It was hella Monday today. Garfield style.
I had a bad night. Lots of angst and discomfort and couldn’t sleep and then the nausea kicked in about 4am. I tried to fix it with ginger candy and a late night oatmeal bar but finally had to admit that it was not just a little stress, but serious nausea on the horizon and took a compazine at about 5:30. Ellie is an excellent middle-of-the-night-whats-that-noise-are-you-ok caretaker and helped me out.
The capecitabine side-effects timing seem to be a little like the opposite of the oxaliplatin. I got all the OX effects last week, then felt better for a few days, and now as I near the end of this cycle (only 4 pills left in about 4 hours!) I am getting hit with the CAP effects as it builds up. It’s mostly nausea and heartburn.
I get a week off starting tomorrow to let my blood counts build back up to a level it’s safe to give me more drugs, and I am looking forward to it.
I am also looking forward to moving to a new regimen at a new hospital. I met with my new oncologist at Froedtert and she was great. Super realistic, but also ready to be aggressive and help me have the best chance to tilt the odds in my favor. Other pros: She’s a woman, which I have to say, I am gonna try and stay away from male doctors from now on. I am saying that as a white male. I can’t imagine what healthcare is like for everyone not living in cheat mode like I am lucky enough to experience. She’s also left-handed. Don’t ask me why that is comforting, it just is.
She agreed it was good that I started chemo as early as possible, but wants to switch me to a new regimen referred to as FOLFIRINOX. It’s three drugs (and a chaser) instead of two. It’s two week cycles instead of three. I have longer infusion appointments, and get to wear a pump on a fanny pack that connects to my port for 48 hours every couple weeks, but I don’t have to take pills or keep any toxic medicine in my home anymore. Side effects are basically the same in terms of what to expect, though some may be more intense (nausea, diarrhea). I am referred to as “young and fit” for the first time in decades, so I expect it will be a bad time but I can get through it.
They’ll monitor me and give me stuff to boost white blood cells and change dosages as needed, but don’t expect to see me at any events much, especially as the temperatures drop below 75 degrees. The cold sensitivity is no joke. Neither is COVID. Don’t take it personal if I start standing way back or don’t invite folks in. It would be just my luck to respond well to chemo and die of a respiratory disease or some stupid infection, so like, nuh-uh.
The plan is to do chemo cycles until mid-November when I will have another round of imaging to see how the millions of little fuckers inside me are responding. If I am very lucky they stopped spreading, but didn’t completely disappear, so some very confident surgeons can go in with robot melon-ballers and tiny power washers full of acid and clear out my liver, while I lose most of my sigmoid colon at the same time. If not, then 3 more months and look again. Meanwhile I am going to be the best patient that ever stuck their tongue out and said “aaaaah.” and try and give myself the best chance to win this golden ticket.
In good news, I finally found something I am good at. According to the oncologist “You’re really good at tolerating chemo!” and while it’s only been a single cycle, I hope that’s true and I maintain the sorta basic functionality of life I have been so far while this shit sucks the health out of me.
This update wasn’t very fun or funny. I am a sleepy boy. I am however in a mood to share, so if anyone reading this has any questions, shoot! I mean not just about cancer. I can do trivia too.