A New Week

Nausea has all but disappeared recently leaving me only with the symptoms of fatigue and night sweats and of those two, the former is constant while the latter is intermittent even though it seems like it is consistently constant as well.  My appetite seems to come and go and I have noticed that if I am busy doing something then I don't miss being hungry but if I am busy doing nothing but watching television or a movie then being hungry seems to always be around...  so...  it is my hands that need to say busy not necessarily my mind.

Infections seem to be happening more often as well these last few months.  Where my sinus infections seem to be ongoing, I am now developing an infection in my skin that has gotten down into the roots of my facial hairs, requiring me to take a pill twice a day to eliminate its persistence.  And, while I do not like the idea of taking yet another pill, I am concerned what impact (if any at all) this new pill will have on my internal organs.  The literature for this pills requires that ALL MY DOCTORS become informed that I am taking it.

My quarterly scan is set for Thursday of this week and since it is just a CT Scan there is no fasting requirements, but I will probably fast anyway since it is at 8:00 am.  I am interested in hearing the results the week after next because my colonoscopy doctor had informed me of a new lesion on my liver.

Opdivo Day Once Again

Early morning>>  up at 6:00 am, shower and out the door by 6:30 am and by &:30 am, I am sitting in the waiting area Chemo Infusions, for an available nurse to access my port, draw blood, and take me to one of the 8 Treatment Suites to await my Opdivo Infusion.  This infusion will be my 41st or 42rd...  I don't remember...  but I do know that I have had a least 40 of these infusions.

Recently, I had lost my appetite, was losing weight, and felt a little nauseas after eating and my Oncologist suggested that I ask my doctor for an Upper GI at the same time that I was going to have my colonoscopy...  and that is what I did and that is what happened...  and the results were negative...  indicating that my symptoms were coming from some other source.

After talking with a Pharmacist during my IVIG infusion, he informed me that ALL OF MY SYMPTOMS were side effects of OPDIVO except for losing my sense of taste...  although, he would not rule that out just because it is not recognized as being typical.

I will not be able to talk with my Oncologist for another month...  but, all of these symptoms subsided after I recovered from my colonoscopy which could be coincidence or it could have been that the IVIG Infusion the week before might have something to do with this as well...

WHO KNOWS?

Keeping the Faith for Over A Decade

ODYSSEY is a Greek epic poem written by Homer (a poet) about the long journey of a man named Odysseus (Greek King of Ithaca), or a long and eventual journey or experience...

My journey/experience has lasted almost 13 full years and while this journey started with one cancer:  non-Hodgkin's "B" cell Lymphoma, treatments for that cancer resulted in me having to remove 4 Squamous Cell Carcinomas on my upper body and a Melanoma off the bottom of my foot as well as upsetting the balance of my Thyroid.  Interestingly, surgery did not prevent my Melanoma from aggressively returning.  

My body, over the 12+ years, has suffered bouts with nausea, violent vomiting, constant and extreme fatigue, as well as the stress of weight gain (due to steroids) and the anxieties associated with my cancers becoming aggressive and unstoppable.What has been the most traumatic is not the nausea and vomiting because they can be offset or stopped with drugs and/or visits to the ER if necessary which is what I had to do several time; but the constant and extreme fatigue...  pills WILL NOT STOP fatigue from taking place...  Once fatigue starts, it NEVER leaves...  HOWEVER, recently it appears that my body has finally come to terms with its fatigue and is no longer (at least temporarily) present to the extent that I do not want to do anything.

WILL EVERYONE experience what I experienced?  Maybe or Maybe Not, the experience could be the same, no as bad, or worse...  each individual is different...  Last year, radiation was used with Opdivo infusions to KILL THE MELANOMA and it worked whereas in some individuals under similar circumstances, the combination has not worked.