Monday, May 7, 2012

Still plugging away


Before too much more time goes by, and before I have my treatment tomorrow, I’m just going to stick my head up and say hello with a quick blog post.

I think the cumulative aspect of chemo is starting to catch up with me because  it’s been taking even a few days into week 3 of each cycle before I start feeling “ok”.  I’ve been exhausted in a way that I haven’t felt before and that coupled with other side effects from the camptosar have made things interesting lately.  At my last treatment Dr. Richards mentioned that my white blood cell count was on the low side at 3.2.  And that’s after a full week of recovery!  How low had it been during the last treatment cycle?  I also told Dr. Richards that I was having some shortness of breath and that earned me a stop at the radiologist post-treatment for a chest x-ray.  It came back “normal”.

Despite the fatigue Dan Nies came by after my last recovery week and accompanied me on a slow (10-12 mph) 32-mile ride.  It wasn’t easy but these rides really help me to clear my head so I enjoyed it immensely.  My next planned ride will come on Saturday the 19th at the end of my next recovery week.  That’s the Multiple Sclerosis ride that we’ve been doing in recent years for my friend Missy Gervasini.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and Amy will have a nice easy 25-mile ride on the tandem.

As I mentioned, chemo treatment #8 for 2012 is tomorrow.  And then the big day comes the following week when I have my next PET/CT on Wednesday, 5/16.   The significance of this scan I think speaks for itself.

The gradual build up to our Mintz’s Mentschen LiveSTRONG weekend in Philly in August is continuing.  Our team is growing and hopefully our fundraising totals will start to make some significant leaps.  And, therefore, here’s my usual plea.  We’d love to have you join us to walk, run, or ride.  If you can’t swing that please consider a tax-deductible donation in support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  You can join or donate by clicking here.

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