Lung Drained

I just arrived home from the hospital. Gary was kind enough to spend the entire time at the hospital with me. We arrived a little early so had the registration and blood work done before it was busy. The procedure was done in outpatient and I went in on time. It didn't take very long. At first they did an ultra sound on both lungs and the doctor then did an ultra sound on the right lung and I imagine marked where he wanted to put the needle. The needle went in with a little pinch and was there till all the fluid was drained. They put a bandaid on the little hole and took me to X-ray to make sure no damage was done to the lung. I went from there back to the outpatient area where I was served lunch and had to stay for an hour and a half with a machine checking my vitals. Right now I have no pain and don't expect any unless something is wrong.

No showering till tomorrow afternoon and taking it easy for the rest of the day. I'm still coughing but I think it'll take a while for my lung to fall back into place. I have to correct that the fluid was between the lining and the lung.

I'm going to lie down and do what I really do best...take it easy.

Oncologist Appointment

Thursday I saw my original Oncologist and for the 3rd month in a row I complained about my cough. Later in the meeting I mentioned about the fluid in my right lung and that when I bend over or try to lie on either side my cough increases and that's when my doctor said he didn't think my cough was from allergies which is what I was told since March. He thinks the fluid is causing my cough. He called my second Oncologist and my radiation doctor and they all agree that the fluid needs to be drained. They can also use it to get cancer DNA so now there's two reasons to do it.

I'll be seeing my second Oncologist on Thursday and may find out when, where, how, etc this draining will be done. The sooner the better because this cough has driven me crazy and keeps me from my activities.

Let's hope I'll know more in a few days.

After the Radiation

It's a week since the end of my radiation treatments and I haven't made much headway in getting my energy back. Part of the problem could be because I have no appetite at all and in order to swallow without pain I need to eat soft foods which don't seem to be building me back up. Since even swallowing water is painful I have to take little sips. I don't know how long it will be till my esophagus heals but I hope it's soon.

Believe it or not but I still have that blasted cough day and night. I've even started taking allergy pills and they help a little but not with the cough. I would love to find a place where nothing is in bloom and see if my cough is gone then.

Don left for Washington Island yesterday and called when he arrived at the island house. All is well he says as far as the house but he doesn't know about the vehicles. He had rain on his way from Green Bay which was a nice change after all the sun in Arizona.

I'll be seeing my first Oncologist next week and the new Oncologist in two weeks so hopefully I'll have some news--good or bad by then. And just maybe I'll be back to working out and playing a little golf by then. I really miss my activities.

Radiation Done

I'm so glad my last radiation treatment was yesterday. It's been quite an experience with the problem of keeping awake during treatment and always being so very tired. Lately I've been having trouble swallowing and have nausea every day. My radiation doctor tells me that's because the lymph node they were treating was right in front of my esophagus so it was hit too. It made sense because I felt the pain in mid upper back. About 10% of the esophagus is burned but he assures me it'll heal. I also have some fluid in my right lung which is not a concern.

During my last Oncology appointment I asked my Oncologist to contact my second opinion doctor in Tucson who runs drug trials for lung cancer to see if she had a drug that would work for me. He asked me if I would prefer to work with an Oncologist in Scottsdale who runs drug trials. It would be difficult to drive to Tucson every week or whenever I needed to be seen so I chose the Scottsdale doctor.

Gary and I went to the appointment to meet the Scottsdale Oncologist and were not only impressed but excited and hopeful that he would find the right medication for me. In short he's having my biopsy tissue which was done 3 years ago examined for DNA to know which drug or combination of drugs would work the best.

Gary also found a site online where lung cancer survivors share information on their drugs: what worked what didn't and what they're on now that's working. All of the names of the new medications they talked about came up with our meeting in Scottsdale as well as others.

I'm off Tarceva which was attacking my eyes every night making it painful to touch them and in the morning I woke up with crust on my eyes. There were a lot of other side effects which I won't miss at all. Most of the survivors had been on Tarceva also and found that it stopped working.

My job now is to build my energy level back up so I can exercise and play golf. Hope to see you soon.

Radiation Number 8

I'm off to my 8th Radiation treatment this morning. Changing my appointment to early mornings helped although I do eat lots of dark chocolate on my ride in to the appointment. After this session I'll have one more and hopefully be done.

My Oncologist recommended an Oncologist in Scottsdale who runs cancer drug trials. The Tarceva is not working like it should and it does have some annoying side effects. I asked Gary to go with me because that's a great way to get all the information...4 ears are better than 2. I'll be seeing him today also.

I'm still suffering with the allergies. When does it stop?

Oops it's time to go.

A Problem Already?

There is a problem at radiation. Even though I can't make myself sleep at night it seems when I'm supposed to be still as a cadaver my eyes close and my muscles spasm which is a very bad thing. I pulled myself off my marks for the machine. It happened Friday and the machine had to be reset, my CT test was scrapped for a new one and I lengthened my stay in the now torture room for another hour. No one was happy with me that day especially the patients with appointments after me and probably the staff too.

All weekend I've been worried about my radiation room narcolepsy. My arms are above my head and I can't bring anything in the room to stay awake although what would work. Maybe if I had pajamas on because I'm wide awake in bed.

I was going to call this morning to see if I could change my appointment to the mornings but realized the people I need to make those arrangements with are not available by phone. I'll have to do it today when I go for my appointment (wince, wince). I'm not looking forward to that. I considered drinking a big cup of coffee but I gave up coffee a long time ago--so I could sleep!
I guess I'll be eating a big chunk of my 90% cocoa dark chocolate and probably my next post will be typed tonight when I can't get to sleep.

Another lesson learned although at this moment I can't think what that would be.

The Plan Changed

When I arrived at the radiation office I was told there was a change. Instead of getting treatments daily I'll be getting them every other day. It doesn't make much difference except instead of two weeks total it'll be three weeks out of the sun. There's a Monday holiday in there and I don't know if they'll be open or not. I suspect not.

Anyway I had my first treatment and will have another today so we're on our way. I'll see the radiation doctor after treatment today and we'll talk.