Chemotherapy - Day 24

08.26.09: Chemotherapy - Day 24

This Monday I started my second cycle of chemotherapy, which means that I am back to going to the doctor's office every day. The good news is that after three (long) days of chemotherapy, I don't feel as nauseous as I did during my first cycle. I still am taking some of my medicine just to be safe, but in general I feel pretty good. I have been tired every afternoon, but that's not too bad.

I spent most of the last week trying to get used to my haircut. It's odd how I didn't think losing my hair would be a very big deal to me, but it ended up being the hardest part of the chemo thus far. I have been self-conscious about it and not wanting very much attention, which is hard to avoid sometimes. I think I am finally getting used to it now, though, because I'm able to do more without a hat. It is just hard to go from having hair all my life to having none, and not having any say in it.

Back to the day-to-day life, I finished the work week without much going on. I was able to stay moderately busy, but it was generally slow around the office. Thursday night my friend Faye came to see me, and play some UFC on Xbox. I let her win a few fights to be nice. Friday night, Adam and I met some friends and went to a movie, and I stayed in my bed at his apartment. I was feeling really good this past weekend, since it had been two weeks since I had a full week of chemo. Saturday morning, Adam rode with me to Dick's Sporting Goods in Memphis and I finally bought a new bike that I have been wanting for a couple months now. I'm pretty proud of it, and spent a good bit of time riding it Saturday and Sunday, and getting used to finally being able to do something physical outside again. Since Monday, I haven't been energetic enough to do anything with it, and I know that this week I will just have to take it easy. Here's a picture of it below:



Pretty cool, huh?

Monday I had a pretty long day at Dr. Walsh's office, because he wanted to meet with me before I started my medicine. Once, I got started with the chemo, though, it went fine and I had no problems. I met a guy there my age going through the same thing as me, and it was pretty cool to talk to him on his first day. He's a nice guy and I hope everything goes well for him during his treatments. It's unfortunate that he has to go through this, too, but nice to talk to someone my age while I'm there. It's been nice talking to his mom, too.

I reread "Of Mice and Men" Monday while I was doing my treatments. The last two days, I have been reading another relatively short book, "The Haunted House" by Charles Dickens, but it just isn't catching my attention. I think I am going to change it up tomorrow. Not sure what I'll take with me, but I will probably stick with something from the last fifty years or so.

I've also been catching up on a lot of movies that I own but have never watched. A lot of them are older movies, like some Woody Allen movies and Citizen Kane, because I like stuff like that. I've also been watching mostly all of the new releases from Netflix, too, so I haven't been very bored at the house.

I felt fine Tuesday, too, and had a pretty uneventful day doing the chemo. Today, I wasn't able to do my chemo at Bartlett since the office was closed. I went back to Oxford like I did during my first cycle. They are really nice at the Oxford office, though it does seem to take longer there to get through all the medicine than it does in Bartlett. I think it has to do with the Bartlett office giving me fluids at the same time as my meds, while Oxford runs each bag one at a time.

After it was over, Mom and I met up with my friend Mike Poole at one of my favorite Oxford restaurants, Volta Taverna for a late lunch. That was pretty cool, but I was pretty tired from sitting in that chair from 8:30 until after 2:00. I ended up taking a nap when I got home after rearranging some things in my room, and haven't really done much else since waking up. I think now I am just going to see if there's anything interesting online and get ready for another day in the recliner tomorrow.

I hope everyone reading is having a good week.

Chemotherapy - Day 17

08.19.09: Chemotherapy - Day 17. First Day with New Haircut

I had one of my short treatments yesterday morning before I came in to work. The actual process of putting in the medicine didn't take but thirty minutes, but getting me ready took a little longer. I can't really use the good vein in my right hand right now. It has been stuck so much that it is getting harder to put the needle in. We were able to use my left hand with no problem, though.

I am at the point with my treatment now where my white blood cells are starting to fade. This is normal so it's nothing for me to be alarmed about, but I just have to be careful about where I am and who I am around. I have some hand sanitizer at my desk now, so I'm hoping I'll be in good shape. No one at work is really sick as far as I know (besides one guy that has two kids with the swine flu -- he hasn't been in this week, though, thankfully). Still, the nurse had to speak with the doctor before giving me my medicine yesterday. My WBC level was at 2.0, where normal levels are between 4.0-11.0. Dr. Walsh said that since it fits within the timeline to go ahead and give me my normal medicine. I have been looking online at ways to try and raise the WBC levels, so I'll probably be beefing up my vitamin c, zinc, and beta-carotene intake. I'll go to Walmart and get some stuff for that. I'm always looking for a good reason to get out of the office on days like today when I brought my lunch.

While I was getting the medicine yesterday the nurse asked me if I was having any problems. I told her no, then I brought up a minute later that I had been breaking out on my chest, stomach and back, but I figured that was normal. Apparently she hadn't been listening because she thought I was talking about working out and was saying that was a good thing but to try not to get dehydrated. Kind of a weird mixup but I didn't even correct her.

I talked to the man that was sitting in the chair beside me. He's the same guy that had the reaction to his medicine a few weeks back, and he's still having some problems he said. He has been battling lung cancer since being diagnosed in May, though he said he feels like he's had it for a while (like around last December). He had radiation therapy for the first few months, and has now moved in to some pretty strong chemotherapy that he takes weekly. He has his hair still, but has more serious complications than I do. I feel bad for the guy and really hope this works out for him. He's a nice dude.

In a little unfortunate turn, I won't be able to get my port put it in enough time to start my next cylce. This is really frustrating, since I have been asking for one since the Friday of my first week. The doctor's office that I went to this past Friday couldn't set it up for me while I was in the office, because they needed to get in touch with Humana first and determine in which facility Humana wanted the surgery to be done. I couldn't really argue with that, since it really beats having to pay for it, but Humana wanted it done through a Baptist facility that's earliest availability is Tuesday, August 25th at 11:00 AM. That really doesn't work for me, since I start my second session the day before that and chemo is not something that can just be rescheduled. I had Dr. Walsh's office try and work it out with them where maybe I could get the port either first thing in the morning or last thing in the afternoon on that day, but it didn't happen and for now I will just need to put this surgery off for a few more weeks. Disappointing, yes, but not the end of the world. At least everything else is still going fine; finding a vein to use is a small deal.

I left the office around ten or a little after and had to go straight to AutoZone. While I was driving up yesterday my check engine light came on, and I wanted to go ahead and get that taken care of. I had two oxygen sensors in my truck go bad, which the guy that checked it out for me said leads to poor gas mileage and some other performance issues. He seemed to know what he was talking about so I went ahead and bought them there. They weren't cheap, but I'm hoping I'll see a difference in the amount of gas I burn going to work now. I got Dad's mechanic in Byhalia to fix it up for me later yesterday, and Dad let me take his car to Tupelo, so that all worked out.

I was in Macy's buying a shirt last Friday after I left the doctor in Southaven, and saw some hats that I liked. I usually don't do hats, but thought it would be cool to have one after I cut my hair, and I could tell that the time was coming. So yesterday when I got done dropping cash at AutoZone I stopped by Macy's again, since the one in Collierville is on the way to Byhalia. They had a few, but one fit me pretty well and I really liked it. It seems like it will go with this sports coat I have, so maybe I can wear it out some.


I went to work after getting Dad's car. I stopped at Wendy's in Holly Springs and got a grilled chicken sandwich, no fries though. I am at the point now where I can eat regularly but I am still trying to keep everything fairly healthy. I got to work a little after twelve and had a pretty full day working on this one project for one of our utilities. By the time I left for the day, I had made up my mind I was going to go ahead and cut my hair off.

I started noticing around Saturday that my hair was showing up a lot of different places besides my head. Some of it was coming out in the shower or in the sink, and any time I ran my hand through my hair or messed with it for any reason, some would come out. Sunday it was getting worse, and by Monday night I was sitting on the couch and noticing more and more just showing up on my t-shirt. Some of it was coming out with me even touching it. Tuesday morning I could feel some on my pillow. It never got to the point where any clumps came out, and I haven't had any bald spots showing up, but it was obviously just a matter of time before that happened.

So after seeing my hair collect all over my desk and keyboard yesterday afternoon, I figured it was time I just got rid of it before it got to looking too bad. People say that losing hair is one of the most traumatic parts of going through chemo, and I am sure that is true for some people, but it hasn't bothered me yet. If I was younger it may be different, but after hearing about the chemo from Dr. Roth in Nashville, I have been expecting to lose mine at this time (after 14 days) since before I even started. The medicine I take, not to mention how often I take it, is too strong to not kill my hair cells.

Dad called a lady that goes to our church and cuts hair in Waterford, Mrs. Dolly (or Mama D) and she was glad to see me on my way home from work. I went to her shop and pretty soon she had shaved off all my hair. You can still see some, it's just a really short buzz. I figure that all that will come out at some point because the hair is either dead or dying but it won't be as obvious as it was with long hair. I didn't really want to take a razor to it, either, because I didn't want to deal with the razor burn.

I was kind of worried that I would have a misshaped head; I haven't had a shaved head since I was a little kid and I didn't have a choice. All through school and after, I have always had hair, whether it was short or long, so I have never even seen my head. The good news is that I don't have any lumps, and the birthmark on the back of my head apparently isn't too noticeable. It's still taking some getting used to, but I don't think I will hate it. It really doesn't look bad at all.

When I got to work today, there were about ten hats sitting on my desk that people had brought in early. Later on throughout the morning, more and more people brought hats in to add to the collection. Right now the number is at twenty. I figure that will be all of them. I got a couple trucker hats, some CSA hats (one of which my boss wrote "Go To Hell Ole Miss" all over, since he's a huge MS State fan. I don't have the heart to tell him that I never got into the Ole Miss/State rivalry), a hat from the Pontotoc country club which is pretty cool, and some fedoras that I liked. I even got an Elmo hat and someone's old doo-rag. The rest of them can be seen in the pictures below. It's a pretty funny collection and a nice surprise from the coworkers, who have been really cool this whole time I've been going through this.




That's about all I've got for today. I'm going to get back to work and maybe try to do something (I haven't really done anything at all today. My phone has been quiet and I finished everything else I was working on before nine this morning). Hope everyone reading is having a good week.

Chemotherapy - Day 14

Chemotherapy - Day 14

The rest of the week and the weekend have been much better. Work Thursday was fine, if not a long day. Friday I had to see a doctor about my port, which I should be hearing more back from them Monday as far as scheduling that surgery is concerned.

This weekend I mostly hung out with my brother. Saturday we went to the movies and saw District 9, which I liked. Today I went to church and didn't do much else.

This week will be another light one; working every day and chemo just on Tuesday morning. I hope everyone reading has a good week.

Chemotherapy - Day 10

08.12.09: Chemotherapy - Day 10. Getting Back To Normal

It has been a few days since I last posted, and I have had a lot go on since then. So much so that I haven't been able to spend much time online to update everyone. I am not too busy right now, though, so maybe I can cover just about all of it.

Friday night was pretty nice. I was worn out the whole time, but Gary and Kalee Stanton came to Adam's apartment and we all hung out and just watched TV there. I haven't seen them since their wedding, though I've talked to Gary a good bit since then (and no, not all the calls were about help with speeding tickets; just one or two). Later that night Adam and I sat around and did all kinds of nerdy stuff until I went to bed. I got on Xbox Live and downloaded some new games to have at the house (no, Waterford does not have high-speed internet access).

Saturday I stayed at his place a little longer until he left to do some church stuff. I got out and ran some errands for Mom and Dad in Holly Springs, but took it easy again that night. It would have been nice to get out and go somewhere but I really didn't feel like it.

Sunday was great. My grandparents and uncle from Canton came to visit. I haven't seen them in a while and I always love when I get to be around them. We had a good visit and good lunch; the most solid food I had eaten all week. Once they got back on the road, I pretty much did a lot more sitting around at the house until that night.

I had some leftover spaghetti for dinner, which I had been craving. It was awesome at the time, but would turn into a nightmare later on.

I got together all my stuff I needed for work on Monday and filled the truck up with gas. I didn't feel so great when I went to bed Sunday night so I took some nausea medicine. Around 12:30 Monday morning I woke up feeling like I was about to throw up, so I ran straight for the toilet. I ended up losing all of the good food from the day over the course of the next four or five hours. I would go back to bed, then feel like I was burning up, and have to go back to the bathroom. Then I'd start freezing and have to cover up again, which would make it all start up again a little while later.

The worst part about it was I was too tired and disoriented to go to the kitchen and get some water, so after hours of being sick like that I ended up getting dehydrated. I had heard that dehydration is one of the worst things for a chemo patient, and I believe it. Around 6 I went to the kitchen and got some water and Sprite. I took some Pepto and ibuprofen, but neither of them did much good. I obviously couldn't make it to work like I'd planned, so I spent the rest of the day trying to drink a lot of water and sleep off the worst headache I've ever had in my life. It hurt to walk, to watch TV, to take a drink, and to do just about anything else. I tried to force down some soup but I couldn't eat more than a few spoonfuls. Later I ended up driving myself to Sonic to get a milkshake, which I got about halfway down. I finally ended up eating a banana for dinner, but that was it for the day.

My brother and Adam Hale came to the house later to hang out, but I still wasn't very fun. My headache was lingering but it was still good to have some company. When I went to bed I still didn't feel great, but by the next morning I felt mostly better.

Tuesday I went in for my "short day" of chemo. It ended up taking a lot longer than I had planned, partly because the nurse was taking her sweet time doing everything. The medicine I got was bleomicin, and since I have only had it once before, we had to do a "test sample" and wait twenty minutes before going through with the rest. I won't have to do that again next week, though, since I responded well to it last week and this week. Later, I talked to Dr. Walsh about getting my portacath put in. I meet a surgeon about that this Friday, and the operation will be next Friday. I guess that means I get to fill out more paperwork this week!

I was no longer dehydrated after the chemo, but I still couldn't handle much in my stomach. I had a couple bites of a Clif bar on the way there, but couldn't eat the rest. When I got home I made a turkey sandwich but didn't even eat half of it. It didn't taste good at all to me.

I left the house around 11:30 to go to work. I got there about an hour later and a guy I work with, Nathan Murff, caught me before I went in. I rode to Danver's with him, thinking I could get a salad or something. I ended up going with the vegetable soup, and it didn't taste good to me either. By this time I was wondering when I'd be able to eat again. Somehow I didn't feel too tired though. Finally when I got in to work, a lady that sits near me brought me some watermelon and it was awesome! I ate that and a plum and felt pretty good. By the time I got home I ate some mashed potatoes, so by the end of the day yesterday I had slowly started getting an appetite again.

Last night I started to notice another really annoying side effect of this chemo: acne, or something similar. I look like a 14 year old boy. I thought maybe my breakout was because I hadn't shaved in a few days, but it's not just on my face. I have bumps on my back and chest, too. They aren't painful, but irritating. It sucks. I almost looked like I had the chicken pox last night. Also, I have these dark marks on different parts of my body. The doctor told me I would experience some marks that look like scratches, and he was right. I wonder if those are going to show up on my head after I shave it here in a week or so... I hope not.

Today, I have been at work since 8 AM and haven't felt bad at all, aside from getting a little tired here and there. I've been really busy today, which was a nice change from the last week and a half, and I am glad I'm able to get back into the swing of things. I will try to put another update on here this weekend after I speak to the surgeon. Maybe I will have time to get on here and reply to some of the comments I have been left (can't access Facebook from work or I would have already done that). Thanks for reading and caring.

Chemotherapy - Day 5

08.07.09: Chemotherapy - Day 5

Today was probably the best day I have had this week with the chemo. It may have to do with the fact that I don't have another five-day week until the 24th of this month, but also everything seemed to go quickly and easily today.

I was the first patient at the office today, like usual, and only three or four other patients came in while I was there. I spent most of the day watching ESPN News and Cash Cab, and ended up getting out of the office in less than three hours.

I felt good enough today that I didn't have to take a nap when I got home, which is fine by me since the naps tend to make me feel even worse when I get up. Later tonight, I will be going to my brother's apartment to hang out with him and Gary Stanton (one of my good friends I have known for a very long time).

For now, though, I am going to get offline. I just wanted to update everyone and say that I had a good day. I may write something over the weekend if I have a chance, but if not I should be able to check in when I return to work on Monday. Thank you still for all of the comments and messages that keep coming.

Chemotherapy - Day 4

08.06.09: Chemotherapy - Day Four

Today I was back in familiar territory -- my recliner in the Bartlett office. When I got to the office I was the only patient there, so I got hooked up and started pretty quickly. I had my Friedman book again today, and read a few stories from it, but mostly spent my morning surfing the web on my phone.

Adam is letting me borrow his old phone, an AT&T Tilt, because I've just about destroyed my Blackberry by dropping it everywhere. I am ready to just buy an iPhone but can't upgrade until December, but this phone is pretty cool. I'm getting used to it, and not misspelling as many words in my text messages anymore.

Today I had my IV stuck in my right hand again, for the third time this week. That vein is getting tired of having needles stuck in it but it's the best one I've got. Tomorrow I'm gonna have to get Nurse Lisa to get creative or something, because this bruise has got to go.

I'm planning to set up an appointment for next week so that I can get a port (or portacath) inserted in in my chest. The process for that is pretty simple; I will have an outpatient surgery to connect a catheter to one of my veins, and the end of it will be on one side of my chest. It will be much more accessible to the doctors, and should be less painful. I imagine I will get the surgery done either Thursday or Friday of next week, so I won't have to miss much work.

As far as side effects go, I have still been doing fine. I have lost about two or three pounds, so nothing noticeable. While my diet has definitely changed for the better, I have just been too tired to be as active as I'd like to be. The temperature outside has been in the high 80's and 90's all week (mostly 90's), and my treatments are making my skin more sensitive to the sun.

A little explanation of the diet change: My Aunt Son Cha sent me a few websites with some information about what is best to eat during chemotherapy. My doctors agreed with the things that she and I discussed, and they are really encouraging good eating throughout this. During this time, my white blood cells are low and I will need all of the nutrition I can get from natural foods. Fried foods are mostly out of the question. I could eat some other things, like grilled meats and things like that, but it really depends on how that food makes me feel. For right now, I am trying to avoid anything that will make me feel worse.

Most of the things I drink (pretty much water and Gatorade) seem to stick around in my throat for a while after I get done drinking. Since I have to drink so much, this is another problem I've been noticing a lot. Rolaids and gum have been helping out a good bit tonight, so I am going to be keeping those in stock. I have also been tired again today, but maybe this weekend I will get to do more than lie around and watch TV. I hope so; I'm going to go crazy if I spend the whole weekend inside.

As I write this, I am working on some things for my job; I will have it done pretty soon so I can send it in tomorrow, if I don't go ahead and do so tonight. For now I am going to get back to watching The Office with Mom, and get ready for my last treatment of the week.

Chemotherapy - Day 3

08.05.09: Chemotherapy - Day Three

Today was my third day of chemotherapy, and it was a bit longer than the others. The office I have been going to in Bartlett, Dr. William Walsh's office, is closed every Wednesday, so I had to go to the Family Cancer Center in Oxford. It was a pretty nice facility, but my appointment was later than I am used to (I have been starting at 8:00-8:30, but today I did not start until 10:00).

Not only that, but this office does the processes a bit differently. While in Bartlett, I have been given fluid to keep me hydrated alongside the cisplatin. Today, however, the nurse alternated between giving me the medicine and the fluid at different times. It really made the day longer, as I didn't get out of the office today until between 2:30-3:00. I had planned on getting something to eat at Two Stick (a Japanese restaurant on the Oxford square), then going to see friends at the Business School since I was in town. Unfortunately I was too tired after the treatment; after eating, Mom and I just came home.

I think I was well-prepared today for chemo, even if it took longer than I'd hoped. I had to break down and shave my arms in the shower today, because two days of having medical tape rip out my arm hair is enough for me. I didn't have too much anyway, and I'm sure Nurse Lisa is going to like it ;).

I didn't take the same book today, but another current favorite of mine, "The Collected Short Fiction of Bruce Jay Friedman." Friedman is one of my favorite authors, though he has not written anything recently. He has had some of his books and short stories turned into movies, like the Steve Martin comedy "The Lonely Guy" or the Charles Grodin movie (and Ben Stiller remake) "The Heartbreak Kid."

This book was a good conversation starter for the lady sitting next to me, a former teacher from Madison and Oxford named Mrs. Bates. She talked to me for a while and told me about her Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After a while, her medicine knocked her out, so I got back to reading. She was really cool though, and I will probably see her again when I'm back in the office three weeks from today.

After what seemed like an eternity, I was finally released from the office. When I got home I watched a couple episodes of my Flight of the Conchords dvds before I fell asleep. When I woke up, a friend that I have known my whole life, Jared Stevens, had come to visit. It was really nice to see him; I have only run into him once or twice since high school and we caught up on a lot of things.

I am still a little tired tonight, though, so I think I am going to take some more medicine and take it easy for the rest of the night. Goodnight and I'll be back tomorrow.