Settling into a routine

The Palouse; eastern WA

I have now had four chemo Rx sessions (every 2 weeks): the infusion takes about 4 hours, go home, struggle to sleep for 2 days (because the Rx includes a high dose steroid), battle fatigue the rest of the week, followed by a fairly normal week. Then do it all over again (8 more). The Lymphoma related skin condition with severe itching and poor sleep has been the worst aspect, but that is now getting better.

I am still doing the weightlifting twice a week. I wear a mask at the gym. The weights being moved are less with fewer reps because I just don’t have the stamina. But I still really enjoy it. I get a number of blood draws every week; the clinic is monitoring my WBC count where they want my neutrophils to remain adequate and my lymphocytes to be low. The oncologist didn't think I would lose my hair, but I am; I'm now nearly totally bald with no eyebrows. I must log onto the UW/Fred Hutch EMR multiple times a day for appointments or labs or something. In the days prior to an electronic medical record the number of phone calls for cancer patients must've been ridiculous.

The clinic monitors my overall progress using PET scans: a radio-labeled modified glucose is injected IV; since the the tumor is metabolically hyperactive it uptakes a disproportionate amount; the tumor size and the uptake rate is measured. I just had a second PET scan this week, and the results just became available today. The tumor shrank in size about 50% and there was a dramatic decrease in the uptake rate. However, we were led to believe that the tumor would shrink more than it did. I just finished a note to my oncologist in the EMR asking her would not the decreased uptake rate (and probable decreased mitotic activity) make subsequent chemotherapy less effective (maybe we should also debulk it). The “sigh” you just heard was from her saying to herself, “please spare me from any more MD patients”. Cheers.