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I went to bed late last night and opted to forgo my morning walk/run. I DID do my 8 pushups and 16 sit-ups however. I plan on getting to bed earlier tonight and getting my aerobic exercise tomorrow morning.
My weight this morning was 158 Lbs. At the start of the last cycle my weight was 157 Lbs. The scale at the oncologist’s office had me at 159 Lbs prior to the start of my last treatment and they had me at 163 Lbs at the start of this treatment.
I have calibrated my bathroom scale to 90 Lbs. I think I can get the calibration over 100 Lbs and will recalibrate to a higher weight so I can make sure I’m getting an accurate weight. I step on my bathroom scale just before getting into the tub, at the oncologist’s office, I am dressed. That could cause some of the discrepancy. I figure I’m weighing my body, not my clothes.
Since the oncologist’s blood machine is broken, I went to the local hospital for my blood test this morning. It just meant I had to get out the door quickly and it prevented me from posting earlier. As luck would have it, I happened to find the right door for the service I was looking for.
During my treatment this morning I told the nurses I was going to a tanning salon. I’m getting used to their response when I mention this. They were surprised. Obviously my tanning efforts are not being very effective if they are surprised.
When I asked if this was OK, one nurse was pretty adamant against going, but when I asked why, she had no good answer. I got the feeling her response for more of a knee jerk reaction. So far, I’ve not noted any deleterious effects. I will continue to tan as well as monitor myself for any harmful effects. I am so stubborn. However, I am open to reasoned logical dialogue.
The Vorlon Wife and I stopped at Wawa for some coffer prior to going to the oncologist this morning. That seems to have helped to counteract the effects of the Benadryl. I only felt the full effects for about an hour and then I was back to almost normal. Walking is still a little challenging, however, so I walk slowly.
I met with the oncologist’s partner again today. My oncologist is still in India helping his parent celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.
This fellow is starting to warm up a bit. He did a cursory exam and said I looked and sounded good. Perhaps he was taken in by the healthy glow in my face. He seemed to indicate that he could not be detect the fluid by tapping or listing to my breathing this time.
I asked why we don’t just inject the chemo directly into the parasite. He responded that read of patients that have had a pumps inserted that pump chemo directly to their tumor and the results have been encouraging.
After he realized that I meant to inject the chemo directly into the parasite IN ADDITION to my chemo treatment as opposed to replacement of, he felt that was not a good idea. He was concerned that my bone marrow would not be able to take the additional abuse. But he offered no data to back that up.
His response is what I have come top expect from the medical profession. If it’s something they have not data on, they find reasons to not try it. It reminds me of two companies that are trying to negotiate a business deal. When they bring in the lawyers, the deal usually never happens. The lawyers always find reasons against the deal.
I put another hypothesis to the oncologist. I told him I figured they were probably millions of cancer cells circulating through my body. The fact that they have taken up residence at only few other sites, indicates they don’t stick particularly well. He seemed to agree with my hypothesis except he said there are probably BILLIONS of cancer cells circulating through the body. That tends to reinforce my hypothesis. The trouble is there are SO MANY cells running around the body that one only needs one in a billion to cause problems.
I have not gone to the pulmomologist (lung guy) as I’m not sure what it will accomplish. He doesn’t have the best bed-side manner in the world, but he seems competent and that’s the most important part.
A few months ago I had a brief conversation with my family doctor and he asked, what I thought of the lung guy. I mentioned that his bedside manner needed a bit of work. He said that was charitable. He said it’s not just patients he’s short with. He said he was at a Christmas party which the lung guy also attended. His partner came up to him and told him he almost fell over when the lung guy said hi to him without being prompted.
Sounds like a First-born to me.
The oncologist wants to do another CT scan before my next treatment. I’ll just need to fight with the insurance company to go where I want to go.
Posted by The Vorlon at January 11, 2006 3:09 PM