Thursday, July 21, 2011

Back on the Chemo Rollercoaster again

First cycle of my 3 week cycle completed since my short break. I started cycle 6 of the Avistin and Xeloda treatment toady. Intravenous dose this morning and two weeks of tablets with a week’s break after that. This will bring me up to ten months since I started Chemo. I have learnt a lot over this time and too much to mention in this blog, but the two main things have been, I would not wish cancer on my worst enemy, it’s not just the physical aspect but also the emotional roller coaster you take. The second is you really find out who your friends are and how much they really mean, and I need to mention my Family who are by my side through all of this feeling every emotion I feel. I still have a long way to go but remain positive I will see little Sammy grow up into a man. Blood tests this cycle are not so good. My CEA count, (cancer cell count in blood stream) has risen slightly from 20 to 28, and my white cell count is down. No cause for panic but will need to keep an eye on this and hope they do not get any worse. Off to Brisbane next week for my PET scan which I am looking forward to receiving the results from. I can then sit down with Dr K and discuss the best options to destroy this cancer.  I will be also sending the results to my secret weapon down in Melbourne. I have been keeping a specialist up to date with my progress and using him as my second opinion. He is at the cutting edge of research for cancer at a large hospital and has all the right connections. Just keeping Dr K honest. He has a couple of treatments up his sleeve which we may need to call on if the Chemo treatments start to go pear shaped. Hopefully I will not need to draw this card but always good to have a plan B.
The next blog will hopefully have some good news after the scan results, so wish me luck and thanks to all who continue to support me.

Friday, July 1, 2011

FIRST ROUND KNOCKOUT AND BACK INTO THE RING TO FIGHT AGAIN

I am sitting back in the oncology unit t as I post this blog, hooked up to bags of poisonous drugs which not only kill the cancer but every other cell it comes into contact with. That’s the way it works, but believe it or not I am happy just to be back in the ring fighting the killer disease which has turned my life upside down. I had a great meeting with my Oncology Doctor who I call Dr K. I explained in no uncertain terms that I am not willing to sit back and be diagnosed as “stable” after each scan I have. I want to do everything in my power to beat this and if he was not willing help I would have to look elsewhere. He sat back in his seat and I could tell he does not get this type of reaction very often. I am sure most people just take his word for it and prepare themselves to die. Not Me!!! So straight into action goes DrK, we decide to put me back onto Chemo the next day and up the dosage. We also organized to have a PET scan (this is the ultimate scan which shows every last cancerous cell in my liver), which I have to travel down to Brisbane for at the end of July as they do not have a machine in Darwin. Once we have the results of this we will discuss next steps, and it looks like we have a few options, which I will not go into as yet until we are better equipped to make a decision. So now I am back in the ring and ready to go for another Knockout. This time it may take more than one round to beat this hefty opponent, as the big C has a pretty big strangle hold on my liver, but I know if I can keep on top of it I will eventually take it down. The bell rings and into the ring I step yet again,
WISH ME LUCK.