Can it be so, that I haven’t posted stuff for more than a cycle? Naughty hobby blogger!
First of all, an executive summary, to answer the most frequent questions on status of my treatment:
- I am in the middle of cycle 3, out of 8 cycles — so 5 rounds left
- I am generally fine: side effects are mild and manageable (apart from some not-so-mild), I’m doing daily workouts, and doing some work (not very much)
- I am anemic (not enough red blood cells), but my body is getting used to it, and as a result…
- …I continue doing my daily workouts (running/cycling/walking) — check on Endomondo (accessible only to Endo friends), Instagram, Facebook, or my related publicGoogle Photos Collection
- There will be a big checkup with PET/MR, with lung and heart checks after cycle 4 (in about a month’s time); doctors will be able to comment on treatment progress then, but it is highly expected I’ll have to do the full 8 cycles to be on the safe side, regardless of the results
- My spirit is high, and I am mostly in a good mood (as Juli can attest), and I receive tons (thanks!) of support from family/friends/colleagues
- Wife and kids are doing great too: even with the side effects I am in much better condition compared to the 2 months of 40 degree fever back in Feb/Apr
OK then, on with the blog!
I have finished the IV part (or hospital part, call it whatever) of cycle #3 — GCSF part (you know: shooting yourself in the leg every day) is in progress. This time I’m doing 4 shots: Mon-Tue-Wed-Fri (so no Thu); hopefully this will help reduce (dare I say: avoid) the bone pain.
Still on the technical front, my blood results from the last couple of weeks are good surfing ground: from C02D08 onwards my red blood count was increasing steadily (besides WBC) all the way up to 6,5, thrombocytes to 331 (to pretty much normal values) — until this Monday when it dropped back to 5,3 and 142, respectively. WBC is down to 2,3. Not particularly good results, but from what I understand this fluctuation is normal after the IV part, and with the treatment in general: after all, chemo affects quickly generated cells, like blood cells (and hair, and skin, etc.) “Like the Assyrian empire”, to quote a classic… We’ll see how they go up again on my “rest week”.
More importantly, I decided to get a blood transfusion with the 5,3 rbc value, it is way too low, and for the days before the blood check I had felt some fatigue, a good sign of anemia — probably a good idea to get it over with so I have a good 2 weeks before the next round with a good energy level.
Even more importantly (and to move from medical jargon to to stats we all hold so dearly)), this didn’t stop me from doing my little workouts — typically 5+ km daily walks, or around 2 km runs, or, e.g., a 14km bike run on the day of the 5,3 rbc value. The panorama above the post is actually from that trip to Durgerdam. Absolutely lovely place with old wooden houses, boats (duh), and around 430 inhabitants. (Something I hadn’t noticed is on the left side you can see part of Juli’s bike and on the right side a part of Juli. Could just crop it to clean it up… but won’t.)
The key point is still: do something every day. If that doesn’t work out, then as frequently as possible. And despite the anemia, last week (22th Jun – 28th Jun) was a pretty solid week:
(This week may be somewhat better even, pending the GCSF effects. Also, I’m counting kilometres; at this stage I don’t care about calories you understand.)
In fact, last time I did this much was in November last year, a yet fully healthy month (well, supposedly.)
So to finish off on the good, sporty tone, and instead of a picture of a potato, here is us, wife and yours truly, on our bike trip:
