Well, today is Thursday, January 10/08….
My radiation specialist Dr. Larrson, finally gave me a clean bill of health on my Merkel Cell Skin Cancer. I saw him on January 4/08, when he made this synopsis official. I can now wear that pin proudly that says “CANCER SURVIOUR”. Yay!
I went into the hospital 3 days prior to Christmas Eve for a Pre-chemo "check up".... Dr. Margaret Smith (Oncologist) ended up hospitalizing me for those 3 days (due to a "fever"... and I was only 2-3 degrees over normal and they really jumped on me, for this). They did let me go home to enjoy Christmas with my family.... My two “little girls” came home for a month. It's been GREAT having Julie and Sandra, visit. They’ve both since gone home…
I thought my last chemo was going to be on Christmas eve BUT they ended up doing this treatment on New years eve, instead. This Leukemia situation is still in its "beginning stages"... My medical team is just starting to get aggressive with my chemo treatments.
Now, I will be doing Chemo sessions for 5 weeks (every Monday) for January 2008. Then in February 2008, they will increase my dosage but slow down t
he time frame... only ONCE, every three weeks, thereafter, but spread over 24 weeks. This will take me into the summer (groan….)
I will be glad when these Chemo sessions are through. Right now, I’m taking a drug called Prednisone. They call it the "wonder drug" but it gives me cramps in my hands, especially when I'm tired. I'm GREAT from about 8:00am until about 3:00pm. Then, I must take a nap otherwise, in the early evening, I get these cramps (at least this is what I tell Ann, LOL). When I'm able to catch a "few winks" in the afternoon, I'm good for the rest of the night.
re: YMCA
I was really hoping to enter the Y Open racquetball (my partner Steve Hendry and I are the defending “B” Open champions) at the end of February 2008, but that's not going to happen...
Right now, I'm feeling fine. I was very ambitious, the other day. I helped take down the Christmas Tree; lights around the windows, etc; even vacuumed the front room; made lunch; did two loads of laundry. Then I took Ann to work and went to the Golf Range to knock a couple bucket of balls. Later, went home for a nap...
Saturday, January 5/08, Ann and I treated the girls to the Blethering Place for supper... we stayed for the Brit comedy show with the "two characters" (Eric & Mike). We had lots of fun and laughs.
Sometimes with my daily scheduling, I get choices “back to back”… as an example, I had to choose between attending a magic meeting; a Fly Fishing meeting or to Murray Hatfield’s Illusion Show. My choice this time was going to the Royal Theatre to enjoy Murray’s show. I can’t do everything as I’ve done in the past. With my White Blood count so low, I have to be very selective with my public outings ... but I will slowly get back into the swing of things...
The way I see it, I figure I’m about 5/8 of the way through these health issues and the outlook is still very positive and promising.
Julie, Sandra and especially Ann, have been very supportive with me through this whole ordeal. I certainly realize the importance of having loved ones being around to care and look after me… and just being there…
I really appreciate every ones concern with my health. I’d like to take this time to thank everybody for their continued support. Your emails, phone calls, cards, thoughts and prayers have really lifted my spirits and taken a huge weight off my shoulders.
My radiation specialist Dr. Larrson, finally gave me a clean bill of health on my Merkel Cell Skin Cancer. I saw him on January 4/08, when he made this synopsis official. I can now wear that pin proudly that says “CANCER SURVIOUR”. Yay!
I went into the hospital 3 days prior to Christmas Eve for a Pre-chemo "check up".... Dr. Margaret Smith (Oncologist) ended up hospitalizing me for those 3 days (due to a "fever"... and I was only 2-3 degrees over normal and they really jumped on me, for this). They did let me go home to enjoy Christmas with my family.... My two “little girls” came home for a month. It's been GREAT having Julie and Sandra, visit. They’ve both since gone home…
I thought my last chemo was going to be on Christmas eve BUT they ended up doing this treatment on New years eve, instead. This Leukemia situation is still in its "beginning stages"... My medical team is just starting to get aggressive with my chemo treatments.
Now, I will be doing Chemo sessions for 5 weeks (every Monday) for January 2008. Then in February 2008, they will increase my dosage but slow down t
he time frame... only ONCE, every three weeks, thereafter, but spread over 24 weeks. This will take me into the summer (groan….)I will be glad when these Chemo sessions are through. Right now, I’m taking a drug called Prednisone. They call it the "wonder drug" but it gives me cramps in my hands, especially when I'm tired. I'm GREAT from about 8:00am until about 3:00pm. Then, I must take a nap otherwise, in the early evening, I get these cramps (at least this is what I tell Ann, LOL). When I'm able to catch a "few winks" in the afternoon, I'm good for the rest of the night.
re: YMCA
I was really hoping to enter the Y Open racquetball (my partner Steve Hendry and I are the defending “B” Open champions) at the end of February 2008, but that's not going to happen...
Right now, I'm feeling fine. I was very ambitious, the other day. I helped take down the Christmas Tree; lights around the windows, etc; even vacuumed the front room; made lunch; did two loads of laundry. Then I took Ann to work and went to the Golf Range to knock a couple bucket of balls. Later, went home for a nap...
Saturday, January 5/08, Ann and I treated the girls to the Blethering Place for supper... we stayed for the Brit comedy show with the "two characters" (Eric & Mike). We had lots of fun and laughs.
Sometimes with my daily scheduling, I get choices “back to back”… as an example, I had to choose between attending a magic meeting; a Fly Fishing meeting or to Murray Hatfield’s Illusion Show. My choice this time was going to the Royal Theatre to enjoy Murray’s show. I can’t do everything as I’ve done in the past. With my White Blood count so low, I have to be very selective with my public outings ... but I will slowly get back into the swing of things...
The way I see it, I figure I’m about 5/8 of the way through these health issues and the outlook is still very positive and promising.
Julie, Sandra and especially Ann, have been very supportive with me through this whole ordeal. I certainly realize the importance of having loved ones being around to care and look after me… and just being there…
I really appreciate every ones concern with my health. I’d like to take this time to thank everybody for their continued support. Your emails, phone calls, cards, thoughts and prayers have really lifted my spirits and taken a huge weight off my shoulders.
2 comments:
Tony,
Hope you can stop by our Merkel Cell Cancer discussion group at Google Groups. The group is made up of 174 members, a majority survivors of MCC, family members supporting those fighting this rare cancer, those that have lost loved ones, and medical professionals and researchers searching for answers for all of us.
http://groups.google.com/group/merkelcell
George
Group Admin & MCC Survivor
This is great news!
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