Hardware Downgrade

Got my port removed today. It was an outpatient procedure at Miami Valley Hospital. Everything was great until the pain meds wore off, but that's always how it is I suppose. The real significance here is that my oncologist ordered the procedure, because he doesn't think I'll need it anymore. Woo freakin hoo!

Coming down the home stretch

Had an appointment with my oncologist today (Dr. Sabiers). Nothing major to report. I'll be (finally) getting my port taken out soon. That's just an outpatient procedure.

Got a prescription for neurontin (gabapentin) to help with the tingly feet. Hopefully that will allow me to take a walk, exercise on the elliptical, etc. Interesting side effects: The most commonly observed adverse events associated with the use of Neurontin in adults, not seen at an equivalent frequency among placebo-treated patients, were dizziness, somnolence, and peripheral edema.

Anyway, all is well.

Test Results

Got the biopsy results today. All tests came back negative. No problems, no worries. I guess the only thing now is to wait until all these chemo side effects go away. It's been 3 months now, and my feet are still numb, as are my fingers. My bowels are still in an uproar (but manageable). All in all, life is good, no more cancer, no more cold sensitivity, nausea, etc. It could be a lot worse :)

First Followup

Yesterday I had a follow-up colonoscopy. It was performed by my surgeon, Dr. Conover. Everything looks good with the exception of some excessive scar tissue. He said that will improve over time, we'll check again in a year and see. In the meanwhile it just means that things don't pass as easily as they should, no big deal. He also took some tissue samples from the colon lining to test for different kinds of colitis. I'll get those results in the next week or so.

Another Hospital Visit

Julie and I were out on Sunday Christmas shopping. We stopped to have lunch. About an hour later I started to get the familiar sharp pain in pit of my stomach. I took some Malox Ultra, which usually does the trick, but the pain kept getting worse. We went to Toys-R-Us, I stayed in the van while Julie went in to shop. The pain got worse, so we decided to head home. About half way I had Julie pull of to the side of the highway so I could throw up. That seemed to help the pain a little bit. We continued home. After being home about an hour or so, I finally had Julie take me to the hospital. Sure enough my intestines had decided to stop functioning again. This time was easier though because it was "just" constipation. It was wierd though because I hadn't had any indication there was a problem. No bloating, no cramps, no discomfort at all that would lead me to believe I was constipated. Anyway, they gave me morphine and a laxative, let me stay overnight for "observation", and everything cleared up. I was back home by noon on Monday.

On the chemo side effects front, the neuropathy continues as before. My feet are still as numb as they were two months ago when I had my last treatment. It feels like the balls of my feet and my heels are swollen. They tingle with everystep. My hands if anything are worse than they were. My typing is a lot more error-prone, I hit multiple keys a lot. My fingertips down to about the second knuckle are numb/tingly. The other side effects (random pains, insomnia, nausea, cold sensitivity, etc) have all improved a lot.

All in all, things are going pretty well.

Merry Christmas to all...

Update

It's been around 3 weeks since my hospital stay, and over a month since my last chemo treatment. My feet and fingertips are still numb, and my bowels are still inflamed/irritated, but all other side effects have pretty much faded. I'm feeling pretty good these days, my strength is coming back little by little.

My doctor thinks I've developed lactose intolerance, which is causing my bowel issues. I think that's definitely possible, as both my brother and my dad are lactose intolerant. So, I've cut out milk and milk products. I'm going to go pick up some Lactaid pills today. We'll see.

On the weight front, I know weigh 162 pounds. I started out a year ago at 233. I hit my all time low a couple days after my last hospital stay at 158. I'm hoping the holidays will bump me up to around 170, which is where I'd like to stay.

Home Again

Got released from the hospital yesterday morning. 8 days in the hospital for a bowel obstruction. All they really did was pump me full of pain killers and wait. I guess that's better than an actual operation. All I know is that it was a really boring week, daytime TV sucks. I'll be back to work on Monday.