2 months ago showed. This scan will put my 2yr radiation exposure at 156mSv. Or the equivalent of 7800 chest x-rays.

I'm kind of tired of scans, you know? Gotta go.

Peace.”

“Who Loves irony??????? The God's love me, truly.


I do the scan, go get my weekly blood draw and decide to meet my wife for coffee. We get a call from the nurse as I'm driving her back to her office. I have to pull over.

I have a blood clot. At the end of the mediport catheter attached to a major artery in my chest. It should be noted that my platelet's skyrocket after chemo.....it's a recovery thang.

She sent us right to our pharmacy to pick up Lovenox (Enoxaparin). Twice daily abdominal injections for one month (that's on top of my 14-20 Neupogen Injections/month - luckily they can be in other areas).

Of course any shortness of breath and I call 911.

And the port must come out ASAP. The port that was put in a month(?) ago because the chemo was wreaking havoc on my veins.

Who wants to drink with me?”

“At least alcohol is a blood thinner!

The scan showed a clot, hope it showed good news on the cancer.”

“damn, bear, thats a tough blow, but at least you know now and can do something about it.”

“Wow bear - the obstacles keep on coming. Hang in there!

I'm glad you're not on any treatments that would keep you away from drinking.”

“Just got a Call from my Onco and Interventional Radiology (The Port People). I go in tomorrow for an injection of a strong thrombolytic drug. They want to try and break up the clot (3cm x 1cm) instead of taking out the port. I also have to wake up at 4am to take my #&%!$ing lovenox. I'll probably be admitted for overnight observation.

Tomorrow is Dani's last day at work. There was gonna be a huge party at work and afterwards.

I really am awesome at timing #&%!$.”

“Bear, I hope it all works out. It sucks that it happened. Chemo is nasty and has so many potential problems.”

“That just sucks so bad, bm...and, that's one helluva big clot...I hope it can be broken up without removing your port...removing that would bring a list of further problems, wouldn't it? scheesh...good luck...sending positive thoughts your way...and prayers...”

“Well that was a cluster#&%!$. Long story short: From 9-1230 I was moving from one dept to another b/c they couldn't find me a bed with heart telemetry/monitoring.

In the end, Interventional Radiology (IR) took me for the day. None had ever seen a dual port before and they were all excited to feel it in the OR. The nurse stuck both for access. X-ray revealed she had stuck the top one twice. Fun. So they restuck and injected my dual ports with contrast and did some x-rays.

They revealed the clot mostly gone. So either the Lovenox was working well or a large chunk had already made it to my lung. The IR Doc had previously warned me of the potential but the clot is small enough that I most likely won't have any issues (ie pulmonary edema).

They injected me with tPA (potent clot buster used for stroke victims) over 2hrs instead of 4. Since they had no room, I stayed in the IR "holding room". My vitals stayed level so they released me. We got out about 6PMish. Ugh

I need to not fall down for a day (hematoma dangers galore) and I go back tomorrow to see my onco and check my blood.

Now is the time on sprockets when we drink”

“#&%!$  #&%!$!”

“Bear, that sounds like a crazy day at the hospital. I'm convinced that when you go to the doctor or hospital being treated for cancer, expect the unexpected so nothing surprises me anymore. It took them all afternoon to install a feeding tube in me Friday and I thought I'd be out of there in two hours at most after he told me I'd be going home that day and not admitted.
I hope your blood counts are high enough to keep moving along. So far mine haven't dropped at all after 3 Taxol treatments.
last edited: 11/07/07 4:04:53 AM”

“I had most of my tests done Monday, about 12 hours worth at U-M Ann Arbor. Echocardiogram, pulmonary function test, spinal MRI, dexa scan, head MRI, blood tests, and a pamidronate infusion to finish out the day.
Gotta love those 1hr long mri's.
As far as I know everything is good to proceed with my 2nd autologous stem cell transplant on the 20th of this month. I don't know if it's better or worse, knowing what to expect.

Hang in there everyone, and good luck.”

“Rich - the IR Doc admitted the hospital is no longer big enough - what happened to me is common for "add on" patients. I'm thinking this might be more than a one hospital problem in our area.

As for counts - I'm on Neupogen so hopefully they'll stay up enough. Even with Neupogen, My counts did drop under the acceptable level during ABVD chemo. But it was just before my last treatment so the doc authorized the go ahead. But I try not to think about that. ;)

Le - why the hell are they torturing you with MRI's? Do you get sedated?

If I ever need another one I think I'll demand to be put under. :p”

“Thanks for checking in Le Subtil. I hope the second round goes a little easier on you and your family.

You, Bear and Rich are often in my thoughts and prayers.”

“Le subtil, good luck with the transplant.
Bear, I went to a local hospital once after going to the ER first and there were no beds so they kept me in the ER all night until noon the next day. I was surprised because that was the first time it happened, but I guess it's common at certain times of the year. They told me it was because of a lot of flu patients.
last edited: 11/07/07 6:08:36 AM”

“OK guys, there's a lot of knowledge here so I'm going to see if you can tell me anything about the two following chemo drugs, CARBOPLATIN AND ETOPOSIDE...these are what they will be giving my mother to treat her small cell carcinoma, lung cancer...anyone?”

“webmd.com is a good place to look up drugs.”

“That is the type (cancer) my step dad had and I believe those are the chemo agents used. My dad was doing well with it for the most part, but gave up in the end (took his 02 line off and succumbed) six months later.
WebMD I highly endorse for information. My heart goes out to you.”

“There might be some useful info here (look under "treatment options"):

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/small-cell-lung/HealthProfessional/page6

One abstract from that link:

Cisplatin and etoposide regimen is superior to cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, and vincristine regimen in small-cell lung cancer: results from a randomized phase III trial with 5 years' follow-up.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=PubMed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=12488411&ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus

Good Luck.”

“http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTbits.html

Cool story, here, about breast cancer.”

“oh my god, that is too funny!”

“Very funny.

Its so good to have a sense of humor about the bad stuff when things get rough.”

“I wonder if she'd make something for the guys with testicular cancer.

Seriously.

Honest.”

“With that kind of sense of humor, I bet she would! Cool lady.”

“That'd put a new meaning to sock stuffing.”

“Sooooooooooo........I hit 102* on Friday. Thought it was odd since I was back on Augmentin and taking Neupogen. My Onco put me on the antibiotic, worried about a respiratory "issue" on Monday. I popped a pill and waited. 2 hours later I was near 101.5. I'm a bit worried and call the hospital. I never do this voluntarily so my wife goes into near panic. On-call onco told me what I didn't want to hear: get thee to thine ER.

By the time I get there my temp is normal. Didn't matter. They draw blood and send me to x-ray. X-ray detects "something" in my lower right lung. Labs are not yet conclusive. They switch Avelox for Augmentin and send me home.

Monday my Onco determines the same thing - there's something funky in my right lung and its partially collapsed. Could be anything b/c my lymphocytes are "not right". Explains why I can't walk up two flights of stairs without get winded.

She authorizes chemo today - 2nd/final treatment of cycle 5, one more cycle to go.

If the funk doesn't clear up in 2 weeks then they'll need to culture my lung.......yay.

9.5hrs later I get home.

I'm feeling particularly angry today.”

“On another front - we shared a room with an older couple (they replaced the patient transported to ER before he even got treatment):

They were from Alabama. Her Doc told her she had Kidney(?) Cancer, it was terminal b/c there was no treatment and she had 2 months, tops. She went into a very short period of denial/grief, went on the internet and found the clinical trial for her cancer at Lombardi.

Always look.”

“Dangit Bm, you and Dani hang in there.”

“Crud! Bear, I'd be kinda mad at the medical profession and the world in general. I hope you throw that energy into the fight and obliterate that fricken cancer, no matter what it takes.”

“You can beat this BM. You already did it once; you can do this again. You are Dani are never far from my thoughts. My dear friend Maggie is fighting brain cancer. I often tell her about you and how brave you are.”

“Thanks. My doc actually called me "amazing" today cuz of my attitude. She walked in, asked me how I was and I said "great" with a big, sincere smile. I mean, I am winning the Big Battle.

The anger is a byproduct of the chemo and the steroid. Gets worse after every treatment.

;)”

“Maggie's cancer is affecting her personality these days. It's hard to see the change, especially the angry outbursts. It's just not like her. But every once in awhile I see the old Maggie shine through. She is at stage IV Anaplastic Astrocytoma (sp?).”

“If it is possible to send good vibes there are a lot of them coming from Chicagoland bm.

I read your updates but don't always have anything to add that seems to appropriately express my empathy.

Your spirit is strong, or do I sense you have a lot of strong spirits, Jameson maybe?”

“Hey all, LeSubtil had his transplant yesterday. He and his wife are at U of M for turkey day. It sounds like it went well. Keep them in your thoughts.”

“Thanks, Sass. Things are not too bad yet.
Can't eat since Monday. Sleeping ok. Morphine is good.”

“Hope your sleep is bringing some sweet dreams.

Hugs to you!!”

“le Subtil...morphine is great! drugs are your friend...you'll recup more quickly if you're not in pain...can you drink liquids? Keep going forward...you know you've got a great support system here!”

“Praying for you Le Subtil.”

“Cancer sucks. Rest well.”

“Honor Bearmagnet, help beat Cancer. Do the challenge, it will change you. The LIVESTRONG Army is changing the cancer war.


About the LIVESTRONG Challenge
The LIVESTRONG Challenge is the Lance Armstrong Foundation's (LAF) signature fundraising event. This annual series of cycling and running/walking events takes place in cities across the country, enabling anyone to support the LAF's mission to inspire and empower people affected by cancer. In 2008 the LIVESTRONG Challenge will take place in Portland, OR (June 29); Bay Area, CA (July 13); Philadelphia, PA (Aug 24); and Austin, TX (Oct 25 - 26). We're planning to welcome more than 20,000 participants across the country while raising significant funds for the fight against cancer. In 2007, The LIVESTRONG Challenge raised nearly $9 million dollars, and since inception in 1997, $40 million has been raised for the LAF. For more information, visit www.livestrongchallenge.org.
**All 2008 dates and locations are subject to change. Event registration will begin January 2008.”

“Lots of HUGS......and tears......and prayers.....”

“I had my 30 day checkup yesterday, after my
Stem Cell Transplant. The Dr. said everything looks great. Fron the blood and urine tests, it appears I'm in remission. I'll get another spinal MRI and a bone marrow biopsy next month to confirm.

Merry Christmas!”

“Great news, LeSubtil. I hope things continue to go well and have a nice holiday.”

“Merry Christmas Craig! =D You've made my day.”

“Great News, Craig......I'll say a prayer of thanks for that news...........”

“hearing news like that is the best Christmas present you will ever get!”

“What wonderful news!

Blessings to you!”

“GREAT news le subtil! Merry Christmas and God bless!”