About Me

OK, things have been hectic in a nice way lately. Today was the first day I got to drive myself in about three weeks. Not that I was always able to drive myself, but it was nice to let someone else drive for a change.

I started Chemo on the 19th and Amy got to share that with me. They pulled the pump Christmas Eve Day; the same day that my sister and her husband showed up. It was certainly was nice to see them again. And they loved the dogs.

I was already set up with a series of consultations, so I was at ABMC every day last week but Christmas Day. Monday I had my pump removed. Wednesday I had a surgical consult. Now, you may think I’m complaining again when I say I got there and they didn’t have a record of my appointment. Well, I guess I am. But I’ve come to expect that from Aurora.

The surgeon was a cardio/thoracic surgeon; as opposed to the “general” surgeon I had seen way back in the beginning. It seems that they work as a team doing surgeries of my type. So it was nice to hear his side of the story.

It seems that for people with my level of esophageal cancer the prognosis isn’t very good. Ten percent for a Grade 4 B patient. Surgery can increase my chances to 30%, according to the doc.

It was nice to have my daughter, Amy, and my sister and brother-in-law there to hear some of this from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. They got to ask questions and satisfy their own curiosity.

Interesting note: Several days later, Amy and I were having lunch with Amy’s friend and her husband at a local Mexican restaurant, when we noticed the surgical doc sitting across the room. We traded waves. Later he came over and said Hi and mentioned that he was from San Antonio so he needed Mexican food often. Seems like a real nice guy.

Thursday, I had my ten-day consult with the oncologist at eight days. He was more of the opinion that surgery may not be necessary with a course of radiation and different chemotherapy. He was going to wait for input from the other docs, but was ‘quarterbacking’ the whole treatment and that was his thoughts. So, it looks like I’ll be doing at least one more course of chemo, but with different drugs. It seems that the body adapts and reacts to the drugs after a while. I complained that I still hadn't received my scans yet and he said that he would see that I got them. Hmmmm, oh, not yet.

Friday I had a Radiation oncology consult. It looks like I will be undergoing six weeks of radiation therapy, if you haven’t figured that out from my schedule. I now have four tattoos! They are very tiny roses, two on my lower chest and upper abdomen and one on each side. These are the targets for the radiation beam so it passes through where they want it to go without hitting anything important. At the same time, four different beams hits the tumors with all the energy, but divides it up for the different paths so they only get ¼ the energy.

And, as I said, this doctor also said that surgery might not be necessary for me after they’ve had their shot at me. I’m waiting to see.

While we were there, I heard the receptionist talking to, I assume, Medical Records to get my name changed in the computer. It must have worked; I'm back to being H.

That was last week. Amy left Tuesday morning so that threw me into a great big spiraling depression. OK, maybe not that bad, but I was sad to see her go. Before she left though--it must have been Sunday night--I was undressing in my room in front of the mirror. Being almost directly under the light, I noticed that I saw the shadow of the bulge of the port. But halfway between the port and the AC joint—that bulge on the upper point of the shoulder—there was another larger bulge. Feeling it, it felt soft, just some swelling. I called the kids to witness and verify my observations. Amy—or was it Ben?—noticed that I had another “bulge” above the collarbone. I thought it curious, but didn’t worry too much about it. I asked a couple of people about it, one a nurse, and nobody gave me any cause to worry.

So, I didn’t think about it at all on Monday. Today, however, while I was changing, I noticed the upper bulge was larger. I thought it was the beginning of a goiter! So I called the VLCC and got an appointment.

I take that back. I asked if they wanted me there at any particular time. They said just come in and they would take care of me. So, I got there about 1:30PM. They didn’t get around to me until 2:30PM or slightly after. They took me in, got some history, looked at my chest and decided an ultrasound exam was in order.

I knew something was up when the technician got up during the exam to go consult with someone. It was later confirmed when she left and brought back two more technicians to check her work. It was finally cast in stone when she told me that I had a small clot in a peripheral artery that was causing the problem.

I went back downstairs to the VLCC to await their input. It seems I will be getting blood thinners: Lovenox shots to the stomach, and Coumadin pills. At first, reading the box, I thought the Lovenox was “Love NOX (otherwise known as Nitrous Oxide).” Isn't NOX the same as "laughing gas?" And. you should be interested to find from where (whence) they derive get the drug. Gross!! And if you look up the Coumadin, you’ll find it’s a rat poison! Really! Would I lie?

BTW, my friend in the hospital over deer season for a blood clot was getting shots to the stomach. I’m curious to know if it was the same stuff.

So, I’ll be giving myself the shots until the blood levels of the blood thinners are up to the proper levels to take care of my clot. Since my daughter is a Type 1 diabetic, I’m no stranger to giving shots. But it’s a little different when you have to give them to yourself. Nurse Margaret—did I mention that I like her professional manner and her empathy?—trained me on giving myself the shot. It’s somewhat different than normal shots because there is an air bubble that they actually want me to inject to block the escape of the drug. Other than that, it’s pretty much straightforward. So, I gave the shot and she said that I did just great. Go figure.

I may try to train Ben to give his old man the shot, too. If things don’t go well, he may need to give me other shots someday. And since Himmy is diabetic, he already gives his cat shots. Can I be any worse? Don't answer that!

The nurses had asked if I was having any pain, specifically in the right arm. I haven’t had that yet. But, as I type this, I am developing a pain in the muscle of the shoulder just up from the soft bulges. I’ll keep an eye on it.

So, that’s the deal for now. If you have any questions, if I haven’t explained everything in an intelligible manner, just let me know. Or Amy can correct me! It’s not as if that hasn’t happened before, that my kids correct me. Sometimes I need it. :-D