Round 8: Brack-8, HL-0... Stronger Than Ever!

Fabulous. Lucky. Amazed. Pick a word. Lucky and amazed at how fabulous I feel. Yeah my veins still hurt near my elbows and my toes have been "numb" for weeks...among other things. Like the hum of the refrigerator you've learned to ignore, I can live with with these minor annoyances. I continue to exceed any expectation I had given what I was told or read several months ago. I know, I'm starting to sound like a broken record. But the way I see it now, unless HL scores a TKO, I'm kicking its proverbial ass all the way to the finish line. Here's a illustrative cartoon for you JJ (more on that later...)

This round has presented me with no issues at all. At worst I was average - never below average. Thanks continue to go to a phenomenal doctor, his incredible staff, years of research and the love and support from family and friends. 

Round 9 chemo treatment is tomorrow and Jen is coming along. I need to remember to ask Dr. Seifter all of the questions I keep forgetting to ask...she'll remind me. For those keeping score round 8 scores are below.

Round 8 Scores

Lastly I'll leave you with a blog comment that Jay (aka JJ) left for me on Sunday. He is a friend since elementary school - hard to believe it's been 40 years! But first a little background... for those of you who have heard those oft repeated stories from my youth, JJ figures into two of the more prominent tales. First, it was his former girlfriend (the assistant manager at the Berwyn Heights McDonalds), who provided quite a few gratis morsels to us starving high school kids. And it was at that fine establishment where I powered down 100s of Big Macs, including the one I just barely finished in a single bite after having just consumed a few for appetizers - I did win the bet! Jay is also one of the infamous "Ex-Lax" crew who taught me a valuable junior high school lesson about liberating tasty morsels from friends' unattended lunches. Back in the day their simple act was highly effective. Today, that same act would likely be a federal offense!

I loved JJ's blog comment from Sunday and trying to paraphrase it would not do justice. So here is the original work:

Hey Mike! Just went through the entire blog (Request: Can you add cartoons and more jokes for your knuckle-headed friends like me?). I sincerely am impressed with your approach, attitude and actions as you attack this aggravant (how's that assonance... "What did you call me?"). I will be following this, cheering you on, saying my prayers, and waiting to hear the cancer scream out on the Ides of March, "Et tu, Brack-a" (ok, I need to modify it for phonetic-correctness).. As you give it its final stab. YOU ARE THE MAN!! Your fighting spirit drives you and encourages the rest of us. Your old pal -- JJ

Thanks Jay, you've left yet another big smile on my face. Your singular skill at selecting sincere semantic selections that suggest superb symbiosis is second to none.

Much love to you all.

Round 8: Feeling Great at Mid Round

All is awesome! Other than a couple veins in my arms that are getting sore, numb toes and fingers and a few days of tastebuds that seem to be asleep…I am doing great and enjoying the feeling because I know there is no guarantee it will last. Miss Shirley's blueberry pancakes tasted so good this morning. I got to enjoy them with two of my favorites breakfast buds - Alison and Ryan. Alison finaled in the 200 free at National Catholics so we celebrated with carb loading at one of our favorite breakfast spots.

The highlight of this round was dinner last Sunday with my brothers from college. It didn't hurt that the Ravens punctuated our feast with a thumping of the Pats. It was great to see every one of these guys and catch up...and I think I'm still in a food coma. Thanks to Rod for planning a fine meal and to those who made the trek into DC on inauguration weekend.

My Brothers

Many thanks to Sandy, Jon and Diane, Kay and Steve, and Angela for the uplifting comments via the blog. Another big thanks to my dear friend Colleen (from way way back in my long hair days) for putting my info on our high school Facebook site. 

Congratulations to Danita for finishing up chemo - WOO HOO! I'm happy to report that she is doing "absolutely fantastic!" She left me a voicemail yesterday that I saved because it was so positive and left me laughing really hard. My favorite part is when she said "chemo is shmemo and it is so not a f&*#ing big deal…" She is 100% correct because chemo is do–able. We are two diametric opposite examples of how to get through chemo on the winning side. Our common bond is that we both know we will come out on top! Good luck with surgery Danita and I hope your new set is as perky as can be!

Last but not least… get well Dr. D. We miss you and know you'll be back before long.

Chemo Treatment #8 - Baseline Complete!

I was looking forward to today since it's been a great two weeks leading up to treatment #8. We are now two-thirds complete and the next two cycles (4 doses) are my insurance (no pun intended to Blue Cross Blue Shield). From what I've gathered this is driven by my clean scan after 2 cycles (dose 4) and the prevailing study data.

Sean showed up before 8am and we were out of the house by 8:15. Traffic cooperated and we were at Dr. Seifter's office before my 9am treatment appointment. I had a quick consultation with Dr. Seifter followed by a review of the PFT results (all good!) and checkout. Dawn and Chris were working in the chemo facility today. 

This chemo treatment had an inauspicious start. The first vein we tried in my right arm didn't cooperate. The second vein seemed to do just fine until midway through the Adriamycin. My elbow started itching and I had a small reaction start with three bumps on the inside of my elbow that looked like mosquito bites. Dr. Seifter prescribe Benadryl and we switched to the left arm. I had dueling IVs for a few minutes and the treatment progressed well after that. Everything cleared up within an hour and we actually finished a little earlier than expected. No other issues.

Sean (aka SeanP) and me

Sean and I enjoyed lunch at a local barbecue joint. I stayed as bland as possible with smoked turkey, kale and apple sauce. It was good and treated me well. And I found a case of Lagunitas Sucks next door at the liquor store. Win win!

Thank you all for your continued support. Have a great weekend, GO RAVENS, and much love.

Round 7: Brack - 7, HL-0…A Great Round

While Hodgkin's Lymphoma may have caught me with a haymaker in round 6, round 7 was all me. HL was backing up and on it's heels the entire round and it was a great round for me by all accounts. I had a consistently high energy level, managed to get lots of rest, and always felt good (or better) - my daily score never dropped below 90. The metallic taste wasn't around much although my taste buds were off for the first week or so. I've been very conscious of the flu and have done my best to avoid it. And I got a good score at my pulmonary function test on Wednesday at Johns Hopkins! My DLCO/VA score, which had dipped to 79.4 (below 74 is bad), rebounded to 89.3. That's what I'm talking about. No worries about Bleomycin this week!

The good news is that my taste came back enough for me to enjoy a beer or two on multiple occasions at the Judges Bench. Oh yeah, and a nice dram of Glenglassaugh 26 (if I remember correctly - thanks Mike). Carrie had a Christmas card and cookies one night - it had been a while since I'd been in! On Tuesday I discovered that my new favorite brew is Lagunitas Sucks - thanks Jeremy and Melanie!

A Keeper!

This is one of the most aromatic brews I've ever had. I could wax poetic about the floral, fruity nose but I just imagine the resulting voicemail from Big Murph. Most of it would not be fit to print! This beer is not for the faint of heart its big hoppy presence, higher alcohol content (7.5 or so), and a great balance. I also stopped in for a beer and a burger last night and had a great conversation with Scott, a Bench regular and real good guy. 

A Good Night at the Bench

Lastly, here's what the scores looked like for this round. I can only hope that things continue on this trend.

Round 7 Scores

Round 8 is tomorrow. Much love to you all.

Round 7: Interim Update (Day 10)

I had every intention of posting an update a few days ago (mid round) but you can see how far I got. Just like returning my friend Cindy's email from last week - didn't do that either. Sorry about that.

This round has gone incredibly well. The first few days of the round were somewhat typical but still better than average. Other than the standard mouth film early on, followed by a few days of really bland tasting food, I have been doing great. I did get tired on Day 4, and late in the day my joints felt a lot like the the flu was setting in. A couple of Advil and a decent night of sleep and there were no other issues. I knew it was nothing more than being tired from a full day of work followed by sitting in a pool for a couple of hours watching Alison's high school swim team beat McDonogh - a great win for them!

PFT #5 is scheduled for Wednesday. Round 8 is on Friday and SeanP will be my date. My friend Rod also setup a dinner downtown in DC for Sunday (Jan. 20) and I'm looking forward to seeing some great friends at Carmines.

Last but certainly far from least, my best to Colleen and her sister-in-law Marie. I've known Colleen since the first week of college and last saw her at homecoming in 2011 where we were able to catch up. Her house was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy just before she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Marie got tested after Colleen and found out that she also had breast cancer. Colleen's starts chemo soon. My love to you both. Stay strong and keep the positive attitudes I know you both have. 

Chemo Treatment #7 - It's All Downhill From Here

This chemo treatment went as well as can be expected so it looks like I'm back to normal thankfully. Dad accompanied me to this treatment. After the difficulty of #6 we decided it was best to always have someone along in case I can't drive home. Pop packed some sensible food this time – pecan butter and strawberry jam on whole grain sandwiches, organic blueberries, chicken noodle soup and water. Just like when I was growing up when organic food was cheaper (and healthier) than conventional food. My buddy Rob remembers those days in Junior High, when I would look at my lunch and beg or "borrow" a spare Oreo or Pinwheel cookie from him to complement my healthy food. 

We arrived just before 9am only to find out that we were an hour early. I goofed on the appointment time thinking all of my 2013 treatments were at 9am. Lauren and Dr. Seifter were accommodating and I was in for my biweekly consult by 9:15. Dr Seifter was happy to see that I had recovered well after Chemo treatment #6. It was a gut check for both of us given that I was fighting an unknown infection that may have been upper respiratory. In many cases Dr. Seifter would have opted to postpone the treatment but we made the decision to continue and it worked out fine. I also asked about the pain in my left elbow and we'll keep an eye on it. It could be an aggravated vein. Today we're using the right arm for chemo to avoid any further left arm aggravation. All of my vitals (blood pressure, temperature, lungs, etc.) checked out fine.One new thing I learned from Dr. Seifter is that Treatment # 8 is the magic number. The existing medical research indicates that 8 doses of ABVD are the baseline. The remaining 4 rounds will be my insurance (no pun intended for Blue Cross Blue Shield)! 

Anna and her son Chris were working in the Chemo room today. As usual the first order of business was to get a CBC completed. The results were back promptly and my white blood cell counts were right where they should be at 2100/microliter. My red blood cell count was back in the normal range and everything else was fine. It was a quiet day in the chemo room. There was an older gentlemen sitting to my left who I had seen once before. He was smiling the whole time and for good reason. This was his last treatment for Non-Hodgkin's Follicular Lymphoma. His treatments had lasted 5 years. He said there had been no side effects with his treatment, much to my amazement. 5 years…I"m feeling really lucky that, if all goes well, I'll be done in just 6 months – yet another upside!

My next pulmonary function test is scheduled for 16-Jan. at the JHU Outpatient Center We don't want the DLCO/VA value to go under 70% of predicted value because that means the Bleomycin is adversely affecting my lung tissue. DLCO/VA is the diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) normalized per liter alveolar volume (VA). In English, this measures the ability of my lungs to transport oxygen, carbon monoxide and other gases into and out of the blood (by way of diffusion through various membranes). My initial measurement was 108% of predicted value and it has steadily declined to 79% at PFT #4 a few weeks back. My lungs feel markedly better now than two weeks ago so I'm hopeful that the worst is behind me. If it does go below 70%, then Dr. Seifter will discontinue the Bleomycin. Fortunately this is the least important of the 4 chemo drugs so ending it should not affect treatment. Personally, I want to get through round 8 with no changes if that's the magic number. 

I'm looking forward to hanging with SeanP who will accompany me to the next treatment. He's volunteered a couple times and it's much appreciated. Among other things, I'm also looking forward to the steak dinner in NYC that we'll be planning when this is all said and done.

Much love to you all!

Round 6: Brack - 6, HL-0…Half Way to Being Cured and a Few Upsides

Yes this round started off a little rough so we had to go to the scorecards to determine the winner. After a quick tally it was decided that I won on points! Getting a round of chemo while fighting a virus or upper respiratory infection is tough. Fortunately things turned around with the help of a Z-pak and extra rest since I was home for the holidays. With Round 6 over we are on the downhill slope. A couple things of note this round, other than the low grade fever for the first 5 days, was that my mouth and tongue were more sensitive. I had salt and vinegar chips at lunch on Thursday, normally something I enjoy. This time though it felt like acid on my tongue – ouch! Also, the pain in the tissue/muscle on the inside of my left elbow continued. Not sure if it's an aggravated vein as a result of chemo. I'll ask the doctor when I go in for Chemo #7.

Round 6 Scores

In my Round 5 recap I listed a bunch of things I would rather do without. So in this round I felt like listing a few things I'm enjoying during my time with cancer:

• Spending quality time with Jen, mom, dad, and SeanP (round 7) when they accompany me to chemo sessions.
• Friends checking in each time after I finish chemo.
• Being able to empathize with my Chemo buddy Eileen.
• Getting emails from and catching up with old friends like Brant, GB, Julio, Bondy, Rodney, Shaf, and many others.
• Getting the unexpected phone calls from old friends like Soldy, Danita, Pisano, Fleming, and many others.
• The constant encouragement mixed with a reality check or two from Big and Little Murph.
• Catching up with Rob, my best friend from 3rd grade.
• Deliveries of white chocolate chip cookies from Kellie or oatmeal raisin cookies from Sharon.
• Milking "my illness" at home by getting waited on by my lovely family. It's a never ending search for a new way to blame my laziness on cancer.
• Getting a healthy, gratis pour of 25-year-old single malt Scotch or aged Cognac (when I can tolerate a drink) from Mike, the owner of my favorite watering hole The Judges Bench.
• Having the Judges Bench regulars jockeying to outsmart each other to buy me a beer.
• Blaming my normal stupidity on "chemo brain".

Lastly, keep my sister-in-law Twila's mom in your thoughts and prayers. She's having a difficult time with chemo in her fight with Multiple Myeloma.