A Care Page for Paul Eyes

Three Down....

Chemo day #3 ended up being quite eventful. Before my treatment I was examined as usual by Dr. K. After my lung procedure last week, he listened very thoroughly to my lungs. The left lung sounds were not good. I ended up having an x-ray done at the hospital.  Fluid has come back into my left lung, or to be more precise, the (pleural) space around the lung. I need to have the lung drained again (thoracentesis) on Wednesday afternoon. This time I am going to take Thursday off as I really struggled the day after the last one.

All that may seem like a big problem, but there is a silver lining. They tested the fluid that was drained last time, no cancer there. Dr. K thinks this drainage may be related to my thoracic duct partly draining fluid into the pleural space. This could resolve itself as chemotherapy attacks the disease, or I may have to have a surgical procedure done at some point in the future to "clip" the offfending part of the thoracic duct. So, at this stage Dr. K believes that this a "mechanical problem" that can resolve or be fixed.

In other news, it is Sunday night, and this is the best I have tolerated the chemo so far. I think I have hit on a combination of drugs for nausea that are doing the trick. I have not felt like I have been hit by a Mack truck this time, maybe a Mini Cooper. If I can just get this lung problem sorted out I would be doing incredibly well. Even so, I am grateful for every day, and that I am not feeling as bad as I thought I would so soon after treatment.

I have a big date on my calendar now. October 17th. It is the day of my PET scan. It will be THE indicator for how I am doing, if I am responding to the chemotherapy. If I am doing well, it is possible I may only need 6  chemotherapy treatments. I may still need the 8. If not doing well, well that is tough to think about and I will cross that bridge if I ever get there.  The way I am looking at it is that I may well be half way through my chemo, I live by hope. Hope is a powerful thing let me tell you!

Movies on Friday included Happy Gilmore, thanks Diane! I loved the scene with Bob Barker!

Paul. September 30. 2007.

P.S. Thanks to everyone for the continued calls,  posts, visits, wonderful food, cards etc. I/We feel cared about and loved.

P.P.S. My soccer team in England; Manchester City, are playing their best soccer in 30 years. I am lovin' it! On the morning of my birthday (September 23rd) they were still above arch rivals Manchester United in the league table, a very unexpected gift!

Here we go again...

Chemo #3 tomorrow. The first two go arounds I was just looking forward to getting the treatment and doing something to combat the disease. This time, I have been feeling so well in recent days, that there is a slight sad feeling that I am now facing up to not feeling well over the next few days. This week I have really had a lot of energy. I have been going out for walks most days, and I have been eating well. I have also had very little pain. What little pain I do have is in my abdomen, and tylenol pretty much takes care of it. I got to go to the Ravens game on Sunday (thanks Pat!) and had a great time. I experienced tailgating or the first time, and as a result I now have a new appreciation for "American" Football :-)

I have been reading a lot of case histories of other people with the same type of lymphoma in recent days. Comparing myself to many of these cases, it seems like I am tolerating the treatments very well on the whole. I will not say much more as I do not want to jinx myself! I feel like I am getting better. I actually feel as good now (today) as I have at any time in the last 2 months. The true test though is still to come. I will hear about the scheduling of my PET scan in mid October in the next few days. This will give the biggest indication of what is happening with me, and whether I am responding well enough to the chemotherapy.

The movie choice is still in final negotiations. Louise is going with Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" (1954 black and white) in the original Japanese. Somewhat puzzling, I know it is an action movie, but neither of us speak Japanese. I am countering with "Knocked Up". Stay tuned for the outcome.  Sayonara for now...

Paul. September 27. 2007

On the Up...

Coughing went away (99%) of it, one day after my lung procedure. I went for a walk on Tuesday and noticed I had more stamina and I was breathing more freely. Like the fool that I am I kept walking for about 45 minutes at a good clip. I was a little stiff on Wednesday as a result! Typical me. I just want to head out the door and crank out a 6 minute mile when I am feeling halfway decent. I look forward to that day in the future when I can do that without a care in the world. Other than some general soreness - probably related to internal adjustments in my anatomy (after all that fluid being removed) as well as the walking trek - I have been doing well. On the upswing right now, energy level good,  eating well, occasional tylenol for pain, building up for chemo #3 next Friday.

Paul. September 20. 2007.

Lung Update

I spent yesterday afternoon at Howard County General Hospital, having a procedure called a Thoracentesis (drainage of pleural fluid) performed on my left lung. The Pleura is a space (a kind of sac) that surrounds the lung, so the fluid is not in the lung itself, it is in this surrounding sac. My oncologist had estimated that I had maybe 1 liter of fluid that needed to be removed. As it turned out, 3 liters of fluid were drained. This is a large amount!

As a result of this fluid being present my left lung has not been able to expand properly as it has been "squished". When it tries to expand, there is some irritation. This meant that I had coughing fits for most of the evening. One reassuring thing is that even with this problem, my saturation of oxygen in my blood is excellent. I am sore from the coughing, and I hope that in the coming days I will feel some relief from improved breathing, and that my left lung will function OK.

I (and my oncologist) have no idea as to whether this will be a recurring problem. Effusions do occur fairly commonly with my type of Lymphoma. Sometimes the fluid is reabsorbed, sometimes it just builds up and has to be removed again. 3 liters is equivalent to 6-7 lbs in weight by the way! I have to believe that removing the fluid will be a good thing and will help me feel more "normal" when everything settles down.

I went back to work today, and though a little sore I was able to work just fine.

Paul. August 18, 2007.

Lung Thing...

One complication that has cropped up, is that I have some lymphatic fluid draining into my left lung. A collection of fluid like this in the lung is called a Pleural Effusion. This is not as bad as it may sound but it needs to be taken care of. Basically the lymph - which has to go somewhere - has gone "off road" and decided to use my left lung as a collection area. This happens when the rest of my lymphatic system is "backed up", probably caused locally by my large spleen which just cannot cope. Good news is, I do not have Lymphoma in the lungs, it is just that fluid is collecting there.

All this has meant that I have a dry cough and shortness of breath. To deal with this problem I will be having a CT scan on my left lung area this week to look at the extent of the fluid collection (about 1 liter Dr.K says) , then next week I will have a procedure done (Thoracentesis) to drain the fluid from my lung. That will help my breathing and make me more comfortable. The drainage will not be until next week as I will have low white cell counts in the next few days that make it a bad time to do "invasive" procedures, such as sticking a needle into my lung! Just have to take it a little easy and slower moving around for a few days until it gets taken care of.

Paul. September 12. 2007.

Two Down

I had my second chemotherapy treatment on Friday. Still 6-7 hours of infusions, no adverse effects during the day. Saturday and Sunday were just "Blah" days were I did not eat very much and I watched sports. Monday I was just fatigued, so it was good that I had decided to take the day off. I did start to eat better by Monday though, and my "chemo fog" started to clear. Back to work Tuesday!

I know many of you are interested in the movie choices Louise and I made for the 7 hour treatment. Thanks for all the suggestions, and we have also had people send us movies to watch. Things came to a head on Friday though, as Louise had lined up Love Story, Terms of Endearment, and Lassie Come Home. With the time available I knew that we would not even get to see Lassie make it home as Louise wanted to watch that one last! I finally put my foot down (rarely done in the Eyes household) and we watched my choices of; This is Spinal Tap, and Wild Hogs. Both great fun. Keep those movie suggestions coming!

Paul. September 11. 2007

Doing Well

Just a quick update to let you all know that I am doing well. I am feeling strong, and I am looking forward to Chemotherapy #2 this Friday! In the last week I have been eating and sleeping well. I have been eating better than at any time this summer. My spleen has reduced in size after my first treatment. This means my stomach is not being pressed on, so I am eating much better as a result. After an initial weight loss of 10-15 pounds around the first chemo, I have started to put weight back on. I do not know if that will continue, as I may not eat quite so well after the next chemo treatment. I will just have to wait and see.

My pain is much improved. I now have little to no pain in my back. I still have some in my abdomen, but tylenol is usually al I need to take. A couple of weeks ago I was taking Oxycodone for pain, and Xanax to help me sleep. Now I can just get by on the tylenol.

Going to work last week really worked out well. My first day was tiring, but I always pick up on the energy of the kids, and I felt great that evening. The whole week went well really. I am able to come home and rest in the afternoon for an hour or so. My energy level has been good. As expected my hair started to come out last week, yesterday I just shaved off what was remaining. Thanks to our good friend Katie Miller for her work with the clippers yesterday!

AS I said this Friday I get my second chemo treatment. After the first one I know my body has already gone through some changes. I know my spleen has reduced in size, and there are some lymph nodes that cannot be felt any more. So even though I do not have any official word on my progress, I feel things are moving in the right direction.

Paul. September 4. 2007.