I'm feeling good but first I'll begin with yesterday.
Linda and I walked down to Macy's where I was looking for pants. They actaully have Levis called "skinny" and I found several pairs that fit and arre almost tight. They're almost too thin to get on, especially around my skinny legs. I've lost about 3 inches off my waist from 34 to 31 and am about as thin as I was in college: 125 pounds (down from 150). (But for those who haven't seen me since the wedding, everyone tells me I look much better as my face has filled out; and currently I have some hair although I may be beginning to lose it again. Also, I'm not on the Folfirinox chemo protocol that was pretty devastating.) In my 5th year at Penn, in the Masters of Accounting program, Linda began fattening me up with lots of mashed potatoes, among other fattening foods. At Macy's, we also bought Linda a few things in the houseware department where we were able to use a slew of Macy discount cards which seem to be mailed to us on a ridiculously frequent basis. We walked down to Macy's, about a mile, and took a bus home.
And now what you've been waiting anxiously to hear, the fascinating story of a cancer patient's recounting of his day at Jeff from 9:20 to 5:40. I had the lab tests and then saw Dr. Littman without "excessive" waiting for either, of course there was some waiting for each. Littman is really nice and we had a good meeting. My BRCA2 compatriot with Linda is still on her chemo vacation with a dormant tumor after more than 8 months. On April 9th, the week after my next chemo on April 2, I will have a very important CT Scan, which if it is good enough could indicate a chemo vacation for me (I would pray if I believed in any of that stuff but instead will try to be very nice to The Jinx.) Or I might have two more treatments of the same chemos after the Scan. Also, Linda spoke with Litton about the fundraising project for Jefferson.
My cancer marker went up to 196 from 156, but Litton wasn't concerned based on my last CT Scan. Also, she and NP separately put a positive spin on the rise saying that dead cancer cells can cause a rise. Ironically, she expects the marker to come down when I stop chemo. Linda spoke to someone whose husband's marker went down to 35 (the upper limit of normal) while at the same time, his tumor was growing.
Then after an hour and half wait for a chemo chair to open up, we went back to the chemo area with our favorite and regular chemo nurse Katie. There must be at least 25 to 30 chemo chairs but all get filled early and you have to wait in order of signing in for new chairs to open up. There may have been up to eight people ahead of me. I've been saying for a while that cancer is a very big business for the hospitals. In the meantime, I passed on Smokin' Bettys and Linda picked up a turkey sandwich for me at the Reading Market. I was a little cold so Linda got me a blanket that had light blue stripes that reminded me of a tallith (I actually use the old pronunciation of tallis). So I said a Barucha blessing the blanket.
I got two shots: one, the monthly Octreotide, ostensibly to help with diarrhea, that I got in the muscle in my butt area and that hurts a little and leaves some soreness off and on for another day; and the other, Aranesp, for low red blood cell count and which stings badly for the 10 seconds or so of slowly going in but then doesn't hurt anymore. My low count has given me mild anemia that could be causing the tiredness I've been feeling. Isn't cancer fun: in addition to some of the basic side effects, I've lately had thyroid issues, glucose/diabetes issues and now anemia. At least so far, I've had very little pain, except following surgeries. For the past few weeks, the diarrhea has not been as bad as it had been for quite a while.
I mentioned to Katie that Linda had read that Lance Armstrong, after the doctors told him to give up because of his widespread cancers, did his own reearch and joined a trial of Cisplatin (one of my two current chemos) that saved his life. I mentioned Armstrong winning so many Tour de Frances and Katie said I wouldn't be entering the Tour de France. But I told Katie that I would be happy do a tour of France.
Wednesday, I have to go to Jeff to get a neulasta shot to maintain my white blood cell count. My platelets are back in the normal range. Last night I started taking Metformin pills for diabetes but with luck will only have to take them for a week. As to the Synthroid pills, I may be able to stop when I stop chemo.
About an hour before I was finished, Linda walked over to Chinatown, about 5 blocks away and picked up enough dinner for two nights, including, of course, the spare ribs (along with a lobster and fried clams from The Bite on MV) she might order as her last meal if she was facing execution.
We took taxis both ways; so Linda got some walking in for meals, but I didn't really get any but was pretty tired when we left Jeff.
Hope you're getting to enjoy the great weather better than I am.
Elkan - Monday night
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