Consolidation Chemo Update

My life these days is defined by doctor visits. Let's see, I saw my ENT, Dr Moss, on Tuesday, Dr. Walden (audiologist) on Wednesday, Dr. Rioux (surgeon) on Thursday, and today I had the implant done followed by chemo, so I got to see Dr. Rioux again and Dr. Lunin (oncologist). The implant procedure went fine. My only regret is that I am not going to be able to play golf for a few days and this is a long weekend! (I have off on President's day.)


There is really nothing exciting to report. I had the surgery this morning at Gulfcoast Point surgery center. It is a very nice, modern facility right next to Fawcett Hospital. Yoko and I arrived at 8 AM, I filled out more paperwork, and we were immediately shown a prep room. I got changed into a hospital gown and the nurse came in to prep me, which included running an IV of saline and hooking me up to the machine that beep beep beeps for your heart rate (84) and automatically takes your blood pressure (111/70) every few minutes. Then, of course, we waited. Every couple of minutes someone would come in and ask a few medical question, the favorite ones being "did you eat this morning" and "are you allergic to any drugs". Finally, someone came in to say that they were ready to give me a drug that would make me sleep....I remember saying "good" around 9 AM and that's about it....After that I woke up in the recovery room almost 2 hours later.


Yoko took me directly from Gulfpoint Surgery Center to Florida Cancer Specialists for chemo. We got there around 11:30 AM. The nurses there drew blood and took my weight (160) and I spoke with Scott Lunin briefly. I told him I had the start of a cold and wondered if that would be any problem. He was aware that a bug was going around but he did not seem too concerned and neither am I. Here is my blood cell count as of today, compared to November 29th, the end of my last chemo.

Result Value (Previous) Normal Range (Bold is out of normal range)
WBC 8.8 (4.1) 4.2 - 10.0
ANC (3.4) 1.4 - 6.5
Gran% 85.2 (82.7) High 39 - 78
Gran# 7.5 ( ) High 1 - 6.5
HCT 41.6 (36.3) 41 - 51
Hgb 14.1 (12.1) 14 -18
Lymph # .0.9 (0.5) Low 1.2 - 3.4
Lymph% 9.8 (12.6) Low 15 - 40
MCH 32.0 (28.2) 27 - 34
MCV 94.6 (84.7)High 80 - 94
MCHC 33.9 (33.3) 32 - 36
Mono# 0.4 (0.2) 0.0 - 0.6
Mono% 5.0 (4.7) 0.0- 10
Plat 252 (259) 140- 440
RBC 4.4 (4.29)Low 4.5 - 6.4
RDW 14.4 (17.2) 11.5 - 15.0

As you can see my count is back to mostly normal after taking two months off. Each week I will put in my new count and you will be able to track any problems and the weekly fall of my RBC and WBC. My red blood cell (RBC) is just slightly below normal. My white count (WBC) is right in there on the high end of the range, so I should be OK to fight a cold this week if I need to do that.

As far as today's chemo treatment goes, the drugs they gave me in order were:

Aloxi 0.25 mg (anti nausea)
Decadron 20mg (sterroid)
Potassium CL 10 meq
Magnesium sulfate 500mg
Mannitol 12.5mg (diuretic agent)
Cisplatin 60mg (platinum based chemo agent)
Potassium CL 10 meg
Magnesium Sulfate 500mg
Normal Saline 250cc
Navelbine 40mg (interfers with cell reproduction chemo agent)

(I was disappointed not to get any benedryl, as I was looking forward to sitting in the sun and sleeping.) This was a 10 bagger and took about 5 hours to complete. It turned out that one of my elderly clients was being infused. I got the chair next to them, so there was no hiding the fact that I am a cancer patient.

Yoko picked me up at the cancer center at about 4 PM and we went directly to Walgreens to pick up medication for pain, should the incision where I have the port start to bother me. The pain medication they game me is oxycodone (the good stuff). I have not taken any as I am currently pain free. Hopefully I won't need to take any.

Yoko made roasted chicken, mashed potaoe, gravey and jello salad for dinner, which was great. I cleaned my plate and feel fine tonight. After dinner, I turned on the TV and fell asleep. I woke up at around 11 PM and am now wide awake, so I thought I would write this blog.

We have nothing exciting going on this weekend. Tomorrow night we will go to Juli Harley's 50th birthday party at Mike Riley's house. Other than that, the plan is to lay around this weekend and see how I am affected (if at all) by the chemo. I am hopeful that this new regimen will work well in fighting off any remaining cancer cells and be safe enough that I can finish it without any of the debilitating side effect.

Your prayers and good wishes are working. Don't stop!