The Turtle and Chemo Man

So I have entered another good week and if the weather would make up it's mind my headaches might clear up. Some things have gone better this time ad some things have not. I think I have a better grasp on taking my meds and knowing which ones to take when. That was an important step. The next one was getting a feel for why my stomach felt bad at any given moment. In my reading I have found a number of articles talking about a "disconnected stomach" which makes it hard telling if you are feeling sick or hungry or have heartburn and so on. Eating meals steadily through the day helps with the hunger part. Sleeping through the night was not as easy this time around. I have watched a fair amount of shows on Netflix in the wee hours of the morning. One time is okay while several days in a row is more of an issue. I did have less arm pain this time although I musalthough that was one cause of my sleep issues. It seems I like to sleep on the arm that hurts. I wake up and roll off of it and then find myself right back on it when I wake up. Still I think it was a more manageable pain this time around. I didn't get in a run this weekend which was a bummer. I had to work on Sunday and I didn't want to risk being too tired as I wasn't sure how long I might be at the office. I was able to get out and run 3 miles this evening. It was a great night for a run in the park and although I could be paced by a box turtle at this point I was happy to get in all 3 miles without having to walk. I hope to get in another run on Thursday which is Chemo Eve. Here comes cycle 2. I am looking forward to the end of cycle 2 and getting another PET scan to see where things are at. It has been great to hear from so many friends and family. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and I promise to get back to everyone soon. It has been nice to feel good again this week. It helps keep you sane. I have found myself asking the same question alot this weekend and week. How many days of feeling almost normal is enough to feel refreshed enough to start another round. Of course I am well aware that there are worse treatments than what I am going through and that there are people who are having a hard time in treatment from all kinds of cancer so I am not complaining about the way things are going I just wonder... How much time would it take to recharge and what is the smallest amount of time that would work? It always amazed me how quickly my wife went from labor pain to enjoying being with our new born children. The human mind and spirit are amazing and so are the healing powers of love and friendship. I am thankful to be doing well with the treatment so far and for having such wonderful friends and family. I hope you are all well.

Good bye hair

So It appears that my hair loss is on schedule. It appeared from most posts that it started right about the time of your second treatment and I noticed when we were at the doctor that I was starting to loss some and so home after the treatment yesterday and a massed a fair pile. I got it cut shorter today so it wouldn't be so messy and noticeable around the house. Don't want to see any tumbleweeds of hair laying about the house. I was mentally prepared for the hair loss and I don't believe myself to be a very vain person so I don't believe it will bother me too much I'm just not sure what I will look like bald. It's too bad I can't go swim at the pool I have really reduced my drag potential. Looking forward to trick or treating with the kids this year as Dr Evil and Eli as Mini me. Should be fabulous. I will make sure to include photos of that.

Chemo Eve

Today I have coined a new phrase Chemo Eve. What does one do on Chemo Eve you may ask yourself. Well, first you go for a run, if possible with friends or if you are really lucky with your spouse. Next you go out to a nice restaurant and enjoy a glass of wine a great steak and a baked potato. Then you go home and start hydrating. It is the great end to a week of feeling well and feeling well is a reason to celebrate.
The run was great tonight. I didn't break any speed records but I managed to cruise along for all 3 miles of the loop without any issues. It felt great to run without feeling tired. There is one thing I have noticed and that is the fact that my legs sort of feel foreign to me now. I just don't have the muscle control of my legs that I had before the first chemo. When I run my legs just feel off.

For my chemo buddies

So I feel the need to post for those who are interested in what is going to happen in their future or their loved ones future as they start into chemo.  I know that chemo is different to everyone but many of the posts I read were right on target for me so here is how it started off for me. 
Great nurses make for a great place to get your treatment.  The Duke Med facility was very nice.  The wait to get things going was pretty long because well you just can't time exactly how long it will take for someone to get all their meds in and you wouldn't want to push that time table.  The process was rather simple to start, the nurse went over the drugs that I would receive and we made sure that each medication was what I was expecting and matched my name and patient id.  The treatment I will be getting is ABVD and is going through IV.  I don't have a port or a PICC or a Hickman's just an everyday IV.  I didn't find this first process to be too painful.  There was pain in my arm at one point and the nurse slowed down the process and got me a warm beanie to lay on my arm.  The warm beanie is your friend and slow is slowing down the process if things get painful.  After I find out on Thursday how many more of these treatments I may have I might be pushing for a port.  And the reason for that is for me although at the time of treatment things felt fine.  A few days later I started to develop pain in my veins.  It started as a tingle and then a burn and later into an almost sharp pain.  At this point it is no longer a constant pain but my arm still feels achy.  So from the posts I have read the port is the way to go if you are having a large number of treatments so I wait for Thursday to see how many we are looking at.  I will let you know how that goes.  As for the time after the treatment.  I didn't feel bad after the treatment we made it home and I took my meds and talked for a while and then when the drugs kicked in I went to sleep.  The next few days I spent trying to get the timing of taking the meds down and figuring out what pains meant.  Is that I feel sick to my stomach or I'm hungry and need to eat or heartburn.  It took me awhile to work those things out.  When in doubt medication is your friend.  The nurses told me it was best to stay on top of your nausea.  Several sites mentioned mouth sores and staying on top of that.  I found that swishing salt water worked but the thing I found to help the most were ice cold smoothies.  The coldness really helped out.  Also, you can add so many things in a smoothie when you are not feeling up to eating a regular meal.  I am not sure what I would have done without the smoothie and the baked potato.  Great stuff.  It took me until about 6 or 7 days to feel normal again.  I felt pretty good most mornings but for some reason shortly after lunch things would go down hill.  By the time I made it home from work I was beat.
I am hoping that the second go around which is this Friday will go easier with the knowledge gained so far but we shall see. 

The week compressed

I feel bad for not posting for so long but this past week although it was short due to the labor day holiday was so very long.  I feel like I experienced a few weeks compressed into one but having come out on the other side I can report that starting on Monday I was feeling almost normal again.  I will skip the details of last week for this post and just say that I felt like I had the flu for the week.  On Saturday however my sister and her family came to Greensboro for the Thin Mint Sprint, possibly my favorite race in the Greensboro area, and we had a great time.  We ran the fun run 1 mile race with the kids and Jen and I raced the 5k while my sister watched the kids for us.  It was great.  It was the slowest time I have ever raced a 5k but it was a beautiful morning and it was great to be running/jogging after a week of just being exhausted.  After the race we went to see my sons first soccer game, ages 3-4, and had a blast watching the kids out there.  They were going everywhere with the ball and loving it.  The coaches and the referee got a great workout.  Jen and I had a ball watching the kids and Eli was a happy kid when we left.  The rest of the day was filled with the kids playing and me slowly feeling worse until I went to sleep.
However it was the last day of my feeling low as I started to feel better on Sunday and ended here with me today going out to the track to run/jog at my own pace with the group.  It is nice to feel normal again.  It may only be until Friday but it is nice to know that there is a part of the cycle where I will feel good and have a chance to recharge.  

Monday is for reflection

So I have made it through my first treatment. Although it takes two treatments to equal one cycle. I thought I started out pretty good. Saturday went fairly well after treatment but Sunday was not a fun day and it took me most of the day to get my stomach feeling normal enough to want to stand up or move around. However, today was much better and I was able to venture out of the house on a short trip with the kids to the park before heading back home for more sleep. Today and all this week I am thankful for the baked potato. I don't know what I would have done without you and of course the butter and sour cream that went along with you. Yummy. I hope I have turned a corner and tomorrow will be a great day. We shall see. Thanks to everyone who has sent me well wishes and helped me along this weekend. It really did make a difference to hear from everyone. I will try to write more now that I am feeling better.

Dave

Saturday is for comedy

Let me start this off by saying that I love my parents and I know they love me.  However we do not see eye to eye on my running.  They would prefer I ran fewer miles and in the runner community I do run fewer miles.  So after being diagnosed with NS Hodgkin's they have renewed there campaign to get me to cut back so, today the day after my first treatment and even though I was still rather wiped out this morning I got up dressed in my running shorts and shirt and came downstairs in search of my mother to let her know I was going to run something short like 8 miles.  At first I could see she was trying to accept this and she struggled for almost a minute before she said I shouldn't go run.  It actually made my morning as my wife and I laughed and told my mother that I was pulling her leg.  I walked back up stairs had some breakfast and went back to bed.  The day has gone well.  I feel slightly nauseous but I haven't been sick.  I went to the Science Center with my kids and out for some ice cream afterwards.  It was a good day.  The lump on my neck has really gone down which is nice.  I like that.  And tomorrow, depending on how I feel when I wake up I may just go out for a run and test the waters some.  Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone.