Chemo Round Two

Not a good night last night as I am still suffering the aches and pains from the joint and muscle issues from the weekend. I am feeling better now - but 7 1/2 hours in the infusion chair didn't help. I need to move around and being hooked up to an IV is not terribly conducive to movement.

Today was day one of cycle two of the R-CHOP chemo. Except for the above mentioned aches and pains I am doing OK. Our 7 1/2 hour day in the chair include two hours round trip commute time driving the 50 miles each way to the hospital. It went really quickly for me this morning because I slept most of the way. Luckily Sharon was driving. About half of our drive home was in snow along 470, pretty much from when we got on 470 until we got off. I wasn't bad but was sticking on the roadway. Sharon and the Jeep took it in stride. Definitely not Camaro weather.  Notice all the hair on my arm! It hasn't taken it yet, though you can see on my head where it is slowly disappearing.

Tomorrow we start at 7:40 AM and should only be done in about 2 1/2 hours. Cyclophosphamide. An easy day.

Ouch!

Yes ouch! I have had a tough and painful few days. Friday I was just in general malaise, not feeling right. But during the night into Saturday morning I started hurting. First it was my fingers, then my wrists, and when I woke it moved to my elbows and then my shoulders. I was hurting and IBUs and Tylenols did little to help. By the evening it had moved to my hips and my knees. Sharon made chicken soup for me but I couldn't eat. I just wanted to lay on my back in bed and that is what I did. I was able to sleep off and on and at 12:30 AM I hit the serious drugs and took an Ativan. That allowed me to sleep, but I could not turn over or do much moving at all, on my back was about the only solution. I woke up and took another Ativan at 6:30 AM and got a little more sleep in. Sharon and I reasoned that the pain was caused by inflammation and perhaps histamines and I doubled and tripled down on anti inflammatory drugs. Allegra, Claritin, and finally 100mg of Prednisone. These combined with IBUs and Tylenols made the day bearable but I was in pain. My shoulders were the worst and on a pain scale of 1-10 I gave them an 8. By Sunday night I was moving better but not normally. I was able to sleep Sunday night and roll onto my side - a big improvement. But Monday morning revealed that the pain had moved from my joints to my muscles. Arms, legs, fingers etc. All were experiencing muscle pain. I really slowed me down, but I found that movement helped and that is what I did - move around.

We drove to Aurora today for blood test and a visit with Dr. Kamdar. My blood test all looked to and I am a "go" for chemo tomorrow. She was not concerned with my pains and felt they were a normal but a delayed reaction to the chemo. I was lectured about taking the prednisone - I shouldn't have done that. In the future I am to call the hot line and talk to a nurse practitioner. She will cut back on the vincristine by 25% because I am having neuropathy symptoms. Thanks for that. I got the feeling that the next three rounds of chemo could be worse, but I am still positive and hoping for the best. 

Cruzin'

 

Silly title for the blog, because I am not "cruzin'" anywhere. But, I did wash the new car for the first time and I am having fun taking pictures. It is a wonderful car to drive and to ride in - powerful, comfortable, great handling, and makes a very satisfying V8 growl. It is grounded today though. We have snow coming down and with high performance summer only tires the SS is not allowed to go out and play. Perhaps next winter I will get a set of winter tires for it. Oh, Brady has named her for us - Icy Icy. I think we will shorten it to Icy or simply Ice. Ice works well with the Jeep which Brady has named Snow. The two cars look good together in the garage!

 

On Monday I finished the workshop dust control system to my miter saw. I have more hose ordered so that I can get the table saw hooked up. At least the miter saw is back in business and that allowed me to repair the cabinet I made for the back porch. There is a story here. This summer I built a cabinet to go along with our grills. I held grill accessories and the top served as a handy counter to use while grilling. It had wheels on it so it could be easily moved around the patio. This winter it fell victim to our downslope winds and blew off the patio not once, not twice, but three times. Our heavy gas grill has blown off the porch three times also. The cabinet is now rebuilt and screwed into one of the pergola uprights and I have screwed a 2x4 into the deck to stop the gas grill when it gets blown around. Even the Traeger got blown around this week. We had steady 30 mph winds with gusts over 50 mph. The weather guys say downslope Chinook winds. Little did we know we would have to tie everything down outside.

 

This week has been good for me as fas as chemo and cancer side effects. My itching has moved down to my ankles. My energy level is good - better than pre-chemo. I still have a good appetite and most of my taste buds are still working. I do have a few mouth issues, but not too bad. No hair loss yet. I must be clearing cancer cells out of my body. Next week I face cycle 2. I am of course hoping that it will go as well as cycle 1 - but I won't know until I am in it. I have scheduled my first appointment with an Oncology Massage Therapist in Boulder at BCH. This won't be until March 14, but it is a start.

The Weekend Is Here!

I remember once upon a time when I was excited for the weekend. This was before I worked retail, where weekends only mean work, and my current retirement state where a weekend is like any other couple of days. It still does mean we are able to more easily get together with friends and that Costco will be busier. Today though I am happy it is the weekend. I am smoking a pork shoulder on the Traeger grill and we have five friends coming over for dinner. Last night, Friday, Sharon and I went out to dinner at Carelli's in Boulder and had a very nice evening. Sharon had comforting spaghetti and meatballs. I filled my fish needs with a whole bronzini. It was delicious. We have found two very good Italian restaurants in Boulder but none in Longmont. 

 

Yesterday Sharon and I drove to Aurora to the UCHealth Anchutz  Cancer Pavilion for blood tests and a visit with a nurse practitioner. The drive is about 50 miles but the SS made it a breeze. Then I got my blood draw. The technician I got should not be drawing blood, especially in that clinic. She started with the usual "which arm" questions and I told her my right hand and pointed to the vein. She didn't freak, and that was a good sign, but then she managed to miss the vein. She pushed and pulled, but no blood. Then she pulled that one out and started to poke around. I showed her a spot on my left arm that is home to a good vein, but she kept poking around other spots on both arms, then went to get a vein finder. That is a sure sign of a problem. She ended up in my left hand but did not get a good draw, but was able to slowly pull the blood she needed. It took about 25 minutes for this whole process. Normally I am done in less than 10 without a problem. The good news is that my blood counts were fine, my white blood cells count was down but not too much and the same with hemoglobin. Down but not terribly so. I am good to go and on track for my next round of chemo on February 28, March 1, and March 2. This chemo is done over three days which to my mind makes it easier for my body to take. When I did the ABVD in 2010 it was all dumped into my body on one day every other week. The R-CEOP is done over three days every three weeks. 

Yesterday while visiting with a friend he told me of a friend of his going through ovarian cancer. He mentioned that she was seeing an acupuncturist with good results and asked if I wanted the contact information and I did. When I got the info I looked at it, and then googled BCH Integrative and discovered that Boulder Community Health offers a full range of support therapies as part of their cancer center. They have Healing Touch, Oncology Massage, Acupuncture and other alternative therapies. The University of Colorado does not offer these. On Monday I will be calling BCH!

Below, early morning from our bedroom window yesterday.

 

 

 

Thursday

Yesterday we took a long drive in the new SS. Longmont to Lyons then Hwy 7 up to the junction of Hwy 72 - the Peak to Peak Highway which we followed to Nederland. Then down into Boulder and back to Longmont.

We started with the top down because it was warm. But into the ride, at about 8,200 feet of elevation and snow on both sides of the road, we put the top up. The top came back down when we hit Boulder.

The car handles exceptionally well on the curvy up and down mountain roads. It is quiet and solid. I was surprised to find that the automatic transmission is smart. Going down some steep hills it downshifted on its own to use engine braking to slow us. I did not have to go to manual mode to downshift. At first it was disconcerting, but when I realized what it was doing I was pleased.

Yesterday I also worked on cleaning and organizing the garage. It had gotten out of hand. It is much better now but still needs some effort. We now have yellow balls hanging from the ceiling over each car to direct us in and let us know where to stop. No more guessing. Looking at the floor I am wishing that we had it sealed. I suppose we can do that anytime. 

Chemo update. This week the itching that developed the other day has spread to my inner thighs and lower back. My lower back began aching yesterday. This morning I woke to a sore on my inner lip, though I am taking pills twice a day to prevent this. The neuropathy is continuing with tingling in my fingertips and an increase in numbness in my feet. On the positive side, I have plenty of energy and am sleeping well, though shorter hours. Before chemo I had bouts of temperature spikes in the late afternoon, those are gone.

This afternoon Sharon cut my hair off preempting the chemo taking it - though what is left will be gone soon enough.

 

Tomorrow we head to Aurora and the UC Health cancer center for blood tests and a visit with a nurse practitioner. This visit is mostly to ensure that my white blood cells are doing ok. I suspect they are, and I would bet my hemoglobin is up also.

A story about my dream vehicles. In 1963 while with my parents on a trip to California, we stopped at a motel in either New Mexico or Arizona. In the morning I was walking around the parking lot and spotted at 1962 Chevrolet Impala SS with a 409 badge on the fender. I was in awe at the beauty of the car and the fact that it was a 409. Since that time I have always wanted one. I finally have my SS but it is a 2017 and a Camaro and doesn't have a 409 but darn close at 376 cubic inches, and a lot more power!

 

In the later 60s I lusted for a 60s VW convertible. I liked the running boards and thought the car was quite cool. I never had one.

 

Finally. A 1972 VW Westfalia camper. I came so close to buying one but got an Opel Rallye instead. I should have gotten the VW and I have wanted one ever since.

I'll never have any of these, but I am quite content with what we have in our garage now.

Below is a view of Longs Peak from a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoy waking up and watching the sunrise pink glow on these mountains. The view is almost always exceptional.

 

 

Week One Done

Today marks one week since I started chemo. I am quite pleased with where I am right now. It has not been as hard as I expected. At the end of week one I have more energy that I did before this chemo started. I am sleeping well at night except for having to get up to pee way too often. I am sleeping less, which is interesting. Perhaps because I am sleeping better, I am sleeping less. I do have itching buttocks! Sharon thinks this may be related to all the steroids I took last week. I did crash a few times in the last few days, likely from withdrawal from the steroids. My appetite is pretty normal. Taste buds? They are affected now, but only slightly. I can tell they are not normal, but I can still taste most foods and drinks. I am back to normal bowel movements (I know you wanted to know about that.) I have had an increase in neuropathy symptoms - mostly in my fingers. The doctor told me last week I shouldn't have any increase in neuropathy when I complained about it. I'm sorry to disagree with you doc, but I should know if I have an increase in neuropathy despite what your training tells you. I've had no hair loss yet, but the doc seems to think this will happen after cycle two. Sharon and I will preempt the worst of it by cutting my hair off this week. Here's hoping it won't be as severe a hair loss as last time.

I re-read some of my old Hodgkin's blog and I believe I was having a harder time at this point. But then, this is a quite different chemo than I had then.

 

Sunday Thoughts

This winter in Longmont we have found the humidity in our house to be way too low. We resorted to simmering water on the cook top and leaving water in the bath tub. It helped but we could not get above about 27% humidity in the house. Before the holidays I attempted to contact a contractor to install a humidifier and never got a call back. I tried again in January, no luck. Last week though I saw a recommendation on "Next Door" the local on-line bulletin board and contacted Wright Heating and Air Conditioning. Josh was out here on Friday and installed an Aprilair whole house humidifier. We are in business. We are up to about 30% humidity in the house this morning and it feels much better. I'm sure our floors and our furniture will be happier too.

Longmont wind! Friday morning the wind was howling here. Steady wind at about 18mph and gusts over 50mph. Our outdoor furniture was flying. I collected one chair and put it on the porch and while getting other things that chair took off, went around the side of the house then across the street and down the alley. As I ran to get it neighbors pots were passing me. There were semis blown over on I-25 and up in the mountains on I-70. Trees and telephone poles were down in Longmont. Those downslope winds can be fierce. We have a green belt and creek behind our house and the wind seems to funnel down there. Our heavy gas grill has blown off the porch several times and I now have a 2x4 bumper screwed into the concrete to stop the madness of a rolling grill. I built a outdoor cabinet for the porch and put it on rollers. No more rollers because the thing kept blowing off the porch. Who knew winds would be like that here? Most of this has been this winter, we will see what spring brings. It was not a problem this summer. 

Last night we met friends in Boulder at Zolo for dinner. We had a very nice time and some delicious food. My whole grilled trout was perfect, and because I still have most of my taste buds I was able to fully enjoy it. This little group of three couples and occasionally one other gets together for dinner at a local restaurant at least once a month. It is a good tradition!

Because chemo whacks white blood cells and they are needed to fight infection, I had a Neulasta injection on Friday. Last time I did chemo I thought the Neulasta was the worst part - causing severe bone pain as it did its thing with my bone marrow. This time has been quite bearable. The nurses at UC Health recommended that I combine the Neulasta with Claritin because for some reason Claritin helps mitigate the side effects. I have been on Claritin and ibuprofen and doing fine with the bone pain. It is there but not constant and quite bearable. On a pain scale of 1-10 I feel I have been about a 5 at the most. Other than that my chemo reactions continue to be mild. I pee a LOT. I've got a bit of discomfort in my abdomen. I have had some increase in neuropathy. All the pills I take can upset my stomach. These are all easy. Knock on wood that we will continue on this track. Sharon is cutting my hair off today  because by the next session it will likely start to fall out. I hope I don't lose my eye lashes and eye brows as I did last time. The chemo can have my head hair and my ear hair but I want eye brows!

I am sitting at the island as I type and Sharon has gone off to Boulder to Orange Theory for a workout. She really has enjoyed going there, well except when she broke her wrist! When she left she drove the new Camaro. I was impressed with the engine sound when she fired it up this morning. That big V8 sounds nothing like the Miata 4 cylinder. The Camaro has a 6.2L engine. The Miata was 2.0L. Quite a difference.

 

Chemo Again

As I noted in my last entry, I am back in chemo to deal with Large B Cell Lymphoma which has developed from the Indolent Follicular Lymphoma. My treatment is four cycles of R-CEOP chemo. This means three days of chemo every three weeks repeated four times. I have completed cycle one and have tolerated it quite well so far. I am feeling pretty good, yes there are some aches and pains and a few other side effects but they are all quite tolerable so far. My appetite is good, I can still taste, my hair has not started falling out yet, I am not fatigued (but then for the past four days I have had between 100mg and 200mg of prednisone.) This biggest problem is the length of time I have to spend getting the infusions. On Thursday for example we were at the hospital from 7:00am to 3:00pm. That and an hour drive each way makes for a long day.

I will keep going on this blog as I progress through this chemo. My hope is to move through it without major issues. I have a really good support team at the University of Colorado Hospital. They are on top of everything.

There is a new item in our garage as of yesterday. We picked it up late yesterday and have not spent much time in it yet, but just you wait! It is my prize for having cancer and going through chemo.

 

Catchup Time

Is it 2017 already? I have not posted since November 1, 2016. A lot has happened in our lives since then. 

Sharon went through her surgery and two casts and physical therapy and not has almost normal use of her left hand. She will continue to work it until she has full use - 'cause that's the kind of girl she is.

At Thanksgiving we drove to Davenport to spend the holiday with Kathy, Kevin, and Brady. We had a nice visit, arriving on Wednesday and heading back to Longmont on Saturday. Our drive there was not fun as we dealt with snow in Colorado and the rain across much of Nebraska and Iowa. Going home was all good weather. On Thanksgiving Day we enjoyed a buffet at TPC Deer Run, a very nice country club owned by John Deere. The food was very nice and it was a joy to not worry about cooking. There was a lack of leftovers however!

December was busy! We flew to Chicago and spent a long weekend with friends. We stayed with Katie and Jorge Friday and Saturday and they put on a dinner party for us Friday night. On Sunday we took the train out to Glen Ellyn and spent the night at the Gramas house. Lee and Peg gathered a bunch of our friends to dinner and good times. On Monday they took us to O'Hare and we headed back to Longmont.

The day after we got back, Nick flew in from Chicago, and the next day Larry, Dave, Claire, and Audra arrived! We had five guests for one night and then the crew moved to a huge rental in Niwot. Ginger and Leith flew in from St. Paul and Jeff, Kathy. And Trevor and Laird drove from L.A. - quite a houseful. We hung out at our our and their rental and they went to Rocky Mountain National Park and Boulder. A couple of trips to Boulder included stops at dispensaries.

We had a great Italian meal on Christmas Eve at the rental and then another feast at our house on Christmas day with a smoked turkey and a bone in rib roast. Everybody was happy. All in all a very nice Christmas break was had by all. Nice visit for all of us. The week before New Years everyone headed home and left us with an empty house. Nice to have it back but sad to see everyone go.

In January we headed to Chicago for a short weekend and to celebrate my birthday. We stayed with Kaie and Jorge and had a lovely Cuban dinner with them Friday night. On Saturday we visited the Art Institute with Katie and Nick and then went for a wonderful dinner at HB Bistro with Katie, Jorge, Dave, and Beth. Happy times! On Sunday it was a flight back to Longmont.

Now on to other issues. For about three years we have been watching slow growth of indolent follicular Lymphoma in my lymph nodes. We knew eventually I would have to have treatment, but some tests in January indicated that some of the lazy, indolent lymphoma had switched to a more aggressive form. As a result, I am back in chemo. My first session was yesterday and I am back for number two right now. I will have three treatments a week, three weeks apart for a total of four cycles. The doctor says this is very curable with this attack.

Needless to say, I am not happy to have an aggressive cancer and not happy to have to go through chemo. But, we will make it through this.

Now some good news. Three years ago when I thought my Hodgkins was back I told Sharon I was going to buy a Rolex and a Porsche and live it up. Well, Porches and Rolexes are too damned expensive. I can buy a fake Rolex for $100 and we bought a new Camaro SS - 455hp 6.2L engine and 0-60 in 4.1 seconds. It costs a lot less than a Porsche. We pick it up Friday.