Merek, I admire your spirit and think about you often. What a paradox that you have to endure the poison for the cure. I like how you systematically line out all the chemo treatment, because it is just a finite thing you have to go through to get healthy again.

Radiation only took about 30 seconds. Setting you up on the table 2 minutes,

Testing/lining up/marking up and directed xrays about 10 miniutes(on a different machine in another room). And 5-10 minutes of the doctor and nurses explaining everything.

More ODD things about Chemo

After 16 years my GF and I may have to use a Condom again. Appartently the day of and day after, the Chemo drug can be passed on enough to have a effect.

Gee. We only used one condom ever.....actually I think we used it twice for the nitpickers as I failed to plan sufficently, but that was 16 years ago. Maybe I have to buy her that battery operated hand massager I keep promising.

And guys...try asking your female doctor "at what point is my immune system too weak for me to be going down there?" Or should I just cut her off for the duration?

That's not nice. However it is a valid question as those things are walking petri dishes.

Oh My, I am trying really hard not to be laughing out loud and needing to explain.
I am actually impressed that the condom issue would even be an issue. Not that I wouldn't ready to go the day of Chemo but I know there is no way in hell Fishette would be gettin frisky the day of or after Chemo.

Oh My. Now I will be looking at petri dishes differently.

Maybe I will ask the very helpful lady at the insurance company if vibrators and condoms are covered as I can likely get a doctor note.

The two times I was going to ask the Doc on the "going down issue" First time she shows up with a male intern and the second time I have a tube in the arm and we are in a room with 5 other chemo people.

Do you think you can get some Barry White albums prescribed so they can be covered by your medical insurance?

I'm new to the lounge (from B&M mostly, but don't hold it against me) and just read the whole thread. Thanks for sharing your story and helping me understand something I have little experience with. Best of luck, we're all routing for you to come out on the other side in great shape.

For my GF, trashy 80s dance tunes work better.. I will check with Insurance.



Thanks BoDid and everyone else for the support.

Oh Mickey, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind ...

You don't have any body parts named Mickey, do you?

More ODD cancer stuff

I have to buy a electric razor.

My platelets are low so I bleed and bruise easy. When mixed with the "chemo kills your immune system"....not a good combo.

So. No more blades. Bought a cheapo elec razor and trimmer. I guess this is a good time to go metro-sexual. Just need LandonFan to give me trimming advice.

And when I say bleed easy. I mean it. I have been getting these little red itchy spots on my ankles. I thought maybe the cats found some early fleas, but it is your socks pulling on your hair and you bleed at the root.

Frankie say RELAX

Don't do it.

I had my mother die of Brain cancer - and died within 6 weeks.

I wish you well.

Our family dealt with it as well as it can possibly be done.

In the event that things do not work out well. Be honest with everyone you love - if things don't work as planned - it will be a great help to them.

Which is not to get you down - be positive and everything necessary to prepare yourself for the fight.


Good Luck and don't look past enjoying life even through your struggles.

My aunt had a mystery illness that led them to find Lung cancer very ealry. They then found a brain tumour 15 years later. The old selfish cheap bitch was told 3 months..... 9 years later she was still abusing poor home care workers. Hope I got her lasting power but not her bitch power(which was supreme)


Thanks for the support. Balancing reality with the trip is not always easy.
Glad your family was able to support your mom and each other so well. I have been very lucky so far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQU0_PHUB2E

todays health report

So the doctor gave you the go ahead?

LOL No, the doc is away til next week. So we bought the 24 - variety pack of condoms(one was "ribbed just for her". Hopefully that will keep the gf happy til Tuesday.

Who are you going to give them to?

Ba DUM pum!

man merek, I was married twice, with neither over 10 years. If you and your woman are together after 16 years, then wearing a condom is nothing to fret over.

Blarg is right

We just had a nap....did look in the box of 24 and laughed... Then slept.

Had to have another red blood cell transfusion today as the one Wednesday didn't do it. Currently just opening the box and laughing at the "ribbed special for her" was too much work. Had a good laugh/talk for an hour.

I am just learning about blood transfusions. Have you had any weird reactions to the transfusions? How long does the entire procedure take?

I was only RBCs adn due to the depressed immune system and chemo my RBC were irradiated and CV(somehting checked) so it might be a bit diff.

The standard seems to be 2 hours per unit, but they start you slow and this is the blood running time wo setup and teardown. And if you have no issues they speed it up once or twice in the first 15 miinutes. They are very carefull with blood pressure and body temp. Not sure why body temp?? Do you know?

If you feel funny they slow or stop...and they seem to worry about lung/chest/heart issues the most. My chest felt tight/heartburny for a bit and they slowed it down, but one drug I take makes you feel that way too, so after 15 minutes of bp/temp tests at a slower rate went back to normal.

With change over of units, set up, saline in between and at the end. 2 units took almost 6 hours second time and 6 1/2 the first. Due to all the problems they had with blood mixups in the 80s and 90s the signing/checking procedure for blood is very careful and adds time. Throw in how busy the nurse is, I imagine a 2 hr bag would alway avg 2.5 min.

From the patient. Here the pump/meters have battery power so you can unplug and go to bathroom or stretch legs. GF brought me a coffee, read a book had a homemade blackberry scone.. Not a total waste of 6 hrs but close.

I had one large dose of carboplatin - not bad on a relative scale but it made me sick for a month.

Only mentioning this because of the constipation comment - I got tied up so bad.

I went to stay with my sister for a couple days. I was taking her women's laxative and nothing.

I wanted to go home, but that was an hour away and I was afraid the effect would hit in the middle of the ride. Finally I decided **** it, let's go.

Naturally, it hit on the outskirts of town, ten minutes into the ride.

There was a Home Depot nearby. She pulled in and I sprinted to the back.

Nasty, nasty, oh my. I almost fell off it was so bad.

I figured it was safe, I could finish and get out of there w/o being found out. I mean, how often do you go to the bathroom at Home Depot?

Well, I hear the door open. I'm cringing for the poor soul who has walked in, when I hear a 10-year old kid's voice say, "Oh, my God!"

It's the only funny part of my brush with chemo, but I still chuckle whenever I think of it.

April 14 update

Chemo Week two.... So far not bad. No puking, running or gaging.
Some problems sleeping, but it's not like I am working full time.

Hip is hurting, back is almost fine, sciatic better. Might have to go get radiation treatment on the femur/hip as that pain is likely a tumour that we thought was pain from the sciatica nerve. Depends on what another Ct-scan says. Weird that this sounds like a good thing now.
Radiation=pain gone=good. Radiation is your friend.

I can do half mile walks every day...last 3 anyway. 2nd Red Blood Cell transfusion helped a lot.

Got a call from a friend who was worried I had taken a bad turn as "I hadn't sent him any crappy jokes in a week"

And my GF wants me to wear long sleve shirts as my arms look like I am a junkie. I can count 11 needle marks on my arms. A few are badly bruised as my platelets are low and if you don't put presure on for a long time after the needle it goes all pretty colours. Platelets make your blood clot and help with bruising.
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And your odd medical fact on Merek for the day

My Neutrophils are very low.. So, apparently I am almost pus free.

Neutrophil granulocytes, generally referred to as neutrophils, are the most abundant type of white blood cells in mammals and form an essential part of the innate immune system.

Neutrophils are normally found in the blood stream. However, during the beginning (acute) phase of inflammation, particularly as a result of bacterial infection and some cancers, neutrophils are one of the first-responders of inflammatory cells to migrate toward the site of inflammation, firstly through the blood vessels, then through interstitial tissue, following chemical signals (such as Interleukin-8 (IL-8) and C5a) in a process called chemotaxis. They are the predominant cells in pus, accounting for its whitish/yellowish appearance.
Neutrophils are recruited to the site of injury within minutes following trauma and are the hallmark of acute inflammation