Last A Treatment Before Surgery!

Not much has happened since my last post. Last week I pretty much just chilled out at home for the most part. I felt pretty well, especially by the weekend. I probably could have gone out or had people over or something last week, but I've been pretty active, and I'm happy that I just kept it easy last week. If it was warmer on Saturday, I would have gone outside to shoot some hoops. On Sunday we had a family gathering at my Grandma's house. I got to see my cousins' halloween costumes. It was a fun afternoon!

Ryan and Samantha in their costumes

On Monday I had my last A treatment before surgery. My last treatment of Doxorubicin(The Red Devil), Vincristine, and Cyclophosphamide until January when I'm back from surgery. I got some dates now as far surgery, and scans. My surgery is planned for December 10th (one week after my birthday, thank God!). I have my MRI, and CT scan of my lungs on the morning of November 21st(to make sure the cancer didn't spread). I will meet with my surgeon on November 21st in the afternoon to discuss final plans for surgery based on my scans from that morning. I'm so happy that I get to enjoy both Thanksgiving(my favorite holiday), and my birthday this year feeling pretty well. The last day of my B treatment, and the conclusion of my 3rd cycle of chemo will be on November 15th, so I'll have 2 weeks to recover for Thanksgiving, and 3 weeks for my birthday.

I feel a little under the weather today much like I did yesterday. Mainly tired, taste is off, moderately nauseous(Zofran pretty much eliminates it), and hot at times(with no fever though, just feel like I have a fever). No mouth sores though. Woohoo! The nurse suggested that I suck on ice chips 20 minutes prior to receiving Doxorubicin to prevent the mouth sores, and it worked so far. Yesterday I had nothing, and today its only a little tight under my tongue so hopefully I get nothing.  I've been drinking a lot of fluids trying to get the chemo out, which rose my weight 6 lbs in one day. So I'm pretty happy with how I feel considering it is my third time receiving this treatment. I went to my neighbor's house to drop off some stuff, and if I didn't tell them that I received chemo the day before they wouldn't of known it. They thought I looked great! Maybe I'm just a freak, but this chemotherapy stuff is definitely not as bad as I expected it to be this far. Everyone, including the doctors, and nurses are surprised about how I'm just pushing through this, and how well I look. The pharmacist that works in the Oncology department told my mom when she picked up my shot that she has never seen people with as positive of attitudes as my mom and I.

I haven't seen my blood-work results since before starting chemo because they have been so good, but out of curiosity I asked for the results just to see where I'm at. They're pretty good. I suspected that my red blood cell count, and hemoglobin were low because of how I feel, and I was right. Here's a chart. WBC being high is fine, it's from the shots.

Do I look like a cancer patient, or someone who
lost control cutting his hair? A dilemma...

Cycle 2 Complete

I can't believe I'm already two cycles into treatment! When I look back on these past two months, it seems like the time has really gone fast. Last week didn't seem much more difficult than the first time that I got the B treatment. This time I listened to my body much better and went into bed around 7 every night. I also took ativan at the end of my treatment(like 30 minutes before I left) for nausea, and to help with sleep. It helped tremendously because the car ride home was probably the most difficult part of the B treatment. I would feel so sick, but it would get better when I would get home. But with taking Ativan, I was in and out of sleeping for the ride home, and I was much more comfortable. It was good that I didn't have to get Lasix this week because that would have sucked. The nurses said that I have good kidneys cause I pee like every 10-15 minutes when I get my treatment. I still get a little swelled up, but my kidneys do a really good job of getting the drugs out. They take my weight every morning, and I didn't really have my weight fluctuate too much, but some people can gain as much as 10 pounds in a single day due to fluid retention.

On Monday Joey went to the clinic to see me get treatment. It was nice that he had a day off from school, and he chose to be with me to watch me get my treatment. Joey being there helped the day go much faster for me.

This week was also the first time that I got to meet a cancer patient who is around my age. Her name is Julie, she is 21, and there all week like me. It was her first week of treatment, and some of her chemo was the same as mine. It was actually kind of funny because we were in competition for the bathroom all week. Seeing someone there who is around my age made me feel better.

Me with my chemo

Right now I feel great. I'm a little winded, and the neuropathy in my fingers is a little worse, but those are my only complaints. Saturday was a sleepathon for me. I was already feeling pretty good yesterday! I'm going to have a friend over in a few hours. It won't be for long though. I don't want to push it too hard yet. It should be fun, I haven't seem him in a while. 

I had an appointment with my oncologist on Friday after my chemo, and he was happy with how I'm responding to the treatment. He couldn't even feel Jimmy in there. He was happy with my health, and blood counts too, which is huge. The plan right now is that I'll have surgery 2-3 weeks after my third cycle of chemo, then 2-3 weeks for recovery, and finally 3 cycles of chemo. So that means I'll be done by April, and my birthday present this year will be surgery. That's pretty sweet that I'll be done in April though. I was expecting 4-5 cycles, but since I responded so well its gonna be 3. I can take a summer class this year to get back into school mode now. If you count surgery as a cycle, then that would give me 7 cycles. So if I were to compare my treatment to a week, then I would be on Monday night/Tuesday morning.

The reason why these past two months have gone so fast is because of all of the support I have. Support in the form of get-well cards, having friends over, or encouraging text messages really brighten up my day. This support really helps, and I just want to thank everyone for it. 

Joey went to my appointment on Monday

Cycle 2 Part B

Today I passed the midway point of my second B treatment. So far this week I have felt more tired everyday which was expected. I'm reacting to the chemo exactly like I did the first time. The only complaints that I have about my health right now is the fatigue, and urinary frequency. The mouth sores are healed, and I only have mild nausea right now. I took ativan for the first time today towards the end of my chemo, and it made me feel so much better on the car ride home. On Monday and Tuesday I was pretty carsick on the way home, but today I felt pretty well coming home. It's been a pretty long week thus far, but in two more days it'll be over. I'm exhausted right now, but I wanted to get something on here since I haven't posted in over a week. I'll have a longer post about this week sometime after this week is finished.

Prayer Requests:

That I continue to have my strength, and that I don't get too much more tired tomorrow.
For all of the other children battling cancer.
For Julie, a girl I met today who is battling cancer.


2 more days to go!

Quick Update

Since my last post I have felt better everyday like I thought. I'm still not 100% like I thought I would be by now, but I'm feeling much better than I did a few days ago. I'm not nauseous at all, but the mouth sores haven't changed. Things taste normal now. So i can drink my favorite liquid...water. I would say my energy right now is inconsistent at best. I'll have a few hours in the day where I feel great followed by hours of lethargy. I'm thinking this could be due to my red blood cell count being low which should be at there lowest right now(7-10 days after treatment). I hope they're not too low because I don't want to get a transfusion already. I feel like I have had more energy today since using the incentive spirometer which I got yesterday. I have been laying around too much and haven't been exercising my lungs. This tool helps get my lungs working optimally. Right after using it the first time yesterday I was coughing up crud which has been laying in my lungs for days. I also feel like I slept much better last night because my lungs are clear. My arm still feels soft from treatment. I definitely have to say that the A treatment does a better job at killing the tumor than B. My right arm is as soft as my left now. It's really amazing!

For as much as I have been laying around, I must say that I have done a lot during my little break so far. On Friday I went to the Greek Festival. I had a friend over on Saturday, and I was out for a few hours yesterday with my Grandmother. I was whipped after each of these events, but they were all so much fun.


Thank you to everyone for their prayers and support. I would also like to thank everyone that purchased the wristbands. The proceeds will go to sarcoma research where it will be used well. Keep wearing them!

Cycle 2 Part A Complete

I'm halfway through my induction phase of chemo now. I have one more part A and two more part B treatments, and then I'll have surgery followed by more chemo. This past treatment was a little more difficult than I expected as far as side effects go, but it's manageable. My treatment lasted a few hours, and I didn't feel a thing much like my other days of treatment. The one big difference between the A treatments and the B treatments is in the side effects. The B treatment makes me feel really tired and foggy, but doesn't cause too much nausea. The A treatment makes me feel really nauseated, changes the taste of food, gives me mouth sores, and makes me moderately tired. I don't feel too tired today, but I slept like all day yesterday, and for a few hours on Tuesday. The nausea/mouth sores/taste change is a big killer for me. The combination of the three makes eating not fun at all, but I have been pushing through it. Hopefully the taste change goes away because the nausea is manageable with my meds, and the mouth sores aren't too bad right now. The weird taste is more noticeable in liquids especially water. I don't notice a difference in taste with milk so that's all I have consumed the past few days as far as liquids go. The mouth sores are right under my tongue like last time, so unfortunately they weren't caused by the potassium pills like we thought. My gums aren't sore like last time, but that could change. Even though the A treatment is only for one day, the B treatment is easier to me which I didn't expect going into this.

The "Red Devil"

Another thing that I dislike about the A treatment is the amount of pills I have to take after treatment. For the three days after treatment I have to take like 15 pills a day ugh! Then, it drops to just 6 like the B treatment. The pill I really don't like is the Decadron. It is one of the pills I have to take for the three days following the treatment. It works very well as far as swelling and reducing the size of Jimmy, but I don't like the way it affects my thoughts, and dreams. For example, yesterday I woke up from one of my naps, and I felt like none of the treatment was working, and that I would ultimately lose my arm because of this. These thoughts were completely irrational, but also completely horrifying to me at that time. I know that I shouldn't think that way especially since the treatments are obviously working, but the Decadron makes these thoughts pop into my head. I didn't have any problems last nights because I took the pills at 6 and waited until 8:30-9 to go to sleep giving my body enough time to break down the drugs and prevent the nightmares. 

Now with all of my ranting about the side affects of the drugs I'm taking there is one important thing that sometimes I seem to forget....These drugs are also saving my life, and as much as I hate them I need to respect them. There will be many bad days, but also many good days during this long game. And in the end the score will be in my favor...