Procedure Update

I made it through the procedure yesterday. This was my second Thorecentisis. It was a little rougher this time. He went in with the huge needle, fished around for a while, and apparently missed the spot. It felt like he was trying to make a tiny hole with a big dull stick. So he had to come back out, poke another hole and do it again. A tw0-for-one deal. Not sure it was worth it. He sucked out 1.5 liters this time. Last time we only sucked out 1.0 liters. There is still more in there so we may need to go back for more soon. But it worked. I can breathe much better. Although I am still quite sore at the entry site(both of them). I have been up and down the stairs multiple times this morning, each time without feeling like death was imminent. So that is good. Take care and have a happy holidays. -Eric

Update

I passed my two-year diagnosis anniversary. Time flies when you are having fun. December 17th, 2007 is a day to remember. Not quite sure how to celebrate but is seems appropriate to count this as a good milestone.

I received more chemotherapy yesterday. The past week or two has been rough, not sure if I was sick, or if it was just normal yuckiness, it's hard to tell when you feel crappy everyday.

I have been having trouble breathing again, so I am going in for another Thoracentesis tomorrow to see if they can take out some more fluids from around my lungs. Hopefully this round will also help improve my breathing. The last one was successful. If this cycle continues we have two options: surgery to prevent future lung compression, or have a tube installed in my chest so I can regularly drain the fluids myself. There are pros and cons to both so we will have to decide which way to go. It's a little scary when you can't catch your breath even after the doing the simplest of tasks.

I have an MRI scheduled for early February, this is when we find out how the new brain lesions are doing, and whether or not we need to do more radiation treatments. Monica tends to worry about these little things. She worries enough for both of us. I have given up worrying, it doesn't do me any good. -Take care . -Eric

Mondays can be rough

Mondays can be rough sometimes. I received a call at work today from my oncologist. Results from the MRI of my head I received last week were ready. They found more cancer on my brain. The new spots are still small in size but they were definitely not there in previous scans. Given the small size the doctors are not inclined to start any new treatments right away, they want to continue to monitor them for a while, and if they continue to grow, then start some new radiation treatments. I have another MRI scheduled for two months from now. So we will have to wait a while for the next update.
Monica called a few minutes later to tell me that her new car was just run over by a big truck in the parking lot. The truck basically drove of the front of the car, ripped off the bumper and and spilled the front end all over the ground. The car is now in the auto-body shop getting repaired. Monica had a rough day too. I think we'll all go to bed early tonight. Take care. -Eric

Thoracentesis

Went into the hospital yesterday for the thoracentesis procedure. I had to check in at noon, the procedure started at 2:30, took about 30 minutes and we finally left the hospital at 5:30. A long day for a pretty short procedure. I was a little nervous about it all, I pictured a huge needle being jammed into my chest and puncturing a lung. But all went well. It was relatively painless and quick. They extracted a full liter of fluids from my left side. The fluid was the color of a light beer, it even had a foamy head on it. They said that there is probably a liter or more left in there, but there are risks with taking out too much at once so they stopped at one liter. We can always go back in and take out more at a later time. I felt an immediate improvement. It was like someone took a clamp off of my chest. I can breath better, I have more energy. I can put my pants on in the morning without feeling like I need to pass out. What more can a guy ask for. -Eric

Thoracentesis.html

New stuff

So a week ago I found blood in my urine. A little freaky since you're not supposed to have blood in your urine. This coupled with some recent stomach pains led me to call the doctor and find out what to do. He recommend moving up my scheduled scans by three weeks so we could further investigate. We did a full CT scan from neck to knees. The scan did not show anything in the pelvic area where we thought there might be issues, and I have not seen any additional blood since the first occurrence, so good news, but we don't know what caused the occurrence the first time. The scan also showed some small shrinkage in the cancer in my lungs, nothing significant, but smaller is better than bigger. The scan also showed a significant increase in fluids in my chest. These fluids can be created by movement of the cancer cells. The increase in fluids puts pressure on the lungs and makes it difficult to breath causing shortness of breath. I have been experiencing shortness of breath, so no surprise that we found this. The procedure to remove these excess fluids is called "Thoracentesis", and basically involves jamming a large needle into the space between the ribs and the lungs and extracting the extra fluids. The doctor said there could be as much as 3 liters of fluids in there. Removing these fluids would relieve the pressure on my lungs and improve my ability to breath. Long story short, I am getting this procedure done on Wednesday afternoon. It is an outpatient procedure and requires only a local anesthetic for the pain. You can find more information on this procedure at this link:

http://health.stateuniversity.com/pages/1511/Thoracentesis.html

Wish me luck. -Eric

accupuncture

My oncologist recommended that I try acupuncture to help with nausea and headaches. I figured it was worth a shot. The insurance company said they would cover it, so I scheduled an appointment. I am pretty skeptical about this kind of stuff. The lady who did was very nice, and obviously a free-spirited sort. She explained the process to me and then said the first step was to use the gold plated needles on specific locations of my body to bring back my chi. I had to bite my tongue a bit at that point. I don't know what this chi stuff is. I am pretty sure I didn't have any chi before, so I don't know where she planning on getting it to bring it back. Anyway it took about a hour, she would put needles in various parts of body (back, ears, feet, wrists, legs). And then she would let me lay there while my chi came back. I honestly didn't feel any different when it was all done, but I did get a good nap while she made be lay there. So I don't know if I will go back, it seems like black magic to me. And if it worked I would be okay with that, but I don't think it did anything. She did show me where the pressure points are are my wrists to prevent nausea, so that may come in handy (if it works). Take care. -Eric

This week

More chemo earlier this week. The doctor has allowed me to stay on the steroids for a longer period of time after chemo. This really helps with the headaches, nausea and fatigue. So ths past week has not bee too bad. I can't be on the steroids on the time, but this should hopefully get me beyond the rough periods with fewer issues. -Eric

scan results and more chemo

I had a PET scan last week. I get one every three months to track progress of the cancer. This one was good news. They saw shrinkage in a number of areas, and no growth in most other areas. So good news this time. I also received another does of chemo. I almost look forward to the chemo because I know I will feel okay for a couple of days, or least better than the usual crappiness I feel every other day. But at the same time I know I will be sick after a few days, so it's a mixed emotion thing. The plan is to do an MRI before the next chemo to check out lesions on my brain and see what they are up to . All good. -Eric

More chemo

I went in for more chemo last Monday. It's very predictable that I will feel okay Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday after the chemo, largely because I am on steroids for those days and the nausea medicine is still in my system. As soon as I stop taking the steroids(I take the last one on Wednesday after chemo), and the nausea medication wears off things go down hill quickly. So Thursday I start to feel it, Friday even more so, and I can hardly wait until 5pm so I can leave work and go to bed. Saturday and Sunday I spend most of my time in bed feeling awful, and hoping things will turn around quickly. Here's hoping things get better next week. Monica has promised to make potato salad very soon:) Take care. -Eric

I love potato salad

I'm kind of picky with what I eat lately. Some things just don't taste good to me anymore, some things I just don't have an appetite for anymore, and some things come back up as quickly as they go down. But not potato salad. I love potato salad. -Eric

Jury summons

I received a jury summons in the mail a few days ago. Monica convinced me that I should apply for the medical exemption to get out it, she was concerned I that I wouldn't be able to sit through the selection process, much less a trial if I was selected. I reluctantly agreed. So when I went in for my chemotherapy treatment today I asked my doctor for a doctors note to get me out of Jury duty. He typed up the following letter: "Mr. Hatch is under my care for lung cancer and due to this illness and treatment, will not be able to perform jury duty ever again." (emphasis added) At first Monica and I laughed a lot. But then it wasn't quite so funny. I didn't know quite how to take it. Was he trying to do me a favor by getting me off the hook for the rest of my life, or was he saying something else? Hmmm.

ear tube

The hearing in my left ear has still not improved, we've tried two different antibiotics and and a punching a hole in my eardrum, none have helped. The ENT doctor decided to put a tube in my ear and leave it for a few months to see it would help drain any fluids that might be there, and consequently help with my hearing. They had to to poke two holes in my eardrum to put the tube in and then then install a tube that's about the size of a ..... well something very very small. If anyone ever tells you that poking a hole in your eardrum is not going to hurt, they are lying. It does hurt. Take care. -Eric

I'm not dead yet

Have you ever seen "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"? The scene where the guy is pulling his cart through town yelling "bring out your dead" as he collects the dead from each home in the town. One guy he collects is actually still alive and he throws him top of the pile. The man exclaims "I'm not dead yet" (with heavy British accent). Funny stuff. Well I'm not dead yet either. In fact today is a milestone. Eighteen months ago I was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. When I was diagnosed the doctor gave me a prognosis of 12-18 months. Today it has been exactly 18 months and one day since I was given that prognosis. I waited one extra day to celebrate just to make sure I really beat it:) Usually I prefer it when my doctor is right about things, but in this case I am glad he was wrong. I'm still alive and kickin' and "not dead yet". If you are in the neighborhood feel free to stop by, we're celebrating with some cake. Take care. -Eric

ENT visit

So third visit to the ENT doctor. The first two visits we tried two different antibiotics with no success. This time he decided that there could be fluids in my inner ear so he poked a hole in my ear drum. Yeah it hurt. There were some fluids, but not much. He seems to think that things will improve over the next two weeks as the fluids drain. We'll see, I have my doubts. He was going to put a tube in my ear to help with any drainage but he said my ear drum was much too thick, thicker than most. I took that mean more "manly" than most. I have chemo on Monday, and will revisit the the ENT in two weeks for a follow up. By the way I graduated from voice therapy. The therapist said there was nothing more she could for me. The voice is actually pretty good, it quickly tires if I talk too much and towards the end of the day can be pretty rough, but in general it is getting slowly better. Take care. -Eric

another update

The second antibiotic did not work, it fact it make me sick. After a week of taking the antibiotic and a lot of throwing up I called the doctor and he told me to stop taking the antibiotic. There has been no improvement in my hearing/ear ringing at all. I have a follow up appointment with the ENT this Thursday so we'll see what else can be done. -Eric

hearing update

Followed up with the ENT yesterday. After a week on the ear drops, nothing has changed. I took the hearing test and I failed again. The doctor looked at me and said, "I have no idea what is wrong with you". Not exactly something you want to hear from your doctor. He put me on another type of antibiotic, and I will go back and see him again in two weeks. Take care. -Eric

pet scan update

The results from last weeks PET scan were good. No change. Which means no growth, and no shrinkage. I had more chemotherapy today. The doctor removed one of the chemotherapy drugs from my treatments, as he thought it might be the cause of my headaches. He said it could take 6-8 weeks to know for sure if this will work. That would be awesome if I could get rid of these headaches. My left ear is still ringing and I can't hear much out of it. We saw the ENT last week and he gave me a hearing test, which I failed, and some antibiotic ear drops for starters. I have been on the antibiotics for about a week and no progress. We have a follow up visit with the ENT this week to check on results of the antibiotics and I suppose talk about what to try next. The hearing loss has given me the opportunity to selectively hear what I want to hear. "What was that? I can't hear you, you want me what?...." Monica caught on to that trick really quick, but it doesn't stop me from trying:) This one actually worries me, if it's permanent and not repairable via surgery, hearing aide, or some other way it's going to suck. It's annoying at the least not being able to hear conversations, and asking people to repeat themselves. Take care. -Eric

Hey

I've been delinquent in updating my blog. I apologize. Lately I have been dealing with some pretty severe headaches. Sometimes the pain drugs work and sometimes they don't. I also recently starting getting some ringing and hearing loss in my left ear, this is very annoying. The right ear seems to be fine, but not being able to hear out of the left ear really throws things off and the ringing at times drowns out what I can hear. We did an MRI of the head to see if something was going on in my head, it came back clean. The doctor is going to remove one of the chemotherapy drugs I am taking. He think it may be causing the headaches. This will take time to see if it works. But the ringing and hearing loss are a mystery. I hope to get into the ENT this week to get a more thorough exam. My next PET scan is scheduled for later this week, so we'll get another look at the how the cancer is doing. My voice seems to be generally stronger lately, but it's very dependent on how I feel and tends to tire easily with a lot of use. I am working with a speech therapist on a regular basis to help with the voice. I guess that's about it for now, enough for me to deal with anway. I hope all is well with you. Take care. -Eric

PET scan update

Things went okay today. I am feeling a bit better (no more vomiting and the headaches have cut back). I really believe I picked up a bug that Monica and kids have been fighting for the last few weeks, and it just hit me very hard. Since I felt a bit better the doctor decided not to do the lumbar puncture, which did not disappointment me at all. Somehow a needle to spine does not sound fun. The PET scan from last week showed stability in the cancer, but a new and different spot showed up on my lung. The doctor believes this to be a spot of bronchitis or phenomena, which would explain the hacking cough I have had, and probably the other symptoms too. You should see the heads turn when you walk into the chemotherapy room with a hacking cough. I had the regular chemo today and the doctor put me on antibiotics for the cough. With all the damage on my throat my voice is very much gone and sore at this point, hoping it will come back very soon with some rest. -Eric

sick this week

I've been really sick this week. It started out with some debilitating headaches, worse than I have ever had. The doctor put me on Vicodin since the Advil was no longer working and rushed me in for an MRI to check out the lesions on the brain. The MRI turned out to be fine and the Vicodin seems to be working well. Then I couldn't keep any food/liquids down for two days and I was coughing a lot. I was getting dehydrated, weak and tired. I went into the hospital for a fluids IV which included saline, nausea medicine and steroids, that stopped the vomiting but the doctor is still worried. He's talking about doing a lumbar puncture on Monday to extract some spinal fluids and do some more tests. It all depends on how I feel on Monday. Monica and the kids have been fighting flu like systems for the past month, so I think it has just finally caught up with me. I have more chemo scheduled for Monday. My voice was doing pretty good last week, it seemed to be getting much stronger, but with all of the vomiting and coughing this week, my throat is just raw and I have no voice left at the moment. Hopefully it's just a matter of time to heal now that the vomiting has stopped. Fun stuff. Take care. -Eric

speech therapist

I saw the speech therapist for the first time this week. She analyzed my voice and determined some exercises that would help. I now have homework to do each day to exercise the appropriate muscles. Basically humming musical scales for now. I will see her again every couple of weeks to monitor the progress. I'll received my next dose of chemo on Monday.

I am Amazing

We went to the ENT specialist to figure out why I was loosing my voice again. If you recall my left vocal chord is paralyzed and that was the first symtom that eventually lead us to find out that I had lung cancer. In March 2008 I had a surgery where they put a prosthetic in my throat to compensate for the left vocal chord paralysis. It actually worked quite well and for the last 12 months my voice has been pretty good. The last couple of weeks my voice started going down hill again and we were concerned that the prothetic was failing or that I might be loosing function of the right vocal chord as well. Yesterday the ENT doctor put a scope down my throat to look around. He was suprised and amazed at what he saw. The left vocal chord is partially functioning again. He kept saying how AMAZING that was since he had never seen that happen in his 30 year career. The reason my voice is so hoarse is because the combination of the prosthetic and the partially functioning left side is closing the gap too much, and I am not getting the proper vibration of the chords in order to speak properly. If the the left chord comes back to full function we will remove the prosthetic. In the meantime we will leave it in and I am going take some speak therapy sesssions to help me adjust to the new situation (can you say ham-bur-ger), the doctor is confident that I will be able to improve my voice significantly through therapy. - Mr. Amazing

No puking allowed

Do you ever have one of those days when you wake up in the morning and you DON'T puke before breakfast? Sweet isn't it? I remember those days .....

Here we go again

Six months ago I started getting headaches and nausea. This was right after I had finished radiation therapy on my brain so the thinking was that these symptoms would go away by themselves in time. As much fun as the daily nausea has been, it has been wearing me down. I went in for a PET scan last week; the intent was to see if there was any cancer in my stomach, intestines, or other area that might be causing my nausea and headaches. They found nothing. But they did find that the cancer in my lungs and in my spine has grown. So Monday I will start chemotherapy again. The drug they are using will be different than last time; the doctor says that the side affects will not be as bad as I experienced the first time. My voice has started going down hill again, it was doing quite well until about two weeks ago, and now I am having a hard time speaking again. I am concerned that the device they put in my throat either is no longer working or there may be something wrong with my working vocal chord. I imagine I will be visiting my ENT doctor soon to get it checked out. -Eric