Business as Usual

So far this week seems pretty routine. I'll work 1/2 day Monday and 1/2 day Tuesday. I'm thrilled to be back to work. I love seeing my coworkers and really enjoy my job. Beyond my light work schedule, I have the usual this week (blood draw on Tuesday and chemo on Wednesday). We're looking forward to Sunday when we pick up our new dog. We appreciate all of the name suggestions. I think that Robin is leaning toward Bowie because she's a big David Bowie fan and she's been dying to name something after him.

Radioactive Man

After my PET scan today, I'm radioactive. I'm supposed to try to stay 3 feet away from people that I'll have a lot of contact with for 24 hours. Other than a setting off geiger counters, I feel quite normal.

PET Scan

My chemo went very well yesterday. I had no problems. I did notice an increase in the neuropathy (my fingers are tingling as I type). It started when I touched a cool door knob on the way out of the doctor's office. This is expected and is a normal side effect of the medicine. If you see me with gloves on, it's because I'm avoiding touching cold things.

I have a PET scan scheduled for this afternoon. I'm excited about it. So far, my cancer has been undetectable except through very invasive means. The only way they've seen it is through biopsies, a colonoscopy, and actually seeing my insides during my tumor removal surgery. It doesn't appear in a CT scan or in the typical cancer detecting blood work. The doctors do keep watching the CT scans and blood work to make sure that they don't start showing cancer (which would indicate cancer growth). My hope for the PET scan is that it does show existing cancer but no new cancer. If it shows up, it would be a good way to measure the success of treatment, which is very important for my chemo.

Chemo Day

Today is a chemo day. I'm looking forward to an uneventful and relaxing day in the Oncology Department. I'll be there from 9 am until somewhere around 5 pm. Also, the graphic next to this posting is from a shirt that I ordered. I put in for some really cool cancer shirts (and even a hat). I can't wait until they get here. If you'd like to see some of the cool cancer-wear, you can see the website that I went to here.

Also, please keep the names coming for our new puppy. We should have him a week from Sunday.

All Work and No Play / Name the Puppy

Monday was a very important day for me. My doctor put me on disability for the rest of the calendar year, but stipulated that I can work 1 - 2 days per week if I'm feeling well. I was able to work about a 1/2 day Monday before getting tired and needing to go home. I'm back at work again today for another 1/2 day. My plan is to work most Mondays and Tuesdays (hopefully full days). The rest of the days will be sick and disability days.

Also, after a nice long after-work nap, we drove down to San Diego to visit a puppy who needed adopting. We'll be bringing him home about a week and half from now. He currently has giardia and we're waiting for his anti-biotics to work their magic. He has a wonderful personality and we're looking forward to seeing him play with Cleo. If anyone can think of a great name for this little guy, we would appreciate your ideas. He's a pure bred Boston Terrier.

First Night of Passover

For the last few days, I've been struggling with an acne-like rash (looks like TONS of pimples on my neck, back, face, ears, scalp, and chest). I have to admit, it's pretty frustrating. The doctor and nurses assure me that it means that my Erbitux is working. They tell me that it's a good sign. I found a link that explains why. Click here to see it.

Regardless of whether it's a good sign or not, I find it strangely significant that I wake up on the morning of the first night of Passover covered in what easily could be called boils. I guess it's a good reminder for me to remember Passover this year.

Feeling Bionic

This whole thing about having a port-a-cath installed makes me feel rather bionic. I'm waiting for the bionic parts to kick in and make my left arm and shoulder really, really strong. If anyone sees me lift a car with my left arm, you know that it's started working.

All kidding aside, I still feel very good. My upper left chest (a little under my shoulder) is really bruised up and pretty sore still. It is kind of funny to know that there's an extra part in there. I guess it makes up for having less of my sigmoid colon (one part lost plus one part gained equals the same number of parts).

I woke up this morning curiously wondering what stage 4 colon cancer costs for the first 2 months. I know that it can't be cheap. Due to health insurance, disability insurance, a great job with lots of sick days, and a supply of gift cards that have come in the mail, I've gotten off pretty cheap and have had no major change in our lifestyle. However, I was thinking of some of the things that I would have had to pay for or have had to pay for and thought that I would compile a list. I'd love to find prices for some of these things:

• Nearly 2 months off of work. Thank goodness for my disability insurance and my sick days. Also, teachers--look for my catastrophic leave papers soon. I just need to have my doctor sign the forms and then turn them in to the district for approval. Also, I'm hoping to be back to work part time, but any donated sick days will come in very handy for the days that I'm not working.
  
• Colonoscopy and blood tests.
  
• 2 CT scans.
  
• Hospital stay for a week, including having part of my sigmoid colon removed.
  
• Being stubborn and wanting to change the oil in your own car after a hospital stay. Then scratching the heck out of the car by driving it into the jeep project in your garage.
  
• Meetings with 4 different oncologists.
  
• Meeting with a geneticist.
  
• Cryo-storage just in case we want to have another baby. I figure we did pretty good with the first one! I wonder what a second one would be like.
  
• PICC line installation, including an x-ray to be sure of it's correct placement.
  
• PICC line removal.
  
• Port-A-Cath installation surgery and necessary doctor meetings (2 before the surgery and 1 after).
  
• Chemotherapy. I believe that my first course is 12 two-week treatments. This can't be cheap.
  

If anyone has hospital prices on these things I'd love to see--just for curiosity. I wonder if I'm up to $50,000? More? Wow--I'll say it again--thank goodness for health insurance and disability insurance (and gift cards too!).

What's Up This Week...

Hi Everyone,

I had a great weekend and was off and running with a doctor's appointment at 9am this morning. It was a pre-op for my port-a-cath surgery. I was expecting to have an EKG and blood work, but I've had both of those recently so they weren't required. Consequently, my 3 hour appointment was less than an hour. :)

Tomorrow I have a quick visit to give blood. I'll do this every Tuesday during chemotherapy. This way my doctors and nurses can monitor key components in my blood. Fortunately, with my PICC line, they don't have to poke me to get blood out. All in all, it's pretty cool.

On Wednesday, I'll have a surgery in the morning to install the port-a-cath. It's a quick surgery but I'm hoping that they'll knock me out for it. The doctor already said that it's ok with him and that I just need to let the anesthesiologist know that I want to be knocked out. I am definitely happier not being awake for that sort of thing. Besides, I can use a good nap.

After the surgery they'll leave a needle sicking out of the port-a-cath (I'm sure it will be all taped up). The chemotherapy nurses will use the new port-a-cath to administer my chemotherapy. This week's chemo is what I call an "off week," meaning that I get only 1 drug during a very short visit. Also I had to take home a portable pump last week--this week I don't have to do that. Next week it will be back to the full routine.

For a little good news--my facial acne started. The nurses assure me that this is a good thing, indicating that one of the chemo drugs is working nicely. If you run into me, I assure you that it's chemotherapy and not a second round at puberty. LOL.

Feeling Good and a Major Accomplishment

I had my portable IV pump disconnected yesterday. I'll have to wear it for 2 days every other week. It allows a medicine to trickle in over a period of 46 hours. I feel great to not have to carry about a fanny pack with an IV in it.

As for my major accomplishment, I've been working on a project for my job for the last few days. Fortunately, this project is something that I can do from home while working on my laptop. It's the result of an idea that I had about a year ago. I can't say much about it, except to say that it's something that really should be good for Chino teachers. I have the first draft of it completed and am awaiting feedback. It feels great to get back to some work things and get some of the cobwebs out of my brain. :)

Feeling Good Today and Port-A-Cath Installation Scheduled

I feel great today. I don't know if it's related to the chemotherapy, but I've had some wicked hiccups today (twice). I haven't had hiccups in months, so it's been strange. But I can live with a few hiccups. I was able to get some good work done today for job things, so I feel really good about that. Also, I met with the surgeon who will install my port-a-cath. He was great and he has me scheduled for next Wednesday morning. He says that it's just fine to install it and then have chemo right after. Also, he said that they can knock me out when they put it in if I'd like. Since I get squeamish with things like that, I definitely plan to take him up on his offer. I can always use a good nap. :)

Chemo Went Well

Hi Everyone,

Chemo went well today. We did have a small glitch where I got the chills while they were giving me one of the medications. This added an extra hour or so to the treatment while they took care of making me feel better. They ended up giving me Demerol to counteract the chills. They only gave me a little, but it went right to my head. I don't think that I've ever had it before, but it certainly stopped the chills (and made my head feel pleasantly goofy).

Other than that, it was just a long day. I arrived at 9:00 and stayed until 5:00. The nurses were great. I didn't get sick today, but it certainly could happen. I would likely get sick in the next few days. Also, I have to watch for neuropathy which is where my fingers may go numb. Also, one of the medications makes me very susceptible to cold (I have to wear gloves to get things out of the refrigerator and need to even drink beverages at room temperature). Cold things make the neuropathy worse. The other major side effect that I'll have to watch for is acne (shoulders up to the top of the head). While this one is unpleasant, they say that it's a good sign that the medicine is working.

I met a very nice guy named John. He's 71 and also has Stage 4 Colon Cancer. I think that he had been doing treatment for a year or more and he was going great. He said that he only got sick from the treatment once and they attributed that to Arby's Spicy Fries.

I'm going to get some rest--it's been a long (but not bad) day.

--Tim--

Chemo Begins Today

I start chemo today at 9:00. I'm a little anxious, but was more stressed out about the PICC line getting put in. I did what any first time chemo patient would do--I had a good, healthy breakfast (pizza, applesauce, and green tea). I'll be bringing with some essentials like my laptop, my PSP (hand held video game), iPhone, the prayer book that Susan brought back from the 350 year old temple in Curacao, a book, some snacks, etc. It sounds like I'll be very tired when I get home, but I plan to just go with it and see how it goes.

Pizza and a PICC Line

What a day yesterday! Robin had an appointment at Kaiser Fontana at 11. I went with her. Sometime between that appointment and my PICC line appointment (1:30), one of our cars had the "check engine" light come on. Yuck! So, just to be safe (and to get the most of our membership) she had to call AAA to get it towed to the dealer. Then she had to scramble to work out how to get Erica from school and how to get Erica to her doctor's appointment (follow-up for her cough). My mom was able to help out, but it was stressful. We almost called Wickman to ask some of you who volunteered to watch her after school, but things worked out nicely.

From there, I met with a very nice PICC line nurse. She told me about everything that she was going to do for the PICC. That is the strangest feeling and process. It didn't hurt too much, but I really didn't enjoy it. Basically, they give your inside upper arm a numbing shot. That part stings. Then they put a needle into your vein and run a kind of guide into the vein. It seems to go almost all the way to the heart. After that, they put in a little, teeny, tiny tube in place of the guide. When all is said and done, there is a skinny tube sticking out of the inside of your arm, coming right out of your skin. It's strange! Just to be sure all is right, they then send you off to x-ray to make sure that the PICC line ends in just the right place. If it ends in the wrong place, they have to adjust it. I was very lucky and the nurse was very good. It ended in the right place and I was done.

I was exhausted when I got home. I think it was just because of the stress of having that done. Robin was tired from her whole ordeal (the car and taking Erica to the doctor), so it was Pizza Pirates for dinner. By the way, Erica's doctor appointment went well too. The doctor feels that her cough is sinus/allergy related, but that she also has a slight ear infection. They gave her antibiotics for the ear and sent her home.

It was a long day and I'm looking forward to relaxing today. It looks like today's agenda will be to do my taxes, feed the wild birds outside of my window, play with my dog, do a little work on my gradebook project, and maybe some video games in between. We also have Geri coming today to help with a little housework. :)

Here's the New Plan

Hi Everyone,

The new plan is for me to receive my chemo-therapy at Kaiser Ontario (on Vineyard) starting next Wednesday 4/9/08. Because it takes an extra 2 to 3 weeks to get into the trial that I was looking at, I will not be participating in the trial. I think that it's best to start treatment ASAP and begin to kick some cancer butt.

Tim

Day Off

After a very long day yesterday (I started at 6 am and came home from Kaiser at about 4:30 pm), I expect to have a day off today. I'm going to pay some bills (first of the month), take Erica to school, and make some calls so that I can get transferred to Ontario/Vineyard Kaiser. It's come to my attention that they're very close and they have oncology offered there (including the clinical trial that I want). I'm looking forward to not being at any doctor's offices today. :)