Last Chemo in Utah for a while.

So Monday I went in to get my normal Chemo. But to my surprise my doctor in Utah had been talking to my main doctor in San Diego and they are going to switch me back to the last regimine of chemo that I was doing. So they need to order it all.

So my chemo date was changed until Thursday. So On Thursday I went and received my chemo and I am happy that they switched my chemo back because this regimine does not take as long as the other one did.

Instead of being there for roughly 4 hours this other chemo only takes like 2 hours. So less time stuck in the hospital is always a good thing.

Also since it was my last time getting Chemo in this hospital for a while they gave my a bottle of sparkling Apple cider. To celebrate and to wich me luck in my surgery.

So all systems are a go for surgery on January 6th. I will being having one last doctors appointment with my regular doctor in San Diego before my date with the surgeon. I will also be having a final CAT Scan of which they will be basing the surgery off of.

That is all for now.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

I only have a week and some change left in Utah. I will be gone until Late March so if you wish to give me a GIGANTIC Hug before I go just wanted to let you know that time is running out.

Date with a Surgeon and Chemo

So last friday I flew home for a grand total of 4 or 5 hours just to visit with the surgeon that will be doing my surgery on Jan 6th.

So everything went well and everything is on track for my surgery.

Also I had Chemo this past Monday and everything went well did not get as sick as I did last time so that was a good thing and now it Thanksgiving.

time to give thanks for all the wonderful medical technology that is available to all of us to use.

I am thankful for that.

Happy Turkey day top everyone

Focused on Thanksgiving

So I had Chemo one again last week and to be honest it I felt the worse afterwards than I have since I moved to Utah.

But I fit a lot better after Saturday past and am back to normal now. I just got back from a quick doctor appointment to check on my blood and everything is going well.

Next Friday I will fly home in the morning to meet with my surgeon only to fly back to Utah right afterwards for work on Saturday.

So everything is on schedule and school is going great and Surgery will be on Jan 6th.

and for Amy I will be returning to Provo somewhere around late March early April.

Doctor's Check Up & Scan

Yesterday (Friday) 

I flew in from Utah to San Diego and arrived at 11:20 and from there went directly to the airport to Children's Hospital where I met with my wonderful Dr. Schiff and had blood work done and talked about the future of my treatment.

I am still going to have surgery on Jan 6th and keep doing chemo until then.

I then went and had a CAT scan. i will update what the results are later.

Happy Halloween everyone.

Because of my bald head I has decided to Mr. Clean.

Random fact: The top #1 song on Billboard the day I was born was Funkytown. That may explain things.

KIMO!

So once again it was time to go get some chemo for my body.

Everything went smoothly I had good blood counts and good pee.

So just some updating information:

I will have check up scans on October 30th

and my surgery has been scheduled for January 6th, 2010

So that is how my future looks right now.

I also wanted answer a few questions from my readers

Deidre my flu shot did leave my arm a little pain for a few days after.

And For Kelsey

The cancer I have is called Ewings Sarcoma it is a bone cancer. But right now for me it is in my lungs and on top of my left diaphram.

So that is that.

Shots: 120

Pills: 290

Blood

Went and had blood work today.

Nothing special they just wanted to see how my counts were responding to the new chemos.

They came back normal and excited.

they made me get a flu shot.

The End.

All New Chemo

So this last Friday I was given in all new chemo to try to continue to shrink the cancer.

The new chemo takes a lot longer to infuse into my body. My old regiment only took like a hour and a half and this new regiment takes 3+ hours. So it was a much longer day at the hospital than I was use to.

I am also for the first time taking oral chemo treatments. I take to pills each night, which I started on Friday and will take them until Tuesday night. so far I have not really had any major side effects from the new treatment.

So that is all that is going on in the Cancer World.

Happy Monday!

Catch up

A lot has happen since I last posted. I have had two rounds of chemo, a CAT Scan, and met with my favorite Dr. Schiff. So I finished that second round of chemo today, and I am now 80 percent moved into my new apartment. It will be glorious to have my own room and bathroom.

Thank you father.

Well I also finished six credits of school and got a A- and a B+ so I can complain that was my first classes since taking my eight month vacation. I forgot how fun it was to read textbooks and stress over assignments and test. But it sure is better than the alternative.

Well thats all for now.

Rock on and if you are in provo and want to kick it. Give me a yell

Chemo

I had chemo once again yesterday (Thursday). For the first time since I moved back to Utah I did not have to push back my treatment due to poor blood results. So it was nice to get that done and out of the way.

To celebrate I went and ate sushi! Oh so good.

School ends in about 2 weeks so that will be my life until my next round of chemo.

Thats all.

Shots: 110

Pills: 271

Long Overdue Update!

I have started school and chemo up here in Utah over the past few weeks and my schedule has become much more full then it had been at home in good old Vista.

I had chemo on Monday June 29th and everything went very smoothly. For the treatment room it seemed as though I may be being treated at a women's facility, because I was the only male there (besides the doctor). So once again I do not really fit in with all the other patients but I am sure I will still make some friends up here as I did while I was at the Children's Hospital.

So I am staying busy writing articles for the Daily Universe and you can read them online at http://universe.byu.edu/sports

I write articles about the Orem Owlz and Salt Lake Bees baseball teams. So hopefully that will be a guide.

Well life continues and the sun is finally shining in Utah after the first week and a half of being here it being quite rainy and overcast.

Shots: 103

Pills: 259

Movies: 148 (I feel that is number will more than likely not increase as much do to school, but that is a good thing I think.)

If you have any questions please fire away by either comenting on this blog or emailing me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com

BYU HERE I COME!

So This week has been quite eventful.

Tuesday: I go and get the results of my scans and everything continues to improve and I will be sticking with the same chemo schedule of once a day every other week. So with this in mind I made the executive decision that with this schedule that I would be capable of returning back to school.

Wednesday: With my car packed with all of my belongings I drive to Provo, Utah so that I may start the summer term of school starting June 22nd. I also got stuck behind a crazy accident that had me sitting at a stand still for about 4 hours. I watched Mulan and Angels in the Outfield.

Thursday: Moved into my apartment that I will be living in until end of August or so.

It was a very eventful few days and surgery is scheduled for December.

Shots: 97

Pills: 250

Movies: 146

Same old Same old

Yesterday I went in for another round of chemo. And it was just another day. I will be having scans in a week and what ever comes out of those will determine a lot of things. surgery? stay with new chemo or switch back to old? and whether or not I will be able to attend school in the fall.

So until enjoy your summers.

Shots: 95

Pills: 240

Movies: 133

KIMO ONCE AGAIN.

Well today I once again was due for another round of chemo. So as usual I woke up at a quarter to seven took and shower and jumped into the car and my mother and I headed down to childern's hospital.

I took advantage of my VIP status at the hospital and arrived at 7:45 even though my appointment was not until 9:15. So we got right in got "accessed" and sat and waiting for my blood work to process so that I would be able to meet with the doctor and she sould give me the go ahead to have the kimo administered.

So I went in to the doctors room and waiting for the doctor to arrive wishing that it will be my actual doctor, because I have not seen her for a while. The doctor came in and it was not my doctor but oh well better luck next time. I was told that my normal doctor (Dr. Schiff) had had knee surgery so I wish her a speedy recovering and hope everything goes well for her.

So after the doctors appointment I was unfortunately handed a pager and told to go wait in the waiting room they needed the bed space for the other patients. So after waiting for a while the pager went off and it was time to go get me some kimo.

I went and sat next to my buddy Sean and we kimoed together while playing Jenny in a friendly game of blink. Sean and I never beat jenny at this game but we play because we always have the hope that we will.

So Sean finished and left and Jenny shift was done and I was left with my mother so we talked about what to cook for dinner and so we search the internet for Ideas.

Then the beating of the IV pole buzzed and it was time to go home.

So that was another day in the life of David Chalk

Shot: 94

pills: 235

movies: 121

Other randomness that has been going on. I went to three Padre game last week and I got my braces of one week ago today. I think that is all.

New Treatment Round 2

So Yesterday I had my second go around with my new chemo treatment. I tolerate it much better than my old one but I am not sure whether that is a good thing or not. Chemo isn't supposed to be a walk in the park.

So it was good to see my cancer buddy Sean and his mother. We caught up on life and jazz and He also received good news that he is be done with treatment in late July. So I am excited for him and his mother and that they will be able to return to normal life and continue on.

So things are going good and I believe that in two weeks I will be having more scans to see how well the new chemo treatment is doing and then we will re evaluate everything that is going on and make goals to get everything all wrapped up.

Shots: 92

Pills: 225

Movies: 111

New Chemo

So Yesterday I went to the hospital and met with my doctor and she once again explained the new chemo that I would be receiving.

So I received my new chemo and today I am not feeling any different then I had been when I was receiving my other chemos.

I will also no longer have to receive daily shots after each round of chemo which is wonder so my amount of shots will slow down very much.

So since my shots total will not be climbing as much I have decided to count other things along with keeping shots and pills.

Shots: 90

Pills: 220

Movies watched since starting treatment: 109

Baseball games started since: April 5th: 11

Update!

So here is an update,

So my father, mother, and I went and talked with the surgeon and it went very well he gave us the pros and cons of surgery and we were there talking to him for a solid half an hour or so. He was very professional and seems like he will do a fantastic job and you can tell that we takes what he does very seriously and really cares about his patients even if he has only just met you.

So that was Tuesday and then Wednesday I went and got another blood transfusion making this my fourth one. But while I was there I talked with my Oncologist and She has talk to the surgeon after we had and the two of them decided to switch to the new chemotherapy first before doing the surgery in hopes that the new chemo will significantly shrink the tumors more and so the surgery will not be as evasive and be more effective overall.

So I will begin the new chemo on the 13th of April and will do that for about two months and then will have another round of test done to see the results and then more than likely will have the surgery done at that point.

That is the schedule as of now but as we know the ride of life it is always subject to change.

Shots: 83

Pills: 212

A little VCR!

So once again I went to the hospital and received a shot of chemo, which is abbreviated VCR, so that is that.

Also played a game called blink! and lost once again what a surprise.

A weekend for tomorrow which will be the 31st of March I am to meet with the surgeon who will be preforming my surgery so that will be my next post.

Hope everyone is enjoying the ride of life!

shots: 77

Pills: 211

Round 7 Complete

So another round has come and gone and so things are going good. No my schedule becomes a little more lets wait and see.

I will go in again on Monday and receive a push of vincristine so that will go as normal, but on March 31st I will have the appointment with the surgeon to discuss the possibility of surgery so depending on how that goes will determine when my surgery will be and the following chemo schedule after that.

So I will keep you updated as soon as I know what exactly is going on.

Anyways I picked Gonzaga to win the NCAA Tournament. Just thought I would post so if it happens it is published somewhere. It is a long shot but I hope for the best.

shots: 76

pills: 210

Day 4-Round 7

Today went by very quickly we arrived and 7:30 and my chemo was made and delivered by 8:50. So things went very quickly. Also I watch March Madness to help the time go by. I pick Gonzaga to go all of the way. Call me crazy if you wish. To this point I have gotten 6 out of 8 correct so not to bad. So I will give you an update tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

shots: 76

pills: 205

Day 3-Round 7

So another day was come and gone. Day three was without much event. I got there 7:30 and my chemo was there by 9:00 and I was gone by 11:30 so everything went very smoothly. Since it was wednesday that means that I was deaccessed and I was able to take a shower with is always an amazing experience. 

So in anticipation of the shower. I wore my I Heart showering shirt which was made for me by my friends Ashley and Sterling. All the nurses loved it so I would like to say thanks to my friend Ashley and Sterling for making me my saweet shower shirt!

 

The shower did feel very good!

Ode to Sandra!

Sandra has been my nurse the past two days and she has been awesome. She is super saweet and I can tell that she really cares!

Day 1 of round seven went by very well and without anything bad happening. We saw my doctor again on Monday and she had talked with a surgeon who specializes in the very surgery that I will need. My doctor told me that he will be more than happy to perform surgery on me and that they will perform the surgery and open me like a clam. In which they will feel around in my lungs and find the tumors and cut them out and then remove my left diaphragm which has the big conglomerate of tumors on it and replace it with a fake diaphragm.

So we will meet with the surgery on March 31st and will then take to him and figure out all the details and find out for sure whether the surgery will for sure take place. So that will be good news. It will always a better prognosis if surgery can be performed to remove the tumors.

So here I am Day 2 writing to you before I have even gotten my chemo and I am sure today will go by fast.

Once again if you have any questions you can comment on this blog or email me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com

and last of all I would like to wish my MOTHER A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! LOVE YA!!!

Shots: 75

Pills: 197

Round 6 MEANS HALF WAY DONE!

So Today I completed Round 6 of 12.

Halfway done. The Chemo and Radiation has been very effective against the tumors. The large tumor once 7 centimeters is now 1.5 centimeters.

So things are looking very positive.

So to celebrate my family is taking me here

Yeah For Ribs!

Round 6-Days 3,4, and 5.

Day Three:
my father went with me and spend the morning at the hospital. The only hiccup on Wednesday was that when we were about one mile from our exit on the freeway I decided that I could no longer hold in my urine and so my dad pulled over to the side of the freeway and I peed right there as many cars passed during the morning commute. So I am sure a lot of people saw more on their way to work than they would have liked.

Day Four:
went very smooth and without incident and I downloaded many songs from the 90's it was a total retro day. Songs such as: Run Around by: Blues Traveler, Take my picture by: Filter, Save Tonight by: Eagle eye Cherry, and many songs by No Doubt just to name a few.

So today, DAY 5, went very quick and we were out of the hospital and home by noon. So we could not have asked for a better day 5. It went as smooth as the impeachment of Rob Blagojevich.

Thanks again to everyone who has commented on this blog or who has said prayers in my behalf. They are felt and you never can have to many.

If you have any question about anything about my bout against cancer fell free to comment on this blog, or email me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com

shots: 59

pills: 176

TGIF! Yeah for the weekend.

Round 6- Days 1 and 2

So yesterday we began round 6. It was a rather long day at the hospital. We arrived and 8 and didn't leave until about 3. So it was a lot longer than we had planned but everything went well. My blood and urine levels were good enough to start the round.

so today being day 2 thinks flow a lot better than they do on Mondays. Because we do no meet with a doctor any other day than the first day of the round. So that cuts out about and hour to hour and a half. So once again we arrived to the hospital at 8 and we left and started for home around 11:45. So day 2 have been very quicker.

So things and going good. But since I am accessed there will be no shower for me today. I look forward to tomorrow when I will be de-accessed. I love my showers

I would just like to thank Dalene for the comment.

My cousin Greg asked me why I still go to children's hospital with the fact that I am 22. The reason is that the type of cancer I have is a child cancer so children's hospital is better equipped to treat my cancer.

So the two surgeons and still working on my case and determine what kind of surgery would be best if any is necessary. But regardless of whether or not I have surgery I will complete all 12 rounds of chemo.

You win some you lose some

So today I got a curve balls that life throws at you. I went in for th beginning of my next round of chemo, but instead got a curve.

So I woke up at 6 o'clock and started to drink so that my urine would pass the urine analysis.

Got to the hospital and my pee was looking good for everything to move forward. So at 8:30 I went to have a CT scan. It was the first one since the completion of radiation so my mother and I were excited to see how well radiation had destroyed the cancer inside my lungs.

After the scan I went back to the clinic and got good and bad news. The good news is the the tumors have shrunk quite significantly and may be small enough to be removed by an operation.

The not so good news was that my blood count was not good enough to start the next round of chemo. So I guess you can't win them all.

So round 6 will be put off until next Monday but it was good to hear that the radiation did a very good job and that everything is looking very good.

so all I can say is that you win some and lose some. THAT IS LIFE! Just take the good stuff and keep going.

Until next week....

Shots: 57

Pills: 156

Pictures!

Here is a picture of me and my IV pole. It is a girl if you cannot tell by the pink leggings she is wearing.


Here is a picture of my chest when I am "accessed". The tube that is hooked up to my chest is connected to the IV pole which is how all the chemo is administered.


so there are pictures for you to enjoy! If you have any requests for what you want pictures of you should let me know.

I am doing great and will start chemo on Tuesday!

Yeah for me!

Shots: 55

Pills: 153

Gots Me Some Platelets!

So Today I went to Tri City Hospital and just had some simple blood work done and then Children's Hospital  called and said that my platelets were low.

so at 530 pm my father and I went done to Children's to get a platelets transfusion.

So I was only there for about and hour and a half so cannot complain at all.

Just not the first thing I think of when I think of things to do on a Friday night.

Pokes: 50

Pills: 147

Final Day of Round 5!

So Round five has come to a completion. So things are going good. This was one of the fastest days yet. we got home around 10:45 so that was exciting.

Well I now have completed 5 out of the 12 treatments so after the next one I will be half way done and they will go faster because there will be no break for radiation during the second half.

Right now if everything goes smoothly it looks like I will finish the final round in June.

So I go in next Monday for a another "push" of Vincristine.

Everyone enjoy your weekend and the Super Bowl.

I will be cheering for the Cardinals.

Shots: 45

Pills: 144

Round 5-Day 4

So Day 4 went very well and smooth. Well arrived very early at the hospital and so the day went by very well and we were out the door by 11:30. Nothing to eventful happened today. 

So things are going well and tomorrow is the last day and then 2 weeks off so that will be a good time to relax and regroup.

Shots: 45

Pills: 142

Midweek Shower who would have thought!

I need to start of this post with a big THANK YOU to my cancer buddy Sean. While I was away from the hospital going through my radiation treatments. He came up with the genius idea that after wednesdays treatments get the needle out so that you can take a mid week shower.

It is such a simple idea but let me tell you it makes the week go by so much faster, quicker, and feels so go to take a shower. 

So that completes day 3 of Round 5.

So it sounds like something simple to you all but to me. This mid week shower changes everything.

Once again if you have any questions, comments, likes or dislikes, you and email me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com, comment on this blog, or facebook me.

Thanks to you all for all your thoughts and prayers

Shots: 44

Pills: 140

Round 5-Day 2

I am now back into the swing of things. 

Getting up at 6 am to start drinking ridiculous amounts of liquid. Today I had drank so much that about one-third of the way down to the hospital and stuck in traffic my bladder started to tell me, "I AM FULL.....MUST GO PEE" so I start to do a little deep breathing and trying to divert my attention to anything else the fact that I need to pee. So after about 5 minutes and still the traffic was not to much better, I check the back seats to see if there are any empty bottles. I found to small water bottles and told my mother that I could no longer wait and I did not want to ruin her car. 

So I climbed into the back seat covered with a blanket and proceeded to release my bladder from the large amount of urine. This proved to be a lot harder that I had thought but I managed to fill the bottle and no spill it all over the place. 

So then we arrive to the hospital and I of course run right in and go to the cupboard and grab a pee cup take care of business and then go back to the place to check in to grab all the needed paper work.

Anyways the day went very smoothly and I had my own little dance party as I was waiting for my chemo to arrived. I used the plug part that goes into to the wall from my IV pole as a microphone and sang my little heart out. My nurse Brooke then shared some music that she has been listening to lately and I now have one of the songs as a ring tone.

So that was day 2 of round 5 at the hospital.

Shots: 44

Pills: 137

Pints: 4

Round 5-Day 1

Hello after a 6 week break to enjoy the Holidays and begin and complete Radiation treatment it was back to Children's Hospital.

So once again it is back to getting up at 6 in the morning and to begin drinking large amounts of water and gatorade so that my pee is clear enough so that I may be approved by the doctor for chemo. 

So upon arrival my mother dropped me off and I skipped the checking in part because I needed to go pee so bad. I went start to the bed that I always use and put my stuff on in then went into the cupboard and grabbed a urine cup and then took care of my business. 

Today went very smoothly and we got home at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. So I will go in for the four days and back to the grind of chemo. 

This is round 5 out of 12. So at this point the projected ending is in June.

Shots: 44

pills: 135

Pints of blood: 4

Love ya all and thanks for the prayers of support!

This one is for Mike Park!

so Today I finished my last day of radiation!

I am excited about this day for a few reasons:

1. The Radiation part of my treatment is complete and it is always good to celebrate milestones.

2. After wearing stickers on my chest for six weeks I am very excited to be sticker free. (It is much easier to take a shower now.)

3. I no longer have to drive to La Jolla everyday for the treatments.

But I would be lying if I said there aren't any sad parts to ending treatments.

1. Good bye to very cold handed radiation tech. She would help me line up perfectly for the machine and had the coldest hands ever. (Exactly like Elliot Reed if you have seen that episode.)

2. The wonderful complimentary pastry that I was able to enjoy each morning during the car ride home.

3. Listening to Cliff and company on KSON. my mom loves them.

Well so that is the update. I will start my next round of chemo on Monday. I have 8 more and then I will be good as new.

Once again if you have any questions, comments, likes, dislikes, suggestions feel free to email, facebook, or comment on this blog.

Radiation....Finally!

So Today I had my first treatment of Radiation and I have been waiting patiently for it to start for over a month now. I will only have about 10 or so days of radiation and then it is back to the Chemo. So we are moving on and getting closer to being done with all the treatment.

That is all for today!