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