I feel bad because I haven't put anything up for a while. Unfortunately there hasn't been anything too interesting that's happened over the last couple of weeks. Let's see what un-interesting things I can dig up... (hey, I'm sitting at MD Anderson and it's about 2 hours until my next test, so I need *something* to do)
- I'm feeling pretty much back to normal. I'd say 90% or so. Now I just need a way to deal with all the fatigue I've had for the past couple of years. I think I've got a possible solution, but I'll wait to blog about that until I can confirm it.
- I've been spending a lot more time with friends here in Houston. It's one of the things that I promised myself that I'd do. It's been cool, but makes for a heck of a schedule some days.
- I've got at least 4 trips (possibly 5) scheduled before the end of the year and not a single one of them are really planned yet. I need to get on that. But that also means if I haven't said something, I probably won't be by to see you this year. Sorry folks. (or "congratulations"--depending on how you see it...)
- I learned that if you don't play Rock Band for a long time, your hand hurts like heck when you try.
- I finally got the breakdown from my insurance company, so I can start the house repairs. One of the cool things is that they are paying to have my house completely re-roofed. I only lost 1/30th of the shingles, but they are paying to have the whole thing redone. W00t! (that makes for a good selling point)
Yeah, that's not much. Like I said, the fatigue really sucks and slows-down any progress I'd like to be making during the week.
But, like I've said before, if that's my biggest gripe then life just can't be too bad.
20 October, 2008
05 October, 2008
Quick Weekend Update
Not much going on this weekend. I still need to get a lot of my strength and endurance back. But I can't say that I've reached too hard for that goal over the last couple of days--I've spent quite a bit of it on the couch catching up on the TV and movies I've missed over the last month or so.
Not Your Typical Halloween Basket
It's nice to finally be able to put this basket 'o meds away. This was my side-effect-management stash.
Getting in the Spirit of the Holidays
Friday night, I did step out with some friends for a cool little thing put on by our local NPR radio station.
Sitting on an open-air theater with the skyscrapers of downtown Houston as a backdrop, they showed the silent film 'Nosferatu' with live music accompaniment by an Austin band. It was definitely cool.
Not Your Typical Halloween Basket
It's nice to finally be able to put this basket 'o meds away. This was my side-effect-management stash.
Getting in the Spirit of the Holidays
Friday night, I did step out with some friends for a cool little thing put on by our local NPR radio station.
Sitting on an open-air theater with the skyscrapers of downtown Houston as a backdrop, they showed the silent film 'Nosferatu' with live music accompaniment by an Austin band. It was definitely cool.
01 October, 2008
Probably. Maybe. We mostly think so.
Ok, so here's the slightly more detailed version of the previous post...
They *think* I'm cancer-free. Up until this point, I've been a textbook case of testicular cancer. My blood work, treatment and recovery has been exactly as the doctors have learned to expect after successfully treating thousands of cases of my cancer.
Where I diverged from being a typical case is my AFP count. If you remember, that's the protein they use to diagnose how much cancer is in my system.
In a typical adult, there is 0 to 5 ng/mL of AFP found. When I started all of this, my count was just under 1,000. But ever since round 2 of chemo, it's been floating around 10 ng/mL.
Normally this indicates that there is still some active cancer left. However, since that number hasn't moved during the last two rounds of chemo and the biopsy from surgery showed that the thing they removed from my lymph node was a mature teratoma (most likely benign), my oncologist believes that the slightly elevated AFP is normal for me. (much like someone who naturally has low blood pressure or has a normal internal body temperature lower than 98.6)
There is also a slight chance that my Crohn's is causing the extra AFP to be produced. It's been shown that Colitis (a very similar condition) can cause this.
So, the end result is this: they are pretty sure I'm cured. But the AFP number means that I don't have a 100% diagnosis. They will be re-testing my blood and giving me CT scans every few months for the next couple of years to make sure. (which was the plan in any case) If the AFP continues not to rise, we'll know that's normal for me.
They *think* I'm cancer-free. Up until this point, I've been a textbook case of testicular cancer. My blood work, treatment and recovery has been exactly as the doctors have learned to expect after successfully treating thousands of cases of my cancer.
Where I diverged from being a typical case is my AFP count. If you remember, that's the protein they use to diagnose how much cancer is in my system.
In a typical adult, there is 0 to 5 ng/mL of AFP found. When I started all of this, my count was just under 1,000. But ever since round 2 of chemo, it's been floating around 10 ng/mL.
Normally this indicates that there is still some active cancer left. However, since that number hasn't moved during the last two rounds of chemo and the biopsy from surgery showed that the thing they removed from my lymph node was a mature teratoma (most likely benign), my oncologist believes that the slightly elevated AFP is normal for me. (much like someone who naturally has low blood pressure or has a normal internal body temperature lower than 98.6)
There is also a slight chance that my Crohn's is causing the extra AFP to be produced. It's been shown that Colitis (a very similar condition) can cause this.
So, the end result is this: they are pretty sure I'm cured. But the AFP number means that I don't have a 100% diagnosis. They will be re-testing my blood and giving me CT scans every few months for the next couple of years to make sure. (which was the plan in any case) If the AFP continues not to rise, we'll know that's normal for me.
30 September, 2008
25 September, 2008
Latest Ike Update
Well, I got power back on Monday. So, Tuesday, Dad and I headed back to the house. It's nice to start getting back to normal. I'm currently working from home--waiting on the insurance adjuster to show up and give me an idea of what it will cost to get the house back to 100%.
Healing from the surgery is taking a lot longer than I'd hoped. I'm up and around, but still slow, weak and don't have much energy. I think I lost about 10-15 pounds and it shows. I'll get it back, but it'll take a while. At least things are headed in the right direction.
Right now I'm focused on getting life back on track. The house really needs to be cleaned and I've got a completely empty fridge that needs to be restocked. And as slow as I am right now, this is going to take a while...
BTW: I find out next week the results of the biopsy during the surgery. Depending on what exactly was attached to that lymph node they took out, I could be done or I could be in for another round of chemo. (or some third option I'm not aware of) I'll post whenever I hear the results.
Healing from the surgery is taking a lot longer than I'd hoped. I'm up and around, but still slow, weak and don't have much energy. I think I lost about 10-15 pounds and it shows. I'll get it back, but it'll take a while. At least things are headed in the right direction.
Right now I'm focused on getting life back on track. The house really needs to be cleaned and I've got a completely empty fridge that needs to be restocked. And as slow as I am right now, this is going to take a while...
BTW: I find out next week the results of the biopsy during the surgery. Depending on what exactly was attached to that lymph node they took out, I could be done or I could be in for another round of chemo. (or some third option I'm not aware of) I'll post whenever I hear the results.
17 September, 2008
Ike & Stuff
Thanks to everyone for the phone calls and emails.
I'm finally starting to do better. I can eat again, so that's a heck of a relief. Now I just have to build my strength back up. It's going to take a little while.
Dad and I headed down to Houston the other day to see what shape the house was in. I was missing some shingles and have some water damage inside the house, but it's not too bad. I'm missing a lot of my fence and stuff like that, but it's all workable.
Since there's still no power, I'm back in OK recovering with the folks. Sounds like it won't be until about this weekend that I *might* have power. So, it's just some sitting around here until then.
But, all is going well. I'm finally back on the mend. Hope everyone is well.
I'm finally starting to do better. I can eat again, so that's a heck of a relief. Now I just have to build my strength back up. It's going to take a little while.
Dad and I headed down to Houston the other day to see what shape the house was in. I was missing some shingles and have some water damage inside the house, but it's not too bad. I'm missing a lot of my fence and stuff like that, but it's all workable.
Since there's still no power, I'm back in OK recovering with the folks. Sounds like it won't be until about this weekend that I *might* have power. So, it's just some sitting around here until then.
But, all is going well. I'm finally back on the mend. Hope everyone is well.
13 September, 2008
Surgery: Aftermath
Sorry for the no blogging, folks. It's been a crazy week or two.
Surgery went really well. The surgeon almost seemed a bit surprised how well it went. My recovery in-hospital went well, too. It was a little easier than I'd expected.
However, the real fun began when I got out. My folks came down (thanks) and we decided it was best to get out of Ike's way. So I'm in Oklahoma. However, I can't seem to eat anything. Anything I eat comes right back up. So I'm really weak and I can't concentrate. I'm sure it will all come back, but it's rough right now...
Surgery went really well. The surgeon almost seemed a bit surprised how well it went. My recovery in-hospital went well, too. It was a little easier than I'd expected.
However, the real fun began when I got out. My folks came down (thanks) and we decided it was best to get out of Ike's way. So I'm in Oklahoma. However, I can't seem to eat anything. Anything I eat comes right back up. So I'm really weak and I can't concentrate. I'm sure it will all come back, but it's rough right now...
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