updates

It's been a while since I last posted. We have been awaiting the next scan results. I went in for a CT scan and an MRI last week, and we got the results yesterday. The MRI of the head showed that one spot has grow a little more, not significantly, but enough to notice. We are not going to change any treatments right now but we are going to shorten the scan cycles to every two months , instead of every three months, in order to get more frequent looks at the progress. The CT scan of the chest/neck/abdomen was hard to read due to all the fluids built up around my lungs. Yes I accumulated a lot more fluids since my last thoracentisis that I had around Christmas time. I have significant shortness of breath and my blood/oxygen level is very low. (78 vs the ideal number of 100). This is low enough that they put me on oxygen at night. It is natural for anyones blood/oxygen levels to drop at night due to inactivity, but dropping from 78 and going lower could be very dangerous. I am going in for another thoracentisis today, and hopefully that will improve my blood/oxygen levels during the day, so that I don't have to be on oxygen during the day. The oxygen supply is a big fancy air filter that sucks air in through the back, super filters it, and pumps it into my lungs through my nose. I am not happy about being on oxygen, it means that things are getting worse, and not better, and it gives the impression that I am weak, and I don't like that. I agreed to go on it for two reasons. One: if i don't do it I could die in my sleep. Two: Monica threatened to beat me up if I didn't. Two good reasons. Take care. -Eric

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