Cancer Sucks...
(Or "No, that's not necessarily another witty title...")

I actually saw that on a baseball cap the other day at the cancer institute and I thought it was witty *GRIN*.... some may not, but HEY, what are you gonna do, right?

Another photo update above, me now down to the skin (again, not the smooth and shiny head, a VERY fine layer of stubble, and we'll let nature take it's course...) I feel MUCH more comfortable now that the 'peach fuzz' is off... was wearing a baseball hat the last few days because I thought it looked kind of silly... but now.. I may just venture out ala natural...

OH THAT'S RIGHT - I CAN'T GO OUT *FROWN*.... read on, fearless ones...

SO, the story gets better, as they always do when it's happening to you, right? I went yesterday morning for my blood work up (to check tumor markers from the first round, before going into the next round on Monday) and then came home for a bit before heading into work for a meeting. Showered (convinced myself at that point to take the peach fuzz off that night), got dressed... jumped in the car and headed to work for a meeting... Trish picked me up at work so we could grab lunch, and near the end of lunch I started getting this flurry of phone calls from an unrecognized number. Now, don't get me wrong, usually I pick up, but I was at lunch, and didn't want to talk to clients, or salesmen, or random charities, etc. at lunch, so I didn't answer.

As we were leaving I called the number back, and it was the NEVADA CANCER INSTITUTE... ARGH... ok, so I was a moron, I get it. But it wasn't a number from there I recognized, otherwise I would have PICKED UP THE PHONE.

Anyway, besides my blockheadedness, it ended up being one of my nurses saying my blood work came back and my white blood cell counts were VERY low, and that I needed to come back before 5pm to get an injection. OW... another poke? Ok, ok.. you got me... I'll be there around 4. They said ok, I went back to work to meet with my partner for a bit... of course I needed to leave around 3:20/3:30 to get home to pick up Tricia (who wouldn't take no for an answer in accompanying me) and SAM, who I would have rather not come, but they have a kid's area there, so I knew he would be ok... TRAFFIC SUCKED on the way home, and I didn't even get HOME until 4:10 or 4:15... so I called NVCI, let them know we were running late, and jumped in the other car which poor Sam and Trish were waiting in for at least 15 minutes as I sat on the exit ramp by our house, traffic delayed by some sort of gremlin or imaginary accident, or idiot drivers, or a combination of that plus it was RAINING in Nevada! So there you go...

So we drove up to the Cancer Institute, checked in at the front desk, everyone commenting on how extra-adorable cute Sammy was (of course!), got in the elevators and went up to the 3rd floor - my usual destination for treatment. I checked in with the reception desk there (standard protocol) and they LITERALLY whisked me into the side door so fast I couldn't even tell Sam or Trish I'd be right back! They close at 5, so I understood, of course.

The receptionist took me into the infusion room and sat me down, where I met a new nurse who brought with her a needle ... oh happy happy joy joy :) I of course (even though I give myself a shot in the LEG every day) am STILL not a big fan of shots or needles... so I asked her where this shot had to go... butt, arm, etc.. she comes back with STOMACH... I was like, "you know, I've given myself shots in the stomach in the past, and am not a big fan of that location, SO.. where else can you stick it?" Don't worry, I set her up for the biggest comeback of all time, and she didn't take it, so I was safe... she said 'Arm'. So, reluctantly (and without any REAL choice in the matter) she gave it to me in the arm, quite painlessly as far as the needle went.. the injection itself burned a little, but not badly - so overall not too bad.

What she gave me is this: FILGRASTIM (a neupogen, a general class of synthetic drugs called biologic response modifiers. It is used to increase the neutrophils in the blood after chemotherapy)

What this does is it causes your bone marrow to produce more white blood cells (ie, your immune system)... so in a long round-about type of way, reference my saying "I can't go out right now" way above and now you'll understand WHY... because I have an extremely compromised immune system, so I am not allowed out in public for a bit. OH and neither are Sammy or Tricia... :( We're QUARANTINED! Because they can go out and catch something and bring it back to me... and Sam is already coughing a little, so I'll be wearing a Michael Jacskon-esque surgical mask for a bit.. I'll look like a bald surgeon, perhaps - heck, I enjoy changing my own image so much these days, who knows? Maybe I'll just keep it this way!

So, if you thought one shot was bad, I need to get another TODAY at 11 am at Summerlin Hospital, because it should take two to get my blood count up to where they need it to treat me - oh I left that part out - they CAN'T give me my next cycle of chemotherapy if my blood count isn't above 1000 on Monday!! And there's nothing worse then missing a cycle of treatment... SO, since my count was at 384 yesterday morning, these should work me up to above 1000 by Monday.

Oh, you might be thinking (or maybe you weren't) Jeff, what kind of side effects do THESE injections have? WELL, let me answer such a provocative question, faithful readers - BONE PAIN... long bones to be exact in the legs, mostly... and LOW BACK PAIN (where most of the marrow is generated, and white blood cells released)... oh, and possibly FEVERS... so I've begun to feel the lower back pain a little, but have been on a pretty steady stream of ibuprofen, so far, not too bad. So I am going to drive myself to the hospital this morning wearing my mask, to get my second shot, and then come home for the weekend.

The part I forgot was that my Doctor came to talk to me after I got the injection to fill me in on what was going on. He said this is not unusual, but he was surprised, because when he saw me last week I was strong, had a good head of hair, and no side-effects. But he said he figured we had a good 75% shot of getting my counts up to where they needed to be, so he wasn't concerned - just wanted me to watch out for a fever higher than 100.5, chills, etc. and to call in if any of that occurred.

And here comes the best (and the funniest, I assure you!) part of the story:
The Doctor had ordered my blood work for yesterday morning, as you already know. And most of your doctors, as does mine, have HORRIBLE illegible handwriting, that somehow the staff is always able to read (we hope). Well, not so this time. I drove all the way there yesterday morning, they took two vials of blood (luckily mostly painless again)... and I left. HERE'S THE KICKER -He ordered tumor markers. This we knew. When I saw him yesterday afternoon for the shot, he said only one tumor marker came back. The tumor growth marker - it came back as normal, which is great (and he was very happy with the result) showing NO tumor growth or generation, which is SO opposite of the last run showing the MASSIVE count, when I had my tumor, before it's removal. So THAT'S GOOD NEWS.

He said that the other tumor marker... never came back, so we'd have to get more blood on Monday.

When I asked why he said this:
"I guess they misread my handwriting, what I ordered started with an H and a C, but they ordered an HCG, which is a pregnancy test. So the good news is - you're NOT pregnant!"
THANK G*D! Could you imagine me getting through this with all the paparazzi following me around as I began to show? EMBARRASSING!

Oh well, a guy can dream. Hope I made you smile, and YES, that story is TRUE. Have a great Saturday everyone!

Pittle - OUT!