Thanksgiving Update

Yesterday, I had my routine scans that I have every three months.

I was nervous to see how well the experimental rapamycin drug is working.

I had the CT scan and then went to go see my doctor and EVERYTHING had shrunk and was smaller than they had been previous.

It was great news to hear and so I will continue taking the drugs I am and thinks are going great!

Now on to finishing the school semester and then I can relax and enjoy things during Christmas break.

Sex scandals and Cancer Fighting

I have now been taking Rapamycin for over a week now and so it was once again time to go to the doctors and get my arm poked. Since this is not a ordinary chemo or drug that is usually used to treat cancer the nurse drawing my blood did not know the protocol for figuring out my Rapamycin levels.

They check these levels to make sure that my body is not being totally put out of whack by this new drug I am taking.

So after about 2 hours sitting and waiting my blood was drawn and sent off to the lab. I have yet to hear back from them so I assume that all the levels are good. (I figure they would call me if they were otherwise.)

Besides fighting cancer I am still working on my research paper on comparing the apology celebrities and politician after they admit to a sex scandal. This paper along may be the reason why BYU was only ranked #9. If it was not for my research partner and I googling and searching for prominent sex scandals I feel we would have at least been in the top 5. Here is the article.

That is all I have for today. Oh wait I was going to unveil my new theme song. I could not pick just one. Here are two song the ALWAYS put me in a good mode when they come on my ipod.

First:

Song: It's Time by: Imagine Dragons

Click Here to Listen

Second:

Song: This is the New Year by: Ian Axel

Click Here to Listen

Enjoy listening. I listen to each song like 5 times just while writing this post.

Also if you have not seen the movie 50/50 you need to because it is great.

Still Fighting It

I had my doctors appointment after taking my Temodar (Chemo) for a week. My blood counts were great. However, with this chemo the blood counts often have a delay before they dip...so we shall see what happens.

Also, I am now taking a drug called Rapamycin or Sirolimus to fight the cancerous party going on in my insides.

This drug is not "chemo" it is usually taken by patients who have received a organ transplant.

You can click here. If you would like to read the wikipedia page about the awesome drug.

So we shall see how it works in terms of fighting It.

As for the rest of life, school is going well and I only have three papers and one test before I can celebrate the day called christmas.

This does not sound like a lot, but one of the papers is 20-25 pages and the test is on Statistics....so it should be a fun few weeks.

Until the next update.....Keep fighting it.....Whatever it may be!

In my next post I will unveil my new theme song!

Another round of chemo....Done

I survived the 5 days of chemo. I took the oral chemo called temodar.

It was no where as bad as the chemo that wiped me out for 2+ weeks.

This chemo was much more pleasant. (if chemo can even be pleasant.)

I go in for a doctor appointment on Monday to have my counts done and plan for what the next move is.

At this stage in my treatment there is no roadmap or precedent for what to do for treatment. We are just playing it by ear and taking it one treatment at a time.

Until next time enjoy Halloween. I am not sure what I am going to dress up as yet. Suggestions are welcome. (if you can incorporate my bald head all the better!)

Last Weekend of feeling good

So this weekend is my last hurray, before I start chemo again on Monday. I hope to go out with a bang. Maybe some dancing, good food, friends, pillow talk, and some good movies.

Well if you read this during this weekend...hit me up, because I want to party with you.

Also, Liz Redd I will have a new theme song for starting chemo again. I will reveal it once I start on Monday!

I am also taking suggestions if anyone has a song they feel appropriate.

Chemo starts Oct 24

I had my first doctor appointment since returning to Utah and my blood counts were all terrific. My platelets were in the 100s. (This is awesome because about a month ago they were at zero.)

So I will give me body a week longer to repair and mend itself before I start beating it up with chemo again.

I am surviving school and hope to be caught up by the end of the month so that I am allowed to go trick-or-treating.

Thanks everyone for your kind words, prayers, and super thoughts during the last month or so. t was a rough road but I think I am back on cruise control of kicking cancer in the BUTT.

Getting back in the habit

I am back in Utah trying to figure out how to get back into the groove of being a graduate student after missing two weeks of classroom instruction. Moreover, during those two weeks my health was so unpleasant that I was not able to do ANY school work.

I will now spend many many hours in the Library reading, writing, reading, writing, reading, wasting time on Internet, and then more reading and writing.

After 10 blood, platelet transfusions I am slowly starting to feel somewhat normal. I would say I am about 75% back to "normal." Now for me normal was never feeling awesome. The reality is that I am a cancer patient, but at this point I would take how I felt about 3 weeks ago and call it good. I have accepted that I will never feel 100% normal. I will never be able to run more than a few yards before I am completely out of energy, but I would love to feel 100% "normal" for me.

With time it will all come back and my white blood cell, platelet, and hemoglobin counts are climbing and improving a little every time I go in. Hopefully in the next week or so I will be back to my normal energy level.

Luckily studying in the library does not require much physical energy. However, I would not mind if they got cushions for their hardwood chair, but I will make due.

Well, there is a little update on the life of Dave Chalk. Feel free to email me, comment, text, facebook, or any other form with questions you may have. I enjoy playing words with friends and my name on their is cansirboi, so challenge me and ask me questions that way.

In the last two and a half weeks,

Needle pokes: 30

Pills: 60

Movies: Too many

Weight loss due to inability to eat: 15 pounds

Travels: Provo, Orem, Vista, San Diego, American Fork

Words with friends winning percentage: only about 55% (I need to improve in this department)

Well Happy Monday to you all. Updates to follow as I have more Doctors Appointments