Last week (Thursday) I went in for my first set of scans. My oncologist schedules these scans after every 2 months of chemo to see how the treatments are affecting the cancerous cells. The scans took probably a matter of 3-4 hours. I took both a PET scan and a CT scan. Again, the PET scan consists of a glucose matter injected into my system which then travels the the cancerous areas of my body and are highlighted on the scan. The CT scan is just a quick process that detects enlarged or swollen areas of the body.
Didn't think I was going to get results back until my next round of treatments when I meet with my Oncologist, but I received a call from my Doctors nurse the following day (Friday) with results. I was told that both scans showed "significant improvement" on the nodes in my chest!!! They also showed no signs of cancer or swollen nodes in the neck!! Now, personally I have a feeling the nurse may have misinterpreted the results because I can't believe that the nodes in my neck are gone already, I'll make sure to verify this when I meet with Dr Kindwall-Keller this Thursday. Either way, it was a great relief. I catch myself continually asking "is this working?" Its just great to know that the rough days are worth it
Hope everyone's enjoying the summer so far!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
4th Treatment and CTCA
Had treatment #4 today, actually went smoother than those in the past, no real hold ups. Susan and I were out of there in exactly 3 hours! Thanks for comin along hun! Nothing but old people at the clinic today, kinda sucked, but thats how it goes sometimes.
No new news up to this point, I have a few scans set up for next Thursday (7/23). 2 weeks from today (7/30) we should have an idea of the hopeful progress. I'll obviously keep you all posted.
Think I had my first real bout with "fatigue" this past Friday and wow, it was not fun. 7 days after treatments is when my cell counts will be the lowest (meaning I'm more prone to infection and fatigue), last Friday being the 8th day post treatment. I met up with a few former co-workers (Ern and Rini), had just a couple drinks, came home and went to bed. I woke up at 2am and COULD NOT MOVE MY BODY, it was actually kind of scary. My bro was out and about and Susan was in NY, so I had my mommy come over and take care of me :)......Thanks Mom!! Doctor has been tellin me everyone reacts differently and you'll learn your limitations. Ha, tell ya this much, no more alcohol for this guy, not fun!!! Doc did give me the "go" to play golf though, so after recouperating from Friday night I got out to the course with a few of the guys on Sunday.....it was great finally being somewhat active again! Takin sports from me is like taking losing from Cleveland teams......its almost like a loss of identity!!!!!!!! Hahaha
One final thing I want to make you all aware of. I was watching the Price is Right the other day (honestly, the best part about being sick is being able to watch this show) and a commercial came on about Cancer Treatment Centers of America, (http://www.cancercenter.com/). It peaked my interest so I checked it out.......I was thoroughly impressed!!! If things dont go the way I hope them to at University Hospitals, I'm seriously going to consider heading to one of CTCA's facilities (closest one is in Chicago). Nice part about them is that they will take care of travel arrangements; no airfare costs!!! They also offer different types of consultation like nutrition therapy, naturopathic medicine (no clue what that is, but sounds important), mind-body medicine and spirtual support. I spoke with a representative and he was the coolest, most understanding customer service rep I've ever been in contact with. He's not even a Doctor and he only wanted what was best for me, I was impressed!!! Someone like myself is lucky to be in this region of the country with UH and Cleveland Clinic, but if you or a loved one are in a region where medicine may not be as highly regarded and have been stricken with this setback, PLEASE check out CTCA. They have a handful of facilities throughout the entire nation.
Alright, I just found out today I have the MLB package free on my cable setup, so I'm gonna be a complete recluse for awhile and watch some baseball. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!
No new news up to this point, I have a few scans set up for next Thursday (7/23). 2 weeks from today (7/30) we should have an idea of the hopeful progress. I'll obviously keep you all posted.
Think I had my first real bout with "fatigue" this past Friday and wow, it was not fun. 7 days after treatments is when my cell counts will be the lowest (meaning I'm more prone to infection and fatigue), last Friday being the 8th day post treatment. I met up with a few former co-workers (Ern and Rini), had just a couple drinks, came home and went to bed. I woke up at 2am and COULD NOT MOVE MY BODY, it was actually kind of scary. My bro was out and about and Susan was in NY, so I had my mommy come over and take care of me :)......Thanks Mom!! Doctor has been tellin me everyone reacts differently and you'll learn your limitations. Ha, tell ya this much, no more alcohol for this guy, not fun!!! Doc did give me the "go" to play golf though, so after recouperating from Friday night I got out to the course with a few of the guys on Sunday.....it was great finally being somewhat active again! Takin sports from me is like taking losing from Cleveland teams......its almost like a loss of identity!!!!!!!! Hahaha
One final thing I want to make you all aware of. I was watching the Price is Right the other day (honestly, the best part about being sick is being able to watch this show) and a commercial came on about Cancer Treatment Centers of America, (http://www.cancercenter.com/). It peaked my interest so I checked it out.......I was thoroughly impressed!!! If things dont go the way I hope them to at University Hospitals, I'm seriously going to consider heading to one of CTCA's facilities (closest one is in Chicago). Nice part about them is that they will take care of travel arrangements; no airfare costs!!! They also offer different types of consultation like nutrition therapy, naturopathic medicine (no clue what that is, but sounds important), mind-body medicine and spirtual support. I spoke with a representative and he was the coolest, most understanding customer service rep I've ever been in contact with. He's not even a Doctor and he only wanted what was best for me, I was impressed!!! Someone like myself is lucky to be in this region of the country with UH and Cleveland Clinic, but if you or a loved one are in a region where medicine may not be as highly regarded and have been stricken with this setback, PLEASE check out CTCA. They have a handful of facilities throughout the entire nation.
Alright, I just found out today I have the MLB package free on my cable setup, so I'm gonna be a complete recluse for awhile and watch some baseball. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!
Friday, July 3, 2009
25%!
Just thought about this, but I'm 1/4 of the way done with my chemo treatments, pretty sweet to think about in that sense. Had round #3 yesterday afternoon, unfortunately things got off to a slow start. There was a minor set back with my port and it not allowing blood to flow so they could test it prior to administering chemo. No worries, they shot me up with some more random stuff (sorry I can't remember the names of everything they put in my body, too many to remember, too technical of names anyway!). Oncologist said the nodes should be starting to decrease in size, she felt my neck and mentioned that if felt "softer"......which is certainly a positive! The nurses were awesome yesterday, like usual. I made another 2 friends while in treatment.......a 45 yr-old Oberlin college professor with Non-Hodgkins, and a 75-yr old lady whose had Hodgkins for 2.5 years. Kind of a sad story with her because she has the same type disease I have, but its not supposed to affect old people. Its been a pretty rough go for her, but she's a little fireball, gotta love her for havin such a positive attidue! Her middle-aged daughter called me cute too.....I told her she's welcome back to visit anytime! Haha
Just a quick random story from last weekend too. I was at a Big Fat Greek Wedding downtown, it was just my family invited (no Susan...sorry babe, you know I missed ya). Anyway, I walked over to my table and sat down next to a kid who was completely unfamiliar to me. We got to chatting, he's an Engineer (I recruit Engineers). He's a huge basketball player (I love basketball). He's looking to move to the westside (I'm a westsider for life). And the kicker......he had Hodgkins in 2008!!!! What the hell are the chances, honestly!!!??? Only 8,000 people were diagnosed with this last year, there's less than a .05% chance of me running into another Hodgkins patient!!! He had the same biopsy on his neck and he was on the same chemo treatments I'm currently on. You shoulda seen me, I was as giddy as a Greek in a pastry store. Anyway, I made a new friend and he's healthy as can be. Oh yea, he's 6'6'' and played basketball at Cleveland Hts Highschool......so yea, I recruited him for our bball team, priorities priorities priorities!!!
Also, biopsy on my Thyroid came back negative too, so no cancer there, nice-a!
So right now, I'm just chill-axin (heard that term the other day, thought Id throw that in here). I picked up the guitar for the first time yesterday, think my fingers are too fat, I can't even strum the easiest of chords, ha! Treatments haven't been too bad just yet, hairs are still in tact (somewhat). Susan mentioned my arms are getting big, I assume thats the steroids kickin in. Cool with me, just wish I knew about these back in HS! Hiram College baseball, please......I woulda gone big time baby, you'd see me at the Jake (or Progressive field) every night. Grady's Ladies? Ha, more like Diamond's Dame's!
Alright, I'm out! Got 3 treatments in July, after those I'll officially be halfway through with this crap, wish me luck!! Happy 4th of July to everyone, have a beer for me!!
Just a quick random story from last weekend too. I was at a Big Fat Greek Wedding downtown, it was just my family invited (no Susan...sorry babe, you know I missed ya). Anyway, I walked over to my table and sat down next to a kid who was completely unfamiliar to me. We got to chatting, he's an Engineer (I recruit Engineers). He's a huge basketball player (I love basketball). He's looking to move to the westside (I'm a westsider for life). And the kicker......he had Hodgkins in 2008!!!! What the hell are the chances, honestly!!!??? Only 8,000 people were diagnosed with this last year, there's less than a .05% chance of me running into another Hodgkins patient!!! He had the same biopsy on his neck and he was on the same chemo treatments I'm currently on. You shoulda seen me, I was as giddy as a Greek in a pastry store. Anyway, I made a new friend and he's healthy as can be. Oh yea, he's 6'6'' and played basketball at Cleveland Hts Highschool......so yea, I recruited him for our bball team, priorities priorities priorities!!!
Also, biopsy on my Thyroid came back negative too, so no cancer there, nice-a!
So right now, I'm just chill-axin (heard that term the other day, thought Id throw that in here). I picked up the guitar for the first time yesterday, think my fingers are too fat, I can't even strum the easiest of chords, ha! Treatments haven't been too bad just yet, hairs are still in tact (somewhat). Susan mentioned my arms are getting big, I assume thats the steroids kickin in. Cool with me, just wish I knew about these back in HS! Hiram College baseball, please......I woulda gone big time baby, you'd see me at the Jake (or Progressive field) every night. Grady's Ladies? Ha, more like Diamond's Dame's!
Alright, I'm out! Got 3 treatments in July, after those I'll officially be halfway through with this crap, wish me luck!! Happy 4th of July to everyone, have a beer for me!!
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