My brother Jim, Nan and Jimmy are here visiting and encouraged me to update my blog. I guess it's been awhile.
This week we completed the 4th round of chemo consisting of five days of 400 mg Temozolomide. After the 2nd round, it took many weeks to get my white blood count above 3. The dose was reduced to 300 mg for the delayed 3rd round. It took only one extra week to get my white blood count above 3 after the 300 dose.
My shoulder is doing much better after a loud crack (of internal scar tissue?) during physical therapy. I was able to help take down five trees/bushes at a friends house. That was fun. So long as I work my arms from my waist to my head height, I do ok. Doing any work at ground level is difficult.
We've got a weird problem with my left lung causing shortness of breath after physical activity. A part of the bottom is stuck together. The chemo doctor did a CT (CAT) scan and found it (but no CATs, fortunately).
No cancer growth was found in the latest MRI. I asked the doctor if I would ever be healthy enough to go back to work. He strongly recommended we wait until after six rounds of chemo were completed to make that evaluation.
We're grateful to all the family and friends who helped fix things around the house since I became sick: front gate, front door gap, freezer, grill, irrigation, rocks, and others.
I'm especially grateful to all my friends who play board games with me! Thanks to the wives that allow them time away to provide service to me!
I've fallen behind on reading the scriptures. :-( I didn't want to make a post without the reading. I decided to jump to where I should be (end of Mosiah) from where I am (the beginning of Mosiah). I will close the gap this month. If you've fallen behind, you could do something similar. Or just start on page 202. See Matthew 20.
I read aloud page 202 of 531 of the Book of Mormon today. The four son's of Mosiah travel throughout the land confessing and repenting of their sins as well as explaining the prophecies and scriptures. They then ask their father King Mosiah if they can preach the word of God to the Lamanites, who they had been at war with for hundreds of years.
Friday, March 6, 2015
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Don's Hair
Melody has offered to cut my hair. I've tried to get her to cut my hair for 30 years with no luck. Now she wants to cut my hair. I'm scared!!! So what should we do with my hair? Here's a few photos of my beautiful locks!
I like it just the way it is.
On to the less important (after the hair), I just finished another 5 day round of chemo. It was 400 mg a day. So we've increased the dosage from 100 mg, to 300 mg and now 400 mg. What's next? I spent 3 days in the hospital a few weeks ago. That was a bummer and no fun. I had a 102/103 temperature that with my cancer history that wouldn't let me go home with a few antibiotics. They had to pump it there at 2400 mg of Vancomycin in an IV. I got that three times as well as a handful of other antibiotics. In the end, they determined that it wasn't pneumonia or septic or anything really bad so they sent me home.
I'm doing good mentally and ok physically. Melody says I've got my sense of humor back. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing :-) :-) Physically, I still have poor endurance. I've been able to walk a mile occasionally, but I'd be happy if I could walk two to three miles a day. I'm not there yet.
This is for you Sheri Futch. I drink lots of water every day and I pee a lot. My constipation is well under control. Thanks for your interest :-)
Thanksgiving was wonderful! We had 30+ people at grandma's house. It was really fun.
I read aloud page 112 of 531 of the Book of Mormon today. Nephi writes about the last days how we shall "commence his work among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, to bring about the restoration of his people upon the earth".
I like it just the way it is.
On to the less important (after the hair), I just finished another 5 day round of chemo. It was 400 mg a day. So we've increased the dosage from 100 mg, to 300 mg and now 400 mg. What's next? I spent 3 days in the hospital a few weeks ago. That was a bummer and no fun. I had a 102/103 temperature that with my cancer history that wouldn't let me go home with a few antibiotics. They had to pump it there at 2400 mg of Vancomycin in an IV. I got that three times as well as a handful of other antibiotics. In the end, they determined that it wasn't pneumonia or septic or anything really bad so they sent me home.
I'm doing good mentally and ok physically. Melody says I've got my sense of humor back. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing :-) :-) Physically, I still have poor endurance. I've been able to walk a mile occasionally, but I'd be happy if I could walk two to three miles a day. I'm not there yet.
This is for you Sheri Futch. I drink lots of water every day and I pee a lot. My constipation is well under control. Thanks for your interest :-)
Thanksgiving was wonderful! We had 30+ people at grandma's house. It was really fun.
I read aloud page 112 of 531 of the Book of Mormon today. Nephi writes about the last days how we shall "commence his work among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, to bring about the restoration of his people upon the earth".
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Chemotherapy Plan
The first pass of chemotherapy medication was 150 MG of Temozolomide every day for 42 days concurrent with the 30 days (week ends off) of radiation therapy. That ended about three weeks ago. The MRI was as expected with no cancer visible outside the original tumor that was removed. An MRI does not have the resolution to see the spreading cancer until it grows larger and more dense.
The new 4 week regimen will be 5 days of 300 MG of Temozolomide followed by 23 days of no medication. An MRI is scheduled every eight weeks.
I've been taking 4 MG a day of the steroid Dexamethasone since the beginning of treatment. The steroid was to prevent brain swelling. The MRI showed no evidence of any swelling in the brain, so I'm now off the steroid!!!. I can't imagine why anybody would take this steroid by choice. You don't sleep. Your bones are soft so if you tweak a knee, it doesn't heal. Bruises and cuts don't heal. They give you energy, but it's not real in that your muscles get weaker and weaker. If you work out too hard, you get injured. At least that's my experience.
So, my body is a mess right now. I'm unable to do more than a few hours a day of anything physical. So, I pick and choose what I use my limited energy for. I'm hoping to remedy this now that I'm off the steroids.
My mind seems to be working fine though. I seem to have recovered a good portion of my short term memory that I was missing after the radiation ended. My spelling seems fine again. I still have lost words, but that's from removing the tumor. One odd thing occurs as my brain remakes connections is that random and often annoying songs (like old Beatles tunes I'd rather forget) get stuck in my head and won't go away.
I guess that's enough info for today.
I read aloud page 74 of 531 of the Book of Mormon today. Jacob teaches us about the judgement, the resurrection and the atonement of Christ. If we will "hearken unto his voice" we are saved because of the atonement.
The new 4 week regimen will be 5 days of 300 MG of Temozolomide followed by 23 days of no medication. An MRI is scheduled every eight weeks.
I've been taking 4 MG a day of the steroid Dexamethasone since the beginning of treatment. The steroid was to prevent brain swelling. The MRI showed no evidence of any swelling in the brain, so I'm now off the steroid!!!. I can't imagine why anybody would take this steroid by choice. You don't sleep. Your bones are soft so if you tweak a knee, it doesn't heal. Bruises and cuts don't heal. They give you energy, but it's not real in that your muscles get weaker and weaker. If you work out too hard, you get injured. At least that's my experience.
So, my body is a mess right now. I'm unable to do more than a few hours a day of anything physical. So, I pick and choose what I use my limited energy for. I'm hoping to remedy this now that I'm off the steroids.
My mind seems to be working fine though. I seem to have recovered a good portion of my short term memory that I was missing after the radiation ended. My spelling seems fine again. I still have lost words, but that's from removing the tumor. One odd thing occurs as my brain remakes connections is that random and often annoying songs (like old Beatles tunes I'd rather forget) get stuck in my head and won't go away.
I guess that's enough info for today.
I read aloud page 74 of 531 of the Book of Mormon today. Jacob teaches us about the judgement, the resurrection and the atonement of Christ. If we will "hearken unto his voice" we are saved because of the atonement.
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Constipation
Chemotherapy causes bad constipation. I have the answer. Most of the information on the web is not helpful. Ideas like eat lots of fruit and fiber. Sure, good ideas, but I have the answer. It's cheap and it's simple.
Wheat Bran.
That's it. It's cheap, you can buy it in bulk. A small spoonful on your cereal or on toast a few times a day completely solves the problem for me. No more prunes or prune juice. I still eat fruit and other fiber, but because it's healthy, not for constipation.
I want to thank those who encouraged me to post this instead of health status info. You know who you are :-) :-)
I read aloud page 70 of 531 of the Book of Mormon today. What are the odds that my last post quoted Isaiah and this post does too? Nephi asked Jacob to teach the people wisdom from Isaiah from the brass plates. See 2 Nephi 8 verse 3 last phrase is "thanksgiving and the voice of melody".
Wheat Bran.
That's it. It's cheap, you can buy it in bulk. A small spoonful on your cereal or on toast a few times a day completely solves the problem for me. No more prunes or prune juice. I still eat fruit and other fiber, but because it's healthy, not for constipation.
I want to thank those who encouraged me to post this instead of health status info. You know who you are :-) :-)
I read aloud page 70 of 531 of the Book of Mormon today. What are the odds that my last post quoted Isaiah and this post does too? Nephi asked Jacob to teach the people wisdom from Isaiah from the brass plates. See 2 Nephi 8 verse 3 last phrase is "thanksgiving and the voice of melody".
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Three Weeks. Two Months. One Year.
We're done with Radiation!!!
Three Weeks. We get about three weeks off of Chemo too. First of many MRIs is scheduled followed by an evaluation.
Two Months. The radiation doctor says damage will continue for a while even though the treatments are finished. It's about two months to see what recovers. This might be a TMI (Too Much Information), but the obvious physical effects are 1) the hair loss over the left ear, 2) the eyes feel like they're sunburned, and 3) inside my nose is gross. The hair loss was expected and it'll come back or it won't. It's pretty much dead to the touch right now. I saw the beam cross my eyes several times during each treatment. I think this will come back. I felt and smelled a zap to my nose every treatment. There are no bad sores or pain. Let's just stick with "gross". I think this will heal too. The other effects are harder to guess what improvement will occur in the next two months. I sometimes have a hard time coming up with the right words and my "speeling" is poor. We talked with the doctor about loss of short term memory as a common effect of the treatment. This is a big one. I've been using my brain solving hard problems and learning new complex things, so some of the time I still got it.
One Year. Chemo will restart after the evaluation for a year.
I read aloud page 47 of 531 of the Book of Mormon today. Nephi includes wisdom from Isaiah from the brass plates in his record.
Three Weeks. We get about three weeks off of Chemo too. First of many MRIs is scheduled followed by an evaluation.
Two Months. The radiation doctor says damage will continue for a while even though the treatments are finished. It's about two months to see what recovers. This might be a TMI (Too Much Information), but the obvious physical effects are 1) the hair loss over the left ear, 2) the eyes feel like they're sunburned, and 3) inside my nose is gross. The hair loss was expected and it'll come back or it won't. It's pretty much dead to the touch right now. I saw the beam cross my eyes several times during each treatment. I think this will come back. I felt and smelled a zap to my nose every treatment. There are no bad sores or pain. Let's just stick with "gross". I think this will heal too. The other effects are harder to guess what improvement will occur in the next two months. I sometimes have a hard time coming up with the right words and my "speeling" is poor. We talked with the doctor about loss of short term memory as a common effect of the treatment. This is a big one. I've been using my brain solving hard problems and learning new complex things, so some of the time I still got it.
One Year. Chemo will restart after the evaluation for a year.
I read aloud page 47 of 531 of the Book of Mormon today. Nephi includes wisdom from Isaiah from the brass plates in his record.
Monday, September 22, 2014
6 More
We're almost done with the radiation treatment. This week and next Monday!
I want to thank my hero, my sweet wife Melody, for all her efforts. We drive into and out of town for several hours Monday to Friday for the treatments (24 so far). I appreciate that she takes care of all the hard stuff like dealing with the disability company (it seems like hours and hours of her day are spent getting them to do their job) and keeping me up with all my medications (yet another battle fought to get the medication delivered, again lots of time and effort on her part).
The doctor says that some people have the "fog/fatigue" lift a little within a few days after finishing radiation. That's my plan :-)
Even as it is now, if there's something I really want to do (like the going away event for Melody's brother and family who left Tucson) I can be sure I rest much of the day and I'm fine.
For those keeping up, I read aloud page 39 of 531 of the Book of Mormon today! I'm not sure if I'm ahead or behind schedule. Nephi's brothers gave him a hard time about building the ship and he's trying to help them understand things.
I want to thank my hero, my sweet wife Melody, for all her efforts. We drive into and out of town for several hours Monday to Friday for the treatments (24 so far). I appreciate that she takes care of all the hard stuff like dealing with the disability company (it seems like hours and hours of her day are spent getting them to do their job) and keeping me up with all my medications (yet another battle fought to get the medication delivered, again lots of time and effort on her part).
The doctor says that some people have the "fog/fatigue" lift a little within a few days after finishing radiation. That's my plan :-)
Even as it is now, if there's something I really want to do (like the going away event for Melody's brother and family who left Tucson) I can be sure I rest much of the day and I'm fine.
For those keeping up, I read aloud page 39 of 531 of the Book of Mormon today! I'm not sure if I'm ahead or behind schedule. Nephi's brothers gave him a hard time about building the ship and he's trying to help them understand things.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Don's 531 Day Plan to read the Book of Mormon aloud
A number of people asked about coordinating with my 531 day read aloud plan for the Book of Mormon. I don't remember exactly when I started, but here's what I'm going with.
17 Aug 2014 is hereby declared as Day 1! Page one starts with "I NEPHI, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father;" I complete any partial verse, so that day ended with verse 5 on page 2: "with all his heart, in behalf of his people".
Today is 9 Sept 2014, so I should have finished page 24 which starts with "And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me saying: Look! And I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms."
Alas, I had to read a few :-) extra to catch up, but as of today, I finished page 24, finishing with the top of page 25 "upon the waters, and upon the land also, to battle against them."
Maybe somebody can help me with the date. What day will be day 531? That's when I will finally read Moroni 10:34 "And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to the rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite and I am brought forth triumphant through the air to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen."
17 Aug 2014 is hereby declared as Day 1! Page one starts with "I NEPHI, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father;" I complete any partial verse, so that day ended with verse 5 on page 2: "with all his heart, in behalf of his people".
Today is 9 Sept 2014, so I should have finished page 24 which starts with "And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me saying: Look! And I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms."
Alas, I had to read a few :-) extra to catch up, but as of today, I finished page 24, finishing with the top of page 25 "upon the waters, and upon the land also, to battle against them."
Maybe somebody can help me with the date. What day will be day 531? That's when I will finally read Moroni 10:34 "And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to the rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite and I am brought forth triumphant through the air to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen."
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