Hello again! I'm sorry it's been awhile since I updated this. There are a couple reasons for this. One, I had a rough week. And two, I wanted to wait until after my doctor's appointment today. I've had several appointments since I last updated this. Last Tuesday I met with my oncologist. He wanted to wait a little longer for my thyroid to calm down before starting another treatment. I also had an appointment with the endocrinologist on Friday. I'm still on a couple of drugs for my thyroid. Unfortunately they take a couple of weeks to reach full effect so that is probably why my thyroid is still overactive. It's really been making me feel bad. I'm hoping that it will calm down soon.
Jess and I went down to my parents this weekend and had a good time with them and my sister and her husband. I wasn't feeling good, but the warmth of family helped me get through the weekend. We didn't really do much because I tire quickly with physical activity. A lot of relaxing, played some games - just what I needed probably.
Today was an eventful day. I had an appointment with my oncologist this morning. He said last week that he would have a plan for me by today (this thyroid thing apparently is really complicating things). So I'm not going back on the interleukin-2 treatment that I had in the hospital several weeks ago. That treatment would interact negatively with my thyroid medication. He did have a treatment plan for me today though. It involves infusions of three chemotherapy drugs every day for four days, then two weeks off, and then the same four day treatment again. After two 4-day treaments like this, I'll get a new set of scans and they'll decide whether it is working or not. If it seems to be working then I could end up having 4-6 rounds of this treament.
The surprising thing was that I started the treatment today! They sent me right over to the infusion center at the hospital and it took about 4 or 5 hours then to get the treatment. I was surprised because it just seems you always have to wait another week for the next thing to happen. I'm excited that I could get going on this right away. The infusion wasn't the most fun I've ever had, but it was bearable. It sounds like the main side effects are nausea and vomiting, however, I'm on two anti-nausea drugs during the infusion and I have two other for use at home so hopefully it won't be too bad. In any case I only have three more days of infusions this week!
The odds of success with this treament are similar to the interleukin-2 treament. It works for about 1 in 10. When it works, the results are great - long-term remission. I figure that I've always been a little different so there is no doubt that it will work for me. :)
Well, I guess that is it for now. I really want to try to update this twice a week instead of once a week - I'll do my best. Thanks to all who posted to the blog. It was fun to read all your notes and I really appreciate your support!!
Take care,
Brian
3 comments:
Hey Brian, I got the address for your Blog from Andrew on the forestry list and was glad to read that you're making progress with your treatments. I wish that keeping in touch were on better terms, but hey, i'll take what i can get :) Keep your spirits up and remember you've got a friend on the east coast keeping you and Jess in her prayers. Michelle
Keep strong. We're pulling for you. Know that you (and Jessica) are in our thoughts and prayers.
Sue
It was wonderful to hear your voice yesterday Brian! In spite of these hard times, your spirit is strong. Hope that you can have some more joyous moments in between your infusions. And I hope the next couple of weeks allows you to hang with people you care about and do some fun things. You're gonna get through this one way or another. You are such a wonderful gift to this world!
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