I realized that it’s been forever since I updated y’all about my progress. So without any further ado, here it is.
Believe it or not, but I’m nearly done w/ my chemotherapy. I just completed my 11th week of chemotherapy, which is considered as last challenging odd week (two consecutive days of chemo). Next week is actually the LAST week but it will be relatively easy in comparison to this week.
Imagine this, three months of chemotherapy nearly done! So it’s all over soon. Going to be in remission, right? Alas, I wish it were easy as that. My doctor notified me few weeks ago that I would be having radiation therapy after I’m completed with chemotherapy. Oh great… In first few weeks, they told me that I might be waived from radiation therapy due to my unusual case (am at stage four only because the enlarged lymph nodes were found in my lungs, but it didn’t spread below my diaphragm, spleen, and in my bone marrow). Apparently, that was not the case. The team of doctors later determined that it’s better for me to stick with radiation therapy, just to play it safe.
I was a tad disappointed, as this did affect my traveling plans in late fall. Was expecting to pay a visit to friends in the east, but of course, my health comes first. So be it…
I asked them why I could not have radiation therapy at same time as my chemotherapy. They simply said that it wouldn’t be good for my body (I guess it’s no milk). They have to wait until the medication from chemotherapy is dissolved from my body, hence the reason why I’ll be taking 1-2 weeks off before resuming my radiation therapy in first week of November.
Now hear me out. I’ll be doing radiation therapy for a month. But instead of doing it on a weekly basis as my chemotherapy usually requires, it’ll be on a daily basis from Monday to Friday. Oh boy, those nurses are going to be my best buddies from now on. However, another difference is that it’ll be only 30 minutes long (I believe). I’m still a bit unclear about details, as I met with my radiation doctor only once (Dr. Hoppe is the name. very hopeful, eh?). I’ll meet with him for second time next week’s Friday after he gets the results from my CAT-scan. From there, he shall explain me about the process of my radiation therapy in depth.
So my best guess is that I’ll be all done with radiation therapy sometime in beginning of December.
Now the question here is how do I know if the treatment is successful, sending my cancer into remission? Here’s the interesting thing. After I’m done with radiation therapy, I’ll have to wait for a month to have a PET-scan to verify my diagnosis. Why, you may ask? Well, to my understanding, the cells in my body will be “bloated” during radiation therapy, thus preventing the doctors to get an accurate scan of what’s going in my body. Therefore I need a month to let my cells resume their original size in order to provide a clear PET-scan of my body.
That is general outlook of what my treatment will be like for next couple of months. Nonetheless, I have to say that I’m pleased with how my treatment is going on so far. It has been smooth sailing so far. Not once I have puked or spew some tragic Shakespearean quotes. I’m still keeping myself active (visiting Lake Tahoe for a day hiking, off to friends’ wedding in San Diego, and so on). Of course, I cannot wait to resume my daily lifestyle without worrying too much about my eating habits (am required to stay away from raw food, including sushi!), avoiding sick people, and sticking to one alcoholic beverage per day policy. Soon, soon, I keep on reminding myself.
So in a nutshell, it is likely that I’ll finally learn the result of my entire treatment by early January. Well- let’s hope I start off the year of 2011 with good news, my friends!
til’ next time,
adam j.
