Thursday, May 16, 2013

First Day After…

Yesterday was the last day of radiation treatments… #8 of 8… I was there bright and early as they had to do servicing on the second unit and I was moved to an early spot… My appointment was for 8 AM… and I was done and out of there by 8:05AM…

Now I’ll back up a bit… Treatments #3-5 were last week… in amongst scheduled doctors appointments and Zometa infusion… The treatments went well… they were always done quickly and efficiently… a few laughs here and there with the staff.  They have some great staff in the radiation department of the Jack Ady cancer Centre… I want to thank all of them for making my visits as relaxed and quick as possible. 

On Thursday last week I was scheduled to see my oncologist… only it was the Nurse Practitioner that I saw… Not a big deal really… it was just to get test results and pick up my meds for the next month… It turns out my PSA level went up again… but just a little...from 4.2 to 5.6 this time… Not surprising considering there was cancer growth in my pelvis… Everything else looks good… The only other thing that took place was that I asked to switch doctors… As I said previously, I am just not feeling comfortable with my previous oncologist… so my next visit will be the the only other medical oncologist in town.  We’ll see how that goes, and move on from there....  if it doesn’t go well, then it will be back to Calgary to see someone there… I’ll keep switching until I find a doctor that I am comfortable with and that I feel is working with and for me!!

So...the big question is “did the radiation help?"… As of right now, all I can say is that I am more comfortable… I still have a little pelvic pain, but for the most part I am feeling much better.  I had a number of ‘flare ups’ during the treatments… increased pain a few hours or more after each treatment for the first week… only minor increases for the last three days… I am still uncomfortable when I sit...it feels like there is swelling around my left ischium… but the pain in that area is a LOT less that it has been… I am much more comfortable walking...and am taking less pain medication now than I was last week.  Only time and tests will tell what the radiation really did...but I am happy with where I am right now.  I am hopeful that over the next few weeks the swollen feeling will go away and the pain will as well… even if the pain remains where it is today I will be happy!!

The only other big side effect is the increased lack of energy… I get out and walk every day… but I also have to lay down in the afternoon every day… I can work through it...but pay for it later in the day or early evening when I have to fight to stay awake… better to sleep in the afternoon while I’m alone, and be awake later when Cindy gets home ... 

Yesterday, May 15th, was the 7th anniversary of the start of my cross Canada bike ride… I had thought about it a lot last week...but somehow in all the muddling around yesterday I had forgotten about it until reminded last night… YUP, it’s been 7 years already...man time has flown by… I think about the ride often… about the people I met… the friends I made… I am hoping that I can sit on a bike this year… even if only for a short ride once and a while… I really miss riding!  It’s been two years since I’ve actually been on my bike for more than a coast down the driveway… just too uncomfortable to sit on it.  There is one person from the bike ride that I stay in touch with… Tim H....  Tim and I rode together for a good portion of Canada… Happy Anniversary Tim!!  Thanks for all the memories...and the continued friendship over the past 7 years!!

Until next time....

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Day 2 of Radiation….

Yesterday was my first radiation treatment for this round… This is the third time I’ve had radiation treatments...the second time in Lethbridge… It is a huge relief to be able to do the radiation in Lethbridge...not having to travel more than a few km to and from the cancer centre is great!

This round of treatment is aimed at the left ischium...where the cancer is growing.  We are hoping that it will eliminate or in the very least, lessen the pain I have been having.  I was warned again yesterday that there may be a flair up due to the radiation.  I have not had that experience before, so was hoping that it would be the same this time… NO SUCH LUCK!  Yesterday afternoon and last evening the pain increased substantially… thankfully I have a doctor that was willing to help me through it by prescribing an increased dose of pain meds for the short term (at my request)… if the pain doesn’t subside after the meds have run out, then we will re-evaluate and go on from there.  Thankfully, the bump up meds helped last night… although it was painful, after taking the meds it settled down quickly… I had a very restful sleep and was ready to go this morning.

Today was lab day… time to get all the tests done for my oncology visit on Thursday… I am expecting everything except my PSA levels to be good… I am pretty sure my PSA levels will be up again… hopefully only slightly… I’m not going to worry about that right now though…

It was also day 2 of radiation… once again it went quickly and painlessly… The pain has been tolerable this morning...thanks to the medication… I’ll let you know in the next day or so if it continues to increase or not with treatment…

Not a lot else happening right now… treatment #3 tomorrow… Thursday is oncology visit, Zometa infusion, an radiation treatment #4… Friday is radiation and Eligard injection… It’s going to be a busy week!  Hopefully things will move along as planned…

Until next time....

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Radiation Schedule Set…

It’s been a struggle getting the radiation schedule set up… The problem has been on my end...I cannot blame anyone else!

We had originally set the start date for April 22nd… I had thought that would work, but after looking ahead a little I realized that I wouldn’t be able to get to the final 3 days of radiation… I have a week long get-a-way scheduled… time with family and friends… So, the start date has been delayed a while… Right now I am scheduled to start radiation on Monday, May 6th… Five days in a row...then the weekend off and 3 more days the following week. 

I’m going to have a busy Thursday and Friday the first week.... Thursday I will get a radiation treatment, see my oncologist and have a Zometa infusion… then on the Friday I will have a radiation treatment and get my Eligard injection… Unless of course everything changes… or they decide to do the Eligard injection when they do the Zometa infusion… it won’t really matter since I’ll have to be there regardless.

Not much else happening… or scheduled to happen… for a while… Hopefully I’ll be able to make some time in my very not-busy schedule to do some more painting… I have a few ideas I want to work on… and a few requests I also have to work on… I can hardly wait to put oil on canvas… it seems like it’s been a while since I’ve been able to drop everything else and enjoy painting…

Until next time....

Thursday, April 11, 2013

I Was Right….

Unfortunately I was right about not hearing the results of the x-rays until yesterday… First off, my oncologist told me he would call with the results...NO surprise that he didn’t!!  Just frustration with him…

I went to see a radiation oncologist yesterday afternoon… The first thing he asked was if anyone had given me the results of the x-rays… NOPE… he was a little surprised, but went on…

The x-rays showed the original cancer in my left ischium… and that it was covering a slightly larger area than previous x-rays showed… it’s grown… Not unexpected by me due to the feeling of sitting on a ball on my left side… What was unexpected was the fact that I have a pelvic fracture...more centralized and in front of where the cancer is… AHA...that’s why I’m having pain in other areas… He asked if I’ve been able to keep up my regular activities… I told him I try to keep walking… and have done some pretty good walks in the past week… He asked how far I was walking and I told him that I had done as much as 8 km in one day...not one walk, but over 2 or 3 walks during the day… and I was regularly doing close to 3km in a single walk… he was quite amazed that with the fracture I was doing so much…

I haven’t increased my pain meds… since the pain does settle pretty well once I get off my feet and comfortable… he was surprised at that as well…

We discussed options...pretty much the only one being to do some more radiation to the area… in hopes of relieving some of the pain caused by the cancer… we’re not expecting to eliminate the pain all together like was done two years ago… He is scheduling me to start around the 22nd… it would have been earlier, but I don’t plan on being around for the first few days of next week… time for a 3 day breakaway to the mountains!!  I am still waiting for the schedule to arrive...so that’s about all I know about that… ;o)

Next up… I’m thinking of firing my medical oncologist… It might just be time to move on to the other one in town… or go back up to Calgary… Although I liked my current medical oncologist the first time we met...he just doesn’t seem to be the right guy for me… I HATE changing doctors...but this time… well...it just seems like the right thing to do…

Until next time....

Monday, April 08, 2013

April Results…

I had blood tests done again last week (April 2)… Then I saw the oncologist on Thursday, April 4…

My tests remain pretty stable… although my PSA levels have gone from 3.2 to 4.2 this time around… Not a concern at this point… We will continue to watch and react if/when they double between tests… Hopefully that won’t be for a LONG while yet.  There are other treatments available if that should happen...and more in clinical trial right now too…

I am also still having left hip (ischium) pain...or more discomfort than pain.  So… I had x-rays done on Thursday as well… still waiting to hear the results, but I don’t think I will hear anything until I see the radiation oncologist on Wednesday this week.  YUP...a radiation oncologist again… Since the pain/discomfort is not improving, my oncologist thinks it might be best to have more radiation… if they’ll do it!  So, back to the doc on Wednesday to see what is going on in there...and maybe more radiation...which for me, wouldn’t be a terrible thing… last time it settled my hip down right away and it felt great for a year… If it will help settle it down, that would be great… I would love to be able to do things without worrying about how much it’s going to hurt later, or just avoiding things all together…

I will post an update on Wednesday or Thursday…

Until next time....