Thursday, October 30, 2014

Chemo Purgatory

It has been almost a month since I've had chemotherapy administered.  Dr. K had changed the order so that I'd get it every three weeks rather than every other week because the platelet cells needed time to regenerate.  But at three weeks the platelet count was too low and at four weeks it was lower still.  Next Tuesday will be five weeks and we will try it again.

Don't get me wrong, there is something kind of nice about having a month off from treatments but it is not so fun to anticipate going to the Cancer Center and then to actually go and get punctured and hooked up, only to discover that I have to delay treatment and bump all my appointments another week.  My CT scan was also bumped to next week.  So unless the platelets are still too low on Tuesday, November 4, I'll receive a dose and get hooked up to the external pump. Then on Wednesday morning I'll go in for a scan.  Thursday, I'll get the pump taken off.  And then the following Tuesday, November 11, I'll see Dr. Krajewski to read the results and find out the degree of success that this regimen has afforded me.

I don't know what the doctor will say but I'm beginning to think that I have reached the limit of this particular combination of drugs. My bone marrow has taken a beating.  The side effects determine what my body can handle.  If the scan shows that the tumor is still on the move they'll probably try something else.  This would be disappointing as I feel this particular prescription has been both effective and relatively low on miserable side effects.  The next thing could be either ineffective and/or could make me  feel worse.  What are the chances that they can find something that both works to kill this cancer and also has minimal side effects?  The best I can hope for is that the tumors on my liver have been arrested and perhaps they will give me another interim before a new treatment.

In the meantime, I'm grateful that I feel pretty damn good.  I'm balancing that against renewed thoughts about mortality.  Death can come to any one at any time and I am hyper aware of that happening all around me, both expected and unexpected.

1 comment:

Lee Ferraro said...

In reading your blog, especially the entries about visiting Abby & Alice, I'm struck that you do more living due to your simple adventurous spirit than most of us do in years of seeking complacency. Keep the spirit Chuck! It keeps the rest of us honest with our lives.