Gari's Journey

I've never been thrown out of anything that I can recall. But I got thrown out of chemotherapy! My last  chemo was scheduled for May 20, but my neutrophils didn't measure up. So, I got booted from the program. Everyone asks "delayed til when?". Actually, not delayed but stopped. The purpose of the chemo I receive is to make the tumor more penetrable by the radiation. Since my radiation treatment ends (May  26) before I would be able to get another chemo dose, I am finished with chemo. Trust the experts--of course I asked three experts and got the same answer before buying in! But I missed the bell ringing; the end of chemo was a non-event. However, radiation wrapped up on Wednesday, May 26. Instead of ringing the bell on the radiation floor they gave me a card and a bell pin. When I checked out on the main floor of the James, the receptionists all gave me a standing ovation from behind their plexiglass. The doctor reported that the results of my treatment meet the bes

 May 16, 2021 T he oncologist on May 10th told me that my tumor is 'shrinking beautifully.' That's my mantra now 'shrinking beautifully.'  I need some positive thoughts to get through the tail end of the treatments. I am wearing down a little bit--getting tired and having a hard time eating. I have to offer some forgiveness to Weight Watchers. I tried it during the pandemic and gained weight. Huffily, I said what is this worth? But I've gained 1.5 lbs in the past week and I am eating very little. It must be me! We got some plants and flowers on Saturday.  My job was to point and say "that one", "put it there." Saint Glenn. Chemo treatments are 83% behind me. Just one more on Thursday, May 20 and chemo will be done. Eight more radiation treatments, so that's winding down too, 26.6% left. The next steps will be immunotherapy. starting around the end of June. Infusion every 4 weeks for a year. I'm fairly confident that I will be winning

 May 9, 2021 How about some good news? I got a new haircut that is more accommodating for my thinning hair.  And now for the truly good news. I meet with the radiation oncologist every week and on Monday, May 3 he told me that the tumor was shrinking. Even showed us pictures of the outline where it had been and where it was now. Gotta hand it to chemo and radiation....they are powerful advocates to have along for this journey. It makes it much easier to forgive them for the side effects. Although I can't complain; my discomfort has been manageable.  I'm only going to talk about Benadryl a bit in this update. Still couldn't find my mouth with the water bottle at first. And the effects wore off in half the time. Mast be getting used to it! And the numbers are: 4 of 6 chemo treatments behind me -- 66.67%  down   and over half of the radiation treatments complete >%50.  Now, a bit of advice, speak of my chemo-radiation like a pregnancy. You know you're never supposed to

 May 1, 2021 Let's start with the numbers:  6 chemo treatments, 3 down. That's 50% behind me. 30 radiation treatments, 12 down. Wait for it (while I get out my calculator) that's 40% behind me.  Really continue to tolerate the treatments very well. And the folks at the James are great. When I have a side effect like indigestion or heartburn or constipation, they say "we have a pill for that!" And it works! I have developed thrush and that's something that doesn't go away with a pill; I'm using the mouth rinse to keep it at bay. So even though I'm at the halfway mark with chemo, I'm still marveling at the Benadryl high. I'm not getting any more tolerant of it. This time I did know to stop talking immediately when I was no longer  able to construct a sentence. So, I turned off the chatter and very smoothly picked up my water bottle. The problem was I couldn't seem to get it in my mouth! After three tries resulting in hitting my chin and n

  April 22, 2021   CHEMO DAY  I've had one week of daily radiation treatments, so it's time for the next chemo treatment. This is round 2 of 6 weeks of chemo. Apparently I still haven't become accustomed to the liquid Benadryl injection. I disagree with this nurse who said it's just like the pink pill, but goes in faster. A bottle of pink pills maybe. Here I am about a minute after the Benadryl injection when I asked Glenn to help me find my glasses...they were on my face the whole time!  My conversation sounded like I had either spent time at the bar or the dentist so I snoozed and tried to read. Glenn did his usual great job of handing me things and being patient during the 2 1/2 hour process. So, 2 of 6 treatments = 1/3 = 33.3%.  33% of these treatments behind me. Pretty exciting.  Nothing about this week would be complete without mentioning the 3.5" of snow on Wednesday that required knocking the snow off the new tree. It looks like it's going to survive af

 APRIL 20, 2021 Visited with the radiation oncologist yesterday, the top of the doctor pyramid. When he came in, he said "well, I have news--(uh oh, I think)--it's good news but it means more tests."  Not a problem for me, tests are fine.  The fluid in my lung has reduced by almost half since April 2, the date of  the original simulation and markings for radiation machine to zap me! That's the good news, but the reduction of fluid means the lung has moved. So I will go through the simulation again. Not really a big deal-It's a matter of laying in a machine and getting marked with sharpies and then getting the marks covered in clear tape.  I hope they switch to pink sharpie this time!  While this planning is taking place they will be able to continue the daily treatment. I'm still in the range of the original markings. And it won't take the full 10 days to do the calibration  for new markings.  Oh, and I went mushroom hunting before my appointment. This pic