Saba Beats Cancer

Feeling great again - a little stressed about going back in for #4 tomorrow but easing that with the breathing and meditation.  It is gorgeous here. Sat out front and listened to our new fountain, read the paper and had a big breakfast.  Going to finish the lawn and my daily routine. It's is great to have nothing going on in my body right now in prep for the next onslaught of chemo.  Such a great feeling. Sorry this is getting boring - by my count we have 48 days to go of treatment followed by recovery.  That number does not seem as daunting as before. I just looked at my zarxio to receipt for the first time. The price for 5 doses is $2,700 - yep $540 a dose for the magical elixir to recover from chemo. We are so lucky that our insurance covers 100% of that.  Thank you Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas.  I don't know how many shots I have taken but it is over 20 so far so well over $10,000 in cost just for the zarxio.  So take it from - get the goo...

So the build up is finally hitting.  The mouth sores are real.  Got hit with fatigue now that means I nap a lot. And I got my first hemorrhoid!  Woohoo! Heard about how the chemo builds up and I guess doubling up means it finally hit this week. But it's tolerable. Sounds bad - but not like most people endure so I can handle it. Still get a few days off before chemo #4 on Monday so I think I can recover by then. Doing my zarxio shots in the stomach and all the other things I am supposed to do to keep rolling. Blood work and doctor's appt tomorrow. Usually I say nothing is wrong - now I get to tell them things are happening.  So we will see!

Always glad to be home. Such a great feeling to get out.  Blood work came back good - it just always takes three days so we know that and can work with that. First time I had actual mouth sores - not horrible - but a few and a lot of dry mouth this time which I did not have last time. Nausea on day 2 just like the last two times but did OK with it.  All in all not a horrific experience and doing the rinse to get rid of the sores at home. I did get another spinal yesterday and manage to hold off napping until it was over. So that actually worked out well. Back on the zarxio because my counts always go real low right now - so not going anywhere in public.  Need to stay healthy so I can go in for chemo 4 on Monday. So the battle continues - get my strength back and get ready to rumble on Monday

No change to the plan. Hoped for a little reprieve but it all comes down to the brain things - Dr. Fowler wants full tilt against that. My blood work was great - no issues, no platelets or blood transfusions needed.  Just full speed ahead. So we are at the half way point and will continue to forward.  I am handling all the treatments great so why slack off I guess.  Sigh. I am basically doing the two chemos at once - so back in for brain chemo tomorrow for the three day cycle until the MTX is out of my system. Here are the current dates as they stand right now - Going in the hospital for brain chemo (MTX) #3 tomorrow through Monday more than likely.  Chemo #4 May 6-11 MTX #4 May 17-20 More scans this week to make sure all on track Chemo #5 May 27-June 1 MTX #5 June 7-10 - LAST ONE Chemo #6 June 17-22  Ring the bell Things could get delayed based on blood work. It may get rougher at 5 and 6 - but we will see.  My blood work was awesom...

Another great day. As we know the Zarxio gets my blood cells going the right way but really made my bones ache.  Apparently the fix for this is Zyrtec which is working very well. So we got a reprieve from the hospital, it is a gorgeous day and I feel pretty damn good. Did some dog walking, had a great breakfast and lunch because I am starving again and then some work in the yard followed by watching the Masters when I got a little too tired. An amazing day. Psyched to go in the hospital for chemo #3 now that I know what we are doing and that we are shooting for cured.  I did more research and all I come away with is that having Stage 4, double hit non-hodkin lymphoma is REALLY bad.  So the fact that we are where we are is even more amazing to me. So - a great day.  Good to spend it with Lee being normal.  And on to more ass kicking tomorrow!  And I am ready.

On top of the great news on Friday, we also got the news that my blood count was too low for chemo.  So we got some Zarxio and go inject the stomach all weekend and try again on Monday. I must admit that after the great news and feeling pretty good that a weekend off of no hospital was exactly what I wanted. So we stay at home and give it another go on Monday - will be the 6 days in the hospital for chemo #3!  I think we need to push for no more mid-course methotrexate since there are no brain issues and it keeps pushing back the standard chemo. I did look up what it means to go in remission early - and I am sure my 15 minutes of googling will be invaluable to my doctor who is an expert in his field, has med school and 15 years experience - but it does say that chemo usually goes 2 sessions past remission to make sure you clean up the cells. So I am hoping for a shorter sentence.  But at this point I don't care. Also, interesting that a high school classmate who i...