I’m still here
I has been really good to hear from a number of readers concerned about my whereabouts. I am sorry that I have not kept things better updated. Generally, when the health gets really shitty, I tend to shut down. I don’t read or pursue other intellectual pursuits, but, rather, sit and watch a wealth of daytime tv. In fact, I have been telling the office that “I am working at home” which generally means that I am sitting back in my recliner and criticizing Judge Judy’s evidentiary rulings.
Since I last posted I have really hit a downward spiral. The abdominal pain has become so intense that I cannot hardly eat at all. I am unable to work any meaningful hours and have become so weak from not eating that I cannot hardly care for my self. I mean, I have always been lazy and out of shape. But it is so extreme that I could not get out of the bathtub on my own. If I get down to a knee I will not be getting back up without help. This weakness is unlike anything I have ever experienced. I can just see my self on one of those commercials for Medic Alert. “Help I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!.” I have been making fun of that poor old lady on TV for years and here I sit.
A few weeks a go I pulled off a Trifecta. On a tuesday an MRI of the liver, wednesday a CT Scan of full body, and thursday a PET. The good news is that the Sir Sphere thereapy on one-half of my liver shows essentially no evidence of disease which is really amazing. The downside is that during all the shitting around getting ready for that therapy I have been off chem and, my onc believes, allowing advancement of my disease and thus pain. The doc wants me to do the other half of my liver, but can’t do it until I get some weight and health back on.
My onc wants more chemo. We started Folfiri last week. I felt great the day after, but that has really been my only good day. I had been having some serious constipation problems and have finally found the answer! Irenotecan! That stuff cleared out shit that had been rolling around my intestines since childhood. BEST laxitive ever.
I am sitting here on home IV hydration therapy as I type this and see my number one goal at present to get some nurishment. My doc suggests protein powder with ice cream, chocolate syryp, and anything else that I can cram in there to gain obscene wieght. Strange directions in that docs have always told me to take off a few pounds.
Thanks again for the well wishes. I’ll try to keep you posted.