Today as we drove to the hospital my stomach wasn't feeling very well so I just put my chair back a little bit and tried to relax and focus my mind on something besides my stomach. My stomach felt uneasy the whole way to hospital. My mom dropped me off at the door as usually so as she is parking I can go sign in so things get started quicker. But to today as I got out of the car I grabbed my backpack and blanket and then took a few steps on the grass and Kablooomy. I had just thrown up all over the grass. I turned back waved to my mother..smiled..and then walked into the hospital to sign in for my chemo.
Today I was able to go to the Procedure Room where I am known by all the nurses and I didn't have to go to the Infusion Room where I know not really anyone. So I got my favorite nurse so I was a happy camper. The nurses name is Brooke and she has a good sense of humor and at one point in the day we were singing New Kids on the Block "Step by Step" so we were having fun passing the time as I was pre-hydrating and chemoing.
So Day four was exciting and full of fun. And Brooke told me that my pee passed with flying colors and it usually does.
Shots: 14
Pills: 47
Only one day until I can take a shower. YEAH!!!!!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Round 2 Day 3
Today was another fun day of chemo at the hospital. I am usually sent to the Procedure Room to have my pee tested and get pre-hydrated before I get my chemo. I have gotten to know the nurses that work in that room very well. But today I was sent to the Infusion Room. There is a whole different group of nurses. So I don't have my routine down with them as I do with the nurses in the procedure room. I wasn't that excited about this because you get into a groove with the nurses they what you need and everything goes my smoother. So today I helped the nurses out by telling what I need..such as that I need my pee cup right away because of how much I drink, and I need to pre-hydrate for an hour before I have chemo. I told them this right away so I wouldn't have to wait any longer than necessary. So today I met a lot of new nurses.
It wasn't all bad because there were two attractive nurses but they both had wedding rings on.
So today the chemo went very smoothly and very quick. I have received a question regarding the radiation process in my last post.
Michelle asked,
Will they run the chemo at the same time as your radiation? And how do they determine that radiation is necessary?
They may or may not run the chemo during the radiation but if they do it will be at a significantly lower dose because the combination of the two can be too harsh and really do some damage to my lungs. Radiation therapy almost always goes along with chemo. I had radiation last time on my leg. Radiation just targets the tumors directly and if everything goes well totally eliminate the cancer.
Thanks again for everyones prayers of support and for the emails and wall posts to check up on me. I really appreciate them. Thank You.
Shots: 14
Pills: 43
It wasn't all bad because there were two attractive nurses but they both had wedding rings on.
So today the chemo went very smoothly and very quick. I have received a question regarding the radiation process in my last post.
Michelle asked,
Will they run the chemo at the same time as your radiation? And how do they determine that radiation is necessary?
They may or may not run the chemo during the radiation but if they do it will be at a significantly lower dose because the combination of the two can be too harsh and really do some damage to my lungs. Radiation therapy almost always goes along with chemo. I had radiation last time on my leg. Radiation just targets the tumors directly and if everything goes well totally eliminate the cancer.
Thanks again for everyones prayers of support and for the emails and wall posts to check up on me. I really appreciate them. Thank You.
Shots: 14
Pills: 43
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Round 2 Day 2
Well today we arrived at the hospital at 9:40 and they were much quicker today. They started my pre-hydration right away and then my chemo came right on time and I was done and out of the hospital at one oclock which was at least 2 hours quicker than yesterday. So I was very excited about that.
We also met with the doctor today and just talked about how everything is going and how I am feeling and responding to the chemo. It was a quick meeting we also got permission to get CBC (Blood work) at a hospital by my house. This allows me to not have to drive 45 minutes to children's hospital when all they need is blood work. I can just drive to the hospital that is like 5 minutes from my house. So that will cut down a lot of time traveling.
After my chemo today my mom and I drove over to the Radiation Oncology to have a consultation to start my radiation therapy. His name was Dr. Murphy he was a way awesome and personable doctor. He explained to us all that will go on with the radiation. It will be targeted to my lungs at a low dose. I will go in daily for about 2 or 3 weeks.
So I will go in next week and have a scan at their offices so that they will have it for their records and he will look at everything and talk to my cancer doctor and they will decide on when to start the radiation treatment.
Today I feel a lot better than I did yesterday. Yesterday I was very tired. I just felt completely wiped out. Today I feel pretty normal so today is a lot better than yesterday was.
Thanks again for everyones prayers and thoughts. They are all very important.
Once again if you have any questions you can comment on my blog or email me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com
shots: 14
pills: 38
We also met with the doctor today and just talked about how everything is going and how I am feeling and responding to the chemo. It was a quick meeting we also got permission to get CBC (Blood work) at a hospital by my house. This allows me to not have to drive 45 minutes to children's hospital when all they need is blood work. I can just drive to the hospital that is like 5 minutes from my house. So that will cut down a lot of time traveling.
After my chemo today my mom and I drove over to the Radiation Oncology to have a consultation to start my radiation therapy. His name was Dr. Murphy he was a way awesome and personable doctor. He explained to us all that will go on with the radiation. It will be targeted to my lungs at a low dose. I will go in daily for about 2 or 3 weeks.
So I will go in next week and have a scan at their offices so that they will have it for their records and he will look at everything and talk to my cancer doctor and they will decide on when to start the radiation treatment.
Today I feel a lot better than I did yesterday. Yesterday I was very tired. I just felt completely wiped out. Today I feel pretty normal so today is a lot better than yesterday was.
Thanks again for everyones prayers and thoughts. They are all very important.
Once again if you have any questions you can comment on my blog or email me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com
shots: 14
pills: 38
Round 2 Day 1
Well today I started my second round of the 5 days of chemo. I will be having chemo for the next 5 days. Which means the shower I took this morning will be my last until Friday. Friday is when they will take out the needle that is hook in to the port-a-cath in my chest.
So today was probably the slowest day yet at the hospital. We arrived at about 9:40 and was there until 2:30. There was a lot of waiting around I guess the hospital was more busy than usual. So I caught up on all my internet reading. So the chemo and the medicine really wiped me out and I took and long nap for the rest of the day. I woke up in time for the world series to be stopped by a rain delay. Stupid Rain.
So I will have more to write about tomorrow for day 2. Hot Nurse #2 talked to me while I was at the hospital it was the highlight of the day.
Thanks again for all your prayers.
Needle pokes: 14
pills: 36
So today was probably the slowest day yet at the hospital. We arrived at about 9:40 and was there until 2:30. There was a lot of waiting around I guess the hospital was more busy than usual. So I caught up on all my internet reading. So the chemo and the medicine really wiped me out and I took and long nap for the rest of the day. I woke up in time for the world series to be stopped by a rain delay. Stupid Rain.
So I will have more to write about tomorrow for day 2. Hot Nurse #2 talked to me while I was at the hospital it was the highlight of the day.
Thanks again for all your prayers.
Needle pokes: 14
pills: 36
Monday, October 20, 2008
Another "Push" of Chemo
So today I went to Children's Hospital to receive another "hit" of chemo. Though it is just a shot sized of chemo, we were at the hospital from 9:25 until 12:30. It took forever today for them to make my chemo. But time went by, because I read just about every article on ESPN.com, Padres.com, Denverbroncos.com, realgm.com, and sportingnews.com. So I am well caught up with my sports facts and perhaps know to much than I need to. I also surfed the shop on mlb.com (baseball), and nfl.com (football) for my Christmas list. I am a die hard sports fan just in case you didn't know. I wore my Denver Broncos football jersey today because the Broncos are playing tonight on Monday Night Football. That is how much I love and support the teams I love.
And just to let everyone who hasn't seen me since I started chemo I still have all my hair (at least the little bit I do have), and it doesn't seem to be falling out like last time, but time will tell.
So I was asked another question
Katie asked a question in response to one of my responses to a question in my last post.
I said, You said that they will continue with chemo if it seems to work and if not they'll remove part or all of the cancer. she asked, Why wouldn't they just do the surgery then?
They want to see how my body responds to the chemo first, and if the chemo is working well and there is significant reduction of the cancer then the surgery won't be necessary. They like to avoid surgery on the lungs because of how important they are to our body. When you have surgery on your lungs you could faces complications of a collapsed lung, infection in the lungs (which is never good). So that is why we won't do the surgery if the chemo is doing very well against the cancer.
Shot Total: 10
Pill Total: 29
Thanks again to everyone who is praying for me. I know every prayer will make a difference.
And just to let everyone who hasn't seen me since I started chemo I still have all my hair (at least the little bit I do have), and it doesn't seem to be falling out like last time, but time will tell.
So I was asked another question
Katie asked a question in response to one of my responses to a question in my last post.
I said, You said that they will continue with chemo if it seems to work and if not they'll remove part or all of the cancer. she asked, Why wouldn't they just do the surgery then?
They want to see how my body responds to the chemo first, and if the chemo is working well and there is significant reduction of the cancer then the surgery won't be necessary. They like to avoid surgery on the lungs because of how important they are to our body. When you have surgery on your lungs you could faces complications of a collapsed lung, infection in the lungs (which is never good). So that is why we won't do the surgery if the chemo is doing very well against the cancer.
Shot Total: 10
Pill Total: 29
Thanks again to everyone who is praying for me. I know every prayer will make a difference.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Answers to Questions!
First off I am enjoying a week free from chemo and hospital visits and a life as normal as it can get at this stage in my life. The nurse came back and taught my mother how to give me shots. Yesterday was the first day my mother gave me a shot without the presence of the nurse and to tell the truth it has been the least painless shot of GCSF (Immune system builder) that I have had so far. So GO MOM!
Today I wanted to just answer some questions that I have been asked by readers:
Tory asked, Are you only doing chemo treatments or are they going to do surgery as well?
So the game plan as of right now is that I will have one more round of the 5 Day treatment and then I will have all my scans again (MRI, CT Scan, bone scan, Ect.) to determine the result that the chemo is having on the cancer in my lungs. My understanding from my doctor is if the cancer is responding well then we will skip surgery and continue chemo, and if the cancer has not shrunken at all then I will have surgery to remove some if not all of the cancer. So that is the game plan with surgery right now!
Michelle asked,
I know you have pain(on the pain scale 1-10, what is your range?), is the pain from the biopsy/surgery or is it the crummy cancer bugs? Does it make your whole body hurt all the time or is it only in the spot in your chest where those mean bugs are?
There is actually no pain involved when you are receiving chemo. It is just liquid going into my body and you cannot feel the chemo once it is inside the body. The pain comes as side effects of the chemo such as jaw pain, lack of energy, body aches. So it is not to painful at all. I would rate it as a 1 or 2 on the pain scale. Of course I have my bad days in which I take a hot bath and let me body relax, but it never gets unbearable.
Mary asked,
What is Sean's situation and does he have cancer in the lungs as well?
Just in case you are new to my blog Sean is a 20 year old kid I have met at Children's Hospital where I am being treated. It was good to meet him because most of the other patients are all younger than about 14 years old. Sean has cancer in his blood and this is his second go around against cancer like me. He is receiving entirely different treatment and different chemos. His chemo is part arsenic (ingredient of rat poison) so he has to be monitored even closer than I do because of the effects his can have on his body. And his treatment plan is a lot longer than mine will be. That is currently all I really know about Sean's situation.
Michelle asked,
The nausea medication, are they giving you a different or new drug to help with that this time?
I am taking the exact same nausea medication as I did last time. My theory is if it ain't broke don't fix it. So it worked last time and it is doing a great job this go around so I have no desire to try new one.
I believe those are all the questions I have received so far. If you sent me one and I didn't answer it or you have a new question email me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com.
And I would like to thank my FHE brothers and sisters for their package of letters it was a great surprise and I enjoyed reading them. It brightened my day. THANK YOU!
Well I will write again when I go in for another push of chemo on Monday.
Thanks again for everyones support and prayers.
Shot total: 6
pill total: 26
Today I wanted to just answer some questions that I have been asked by readers:
Tory asked, Are you only doing chemo treatments or are they going to do surgery as well?
So the game plan as of right now is that I will have one more round of the 5 Day treatment and then I will have all my scans again (MRI, CT Scan, bone scan, Ect.) to determine the result that the chemo is having on the cancer in my lungs. My understanding from my doctor is if the cancer is responding well then we will skip surgery and continue chemo, and if the cancer has not shrunken at all then I will have surgery to remove some if not all of the cancer. So that is the game plan with surgery right now!
Michelle asked,
I know you have pain(on the pain scale 1-10, what is your range?), is the pain from the biopsy/surgery or is it the crummy cancer bugs? Does it make your whole body hurt all the time or is it only in the spot in your chest where those mean bugs are?
There is actually no pain involved when you are receiving chemo. It is just liquid going into my body and you cannot feel the chemo once it is inside the body. The pain comes as side effects of the chemo such as jaw pain, lack of energy, body aches. So it is not to painful at all. I would rate it as a 1 or 2 on the pain scale. Of course I have my bad days in which I take a hot bath and let me body relax, but it never gets unbearable.
Mary asked,
What is Sean's situation and does he have cancer in the lungs as well?
Just in case you are new to my blog Sean is a 20 year old kid I have met at Children's Hospital where I am being treated. It was good to meet him because most of the other patients are all younger than about 14 years old. Sean has cancer in his blood and this is his second go around against cancer like me. He is receiving entirely different treatment and different chemos. His chemo is part arsenic (ingredient of rat poison) so he has to be monitored even closer than I do because of the effects his can have on his body. And his treatment plan is a lot longer than mine will be. That is currently all I really know about Sean's situation.
Michelle asked,
The nausea medication, are they giving you a different or new drug to help with that this time?
I am taking the exact same nausea medication as I did last time. My theory is if it ain't broke don't fix it. So it worked last time and it is doing a great job this go around so I have no desire to try new one.
I believe those are all the questions I have received so far. If you sent me one and I didn't answer it or you have a new question email me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com.
And I would like to thank my FHE brothers and sisters for their package of letters it was a great surprise and I enjoyed reading them. It brightened my day. THANK YOU!
Well I will write again when I go in for another push of chemo on Monday.
Thanks again for everyones support and prayers.
Shot total: 6
pill total: 26
Monday, October 13, 2008
Just a "Push" of Chemo
Today was another day for chemo. I went to children to receive my vincristine "push". Now I wasn't quite sure what that meant. So I woke up at 7:00 am to start drink my mass amount of liquids so that I would pass my pee test. When I arrived to the hospital I was told by the nurse that so U.A. (Urine Analysis) was needed for this chemo. So I had drank my usual 91.1 ounces of liquid for the mere benefit of being well hydrated if nothing else.
They started of with accessing my port-a-cath. Which means that they stuck a needle with a tube attached into my port so that they could draw blood and give me my "push" of chemo. To explain what a "push" of chemo is...it is the hospital's terminology for a small amount. Kinda like drug addicts take a "hit" of drugs or a baker uses just a "pinch" of salt while making the recipe. A "push" of chemo is basically just a syringe used for a regular shot filled with chemo. This shot of chemo also does not induce nausea so my fasting all morning was also not needed.
Well today I also started my GCSF shots. This is where I will have a shot every day for ten days to help boost my immune system, focusing on producing white blood cells, since the chemo wipes out the good and the bad cells in my body. So a homecare nurse named Terri came and administered my first shot. The shots will be given in my legs or arms. She will come again tomorrow and teach my mother how to give the shots and after tomorrow my mother will give me all my shots that I will receive outside of the hospital.
So no more chemo or visits to the hospital until next Monday when I will receive another "push" of chemo. Then the following Monday, October 27th, I will start another round of the five days straight chemo.
Pill Count: 21
Shot Count: 4
Thanks again for all the prayers that have been said in my behalf. I am thank for the support of so many family and friends.
Again I am open to any questions, comments please email me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com
They started of with accessing my port-a-cath. Which means that they stuck a needle with a tube attached into my port so that they could draw blood and give me my "push" of chemo. To explain what a "push" of chemo is...it is the hospital's terminology for a small amount. Kinda like drug addicts take a "hit" of drugs or a baker uses just a "pinch" of salt while making the recipe. A "push" of chemo is basically just a syringe used for a regular shot filled with chemo. This shot of chemo also does not induce nausea so my fasting all morning was also not needed.
Well today I also started my GCSF shots. This is where I will have a shot every day for ten days to help boost my immune system, focusing on producing white blood cells, since the chemo wipes out the good and the bad cells in my body. So a homecare nurse named Terri came and administered my first shot. The shots will be given in my legs or arms. She will come again tomorrow and teach my mother how to give the shots and after tomorrow my mother will give me all my shots that I will receive outside of the hospital.
So no more chemo or visits to the hospital until next Monday when I will receive another "push" of chemo. Then the following Monday, October 27th, I will start another round of the five days straight chemo.
Pill Count: 21
Shot Count: 4
Thanks again for all the prayers that have been said in my behalf. I am thank for the support of so many family and friends.
Again I am open to any questions, comments please email me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com
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