New Tats!

Three days into the next step now, and I have some idea of what it will entail. The perpetual chemo pump is annoying but not a big deal. The daily radiation treatments haven't had any side effects yet, but that's not expected for a couple more weeks.

The funniest aspect of this round has been my new tattoos! They put some marks on my behind with an ink pen, and then added three small "dot" tattoos as a permanent alignment device. I'm bragging about it, calling it my "tramp stamp" tattoo. In reality they are no more than freckle-sized. Is that funny or what?

Mostly, I feel a little bit tired. Perhaps it's just an excuse to take a long nap every afternoon, but that's what feels good to me.

That's about it for now.

Driving on,

Clem

Monkey Butt Blues

We have a plan! The latest doctor, a radiation oncologist, met with me this week and developed a treatment plan for the next round. We will continue the aggressive treatment plan that has worked so well so far, and turn up the "heat" with some radiation, too. The good news is that the side effects are supposed to be less than the ones I've already had. If that's as bad as it gets, then I can handle it. They said the worst part of the radiation was that I might get some skin irritation. Looks like I'll be singing the "Monkey Butt Blues."

Pam, however, may "bust a gut" laughing at me. They painted target markings on my butt to aid in the aiming of the radiation beam. She is having visions of what they might say down at the nude gay beach. Fortunately, our local one is closed for the winter. ;)

For the next five weeks, starting on the 23rd, I'll be taking a low-level but continuous dose of the 5FU chemotherapy via a pump, combined with a 15-minute session with the radiologist every weekday. The goal is to shrink the colon tumor enough that the surgery on it will be easy and successful, and to eliminate worries about any spreading cancer to the lymph nodes near the colon.

Some time shortly after that, around the beginning of April, I'll do the last surgery. With luck, it won't be half as hard to recover from as the liver surgery. It involves a small, hand-sized incision vertically below my belly button. With that, I'll be cancer-free and working toward normal life. We'll wrap up with some more chemo treatment just to make absolutely sure that it's "gone gone" and be done with the whole thing some time in June.

Woo hoo!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my positive energy up here on the final phases, looking forward to being cured.

Cheers,

Clem

CEA Markers

The doctor just called. If it was worth him calling me, it's worth me writing to you.

They did some lab work yesterday while I was there (of course) and the news was good. There's a chemical in the blood that indicates cancer is growing, it's called the CEA marker. Normal range is less than 5. Two months ago mine was around 3,000! Yesterday it was at 197. Yippee! Orders of magnitude improvement are what we're all about around here.

With that, we're going out to find something nice for lunch to celebrate.

Younger every day

Funny how recovery works. After surgery I shuffled around the house like I was 110 years old. Now, I'm a spry 85 or so, and getting younger every day. That's such a good feeling.

Today's doctor visit went very well indeed. He was thrilled with the outcome of the liver surgery, and confirmed that that was the biggest hurdle. If it hadn't gone so well, we'd have only been buying time ("...a year or so...") Since it did, we're well on the way to a cure and making good progress. Woo hoo!

Next steps: A week from today I'll get back on a chemo regimen, and we'll also start radiation therapy. This time the chemo and radiation will work together, every single weekday, and we'll do it up until it's time for the next surgery. The goal is to shrink the tumor on my intestine to maximize the chances for an easy and successful surgery. We want to restore completely normal bowel function, a goal which seems possible to achieve. Surgery will be in about 4 or 5 weeks. Upon recovery we'll continue with some chemo and radiation, just to be as certain as we can that nothing has a chance to come back again, and then this thing will be over and behind me.

The news keeps getting better. He said that this chemo session will be low-dose, with far fewer side effects than the last one. Radiation will be targeted at my colon, so there shouldn't be too many side effects from that, either. Mainly just tiredness, which I am well used to by now. I will have to lug a chemo pump around all week, but I'm pretty well accustomed to that, too. It's not nearly as bad as it sounds like it would be.

Things will be pretty busy now through June or maybe into July, but we are (we hope!) on the "downhill stretch."

Thank you all for your caring and sharing.

Clem

More, more, more

More blog posts, eh? I wish there was something interesting or significant to post, but it's all incremental. With that caveat, here goes.

The last couple of weeks have been a time of slow recovery from major surgery. I spend a lot of time on the small stuff: eating, finding a comfortable position of rest, and letting time pass. The doc asked me to track my body's outputs, so I keep a log of every BM and cc of fluid. The drain they put in my side is slowing and the fluid is almost clear, so it is now more of an annoyance to me than anything. Its job is to show that my bile ducts aren't leaking nasty stuff into my gut. That was one of the risks of this procedure, but all that seems to be working well for me.

A typical day starts with me being driven from the bed by hunger. I steal into the kitchen for a banana and a glass of milk. Then I check my email and decide if it is worth it to dive into the computer or back into bed for warmth and snuggling. Pam gets up about lunch time, so we eat and then launch into the day's activities: walking around and resting. With an errand or two thrown into the mix, that pretty much takes us through the evening. About midnight I've had enough and it's off to bed. The last few nights have been hard for me for some reason. Just like the baby, I get wrapped up in how my side hurts and "spiral down" into a hurting place. Pam has been a real gem at those times, talking me through breathing exercises and into a restful state. Once there I can make it through the night.

A few days ago I decided to come off the pain meds. It is much better, but all the dull aches blossomed into sharp pains that take a different attitude to deal with. Even so, I'd rather know the actual state of my body than a veiled, drug-assisted view. Most of the time, anyway.

This has been an interesting weather week, typical for this time of year here. Sunday we were all laying on the grass in the yard, soaking up sunshine. It was warm enough that my brother was comfortable in only a t-shirt, though I snuggled underneath my "blanky." Monday we had snow all day, falling in big, wet flakes only to melt on the ground. Today it's well below freezing, but clear and crisp outside. It would be perfect at the T-Wall today, if I were in climbing shape. Soon! Of course, every day is a good caving day, if I were in shape for that. Soon.

That's about all the news that's fit to print. It's time for some lunch, a little shopping, and a visit to the dive shop to check in with those guys.

See you all out there soon, no matter how long it takes!

Clem