Saturday, December 30, 2006

A Big Scare - Part Three

On October 30, 2006 I'm setting at my computer desk playing some online poker as I do many days when I start having a tightness in my chest. Having suffered two heart attacks prior, it's a feeling I am way to familiar with. Angina is the medical term and when it sets in it scares the hell out of you. With the pain increasing to that place I've been before, my mind starts wondering, why me, can this really be happening again. In hopes I can make the pain go away I start taking nitro pills placing them under my tongue and waiting five minutes to see if the pain subsides. After 20 minutes and 3 nitro pills the tightness had grown to the feeling of an elephant setting on my chest. It's time to dial 911.

If your ever unfortunate enough to experience a heart attack, don't do like I did the first time and drive yourself to the hospital. Call 911, get help Immediately. You really need medical attention within the first 30 minutes of a heart attack in-order to minimize heart damage. The advantage of pre-treatment from the EMT's will greatly increase your chance of survival.

This time around the doctors found 70% blockage in three arteries and I underwent triple by-pass surgery. Obviously all went well as I'm here to share this story with you but the big scare is yet to come. Since I was already in the hospital and I was overdue for a check-up from my oncologist, I requested he be contacted to check me out. His initial review of my blood work was positive and he stopped in to tell me I was still dancing with N.E.D. which was a short lived but welcome relief. The very next day he reappeared at my bedside announcing he had bad news. X-rays had revealed a mass in my lung, as well as a swollen spleen.

What a crushing blow. I was so weak from the surgery and was looking at a 6 to 8 month recuperation period. The question was could I really survive a course of chemotherapy which I knew was the next step in treatment as the cancer had spread. I was scheduled to follow-up and have a port installed in my chest 5 weeks later. Like another hole in my chest is what I needed.

Back at home I was having a difficult time as most open heart surgery patients do. Pain, extreme fatigue and loss of appetite were the order of the day, all the while wondering if I was really going to be able to survive chemo as sick as I was. Three weeks into my home recouperation a slight set back sent me to the heart surgeons office. A stabbing pain in my upper back during deep breath was a symptom of a possible pulmonary embolism. I was sent back to the hospital for a CT scan. I spoke with the radiologist shortly after the scan and was told everything was fine, he saw no blood clots and would send copies of the results to my heart surgeon and oncologist for review.

Two weeks later, still extremely weak, I headed back to the oncology clinic to resume my battle with cancer. After the typical weigh in and pre-exam from a P.A. she discovered the prior CT and told me that it appeared the mass in my lung was shrinking. SAY WHAT! Shortly after the doctor walked in and said I had found a cure for lymphoma and wanted to know how I had managed to shrink this tumor. Apparently the mass was not due my lymphoma but was some how related to my resent surgery. You can not begin to know the relieve I felt when I was told no chemo was in my immediate future and was put back on a watch and wait status.

It's now been close to two months since my surgery and I'm doing great. I'm walking a mile or more every day, my pain is minimal and I feel I'm back to 80% of my previous self. I will head back for another scan in two months but until that time I'm still Dancing with N.E.D.


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Friday, December 29, 2006

Saving Graces

Elizabeth Edwards found out she had breast cancer in November of 2004 just as her husband's bid for the Vice Presidency was coming to a close. Like a lot of women, she discovered a lump in her breast while taking a shower. A visit to her surgeon who conducted a needle biopsy confirmed that Edwards had invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common type of breast cancer.

Enduring a four month course of chemotherapy followed by a lumpectomy and radiation, Mrs Edwards managed to write her memoirs. Her Book,"Saving Graces", details her grueling struggle with treatment as well as the loss of her teenage son, Wade, in a 1996 automobile accident.

This week Mrs Edward proudly announced her dance with N.E.D. and says she is looking forward to the challenge as her husband announces his plans to run for Presidency in 2008.

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Thursday, December 14, 2006

Has N.E.D. Left the Building - Part Two

Sometime in the early part of 2004 during a scheduled checkup it was discovered that I had high levels of calcium in my blood stream (hypercalcemia). This is not good as it suggest that my original cancer cells has matastisized (the spread of cancer from its primary site to other places in the body) In my case it would indicate that cancer cells had spread to my bones.

My Oncologist prescribed infusions of Zometa to reduce the calcium in my blood as this in itself is dangerous, so I'm told. As I remember these were given once a week or so and followed by blood test for liver function (high levels of calcium stress your liver) and calcium levels.

The other process required was a bone biopsy to verify that the lymphoma had in fact spread. These is accomplished by inserting a needle/drill combination into the hipbone and removing a small piece of bone. When I asked as to the amount of pain involved, I was told it was told I would feel pressure and slight discomfort. Yeah right, it was the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. I'm sure there are indentations from my hands in the railings of the table I was laying on. I screamed so loud a couple nurses came rushing to the exam room to see what was happening. I'm not sure if he hit a nerve or the anaesthesia had not taken effect but wow, I'll never forget that day.

The good news is that the results of the biopsy and a bone scan came back negative. The hypercalcemia mysteriously disappeared and within a months time I went from thinking I had just a short amount of time to live to "Dancing with N.E.D."

P.S. Don't sweat a bone scan unless your claustrophobic. They lower a large box very close to your face and move it parallel to your body. It can get a little uncomfortable even tho the sides are open and your not totally enclosed.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

The Journey Begins - Part One

NED is a medical abbreviation for No Evidence of Disease. I was diagnosed with Follicular Non Hodkins Lymphoma in 2003. It started when I noticed a pea sized lump on my right leg in the groin area. Being a typical male that was still flying under a flag of invincibility I ignored it until I suffered a mild heart attack and found myself in the hospital. The small lump had grown to a size slightly smaller that a golf ball. Nature dealt me a one two punch when a needle biopsy came back positive. You can't imagine the feeling of being told you have cancer. It's kind of like a punch in the gut that takes your breath away. You tell yourself your going to beat this animal but you can't help but have the feeling that you have been handed a death sentence.

My initial diagnosis indicated that the cancer cells had not spread from the original tumor site and the prescribed course of treatment was 29 doses of radiation directed towards the tumor followed by one massive dose that produced radiation burns you would not believe. It was bad enough that I had to visit the hospital every day for thirty days but on top of that I had to drop my pants and let various young women and men blast a radiation beam at my privates.

It seems the treatment for cancer is way worse than the actual desease. The radiation did its job an the tumor kept getting smaller and after ten or twelve treatments it was basically gone. This brings me to what is referred to as "Dancing With NED" a condition all cancer victims strive to achieve where all blood tests, scans and x-rays show "No Evidence of Disease".