Well, last week I did round 6. The doc will have me do 8 or 12 rounds, so I'm at least halfway there. I am taking an extra week in between treatments this time so that I can have full energy for my upcoming weekend trip. That will put round 7 on Tuesday July 9th. I will have my blood work done (including the CEA) on Thursday July 4th.
This last round wasn't fun, like all of them. I think I only threw up once, though. :-) But finding stuff that I could eat was hard, and I kept David running to the store. He even made me some homemade chicken and pasta soup, but then I found out that the pasta and the chicken weren't settling well on my stomach, but the broth and the vegetables in the soup were very good. Next time I guess he can make it simple and just do a vegetable soup. I also thought I could eat some carrot and raisin salad. He was nice enough to make some for me, but I found it was just too flavorful so I couldn't eat it. I did find that one of my cravings was a winner: pretzel sticks. Those did not cause me any problems. I guess I *could* live on pretzel sticks for a few days. Last Thursday (3 days post-infusion) I was way too tired to drive and David was away at an appointment. I REALLY wanted some guacamole. I put an SOS out on Facebook and soon some guacamole was delivered by our friend and dog walker, Rochelle. What a sweetie!
By 3-4 days after an infusion I can usually start to to eat somewhat normally, just with smaller portions.
I haven't seen any more accelerated hair loss with these last two rounds. I saw a lot come out during the first 4 rounds and then a bunch came out after my liver procedure. But it seems to have slowed down to a normal loss rate. As I continue the treatments it may accelerate again, but only time will tell.
Having the 2-month break from the chemo did allow some of my side effects to go away completely. They will return (they are already beginning to) but since I was able to experience the healing and recovery, it'll be easier to get through the rest of the chemo knowing that I will return to normal afterwards. One of the side effects that are most troublesome (besides hair loss) is tenderness in my gums, with some recession caused by the chemo. The recession cannot be reversed but the discomfort at least will go away. Also, the Zaltrap causes ulcerations inside my nose accompanied by nose bleeds, and a general discomfort when I breathe through my nose. This also healed up during the break but has resumed. At least I know that it's not permanent. Well, unless the doc intends to keep my on Zaltrap for maintenance chemo like before. :-(
I'd love to reach a stage where I no longer need maintenance chemo. Which is why the idea of getting a new-and-improved liver isn't so bad, if it can lead to a cure.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Sunday, June 9, 2013
5th Round Completed, Wigs... and Possible Future Transplant?
Hello all. I'm happy to report that I've made it through my 5th round of Folfiri + Zaltrap. To summarize, I endured 4 rounds of chemotherapy from February 11 - March 25. The side effects were intense and more activity was present in my liver so it seemed like a good time to take a break from the systemic treatments and take the battle straight to the liver. So we halted the treatments and did a chemoembolization on my liver, using Irinotecan-saturated beads. My CEA has dropped and hopefully the activity in my liver will stop or slow down. This past Monday (June 3rd) I resumed the chemotherapy. As always, it wasn't fun. I was fatigued. I had no appetite. Even though I can't say that I had a lot of nausea, my stomach was smoldering all the time. That's the best way to explain it. It's like it was threatening to erupt and if I ate or drank the wrong thing it would then do so. I did throw up some on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday I returned to the cancer center to remove the 46-hour infusion pump. After that I started to feel better. And more good news: I didn't have any sign of the hand-foot syndrome that had bothered me the last time. I think that is due to the nice break that I had from systemic treatment which allowed some of the residual stuff to be cleared from my system.
During the four previous rounds of chemo I definitely noticed that my hair was shedding at an increased rate. After the embolization it revved up and now I probably have about half as much (or possibly less) hair than I usually do. So, I've taken the opportunity to take advantage of my insurance company's benefit of purchasing wigs and I now have a nice selection of different lengths and styles to choose from. I have to say, I'm a bit jealous that these actually look better than my own hair. They are very natural looking, the hair is sleek and shiny, but not plasticy. The other day I was at a Chinese restaurant and the hostess was staring at my hair. Then as she took me to my table she said, "I like your hair!" I simply told her thank you. When my hair grows back it may be difficult to revert back to my own fine head of hair after getting used to these full styles that actually take no styling.
Those of you on Facebook have seen these pictures but I will put them here too for those who are social media phobic. :-)
This one has bangs and a flip-out back:
This one has no bangs and a wedge back:
This one is long with no bangs:
And, for when I just want to be colorful!
I actually have a couple of scarves like this; both are very pretty.
OK, back to the medical stuff: I actually have broached the topic of a liver transplant to my doctor. For the last two years, any activity has only been in the liver. So I asked him if, after some length of time, no activity is seen elsewhere could the medical professionals make an assumption that all of the cancer cells have been eradicated from everywhere except the liver . What would that time be? Two years? Five years? Is there a time? He thought about it and said he knows of no precedent for a colon cancer case that has moved to the liver getting a transplant but he has heard of patients with cancers that have moved to the lungs (but did not originate there) that get a lung transplant when there is no longer additional activity outside of the lungs. So, there's not an automatic "No" to the possibility of a liver transplant. For that, it would take the involvement of a liver transplant surgeon to make the determination. And I have no idea what they would say. I asked him this recently and when I've mentioned it to a couple of friends, at different times, I was astonished to hear them say, with no hesitation whatsoever, that they would gladly donate some of their liver to me. Wow, talk about feeling loved! It never, ever occurred to me to even think about asking my friends and family for a donation. I assumed I would have to be accepted by the transplant waiting list, if I was even considered a candidate. However, if, and when, my doctors feel like it's time to consider replacing my beat-up liver with a new and improved one then I think it would move things along faster if a volunteer donor happened to be a good match, and if my insurance company approved the transplant. This is on the back burner, but it has given me some ideas. And though I wouldn't know know how to ask (how does one ask someone for some spare liver?) I would probably find a way to also ask my sister in addition to the friends who have offered. I don't know how likely anyone would be to be a match, but my sister might be the closest. She is such a kind, loving person and, knowing her, she would want me to allow her to make that choice rather than for me to make it for her by not asking.
(Ironically, when I had a liver resection in 2009, the piece that was removed was the section that they usually take for donations.)
All this said, it's just a glimmer. My liver isn't finished with this fight and a plan like this, if it ever comes to be, isn't imminent. But it's just one more potential weapon in our arsenal. It's kind of nice to think that perhaps I have corralled all of the cancer cells in my liver, and then I can potentially take it out and throw them all away, keeping the rest of me safe.
During the four previous rounds of chemo I definitely noticed that my hair was shedding at an increased rate. After the embolization it revved up and now I probably have about half as much (or possibly less) hair than I usually do. So, I've taken the opportunity to take advantage of my insurance company's benefit of purchasing wigs and I now have a nice selection of different lengths and styles to choose from. I have to say, I'm a bit jealous that these actually look better than my own hair. They are very natural looking, the hair is sleek and shiny, but not plasticy. The other day I was at a Chinese restaurant and the hostess was staring at my hair. Then as she took me to my table she said, "I like your hair!" I simply told her thank you. When my hair grows back it may be difficult to revert back to my own fine head of hair after getting used to these full styles that actually take no styling.
Those of you on Facebook have seen these pictures but I will put them here too for those who are social media phobic. :-)
This one has bangs and a flip-out back:
This one has no bangs and a wedge back:
This one is long with no bangs:
And, for when I just want to be colorful!
I actually have a couple of scarves like this; both are very pretty.
OK, back to the medical stuff: I actually have broached the topic of a liver transplant to my doctor. For the last two years, any activity has only been in the liver. So I asked him if, after some length of time, no activity is seen elsewhere could the medical professionals make an assumption that all of the cancer cells have been eradicated from everywhere except the liver . What would that time be? Two years? Five years? Is there a time? He thought about it and said he knows of no precedent for a colon cancer case that has moved to the liver getting a transplant but he has heard of patients with cancers that have moved to the lungs (but did not originate there) that get a lung transplant when there is no longer additional activity outside of the lungs. So, there's not an automatic "No" to the possibility of a liver transplant. For that, it would take the involvement of a liver transplant surgeon to make the determination. And I have no idea what they would say. I asked him this recently and when I've mentioned it to a couple of friends, at different times, I was astonished to hear them say, with no hesitation whatsoever, that they would gladly donate some of their liver to me. Wow, talk about feeling loved! It never, ever occurred to me to even think about asking my friends and family for a donation. I assumed I would have to be accepted by the transplant waiting list, if I was even considered a candidate. However, if, and when, my doctors feel like it's time to consider replacing my beat-up liver with a new and improved one then I think it would move things along faster if a volunteer donor happened to be a good match, and if my insurance company approved the transplant. This is on the back burner, but it has given me some ideas. And though I wouldn't know know how to ask (how does one ask someone for some spare liver?) I would probably find a way to also ask my sister in addition to the friends who have offered. I don't know how likely anyone would be to be a match, but my sister might be the closest. She is such a kind, loving person and, knowing her, she would want me to allow her to make that choice rather than for me to make it for her by not asking.
(Ironically, when I had a liver resection in 2009, the piece that was removed was the section that they usually take for donations.)
All this said, it's just a glimmer. My liver isn't finished with this fight and a plan like this, if it ever comes to be, isn't imminent. But it's just one more potential weapon in our arsenal. It's kind of nice to think that perhaps I have corralled all of the cancer cells in my liver, and then I can potentially take it out and throw them all away, keeping the rest of me safe.
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