Today we had an appointment with Dr. Atienza during the middle of a powerful storm..check out some of these photos "Nor'easter" that moved through the area today. With 3.44" of rain today, it took Marjie and I 1.5 hours to drive the normal 20 minute drive to the doctors due to flooding. We got detoured 3 times...Boy oh boy does this place have some flooding problems when there's a lot of rain and the tides get high. Lost power for a few hours this morning, but things are getting back to normal this evening.
Now results of the appointment.
White blood cell counts are not high, but Dr. Atienza said that they were within normal ranges. We talked a lot about how I was feeling and what were some of the side effects of the chemotherapy that I had been experiencing. What it basically came down to was that I experienced a great deal of fatigue, but other than that, he's happy with the results so far.
There's a change to the plan however. This initial round of chemo, that we thought was going to be two doses, each followed by two weeks off, has now been increased to three doses. Dr. Atienza explained to us that after further reviewing his notes and the study on this new theory, that we are looking at three chemo sessions vice the original two before we start the radiation/chemo punch. The focus is to totally get rid of the cancer.
So here is the revised plan:
Got my first dose of chemo last Monday, carried the pump which injected more chemo slowly over the rest of the week, got the pump taken off on Friday, got the Nuelasta shot on Saturday, have two weeks off which I'm currently on the first of the two weeks off.
Next, I go back on the 4th of December for another fun filled day of getting the chemo, take the pump home and carry it for the rest of the week, go back Saturday for the Nuelasta shot, then two more weeks off.....
Go back the day after Christmas for the 3rd dose of chemo and so on.....after those two weeks off we will begin the 7 weeks of chemo/radiation therapy - the middle of January.
That's about it for now...I'm feeling ok today. Sense of taste is still all screwed up. Had a chicken sandwich for lunch today, that should have tasted awesome, but it was a great disappointment....
Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!
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4 comments:
Dave,
Hang in there. Even though the food doesn't taste the same, keep eating to keep your strength up. Keep your Blog up for it is very enlightening to all.
We love you and have a Happy Thanksgiving.
George & Louisa
Happy Thanksgiving...hope you are able to enjoy some turkey and trimmings. There IS a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving...love and support of your family and friends, good doctors, health insurance. Keep up the blog - it's good therapy for you and great for all the rest of us to keep informed as to your progress.
Lots of love to you and Marjie and David....and a scratch under the chin for Coho. Mom
Happy Thanksgiving to the whole Vigal family from the Reed family,
Love,
J.R., Tee, Brianna, and Allyssa
Dave,
We hope you and Marjie and David had a great thanksgving. We retold the story about the time in Oceanside when the dog ate part of the turkey before we got to eat it. Good thing Bob was not there that Thanksgiving, as the dog might have had steak. Don't worry about the hair - at least yours will come back. Keep up the fight and know we have you in our prayers and thoughts.
Charlie
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