Saba Beats Cancer

Feeling even better today. With the exception of my kidney readings, my blood numbers were really good yesterday and they stopped the zarxio. They always give me too much - don't know why. Mouth sores are almost gone and not impeding eating (and I finally had coffee after 5 days without) which is good because my appetite is back too. Got down to the lowest weight again - the usual with the evil methotrexate. Lee got me some cake and ice cream to push that back up. Exchanged emails with Dr. Fowler again on what is next. They have delayed chemo #6 a week to figure out what to do with the kidney issue and see if it improves. He is consulting with Dr. Wilson, who basically pioneered the R-EPOCH regimen, on my case - which is pretty cool. I think I mentioned it - but the survival rate of the fairly rare cancer I had was pretty dismal before R-EPOCH.  And this has only been a couple of years now that they developed it. And now the survival rates keep climbing as they get better and b...

Got out yesterday and got home. But my body is just done. So tired -  just going to rest today and get ready for next week. Finally get to help my white blood cells etc with some zarxio and that will hopefully help the mouth sores that are brutal in my cheeks - but not as bad as last time.  I have a odd pain in my foot, dry eyes and just tired. And of course need to poop. Yay chemo. Hate that methotrexate and so glad it is finally done - my body can't take any more of it. And I know I am still better than so many more people that have gone before me and I will start perking up tomorrow. And my attitude is great - just my body is so spent right now. But I got to read the paper sitting in our rocker out front listening to the fountain - and it was awesome. And I get to sit with the pups and enjoy their company on the couch today. Also - much better than the other options. So - we will get through this to the other side. They moved my blood work appointment to Monday (up ...

About the start the final bag - the one hour last one - of Chemo #4.  Four down for main chemos and 2 to go.  Will be home just after noon today which will feel amazing. Should be about six more weeks of treatment - which still seems like a long time. This truly is a marathon. But 4 was the easiest so far - so what I am doing daily must be helping somewhat. Plus pushing on the right nausea meds.  I will take it. So far: 4 main chemos of 6 days in hospital - 24 days in the hospital 3 brain chemos of 4 days in the hospital - 12 days Total of 36 days in the hospital 10 lumbar punctures That is a ton of chemo.   What's left -  2 main chemos - 6 days each - 12 days 2 brain chemos of 4 days - 8 days 4 or so lumbars So 42 days left in treatment with 20 of those days in the hospital.  Plus the blood tests etc.   Whew.  But it is encouraging to feel good today getting out. A little tired (duh) but I slept great as we...

Woke up feeling good. Let Lee sleep in and took the pups for a walk which felt great. Blood work at noon so got my work in early with some emails and a few calls.  Overall felt good all day. Blood work all came back good - which means on track for chemo #4 on Monday. Odd thing how much the zarxio hits my blood work - it shoots it through the roof but it usually comes back down. So no more zarxio until Sunday so all the numbers come in on Monday.  Nice to hear. Got the magic mouthwash that is supposed to cure the mouth sores - it basically numbs the mouth which is a weird feeling.  But hopefully it will help heal as well. Most of them were healing and no new ones so I think we had moved past that. Met another lymphoma dude - he is done with chemo 4 and going to 5. He is 78 and looks amazing but 4 hit him a little harder.  He got an almost complete clear scan at 3 (not 2). Great guy and really upbeat -saw him walking as well.  So I think we know what works. ...

I guess you do settle into a groove. It seemed that things were so much more hectic before that I had now  time to breathe and catch up. Now it seems like things are moving very slowly. A snails pace which is not overly bad. At least I get some time at home. And I am working at home. The blood cells are still down so I don't want to pick up an infection at work and have a set back. Not really worth it since I can do everything by phone and email. The nurse yesterday did dash my hopes for early release saying they just do the six chemos no matter what. Seems a little counter intuitive to MD Anderson's claim that every treatment is customized but since.  But when Cancer, like Apollo Creed says - "Ain't gonna be no rematch" - I will take the Rocky approach - "Don't want one". So we are half way there. Two months in and getting some of the other fun side affects like tinnuitis (everything sounds really harsh), a little neurpathy (tingling in the fi...

So - finished big chemo #2 - which makes me 1/3rd of the way done.  A little less nausea - tired - but otherwise just glad to be home with Lee and the pups. It is rather humorous when we leave the hospital because Lee cannot keep up with how fast I am walking to get the hell out of there.  After 5 days it is all I can do to get out of there as fast as humanly possible. But staying positive - 2 out of six complete and on schedule.  PET scan is scheduled for just after the third chemo which would be the 12th of April. And to keep the pressure on the cancer - we have a spinal set for Monday and brain chemo (3-4 days in hospital) next Friday. Damn. But - today and the rest of the week I am home and will get to do some work and get some fresh air and rest without someone checking my vital signs.  And I can walk slower so Lee can keep up.

To feel good on my birthday with both girls coming and no appointments or treatments.  I. Will. Take It!!!  How awesome is that.  Feeling good and surrounded by great people and tons of cards to open.  Just a great day. My counts are a little too low to go out for dinner but going to get some Truth BBQ brought in and enjoy a great birthday meal with family. Have to do a Pulmonary Function Test tomorrow, blood work and a meeting with our Oncologist for an update.  Supposed to go in Friday for more treatment - may be Saturday - will see. But today I get to be semi-normal.  Enjoy family, feeling good and great BBQ followed by a little Boston Cream Pie for my cake. Oh hell yeah.

So I registered a 0.15 this morning when I need to be 0.10 MTX in my system to go home.  So they won't cut me loose quite yet. One last round of pumping stuff into me and a blood test after lunch to hopefully show that I am at or below 0.10 and I can go home. Really need to get out of here. A little nausea today so we got the shot for that. A little worn out. But we also need to get the spinal before we go since that is due today. So many drugs so little time.  So they are working that into the schedule. So I am not getting out of here early or anything but outta here is definitely a plus. That way we can stay on track for a return on Friday for Round #3 R-EPOCH.  I figure there are actually 11 total rounds - 6 R-EPOCH and 5 MTX - total 11 (keeps the Spinal Tap theme as well).  So we are 2 down 9 to go. Most of the rest of the hair on my head stayed on the pillow this morning. So the baldness is almost complete at least on my head.  Feels odd - not too c...

Soon to be hooked up to large doses of toxic cancer fighting chemicals for the next 96 hours.  All done inpatient.  So a nice 5 day stay in the MD Anderson hospital with great staff.  Went through most of the results with my team today. The good - blood and organs are doing great, I look healthy, have lots of energy and a great attitude.  The bad - the biggest lesion on the skull is right on the area where your brain does vision which is center back of the head which accounts for the double vision and they have to get at that fast.  More chemicals are needed for brain issues. As we always say - not another problem but an opportunity for me to clearly demonstrate my cancer fighting abilities. Yay. So today is treatment Day 1 - an important day since all the other days of treatment key off of this.  I will be getting chemo treatment #1 (of a total of 6) over the next 5 days.  During the next week I come back once a week for a blood work and spinal ta...

Finally after all the waiting, and pain, the MD Anderson appointment is at 12:30 for check in and 1:30 with the oncology team. yay. Didn't post yesterday - nothing happened. Pain, waiting - ugh.  The one highlight was looking in the mirror and realizing I should get a haircut and I could go today.  Then laughing that I could save the $20 because I will losing it all in a couple of weeks anyway.  Yes! Actually felt OK today.  Not too much pain in my hip and a little less pain in the skull. Maybe the healthy stuff is working. We went for a longer walk with pups this morning, did some quick shopping and worked outside -gorgeous day. Slipping in to watch a little Astros baseball. Best part of the day - one of my classmates just successfully finished chemo December for lymphoma - his was more aggressive.  He completed the EPOCH regimen - one of the options facing me.  I cannot tell you how much it means to talk to people about this who have just been throu...