Cancer Blog #95
By Brian Zimmerman
Begun on July 31, 2021
Email: dyingman1@yahoo.com
My Dying Words
Entry #95– Medical Update
November 9, 2023
Medical Update:
I had my review MD visit yesterday (Wednesday. November 8). There were several important topics of discussion:
1. The oncologist decided (with our buy-in) that my dosage for the chemo drugs be changed for this next cycle (a cycle for me is every 3 months or till the next update CT, which should be somewhere around the end of February). I’ve been on the same two drugs once every 2 weeks ever since I started them (I think last December). But, my body is tired and needs to rest some. If by the next CT scan I report that my body is responding well to the increased dosage time and the cancer is under control as shown by the CT (how will the cancer respond to this new schedule? Who knows?), he may drop one of the current drugs (which again is a crap shoot as I’ve been on these same drugs for quite some time. So, which is doing a better job of restraining the cancer? Who knows? I used to have the same experience when repairing computer hardware: If you change two components at the same time and that fixes the computer problem, which component fixed it? So, now with two chemo drugs, same thing, only different, as my younger brother used to say).
Plus, just in passing (though it is no small thing), my CBC (complete blood count) was mostly normal: hemoglobin (to carry oxygen), WBC (white blood cells to fight infection, and platelets (to help precipitate clotting). As I’ve said before, the CBC is roughly a measure of the health of the bone marrow. It is quite remarkable that my bone marrow has been hit by chemo for 2.5 years and still produces the needed blood cells. Some of that health may be because he changed the dosage to once every 3 weeks during this cycle and so may have eased the burden on the bone marrow already. And, he may very well be right.
2. As to the review of the CT scan: Some small growth in a few nodules in the upper left lung. He seemed very pleased by the scan results, calling me when he entered the room: “There he is: the little engine that could.” As I’ve repeatedly said, esophageal cancer is fairly aggressive and so patients with it live only a short time (in months). So, he warns us that he is feeling his way around in treating me at this point as the patient population that has been treated at this stage is fairly small. Praise God for His great mercy in dealing with my cancer.
3. Post-treatment: Wednesday afternoon was better than the last two treatments: Nausea but not as bad as the last two times, which is a huge blessing. I’d call it mildish (mild nausea for me is when I can forget about it occasionally, moderate would be when I can’t stop thinking about it). Some serious unsteadiness when I got up during the night and when I awoke this morning. I had to be very careful about my gait so I wouldn’t fall. Lasted hours, but I’m now steadier (part of it may be because I took a gummy last night to help with the nausea). Hoarseness, but better as my wife says she can at least understand me this time. So, maybe mild to moderate, I guess. Resting my throat has been my only real treatment. I had a thought and poked around and one medical website (I mean associated with hospitals or clinics), seemed to say that since my hoarseness isn’t from an infection it might respond to Mucinex as a lot of the hoarseness is caused by congestion. I took one and then read Medscape. Not very smart. Mucinex may cause gastric irritation or nausea. Nice. Well, I’ll take the risk this time and see what happens. If it really contributes to my nausea, or doesn’t have any affect, then I won’t do that again. Always look at the side effects of your medications! (Preaching to myself here).
N.B. By this morning (Friday, November 10, 2023) I hadn’t see any real benefit to the Mucinex, even in taking it twice. I guess I could experiment with it more but I’m not really that interested. Hoarseness is very inconvenient but it passes in several days.
And the big thing, which was a wonderful benefit: my itching went away! It may return after that large administration of steroids that they gave me in my pre-treatment drugs on Wednesday wears off. But, I talked to the oncologist yesterday and he also prescribed as a backup some hydroxyzine, a first generation antihistamine (like Benadryl) that I should probably take at night as it (like Benadryl) will very likely make me sleepy. But, at least I have a treatment for some night when I wake up digging and scratching all over my upper body. At times you think you’re losing your mind. The Zyrtec just didn’t help much.
All in all, it was a surprisingly (to me) positive meeting. As I’ve said before, I (and many others) am praying for an extension of my life (which I have certainly already begun receiving). But, remember the prayer that must also be included as a part of every petition, the one our Lord used in His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane: “nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will”. God may continue to extend my life for perhaps years or end it in months. But, in either case, my life and death are in His loving hands, and I am certain He will do what is best for my wife and me. And as always, we have the sure promise of: “For me to live is Christ, but to die is gain.” That’s always the final word for me!