Round 2 Concludes

The treatment has gone by without incident. Monday and Tuesday were a breeze, likely due to the high dose steroids. Wednesday was a little rough, but today I started to feel better again.

Today was a beautiful day in Boston, sunny and around 75 degrees. It felt like summer! I had to run an errand which brought me through the public gardens and as I was passing through, I paused there for awhile. Benson and I found a nice tree to lay underneath and we watched the squirrels and ducks play in the park while listening to people nearby playing the saxophone. I stared at the sky for a long time thinking how small we all are and how beautiful and precious life is.

In the evening I had arranged a man date with a friend and we sporatically decided to catch a Bruins game. The TD Garden is a quick 10 minute walk from my place and it sounded like a fun idea; plus I hadn't been to the garden yet! We went to the box office and asked for two of their cheapest tickets which the lady whom was helping us informed us would be $130/ticket. So we turned around and left!

Upon exiting the garden a gentleman approached us and asked if we wanted to see the game and gave us free tickets! So we turned around again and went back inside! A great game and a great "conclusion" to this week's treatment. I still feel a little weak but things are on the rise and the worst is definately over.

A Rocky Start but Still a Start

This morning I arrived at the doctor's office at 7 am for some prelimary blood work to see if I would be able to begin my next treatment in the afternoon. Afterwards I returned home and waited for the results. About an hour later I got an email saying my liver markers were 139 and they need to be 137 to start treatment. Doh!

I pleaded with my doctor to submit my request to start today to the protocol team but they responded, "Cannot treat!". Two points off, i was frustrated. We had already been delayed a week and a half and now I was being delayed again for what is likely within the limits of lab error.

I spent the rest of the day working and distracting myself from the morning's events and in the afternoon I decided to stick with my scheduled treatment appointments and try one more time. I went back to the doctor's office, gave blood and waited again. This time the markers came back 130!

I went upstairs to the infusion room where i got hooked up, loaded up with steriods and then they sent me on my way.

Strike Two - Liver Slowly Heals

I didn't get to start chemo today either! My liver enzymes are still too high so we're going to push the next blood test back until Monday.

The good news is that we have three friends visiting this weekend and I'll be feeling great; however, I'd be lying if I didn't say we were all a little disappointed that I couldn't start my treatment. Although Yondelis isn't the end all drug to my treatment, the literature from recent studies is very promising. It's about a coin flip whether or not I'll respond to the drug and if I do then there's a great chance that this drug can be helpful.

We're keeping our heads up and pushing through. I did find a yondelis study protocol that said patients can be delayed up to 3 additional weeks after the 21 day cycle. Tomorrow will make week 1 of the delay.

Breathing in Hope and Breathing out Love...

Minor Setback

The day started at 8 am with getting my port accessed / blood work drawn. Then we had a doctor's appointment to write the orders for today's chemo.

At the doctor's office they said that my liver functions were too high and we'd have to delay chemo until later on in the week. I guess they're not trying to poison me after all! We're going to try again on Thursday.

Two Weeks of Vacation

The past two weeks have been unbelievable. Out of Yondelis recovery I felt great, even normal. I worked a full two weeks and over the weekends Autumn, Benson and myself went on two great road trips. Over the past two weeks I've almost forgotten about cancer and doctor's appointments, and have just enjoyed living life my with Autumn and Benson.

The first trip was for Benson's first birthday. He had always wanted to go to "The Black Dog" and so for his first birthday we promised him a trip to Martha's Vineyard. We all had a blast navigating the buses and visiting the little fishing towns around the island. Benson played on the beach, ran around all the little parks and was offered treats everywhere we went (cookies, dog treats, ice cream!). We walked a ton (3-5 miles/day) with very little pain. I think I wore Autumn and Benson out and by the end of the day, ALL of our feet were aching.

The second trip was for our One Year Wedding Anniversary! We drove up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire to take in the foliage and return to nature. It was a great weekend of hiking nature trails, exploring waterfalls and traversing New Hampshire's covered bridges. Benson spent most of the time off-leash with a grin on his face that said, "This is what my four legs were made for!"

Returning home from the weekend on our actual anniversary we ceremoniously ate our wedding cake.. which is still delicious!

And tomorrow starts Round 2 of Yondelis.

I thought this was nice :)

3 Full Days of Work and Still Kickin'

I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I really feel great! I have lots of energy and some of my persistent pains seem to be decreasing. The past three days I've been going into the office and putting in full day's work. This represents my longest and most consistent work streak since I was diagnosed!

I seem to be tolerating Yondelis well. Yes, it took a little while to recover and during the recovery I remember feeling fatigue like I hadn't experienced before with the last chemotherapy regime; however, once the recovery period was over, it was gone!!! Mental clarity, energy, alterness, I almost feel normal :)

I'm also starting to grow my hair back! You can start to see the hair folicles on my head, my face is growing peach fuzz and tiny eyelashes are sprouting up. I feel like I'm watching a garden grow, though I must admit I've never had luck with plants.

This weekend is Benson's 1st Birthday and he's always wanted to go to The Black Dog on Martha's Vineyard. So we promised him we'd take him. It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend so I'll be taking lots of pictures!