Around the middle of June I had a full body bone scan and chest CT scan and both came back clear. That puts me at six months cancer free. The last time I could say I was six months cancer free was..., October 2014. Great news!
In late March I began having a difficult time breathing. Horrible timing on that one. Remember I had radiation for a lung nodule last May? One of the side effects that can occur up to a year later is radiaton pneumonitis, and that was the cause of my problem. The main treatment consists of steroids, but with the coronavirus going around my oncologist advised against them because they weaken the immune system. As an alternative, I performed breathing treatments with an incentive spirometer and a balloon. I also made sure to drink lots of water and took advil twice a day. Not sure if the water and advil part made a difference, but it took about a month to resolve and I have been good since.
A week after my last post, my employer sent us all home, and I have been working from home since. While I have been really disappointed in not returning to work in the office I have been able to do some things I would have otherwise been unable to. For example, I spent a lot of time with my family this summer. My brother lived with me in Virginia for the month of June, and I stayed in Pennsylvania with family for all of July. I really enjoyed this summer. Basic things like swimming in the pool and laying out in the sun were the things I enjoyed the most.
Some of my goals for the year such as getting in better shape/stronger have been more of a challenge, but I have worked around it. I wanted to join a gym, but they have all been closed and only recently reopened. With gyms being closed, it was really difficult to find home gym equipment, but I was able to purchase a kettlebell. I have been training with that since I returned in August. I also took advantage of our home gym when I was home in July.
I will be working from home for the rest of the year so I will need to find some more things to do. I am all caught up on videogames I had been meaning to play, and there aren't a lot of tv shows I'm interested in. I'm pretty excited for football returning. It was a nice surprise that the Big Ten announced that the season will be starting this fall. I was really dissapointed that Penn State would not have a season, so this certainly livens up the fall for me as well as many others. I'm in a couple fantasy football leagues so that will keep me busy as well.
Looking forward, my next scan is coming up soon. I'll just have a chest CT this time, so I should just be right in and out of the hospital. Let's keep the streak of good scan results going!
Take Care Everyone
Sunday, September 20, 2020
Friday, March 6, 2020
Treatment Complete
Long overdue for this update, but here it is.
On my last update I was in cycle 5 and the plan was to go with 6 cycles of chemo, but since I was having problems with skin toxicity we decided to drop the dose back down to 30 mg/m2. During that time there was also some collaboration between my local oncologist and the one I've been consulting with in Cleveland. The oncologist in Cleveland wanted to go with another year at the lower dose with treatment every other month, and my local oncologist wanted to stop at 6 cycles. I decided to just extend it to 8 cycles and be done.
The last three cycles weren't too bad with the adjusted dose, and I completed them without delay in early January. I had another clear scan in December which was awesome and made me feel better about stopping treatment. I have my first post treatment scan coming in a few weeks. Let's keep the clear scan streak going.
Looking back at how this last chemo regimen went makes me feel uneasy. My big concern is that I did not complete what I signed up for. I wanted to do 6 months of Doxil + Temsirolimus. I believed in that regimen. I read the research paper. My oncologist in Cleveland believed that it fit me well. Unfortunately those drugs just didn't agree with my body. I never had delays or dose reductions with prior chemos, but I had dose reductions, a drug elimination, and delays with this one. With this being my third relapse I needed things to just work.
Though things did not go according to plan, they have (knock on wood) worked so far. I have had three clear scans in a row with potentially a fourth soon. I completed eight cycles of Doxil and seven weeks of Temsirolimus which we can all agree is much better than nothing. I had my heart tested for damage, and and it was perfectly normal which is great news for someone who has had a lot of Anthracycline agents (Doxorubicin, and Doxil). And most importantly I got to complete treatment. Most people don't ever get to ring the bell on a relapse for Ewing's. I've done that twice now.
Since completing treatment I have been trying to get back to feeling normal. It seems like everytime I get to this point where I start exercising, getting more energy etc., I relapse. I'm still going to keep trying to get back in shape. It's been a long time since I've ran a full court pickup game of basketball. I think that's what my next big goal is going to be. I've been going to the park once or twice a week the last couple of weeks and walking the trails. I know it sounds like I'm old, but I have to start somewhere right? If my next scan comes back clear I'm also going to join a gym. I've lost a lot of muscle mass from the lack of physical activity for so long, and it would be great to improve on that. There are a few gyms close to my apartment and I found one that I want to join.
Last thing. Below is another one of those cheesy certificates for completing chemo. Hopefully I don't have to try to earn another one.
On my last update I was in cycle 5 and the plan was to go with 6 cycles of chemo, but since I was having problems with skin toxicity we decided to drop the dose back down to 30 mg/m2. During that time there was also some collaboration between my local oncologist and the one I've been consulting with in Cleveland. The oncologist in Cleveland wanted to go with another year at the lower dose with treatment every other month, and my local oncologist wanted to stop at 6 cycles. I decided to just extend it to 8 cycles and be done.
The last three cycles weren't too bad with the adjusted dose, and I completed them without delay in early January. I had another clear scan in December which was awesome and made me feel better about stopping treatment. I have my first post treatment scan coming in a few weeks. Let's keep the clear scan streak going.
Looking back at how this last chemo regimen went makes me feel uneasy. My big concern is that I did not complete what I signed up for. I wanted to do 6 months of Doxil + Temsirolimus. I believed in that regimen. I read the research paper. My oncologist in Cleveland believed that it fit me well. Unfortunately those drugs just didn't agree with my body. I never had delays or dose reductions with prior chemos, but I had dose reductions, a drug elimination, and delays with this one. With this being my third relapse I needed things to just work.
Though things did not go according to plan, they have (knock on wood) worked so far. I have had three clear scans in a row with potentially a fourth soon. I completed eight cycles of Doxil and seven weeks of Temsirolimus which we can all agree is much better than nothing. I had my heart tested for damage, and and it was perfectly normal which is great news for someone who has had a lot of Anthracycline agents (Doxorubicin, and Doxil). And most importantly I got to complete treatment. Most people don't ever get to ring the bell on a relapse for Ewing's. I've done that twice now.
Since completing treatment I have been trying to get back to feeling normal. It seems like everytime I get to this point where I start exercising, getting more energy etc., I relapse. I'm still going to keep trying to get back in shape. It's been a long time since I've ran a full court pickup game of basketball. I think that's what my next big goal is going to be. I've been going to the park once or twice a week the last couple of weeks and walking the trails. I know it sounds like I'm old, but I have to start somewhere right? If my next scan comes back clear I'm also going to join a gym. I've lost a lot of muscle mass from the lack of physical activity for so long, and it would be great to improve on that. There are a few gyms close to my apartment and I found one that I want to join.
Last thing. Below is another one of those cheesy certificates for completing chemo. Hopefully I don't have to try to earn another one.
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