Round 8 - Chemotherapy Cycle 2 Day 1

Friday May 24^th, 2013

Thank you for following me along this far in my fight with cancer. Thank you for all the wisdom that you’ve shared, thank you for all of your prayers and cards. Most of all Thank you Team Tarallo for all of your support!

Well this is it. I’m starting my second cycle of chemo today. Got the Dr. at 10:15 this morning, do some blood work and see what the results are. My Neutrophil levels were a bit low and my Platelets were also low which in turn I wasn’t able to fight off infection. I respect Team MGH’s decision not to up my chemo dosage because the results could have caused more harm than good. Maybe I’ll have better luck next cycle.

Everyone here raves about Dr. Hochberg and after being one of his patients I can understand why.

My second round with Rituximab went without a hitch. This time around I have the PICC in my left arm and for the next cycle I’ll have the PICC in my right arm again.

It is again a truly humbling experience sharing the same space with the other cancer patients here. Sometimes, just to witness the brute strength it takes to move a few feet at a time before a rest is needed brings a tear to my eye and puts strength in my heart.

I’ll be able to put my game plan to the test tomorrow. As for now I’m going to walk another mile and see Dr. Ativan and go to bed

Days 18 – 21

Monday May 20th – Thursday May 23^rd 2013

Sorry that I haven’t updated my blog as promised.

This is what has been going on over the past few days.

I went to work Monday and Tuesday. Everything was fine, couldn’t be better. I didn’t have any problems keeping up at work. I was able to keep moving, did a lot of walking during work and I was able to get a lot of my work done. I was on top of keeping my hands clean, I wore my face mask, wiped down most of the stuff in my office.

How I don’t know, but I got a sniffle and a cough going on. I think it might be from walking around without any hair on my head. Even though I was wearing my hat, it’s vented and my head was cold. I wasn’t going to take any chances and I worked from home on Wednesday, but the cough persisted and the sniffles started to turn in to a head cold so I worked from home on Thursday just to play it safe. 

I cleaned up around the house, sprayed Lysol around the entire house, wiped down everything that we touch, opened most of the windows to let the air flow through the house.

I go in for my 2^nd cycle of Chemo tomorrow. My temperature is normal and I feel fine, just seems like I’m getting a cold or it’s the pollen. The doctor will decide if I can start my next Chemo regardless of how I feel about it.

My game plan for this cycle is to tackle the constipation issues. Everything that I’ve ate in the past two days has been soft. I’m on top of my stool softeners and laxatives and I’ve been drinking enough water. I plan to eat less and eat soft foods like pasta, hummus, veggie burgers so I don’t have to break down heavy solids like meats.

The sleep problem will be resolved by Dr. Ativan. The good Dr. will make sure that I go to sleep. I’ve got to walk a mile every couple of hours around the halls. 

I know that I’ll be strong through my 2^nd cycle. I’ve come up with a good plan for this next round. Team MGH will be in my corner watching my back if anything should take a turn. I’ve learned a lot from my first round and I’m coming back wiser, stronger and ready to kick some ass.

Day 17

Sunday May 9, 2013

Nice early start this morning and we had breakfast at Gourmet Express in Porter Square, Cambridge. Nice quiet place for breakfast on a weekend if you like great food with your peace and quiet. I hate eating in noisy bird cages.

Today on our agenda is to go to Sears and get a new microwave and toaster oven. We did our review research online and found a few things that we liked. Now it’s off to the store to check them out.

We’ve got our new stuff home and we’re going to see our friend Kay’s oil paintings on display at the Habitat Education Center in Belmont. The Habitat is a great local place to bird watch, take pictures of nature and sign the kids up for the many activities that are held here. I just found out about the Habitat and plan on visiting often and take pictures.

Kay is a very talented artist that paints everything from landscapes to flora to portraits. The setting for her reception couldn’t have been at a better location. The Habitat is a 90 acre wildlife sanctuary that has some of the most beautiful natural surroundings. And since the paintings on display were inspired by her walks in the Audubon Sanctuaries it really brought out the connection from what you see during your walk and Kay’s interpretation onto the canvas. You can check Kay’s paintings out at her website.

Well the day is coming to an end and I’m losing more hair as the day passed. I think that I’ve got to buzz the sides cause there all blotchy and Ill looking if I take the hat off. It’s just the way that it is falling out. So I gotta buzz it out. It’s going to look pretty stupid, but it’s all going to fall out in a few more days anyway. 

I’m going to make my lunch for tomorrow, buzz my sides and call it a night.

Day 16

Saturday May 18, 2013

Today is an awesome day outside. I’ve got a couple of errands to run and I hope that I can enjoy the great outdoors while I’m out.

I took Ronnie’s advice and went to Spencer’s to get a Scally Cap. Drove with the top down to the Square 1 Mall and let my hair fall out on to the cars behind me. I had my face mask and hand cleaners on me in case I need them.

Spencer’s had 2 hats so I got the Rasta one and figured I’d check the other stores while I was there. I found a store Lids and all they have is hats, mainly ball caps, but they had a small selection of Scally caps. I found a couple that I really liked even if I wasn’t losing my hair and got one there as well. So now I have 2 hats, one for work and one for going out. Soon as my hair grows back I might even keep wearing these things cause they’re kind of cool. Thanks Ronnie!

I did enough walking around the mall, but still need to do some more later. The high pollen hasn’t really been bothering me so I don’t see why I can’t get my fat ass back on my bike.

Well I got home and farted around for a bit and walked a mile and did some training on my wooden dummy and swung my sticks for a while, then figured I’d take a nap cause I have Tong Ren tonight at 5:30 and I slept right through it. I’ve got chemo this weekend and I won’t be able to go back until the first of June.

Even more of my hair is falling out, might have to do something about it because it isn’t falling evenly and looks like something you’d see in a horror movie.

Day 15

Friday May 17, 2013

Another awesome day at work today. My energy was high. I was very productive and focused in my work, almost like none of this was happening.

I stopped to talk with some of my brother’s in baldness throughout the day.  Most of them shocked because I have a head of hair and I shared with them what is going on and was surprised by what I learned.

A couple of the guys had cancer and have just kept shaving their heads. Others have lost their hair at an earlier age. Some still keep a little, but most shave it off. I never would have been able to have a deepened respect for some of the guys that I work with if I just kept to myself, did my job and went home. I’ve made a lot of friends at work that I’m proud to call friends!

I think that sometimes we can glance at someone and pick their surface apart and make false judgments. Then once we learn more about someone and the trials that they’ve gone through in their lives it can make you wonder how they got through it all. How it made them a better person.  How they can appreciate more of what everyone else is taking for granted. 

No pain at all today. The only challenge that I had was keeping the hair on my head from falling out all over customers desks. 

Got home and took a shower and about half of my toupee was in my hands. I’m sure that by Monday I’ll be left with Charlie Brown’s hairstyle. That’s how fast it’s falling out.

I need to work on bringing my weight down safely by 10 pounds before I go back for chemo. This will help balance out any extra weight I gain eating extra to feed the medicine. The weight is an issue for me because I have 5 pinched nerves in my back and a lower lumbar injury from the 90’s. So the more I weigh, the more I ache, the less I weigh, the less I ache.