One chemo round down, ughs have been survived

This is my lino portrait of my great-nephew.

I got through last week's infusions fine. The ughs hit on Monday. I felt really horrible that day and mostly horrible on Tuesday. But I felt pretty well on Wednesday and was able to go to class and print. So grateful to have the ughs go away so quickly.

Only two more print classes and then I'm going to take a bit of a break, so I won't have to pay for classes and miss them because I'm ughin during the last of my chemo rounds. I have a bed cover to make using a serger that I have no experience with, as well as some shrinkydinks projects to finish. I probably have a bunch of radiation treatments in my near future too.

Peaks and Valleys - Valley Ahead

There's no way to sugar-coat this: the cancer has already recurred in my right axillary lymph node where it showed up originally almost 2 years ago. I noticed the swelling a couple weeks ago, had a CT scan last week, and met with Dr. Liu yesterday, who confirmed that the swelling is the cancer. Damn, that wasn't much of a respite, was it?

I'm already scheduled for my first of four rounds of chemo, next week. I never thought I'd be willing to do chemo again, but it's funny what you'll endure for a little more life. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm addicted to life. I gotta have it. Obviously we're heading toward a point where I will have to weigh the rigors of treatment against lost quality of life, but we're not there yet. I have a strong body that clearly can take a lot of abuse and bounce back and I intend to exercise that strength and resilience as long as I can.

I'll be needing chemo buddies. If you're interested, you can sign up here. (You have to be a member of the group and signed into a yahoo account in order to see or edit the calendar)

In happier news, I've finally started building my website where you can see some of my recent linocut prints. It's a work in progress, like me.

A good scan

Just hung up the phone with my radiation oncologist, Dr. Gillis. Monday's MRI showed that the bits of mass that remained in my brain after the last surgery have gotten much smaller since the cyberknife treatments and no new masses have formed.

Couldn't ask for more than that. Other than the congestion I am still having from allergies, I feel very good. I'm enjoying my printmaking class, and I find that I'm able to drink again, as well as go out at night, so things are more normal than they've been for months. Saturday, I went out to dinner and on to a concert of chamber music. Last night, I went to see John Waters interviewed at the Jewish Community Center and had a late supper at Sociale.

Onward. Another MRI in 3 months.

More normalcy

I went to open studio and printed tonight. Mostly, I printed more cards using lino plates from earlier classes, but I did bring this houndstooth rooster which I carved over the weekend.

Felt good to be back in the studio.

Stella is a great joy to ride, and i think I have the hang of the manual transmission now.

My new baby

Look what finally arrived 9 months after I put down my deposit!

I got a litttle nervous on my way to the scooter store, thinking "what if I've lost the ability to ride on 2 wheels after all this brain trauma?"

Fortunately, this was not the case, and after two trips around the block, I was shifting pretty competently. It was a gorgeous day to ride and I was grateful to be able to ride home in light mid-weekday traffic. She rides so smoothly and so quietly. It's a completely different ride from my little two-stroke, which I'm giving to a friend of mine who lives in North Beach.

This is the first thing that's made me feel "normal" since before my first brain surgery. I'm looking forward to getting a lot of riding in this weekend.

Yippee!

The latest CT scan results

I haven't posted a picture of myself in awhile, so here I am, bald and thin from my many procedures. You can see a nimbus of white fuzz growing in patches on my scalp. I'm skeptical that it will grow in to resemble my former hair, so I will probably end up having to shave my head.

The scan results were good. The only change since the last scan in November is a small spot on my lungs that Dr. Liu was fairly certain is phlegm due to my recent cold and nothing to worry about. My right buttock is still noticeably smaller than my left. He is still mystified by that, but not alarmed. Those of you familiar with Voltaire's 'Candide' might be reminded of Cunegonde's old lady attendant who only had one buttock (the other one had been eaten by Mongolians), so like her, i will soldier on in my lopsided form. "On to Cadiz!. Painful ride it will be for me with one buttock." The next body scan will be in June.

My blood work showed the low phosphorous level I've had since before my cancer diagnosis, and that my t-cells are taking a long time to recover from being assaulted by Decadron. The count was a little higher than my last blood test had, so things are moving in the right direction, at least.

Apart from waking up with a head full of snot every day and having this slight cough, I feel pretty good. My left hand has regained almost all of its former strength and dexterity, which cheers me considerably. Coincidentally, I've been feeling ready to drive my scooter again, and I got a call today that my brand new Stella 4-speed manual transmission scooter is on its way to SF from Chicago. Good timing. I need my left hand since that is where the clutch and shifter are. I'm very excited about riding two wheels again, as this will bring a new level of independence (and free me from having to ride Muni.)

Cyberknife treatments are all done

I am finally over what turned out to be a 3-week-long cold, that was the worst one I can remember having. I have about 50% of the hearing back in my left ear, which may be as good as I have had for the last 10 years or so, since having to fly with a sinus/ear infection.

And yesterday, despite delays and interruptions and an increase in the number of surgeries from 3 to 5, I finally had my last intimate encounter with Cyberknife.

Although I did have to go to bed at 8 last night, I feel quite well and energetic today. Decadron didn't manage to raise my blood sugar this time.

Here's the plan now (assuming there are no "events" that intervene):

I'm having a CT scan at the end of the month and consulting with Dr. Liu on 3/1 (this is to look for recurrence in the body only).

In 3 months, I'll have an MRI of my head and consult with Dr. Gillis.

That's the pattern until the scans find something or the something makes itself evident. A scan of each type every 3 months with a follow- up visit to the doctor. I'm not on any special cancer meds at this point.

Hoping that by being a good patient, I've earned a respite from horror and tedium. I don't plan to blog very often unless there's a lot of news. I'll do infrequent updates to let readers know I'm ok.