This round of chemo is an important one.  It’s round 4 of 8, so after it’s done I’ll officially be half way through.  After my last round I was thinking “are you freaking kidding me, I have 5 more rounds to go ?!?!?” But now I can think about how I’m half way through.  About how I’ve gotten through the last 4 months and I just have to do the same thing one more time.  It will be nice to see 4 sessions of chemo in the rear view mirror.

The rooms in the cancer center are furnished with a stool, a chair, and a couch. When we entered my room today, Lindsey immediately noticed the couch was missing (I believe this has something to do with the well deserved naps she takes from time to time).  As you might recall, during my first admission my room had a clock that didn’t work for much of my visit.  During another admission, the lights over my bed didn’t work.  I was half joking with a co-worker that I wondered what would be wrong this time…little did I know, it would be the couch!

We asked my nurse about the couch and found out the rest of the story.  Apparently one of the couches is broken and being repaired.  They’ve been moving couches around from empty rooms to whatever room happens to be missing a couch.  So my couchless room of B10 now has a couch from B12.  When a patient goes into to B12, they’ll move the couch from another room into B12.  They’ll play this game of musical couches until the unit is full.  Unfortunately the poor soul who gets the last available room won’t get a couch.  Hopefully the couches of assurance program is more successful next month.

Some people go to Florida for spring break.  Some people go to Mexico.  Some go on cruises and some stay at resorts.  I have a week and a half off from work and I’ve decided to check into an exclusive all inclusive resort for my spring break.  Simon Cancer Center assigns you someone to personally assist you during your stay.  You only need press a single button to have someone immediately answer your need.  You can order as much food as you want and you even have access to drugs (kind of a European thing I guess).  The bed mattress moves to give you a gentle massage and you can only get in to this resort if you have a very specific referral.  Granted, the daily rate is a little pricey, but I guess that’s what you have to pay to stay in the lap of luxury.

Just to recap what happens, I’m in the hospital for my B cycle.  I receive two different sets of chemo and they are referred to as the A cycle and the B cycle.  I alternate between A and B and this month I am on B.  The treatment plan I am on is called Hyper CVAD.  You can find a quick overview on Wikipedia by clicking HERE.  I should complete the B cycle on Friday afternoon, and then I’ll be discharged to recover at home.

Father God, thank you for your love.  Thank you that you love each one of us regardless of what we do or don’t do.  Regardless of what we say or don’t say.  Regardless of what we believe or don’t believe.  Your love is perfect and available to all.  Thank you for another day.  Amen.

I was discharged late in the morning on February 21st.  Since we didn’t have the kids with us, Lindsey and I made a quick jaunt to Puerta Vallarta.  We got home about 1:30 and I promptly went to bed.  I got up around 6 to shower and eat, and then was back in bed by 8.  I slept until about 9:30 the next morning.  Sleep was a big part of my life for the first few days after chemo.  I literally would wake up only to eat and hang out for an hour or so after each meal and then go back to bed.  I was just so tired, I couldn’t function.

After being off for a few days, I started my regular pattern (I was recently told doing something 3 times makes it a pattern) of working from home.  Unfortunately, I hit a snag early in the process.  After about 45 minutes of sitting at my desk I started getting headaches and got a bit dizzy too.  I laid down and the problem went away.  I sat back up and the problem reappeared.  It didn’t take too long to figure out that sitting at my desk wasn’t going to work.  So, as a dutiful employee, I plopped my laptop down on the floor and worked while laying on my stomach.  I did this pretty much for an entire week.  The theory is that the spinal tap I received didn’t heal fully right away.  Thus, when I was sitting at my desk or up for 45-60 minutes, there was an imbalance in the pressure of the fluid and it caused headaches.  By laying down, it relieved the pressure and the headaches/dizziness went away.  Only being able to sit or stand for short periods of time was kind of a bummer all the way around, so hopefully it doesn’t happen next time.

I worked from home for 2 weeks and now I am working in the office.  It’s good to be back and for the 3 days I’ve been there, I’ve made it through each one.

My third round of chemo was a little rougher than the first two.  As you might recall, I alternate between 2 sets of chemo.  So the 3rd round was actually the 2nd time I’ve received the first set.  If you want to impress your friends, you can use the slang and refer to my third round as my “2A” dose.  I was more tired, had a few more headaches, a little more nausea and a lot more reflux.  Overall though, it was still quite bearable so I can’t complain too much.

I’ll continue to work and enjoy time at home with the family over the next two weeks.  I go back in for my 4th round of chemo on March 27th (ie 2B).  Then I still have 4 more rounds after that (3A, 3B, 4A, 4B).  If all goes according to plan, 4B will be my final round of chemo for the rest of my life.  That will be a very nice thing 😉

Father God, thank you for healing.  Thank you for remission.  Thank you for getting me through the lows of chemo and back to the highs of life.  Give me confidence for the next round.  Help me to spend my time enjoying how I feel now and not dreading how I will feel later.  Let me not worry about tomorrow.  Thank you for another day.  Amen.

At 2am they will start my last dose of Cytoxan.  That will run over approximately 3 hours.  After it completes, I get 2 more doses of chemo right on top of it.  I get Doxorubicin for 15 minutes, which is the ice chips chemo (and also causes CHF if you ever get more than 8 doses in your lifetime) and then I’ll also get Vincristine, which is the constipation chemo.  Three different chemos, all right on top of each other.  Good times.

Really, it’s more of the same.  The plan that was laid out at the beginning hasn’t changed, and that’s a good thing because it means I’m on the typical path to recovery.  I’ll continue to get monthly chemo for a total of 8 months (this is round 3 right now).  After that I’ll get monthly lab draws to ensure there are no signs of relapse and I’ll also take oral chemo through December 2014.  And some really good news is that I don’t have to have another bone marrow aspiration unless I show signs of relapse.  Two was enough.  I don’t plan on having anymore.

Remission Rob

After living 34 years without cancer, it was quite a surprise to be diagnosed.  I only had cancer for 3 months (that I know of), and now it’s quite odd to say I’m cancer free.  There is no sign of Leukemia in my body which is obviously a big answer to prayer.

Remission was a very big step on this journey (similar to being Philadelphia Chromosome negative) however it isn’t the end of the journey.  I was told that based on previous studies I had a 90% chance of achieving remission.  Those are pretty good odds.  I was also told that given my individual characteristics (age, labs at time of diagnosis, type of leukemia, etc) that I have a 60%-70% chance of being cured (defined as being cancer free for 5 years).  So now that I’ve joined the 90% who achieve remission, there’s still that pesky 20%-30% chance that I won’t be here for quite as many years as I’d like to be.  Relapse is something that I’ll be thinking about for the next 5 years.  It definitely puts Luke 12:13-21 into better perspective.

While no one wants cancer, overall I think this is the easier path.  It would be much harder if Lindsey or one of the kids was diagnosed.  I never thought I would have cancer, and my biggest cancer fear was that Lindsey would develop breast cancer.  Since I know leukemia is more prevalent in children than adults, it’s also scary to think about the kids.  I’d much rather be a cancer stricken parent with healthy kids than a healthy parent with a child who has cancer.  While I realize me having cancer doesn’t prevent it impacting anyone else in my immediate family, if someone has to take one for the team I’d rather it be me.  I can’t imagine making daily trips to the Riley Hem/Onc unit.  God bless those families that are there right now.

Not much change overall.  The jump in my WBC is due to the steroids I’m on.  My attending promised he’ll knock it out with the chemo 😉

Hemoglobin – 11.8

Platelet – 148

WBC – 9.9

ANC – 9.4

Father God, thank you for remission.  It is but on step in this journey, but a step I am very thankful for.  Remission is many more days with my family.  Many more days seeing my kids grow up.  Many more days of hugging my wife.  While tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, I’m thankful just for the chance to live it.  Let me not waste the chance of tomorrow.  Let me not waste the gift of tomorrow.  Thank you for another day.  Amen.