Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Time to Attack

Today I sit here in the Chemo unit attached to a drip which is releasing new warfare into my body to hopefully stop the current onslaught of the Cancer. I went back to see Dr K on Monday and yes my cancer cell count is still rising rapidly, now up to 165.
We spoke in depth about the new treatment. At the end of the day it is very similar to the first treatment I had just a couple of different drugs. First round treatment had a dramatic effect on the cancer to the point of slaughtering my bowel tumor. Dr K told me in no uncertain terms second round treatment is nowhere near as effective as the first so don’t expect similar results.
We did have a conversation about the SIRT treatment which I have had on the back burner to use when all else fails. Dr K suggested it may be wise to draw this wild card sooner than later. The reason being the longer I am on Chemo the more it is eating my body away, and may get to the stage where I will not pass the criteria to have the treatment. In amongst our conversation he alluded to the fact he was not confident the new treatment will have the effect I am expecting. Of course I am expecting to cure this terrible disease, but in reality that may not be the case. I will now contact the specialist down in Melbourne and start the process of preparing for the SIRT treatment. More than likely this will not take place for a few months by the time we get sorted. Not looking forward to it as everything I have read confirms it is very heavy duty and will take all my strength to go through the treatment. For now I will attack the tumors as hard as I can with the new drugs and hopefully have some good results soon.
Life goes on and I am still making sure I enjoy everyday.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Last day of current treatment but something is not right

Obvious statement under the current circumstances I suppose!
What I mean is usually at the end of my chemo cycle I feel very flat, but thIs time I feel there is something not right. Can I explain it, No, I have got to a stage where I understand how my body is reacting to the chemo and cancer in some werid way. Maybe it is just overdoing our Christmas trip away, and if is the case, I am happy to suffer as it was great to catch up with everyone from Family to Friends.Thanks to everyone who took time out to catch up, it means so much to me. On another note, I have been following a guys life through a blog site. He has the same cancer as myself, both bowel & liver. Some of you might have heard of him, Kristian Anderson, he was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey when she was in Australia. He was diagnosed back in Oct 2008 and died Monday this week.How does this make me feel to know someone with the same diagnosis only managed to live for two years? I think it has hit me harder than I realize and has added to my low emotional state which happens at this stage of my chemo cycle. I could just accept it as the inevitable and start planning my demise or I could be selfish and think it makes my odds better as the survival rate for my cancer is only 1 in 20. Yes that low. So I am still here keeping positive and hoping I will last long enough till they find a cure for this terrible disease. I suspect the next round of chemo treatment is going to knock me around quite a bit and I am starting to prepare myself to slow down at work. This is the worst thing that can happen emotionally to me as it means the cancer is effecting the life I love so much, and for this I can not express how much I hate this bloody cancer. It's bad enough the life changes I have already had to suffer, but to now effect the job I love doing is really going to hurt. I must admit my company are fully supportive and have offered to support me through this period, which is fantastic. I obviously still have the great support of my Family and will never let it effect the time I spend with Meghan & Sammy, as if there does come a day when all they have is memories, I want to be remembered for the good times and not some lifeless body laying in a bed being consumed by cancer. But that's not going to happen as my positivity has not weaned, I might stray of track every now and then, which I put down to chemo brain, but deep down I know I can beat this bloody cancer.
Sorry for such a long blog, but as you can tell I needed to get it of my chest and this is why a started this blog in the first place. Wish me luck as I start my next treatment and I will update soon.