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...

 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...