I’ve been getting my bi-weekly low dose chemo shots for a while now. The shots produce a few routine side effects during the first couple days; the itchy red spot, chills, feeling more tired than usual, and the bug zapper syndrome.
With the bug zapper syndrome, I feel like an electrical jolt has been generated from within and lightly shocks my body. It feels like what a bug zapper sounds like (ZZT!), kind of a random internal lightning strike.
If all is quiet, I think I hear it in my ears. Some days it will discharge repeatedly before tapering off. I do remember experiencing this zapping a few times long before I ever had chemo. Has anyone else had it?
Next week I meet the plastic surgeon who will do the repair after the skin cancer is removed in mid November.
I am just about halfway through my radiation treatments.
In the first week, I needed a wheel chair to get out of the hospital after radiation treatments. In the second week, the pain was much less and I was happy to be walking without assistance.
About the pain, it’s not the radiation that’s painful, I think it’s a combination of lying on my back on what feels much like a concrete slab, and what ever it is going on inside my lower back.
Each day, the treatments are a little more tolerable and the sleep situation is a little bit better. It’s been great to sleep in a bed again, even though restricted to one comfortable position (the right side). In the last couple nights, that sleep comfort zone has expanded nicely.
Jon Cadd, and often his wife, Cher, drove me to about half of my treatments and some doctor appointments. I would often look out the window and catch Jon mowing our lawn. He also helped me with some painting, moving boxes and furniture, taking out the trash; he walked with me, prayed with me, and sometimes just stopped by to visit. Thank you, Jon & Cher.
I’m still losing weight because I just don’t have an appetite. I’ve lost about 25 pounds, and I am extremely disappointed to have to report that my shirtless silhouette remains indistinguishable from that of Homer Simpson.
My Oncologist says “the indicators” lead her to believe the cancer I have is Plasma Cytoma, which responds very well to radiation treatments. In about a week, I will have a bone marrow biopsy. This will be done to rule out the possibility that the cancer is Multiple Myeloma, which is very similar to the other, but has no cure.
As I have said before, I so appreciate your prayers. I don’t know how to thank you. I can’t imagine going through something like this without God’s Awesome Peace. Knowing that you pray for me (and with me) overflows me with a loving, lifted up feeling I can’t explain (but, I sure do love it!).
Diane and I learned today that I have another cancer – unrelated to the Prostate cancer of recent months.
This cancer is in my spine and is called Plasma Cytoma or, it could be Multiple Myeloma. Both are similar. We will know which one I have after a bone marrow biopsy.
The doctor agreed that my pain level is currently too high to go for the bone marrow biopsy, so that will come after the radiation treatments have started, and those will be everyday for four weeks.
Treatment for both cancers include radiation, could include surgery, and the Multiple Myeloma would include chemo therapy.
At Josh & Katrina’s wedding, my back was hurting
Getting to this point, I feel that I am putting together quite a resume as a patient with my growing list of x-rays, MRI’s, PET scans, CT scans, biopsies, catheter usage, and enough IV needles that I think I could install the next one myself. I’m feeling quite practiced as a patient, but I’m not sure just where these credentials will get me.
I don’t know how to respond to all the love and support directed to Diane and I, except to say thank you. The things you say and do come to me as more evidence of God’s Love and Peace. Thank you each for being part of that.
This will be an update for some, and an announcement of sorts for others. Although there is no concrete news to share, I want to let you know what’s going on.
A couple weeks ago, I began experiencing back pain as I have many times over the years. Monday, June 27tharound 3:am I went to the emergency room for extreme back plain. They took a couple x-rays which showed nothing, so the Dr. sent me home with pain pills.
The pills didn’t help, so I went back to the ER. They did an MRI which revealed a crushed vertebra, and the word tumor was mentioned. Now that I have had cancer, I guess there will always be that double checking to see if it has come back or spread. I must say the needle biopsies in my back were the worst physical pain I have endured.
Luckily, I have been working on the shower base in the new bathroom and I do have cement available
If it is cancer, I’m told I have a few options in hoping for a cure. If it’s just your everyday run of the mill crushed vertebra, there is talk of filling it with cement.
I spent a few days in the hospital and now a few days home in grandpa’s recliner.
Diane has been wonderful in taking care of me. Tuesday I go early for a PET scan (I guess I’m supposed to take both cats), and a CT scan, and Thursday we are supposed to get the results of many if not all the tests.
If you are on the list of folks who pray for Diane and I, Thank You. God’s love and mercy are infinite, and although I feel a bit like a prayer hog lately, I think its okay to continue tapping into that overflowing source of peace.
Thank you, each of you who pray for us, and thank you (Jon Cadd) for helping me walk and find things, thank you for making me laugh, and thank you for mowing our lawn.
