The Chest Port … IN ACTION

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Yesterday I posted pictures of my chest port, but I realized that I never included any pictures of it in action. Well is is what it will look like when they “access it” (the term they use) today for Chemo.

And what it looks like up close:

As you can see they just plug right in. The shiny stuff is a layer of film or tape that they stick over the access needle just as extra layer to hold everything in place. I wish I had a better picture of what they actually stick into me, I’ll see if I can get a better photo today during chemo. The whole process is so much simpler and believe or not, less invasive than an IV.

I wish they were able to use it at the clinic here in town for my blood draws, but they can’t, it has to be done by a nurse. So my blood draws continue to be taken through the veins in my arms, but even that is beginning to get more and more complicated as they are having to deal with scar tissue in and around those veins from the repeated pokings. By “more complicated” I just mean that they tend to hurt more and bleed for longer afterward.

The pictures above were taken the day after I had the chest port installed, and as you can see the area around the port was a little bruised and discolored. It’s not too bad in those pictures. It got worse. Much, much worse:

Sorry for the grossness. I promise not to post anymore shirtless pictures of myself for at least a short while. 2 days in row might have been a bit intense for some readers. To make it up to you, here is a picture of Pepper in her Christmas hat:

For the record, I do not and will not ever approve of dressing up pets. But Christine cannot be stopped. (Correction by Stine: “That’s not true! I’m anti ‘dressing up dogs’ as well… With the exception of her raincoat, which is practical. And her Christmas hat, which is cute.”) So there’s that.

Today is chemo session 3A, its my 6th treatment and the beginning of the 3rd cycle. We also meet with the oncologist today to discuss the results of my CT Scan from last week. Like I said, we are expecting good news and have no indications so far that it will go any other way, but there is always that little bit of uncertainty in the back of my mind, so I’m understandably a tad nervous. Check back tomorrow for the results of that conversation.

I haven’t seen the results from my CBC test yet, but as they haven’t called to cancel, I assume at this point that my white blood cell count is within the “safe” range for chemo, but probably still well below normal levels. The rest of my blood work that has come back is all normal including the liver function test that they run once a month (to ensure that the chemo drugs are not damaging my liver).

We are going to try some new tactics today to help minimize the anticipatory nausea that I’ve started to get. Basically I’m going to try taking some of the anti-anxiety medication that I’ve been prescribed BEFORE we leave for the hospital. It will mean that I should be pretty high by the time we meet with my oncologist but I think it’s worth it in the long run.

The results are in…

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We met with the oncologist yesterday and she showed us the results from my latest CT Scan. And they are impressive!

Lets start with the original CT. September 14, the day after I went to the doctor with a cough and walked out with cancer. This is from the first CT Scan I had. First the image, then again with some explanations of what you are looking at:

I lie on my back with my arms above my head and the scanner take 2D pictures of slices of my body. This is probably just above the center of my chest. Some helpful explanations of what you are looking at:

It’s no wonder I couldn’t breathe and I had that cough. The tumors and the massively inflamed lymph nodes were pushing on my lungs. The little white spots that you scattered throughout the lungs are just blood vessels within the lungs, doing their thing!

Now for the big one. The picture of the original CT Scan, vs the CT taken on Thursday. This is the two of them side by side:

The cancer is clearly retreating! The oncologist told us she is very encouraged by these results. You can see the reduction in the size of the tumors and the inflamed lymph nodes.

This second set of comparison pictures is little higher up into the chest. You can see many of the same things. But in this picture the windpipe is still in one piece as its before it has split into the two lungs.

I just can’t stop looking at these pictures. What a difference a couple of months can make and what poisoning yourself  every two weeks can do. It sucks, but I guess these picture show that its worth it. blah, blah, blah, miracles of modern science and all that…

But seriously, this was great news to get today from the oncologist. The medicine is working. It’s worth it. Everything is worth it!

More on the results

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[If you aren’t a daily reader, and you haven’t seen the CT Scan results from earlier in the week, be sure to check them out first!]

 

There were a few questions from yesterday’s comments (as well as from some emails) about the tumor on my spine. Unfortunately there weren’t many definitive answers on that from the oncologist. It’s entirely possible that it’s gone, she couldn’t see anything in the CT Scan results, but she admitted that she’s not the greatest at interpreting those results. But she did note that the radiologist who looked at the results didn’t mark anything in that location so it might be gone. That would be consistent with the amount of shrinkage seen in the chest tumor.  But remember it wasn’t until the PET Scan that they noticed the involvement of my vertebrae the first time, although after it showed up on the PET Scan they were able to go back to the CT Scan and could then see evidence of it when they knew to look for it. That was then confirmed by an MRI. Still while it doesn’t appear to be there anymore, I got the impression that she wasn’t willing to give it the “all clear” yet without further tests. But until then we’ll go with “no news is good news.”

When we last meet her, she indicated that I was to have the CT Scan before we met with her again (and I did) and that I might have a another PET Scan after that. I asked her about this on Wednesday and she told me that the CT was more than conclusive enough that things were moving in the right direction that there was no need for the PET at this time. The treatment course it working and seems to be working well.

So the plan now if for another CT scan in about two months. At that point its POSSIBLE (and I stress the word possible) that we may start putting together an exit strategy at that time. I almost hate to even talk about it, as I’ve taken great pains to not think about and/or anticipate when we might bet finished with treatment, so take this all for what it’s worth. But, it’s POSSIBLE that we may have a good idea at that point as to when we’ll be finished. From what she described, we get to a point to where we stop seeing signs of disease and then we go through two more cycles (about 2 months) of chemotherapy just to be sure. So we could be looking at April or May here…  Again, don’t start getting your hopes up. I’m not starting to think about or talk about when I’ll be done with any kind of certainty, I’m just passing along the information as I get it.

If I had it my way I’d have been done weeks ago. I bitched about it a little to the oncologist. About how much I hate coming in for chemo. I haven’t had any symptoms of the cancer for months now. So at this point I’m fully aware that its these treatments that is the only thing holding me back right now. The only think keeping me sick. It just sucks starting feeling normal for a few days before I have go back in and start all over again, with each round being worse and worse. ALTHOUGH, I have to admit, after seeing those pictures I was pretty encouraged and ready to hop into that chair again, excited to keep up the progress. At least until they starting putting drug after drug back into me. I just wish I could have sat in that good feeling for a little longer.

Don’t get me wrong, the pictures are really nice to have. I’m kind of obsessing over them actually. Anytime I start to feel sick I’ll just pull up the blog and stare and those comparison photos. They remind me that it’s worth it!

Getting Huge

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Since starting treatment I’ve now put on 30 lbs. 30 lbs! That feels like a bit much.

Unexplained weight loss was one of the original symptoms that took me the doctor in the first place, and then in the weeks leading up to my first chemo appointment I continued to drop weight at an alarming rate. At one point I weighed in at 130 lbs. I’m 5’11… That’s a BMI of 18, putting me in the “Underweight” category. So the doctors told me to eat pretty much whatever I wanted and work towards putting on weight. Well I did. And now I feel a bit out of control and HUGE at 160 lbs.

I’m hoping to be able to change this trend, but I have several things going against me. For starters, one of the medications that I take to control nausea is a type of steroid (dexamethasone) that is also an appetite stimulant, so for several days after chemo I tend to eat and snack all day. Once that medication wears off after a few days (I only take it for 2 days after chemo) I’ve started to encounter another problem. One of the new side effects that I’ve begun to experience is a constant metallic taste in my mouth. It’s a fairly common side effect, and from what I understand it can get so extreme for some people that everything starts to taste like metal and they have to start using plastic silverware because they then can’t handle having metallic utensils in their mouth on top of the metallic tasting everything. I haven’t gotten there yet, but lately around days 4-7 I have a nasty metal taste in mouth.

So, how do I combat it? Yep, by eating. It’s the only way I’ve found to get rid of that nasty taste in my mouth, by replacing it with actual tastes. And the effects are only temporary, but worth it. So I continue to eat alot and snack all day because I always have a gross taste in my mouth that I’m trying to get rid of. It’s either eat something delicious, or feel like I’m sucking on a piece of aluminum.

At the very least I’m hoping that the exercise I’m bringing back into my life will help hold off additional pounds as I don’t see myself stepping down on my food consumption, given the facts. I’ve been getting to the gym a couple of days a week and have been trying to get out for a long walk with the dog every day.
Ideally I would love to get back down to my normal 145-150 range, but realistically I don’t think that’s going to happen until after I finish treatment. Until then, I guess I’ll just have to embrace the new pudgy Brian. More of me to love I guess.

Taco Tuesday? No. Tacos Everyday!!

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Yesterday I mentioned that during several days in my chemo cycle I have a metallic taste in my mouth. But my tastes are slowly changing in other ways too. Its something that I was told might happen. Several cancer survivors that I’ve spoken to warned me that my tastes in food would start to change, and now several months into this journey (with several to go) I’m beginning to see what they mean. Luckily for me, it’s not that I’m adverse to foods I used to like, in fact it’s the opposite. In many ways my palate is growing.

The biggest change would be my desire for spicy foods. I used to be the kind of person who couldn’t stand spicy foods at all. Even “1 Star” on a menu rating system was too much for me handle. But now, as my sense of taste is slowly being destroyed by round after round of chemo drugs, I find that I really enjoy and even seek out spicier foods. Foods that I used to not be able to tolerate at all are foods that I’m now starting to find delicious.

Unfortunately there is a downside to my new desire for richer, and more intense foods. Heartburn. Before starting chemo I had only experienced heartburn on a few occasions. Now, it’s something that I can count on for 4 – 6 days of the two week chemo cycle. It started even back before I realized that I was suddenly attracted to more intense flavors, but I’m sure the new spices in my life aren’t helping this new form of digestional torture. Fortunately its thus far been controllable with the use of Tums and other chewable tablets so I would categorize it more as a mild annoyance in the grand scheme of things. But still, it’s a new thing for me.

The other thing (food wise) that I’ve noticed since starting chemo is that I can not get enough Mexican food. I could pretty much eat tacos or nachos for every meal of the day. My appetite for tacos cannot be stopped. Now I have always been a fan, and I don’t know if it’s related to my treatment, or if I’ve just never noticed it before, but if I had it my way, we’d be having tacos here every night. Sadly, I’ve yet to get Stine on-board with turning every night into Taco Tuesday. In fact, she’s probably even tired of Taco Tuesday at this point.