2011-08-31: Yay chemo! (?)

White blood cell counts were good this week. So I received chemotherapy. I'm also on the 48 hour "bottle" of chemo that is in a pouch at my hip.

I guess the liver and kidney and calcium supplements last week did the trick in recovering my blood cells. Yay!

The question mark in the subject is because I have mixed emotions about chemo. Namely, I will be looking forwards to some nausea for the next 3-4 days.  (So Axel, Friday's laser tag may have to wait until Saturday...)

Other than that, I'm doing well. Kaye's had her first college course and we're prepping the kids and house for back to school.

-- Shane

2011-08-23: No chemo Again...

Blog entry:

White blood cell count too low: 2.8 rating where they prefer around 4.0 or higher. Neutrophil count also too low: 0.9 rating where 1.5 is their minimum consideration.

So, chemo postponed another week.

FYI: I started loosing hair like crazy yesterday (Monday) so I shaved my head to avoid the mess. I'm bald again...

Regards,
Shane

2011-08-16: No chemo, white blood cell count too low

To all my blog followers: 
    Thanks to all continuing to follow my blog and for all the supportive comments.

My total white blood cell count was too low today to continue with Chemo. The sub-component white blood cell that they track for specifically fighting diseases was OK (borderline), but the total of all white blood cells was too low.

So they are going to postpone my treatment 1 week to allow my bone marrow to recover more.

They gave me a super strong dose two weeks ago in the hope that I could handle it. Looks like it was too strong so next week they will reduce the potency by 20% and I will be receiving an 80% dose of the chemo drug. That is, of course, provided that my white blood cells have recovered by next week. I may have just been on chemo too long in general and my bone marrow is "tired" and isn't working as efficiently at making blood cells.

Other than that I feel fine. I even went to laser tag on the weekend with my daughter and her friends for her 11th birthday. So I'm capable of decent cardio. Just not for prolonged periods. But I handled two 15 minute laser tag games well (1 hour apart) and even got the top score in the 2nd game. (I used to be a member of Laser Quest in Mississauga for a year back in the days when I was a united way big brother. So I have an unfair advantage when I'm actually trying...) The first game I didn't do any cardio... just walked around and shot occasionally and let the kids use me for target practice.

Sorry for the bragging... It's just that I haven't done anything athletic for over a year (well, except for the push-up challenge) and I felt proud of being capable of doing well in a laser tag game. It's the little things that help motivate one in times of stress. ;-)

I'll use this time to plug the new (only 1 month old) laser tag establishment in Milton. I've been there twice now, once with each daughter for their birthday parties, which the kids say they all enjoyed. The place is called "Epic Lazer Tag" (yes, they misspelled laser). Here's their web site:
     http://www.epiclazertag.ca

Regards,
Shane

Bad news, part 2 of 2 (ct results)

Blog Entry: More details:
First I'd like to clear the air about the last 9+ weeks. I haven't been hiding anything (Kaye said to me that someone thought I wasn't telling everything). Just nothing's been happening. The recent chemo had no side effects, so there wasn't anything to report. It was a great chemo to be on if I had to be on it for years. Unfortunately it didn't shrink my liver tumors.

I might not have mentioned in previous blogs that I am receiving home hydration of 1 liter of water over a 3-4 hour period each Monday and Thursday of each week. I also have had low blood pressure [95 over 60] on average over the past many weeks.

Ok, back to the current chemo...

Chest CT Scan showed:

• Lung lesion didn't grow. That's good, but it didn't shrink either.
• Largest lesion in liver segment II now measures 53x40mm (previously 45x34mm). Enlarging lesions are also present in segments V/VIII and segment VI of the liver.

Notes:

• This is the last chemo that Juravinski has to offer me. If this doesn't work, they would have to try to find an experimental "study" that I would qualify and try some experimental drug(s). This may result in travel to other hospitals. Also, if I have evidence of head tumors again, then I am disqualified for any study.
• Sept 02 is another MRI on my head.

For the record, I haven't given up, but they say prepare for the worst and hope for the best. So, here's the worst case scenarios...

1. MRI shows more tumor growth in the head. If untreated, then they would give me 2 months. Options include Cyber Knife again, but more likely they would do full head radiation. This would severely debilitate me (fatigue etc.).
2. If no head growth, but latest chemo (which is meant for colon cancer) doesn't work, then they would give me 6 months until the liver becomes very consumed, or other areas of my body get new growth.

If the latest chemo works, then who knows how long I could live. We'll see. :-)


Drug Details:

• Latest chemo is "irinotecan" (eye-reen-oh-TEE-can). Brand name = Camptosar®. They injected 500ml over 90 minutes.
• The irinotecan injection was accompanied by a vitamin injection of "Leucovorn" 250ml over same 90 minutes. This apparently makes the chemo more affective.
• I was also injected with a dose of "atropine sulfate" [0.4mg/0.25mg dose] into my subcutaneous arm tissue to stop the cold sweats, hot flashes and stomach cramps that I started to get from the irinotecan. I had to have this injection 20 minutes into my 90 minutes of irinotecan.
• I also had to take dexamethazone and ondancetron over a 3 day period to help with nausea and other side effects. Unfortunately dexamethazone SUCKS as stated in previous blogs. I must say that irinotecan can join that category.
• I also had to have a 650mg needle "push" of chemo "fluorouracil" also known as 5FU. I then had to carry around a 3800mg take home "baby" bottle for an additional 48 hour long injection. The bottle is now disconnected.

I feel ok today (Friday). Appetite is back. Not as bad as the chemo combo that I was on before Christmas. So I won't loose tonnes of weight.

The chemo regime will happen every other week. So 1 week on, 1 week off. Also, I see the doctor each time to see how I'm handling it.

Regards,
Shane

Bad news, part 1 of 2 (ct results)

I have bad news. CT scan shows last chemo didn't work. Liver tumors are larger.

I'll blog more when I'm feeling better. New chemo isn't making me want to type as I feel like crap right now.

I'll blog in a couple of days with medicine details etc., once I'm feeling a bit better.

Regards
Shane