Posted by David Poncelow
Sun, 22 Oct 2006 00:39:54 GMT | no comments
I’ve been doing really well after this first round of chemo. After the treatment itself I was feeling well enough to meet a friend for tea and walk around a little before heading home.
Around 6 I started not feeling so well- a bit woozy like you might feel on a boat in choppy water (but not quite to when you feel queasy). I slept with a basin by my bed in case it got worse, but it didn’t- I woke up feeling much better.
Friday I was tired- very slow. I went in at 1 to get a shot of neulasta and then walked around downtown Ballard for a little bit. I got down a small bowl of pho (comfort food) and came back home around 3. I then just slept from about 4 until 7. D and I went out to the grocery store to get some supplies for the next couple weeks, I dropped in on a friend’s party for twenty minutes, and then crashed.
Today has been even better. I woke up with energy- we went out to get our driver’s licenses renewed, came home, I took a short nap, and then went out walking again. We just got back a little bit ago… and now I’m beat. Time for a nap again.
Overall I’ve fared pretty well, I think. The nurse who gave me the shot on Friday said that it will all get worse as I get farther in, but how I deal with the first round is probably indicitive of how the rest will go. If that’s so, I’m pretty encouraged.
Posted in Cancer
Posted by David Poncelow
Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:16:02 GMT | no comments
I put some pictures up on the right hand side- they link to a flickr gallery where I’m posting pictures as I go. I’m beginning to think that they may be a bit much, so I may change it to just a link so you don’t have to see them every time you visit.
Posted in Misc
Posted by David Poncelow
Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:13:42 GMT | no comments
So at the moment I’m sitting in the chair getting pumped full of my first round of chemo drugs. It’s been pretty painless- as I’ve come to expect, everyone here is extraordinarily friendly and helpful.
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Posted in Cancer
Posted by David Poncelow
Mon, 16 Oct 2006 21:26:26 GMT | no comments
I just moved this blog to a new server- the move isn’t done yet as I still have some things I’d like to add (I have a bunch of pictures I’d like to put up, for example). I haven’t tested it as well as I like or should have- please let me know if you find anything broken.
Posted in Misc
Posted by David Poncelow
Mon, 16 Oct 2006 21:23:20 GMT | no comments
I had a great, busy weekend. Matt was in town, so it was great getting to show him around Ballard- we didn’t get to much more of Seattle save a quick walk through Pike Place, the new library, and a beer in the EMP. We got to go to a concert at the Tractor (Abigail Washburn), and went to a friend’s pumpkin carving contest (speed pumpkin carving- with a Sawzall!). We barely got him to the airport in time to catch his flight.
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Posted in Family, Scuba
Posted by David Poncelow
Mon, 16 Oct 2006 20:23:39 GMT | 3 comments
OK, so here’s the full deal. Early Friday morning (early being 8ish) I had a
CT scan done on my chest and liver. The CT machine looked like a big futuristic donut with a bed that fit inside - I laid down on the table and the technician made me comfortable and started an I.V. Once that was going she called Jim from nuclear medicine over to give me the radiation tracer for the bone scan I would get later.
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Posted in Cancer
Posted by David Poncelow
Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:02:00 GMT | no comments
Yesterday I met with my new oncologist and got a bunch of info and a plan for action- there’s a lot that’s going to be going on in the next week. I just got back from a CT scan this morning where they took pictures of my chest and liver. I’ve got another followup appointment with my surgeon in an hour and a half or so where we will also discuss putting my port in (I’ll explain that in a bit) on wednesday and then a bone scan at 11:30. I have another test on Tuesday- a MUGGA (sp?) test which is a baseline on my heart function. Then Thursday is the first chemo treatment.
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Posted in Cancer
Posted by David Poncelow
Sat, 07 Oct 2006 00:11:00 GMT | no comments
I finally got my lymph tube out today- this makes me very happy! I’ll be able to take the bandage covering the hole off tomorrow morning- that will be the first time I’m bandage and accoutrement free since the surgery. Stretching out the arm is going well, and everything is starting to feel more normal. Where my nipple used to be now feels something like a limb does when it falls asleep, just a little numb and foreign, not sore or painful. The skin on the inside of my arm is still over-sensitive to being touched, but that’s also improving. Overall I’m quite happy with my progress! Now I’m about ready for the next steps- I’ll find out what exactly those will be on Thursday.
Posted in Cancer
Posted by David Poncelow
Mon, 02 Oct 2006 13:29:00 GMT | no comments
I had another appointment with my surgeon on Friday- not much new information this time around. I got my bandages off- they were these rather cool plastic bandages that pretty much just looked like package tape over the incisions. I figured that since they were designed to stay together for over a week there must be some special way of removing them, a solvent that made them float off, something of that sort. Not so much. Dr. Garnett simply said ‘sorry’ and ripped them off. It didn’t really hurt, but the low-tech technique did make me laugh! Overall I’m healing as well as can be expected. The scar looks to be very minimal and the difference between sides won’t be too noticible from the front or the side- it’s most noticible from the top as I see it, which few other people will notice. I got some new bandages that I thought were pretty nifty- an adhesive was painted onto the wounds and then some tape was applied. Eventually the adhesive will dissolve in the shower and the tape will just start falling off. I’m constantly impressed by the nifty ideas and gadgets that I’m encountering.
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Posted in Cancer
Posted by David Poncelow
Mon, 02 Oct 2006 13:29:00 GMT | no comments
I just got a call from my doctor with the pathology report from my surgery. The result was that three out of the twenty-one lymph nodes were involved. The surgical borders were all clean, so the surgery got all the cancer we know of, but the cancer had gotten into fatty tissue around the sentinel lymph node. As a result, I’m going to need to have radiation therapy in addition to chemotherapy. Some of the results of the hormone tests on the first biopsy also came back- they are positive for Progesterone and Estrogen receptors. As a result, hormone therapy is also likely to be helpful (a good thing- one more way to fight this). Tests for HER2 are still outstanding- that might be another helpful mode of treatment. I’ve got another appointment next Friday at 11:15, so perhaps I’ll get a bit more interpretation for these results then. I think I may be into the time when there are fewer answers forthcoming- it’s going to be a long game of wait-and-see. I’ll know what the next step is on Friday at least.
In the meantime I’m healing well. I’m up and about, even took a walk into downtown Ballard a little while ago. It’s a bright, sunshiny day today- another perfect day to be living in Seattle. It’s definitely fall, with a bit of a nip in the moist air (it’s been raining in the evenings). I’m about ready for another nap, and I might even make it out to visit with some friends tonight. I’m already a bit stir-crazy, which may not bode well for the next couple weeks
Posted in Cancer