My, How Time Passes

Well, it does and it doesn't. Some days I can lie down for a nap, feel like I've slept for an hour or more and be surprised that only ten minutes have passed. I'm usually disappointed that the tv program I wanted to sleep through is still playing.

But, for those who look to this blog of updates and who have been waiting since January 1st, yeah, I guess time passed. Sometimes I just can't get motivated. Hope you understand.

Actually, on January 1st I was on hold, waiting for my doctor to make a decision about chemo, and whether or not to start it sooner, later or never. On January 3rd in an appointment with him, I learned that he favored the latter two, the later or never options. I objected and overruled him and we began getting ready for chemo. By January 10th, I had a lab blood workup, a CT Scan of my upper body, a brain MRI, a one-hour visit/tour with the chemo clinic Pharmacist Manager, a two-hour chemo orientation and a second opinion with another Oncologist. It was a busy seven or eight days but I thought I was set for chemo.

Oh, and about that new MRI. It showed that that tumor that wasn't effected by the early December Radiation Therapy was suddenly over 50% smaller! Hooray! So, the Radiation Therapy was having an effect after all.

Then, someone saw something else from that CT Scan in my lungs other than the cancer. They saw a lesion, a hole. And, my annoying cough was getting worse, had I noticed the change, and my appetite was changing as quick as the wind. I was scheduled for an evaluation with the Pulmonary Med Department. That began a whole knew set of blood tests, sputum cultures and a Bronchoscopy to get "a wash" of the inside of that lung to see what was going on. "They" were thinking that my 1970s Tuberculosis might be coming back to haunt me. Meanwhile, my cough got so bad that my rib and diaphragm muscles were in pain, I couldn't get a moments sleep and nothing helped ease the cough. My appetite disappeared to the point where I ate nothing for four days and had to force feed myself. I dropped 10 pounds in one week.

And so, on January 23rd, I'm still waiting on chemo, my cough has lightened up enough that I can get a few hours sleep at a time, and I seem to be able to eat a bite or two at a time. It will be a week or so before the full results from the Bronchoscopy are in.

Dave