Springtime!

It didn't quite feel like spring was here just yet when I was in Seattle a couple days ago and some form of icy sludge fell from the sky but yet today it is sunny and brisk and I see many things blooming (sorry allergy sufferers).  Enough about the weather, might as well get down to the details.

Had my CT scans done this week and the docs came back with what they call "stable disease".  Not exactly the most friendly of terms to hear but definitely not the worst.  Basically in the last six weeks with two doses of docetaxel we have slowed down the single tumor growth to a mere 15% increase in size.  At this point it is hard to say if we are keeping it at bay or the next data point will show some shrinkage.  The best news of course is that there is no evidence of the disease hanging out elsewhere in the body.  After some discussion of current options I decided to keep with the current treatment regiment for another six weeks.  If things are still looking "stable" or responding we will stick to the plan.  If not there are some other trials available that are showing promise that I can change to.

Good news is that this chemo is not nearly as harsh as some of the earlier stuff.  It has been two days since treatment and I feel pretty good.  Appetite came back pretty quick and the nausea is pretty harmless at this point.

In other news, I finally received my Employment Status Review and it looks like April 21, 2014 will be my last official HP employed day.  I know that my team would have me back in a heart beat and I am very glad to have their support but taking this time off is what I need to focus on recovery.  I know I will return when the time is right.

Now to go and enjoy some sunshine!

Beautiful Day

Should have posted earlier but I finally made it out of the hospital on Monday.  Ended up sleeping most of yesterday as it is hard to get some good shut eye with nurses bugging you every couple hours in an uncomfortable bed.  Immune system is back on line thanks to some help from a few nuepogen shots but I am still keeping a low profile. 

Today is bright warm and sunny and I am having a small bbq to celebrate getting older.  Still need to avoid large crowds for a few more days and really don't want to get ill again before the next round of treatment on the 19th.  I have a CT scan next week as well which will tell us if the docetaxel is working or not.  Keeping positive thoughts and fingers crossed until then.

Focus Time

So chemo has started, the job has been shelved, and I am focusing on my health.  I just completed the second round of chemo (Docetaxel on a three week cycle) and caught myself a nice head cold that started a week ago.  The cold seemed fairly benign besides the sinus headache but it was followed up with a slight fever Tuesday night.  For those who are unfamiliar, fevers during chemo are dealt with seriously.  Mine happened to start at midnight and the on call doc properly suggested I go to the nearest ER to get checked out.  Begrudgingly I followed the suggestion hoping that this wouldn't be a long ordeal.  Chemo drugs cause a drop in your immune system and a fever is a sure warning sign that you have an infection your body can't quite handle.  Sure enough, the blood work showed that my neutrophil counts were low enough to be considered neutropenic.  This means that my body is unable to deal with a bacterial infection by itself so they hooked me up to IV antibiotic drugs and admitted me to the hospital.  Luckily Lorri came along so I wasn't dealing with this alone. 

At this point I figured that I had just an overnight stay at the hospital.  Should be out of here by Thursday, right?  Guess not.  My neutrophil counts have actually been dropping for three straight days which is in the wrong direction.  I think I'll be lucky if I get back up to stable levels by Monday.  I guess it was a good thing I went to the ER when I did because that infection (which was likely a UTI but not detectable now) probably would have gotten much worse if left to my own self to resolve.  The IV antibiotics have cleaned up shop and all my lab tests show no infections and I feel good.  Now it is just a waiting game until those counts come back up to normal.  Until then I'll be attempting not to go stir crazy in here.