Only 1 more to go!!!!!

Today was my second-last bleomycin treatment - woo hoo!!!!!!

I actually was still feeling crappy from my double-dose last week and had low blood-pressure and dehydration today. They loaded me up with fluids, steroids, etc and hit me with the bleo. I also have some other side-effects that are kinda weird, but I can see the end is potentially in sight.

The plan (as of now) is to have my last treatment next Tuesday and head to Florida with my parents. I will be able to recover in the sunshine and PLAY SOME GOLF!!!!!!

I need to be back at the Clinic on 1/30 for CT Scans, blood tests, and to meet with my Oncologist and Surgeon. If everything is clear - I get to head HOME to SF!!!!!!

At this point, I don't want to think of the other alternative, but I do realize that I may still need surgery......

We are going to celebrate Christmas on New Year's Day since I was totally out of it on the real Christmas. I'm looking forward to it!!!!!!!

Now that I'm feeling better, my brain is working overtime and I'm going crazy being confined to Mom & Dad's house (due to my low white blood cell count.)

I wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year!!!!!!!

-Mr. Clean

no more Cisplatin, no more Etoposide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I completed my double-dose of chemo this week - a huge milestone!!!!!

All I have left is two more Bleomycin treatments!!!!!

The bad news is, I am going downhill fast and starting to feel really crappy....Apparently, the next few days are supposed to be bad. At least I have some good drugs....

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!!!!

I probably won't be posting for a few days....

-Mr. Clean

1st day of my last Hell Week....

Another fun day at the Cleveland Clinic......

Why is it that Doctors are never on-time?????? Seriously, what's the deal?????

I showed up at 7:45 for my 8:00 app't (being the punctual guy I am.) I think I saw the doc around 9:00.

My chemo was supposed to start at 8:15 and I started after 11:00.....grrrrrrrrrrr

It seems that I spend most of my life W-A-I-T-I-N-G - by the way, I am NOT GOOD at waiting.

In addition, I found out today that my grand plan of getting the CT Scans / tests on Jan 12 is flawed. Apparently, the chemo keeps working for 2-3 weeks after my last dose. Therefore, I need to wait 2-3 weeks to get the tests done. ggggrrrrrrrrrrr MORE waiting.

I also found out that if anything shows up on the scans, the will do the full-blown RPLND surgery. OUCH. 5-7 days in the hospital, really scary scar, and a bad "tube to orifice" ratio for a few days. Oh well, I'm staying positive and planning for the worst but hoping for the best.

Best case scenario, the scans will be clear and I will be back in CA the end of Jan / beginning of Feb.

More good news is that I found at least 3 companies that seem to be hiring people like me? We'll see if they still are when all this is done......

Well, my double chemo treatments this week are supposed to be OK. I have all kinds of steroids, anti-nausea drugs, etc at home. Christmas Day and Friday are supposed to be the worst for side effects this week....I guess in the grand scheme of things, missing one Christmas of my life (to save my life) is no big deal.....

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

-Mr. Clean

Still 5 to go.....

For some reason, the Bleo seemed to kick in on Thurs/Fri this week.....I just felt crappy and tired......

My Doc seems to think I am "overly sensitive" to the treatment AND am not dealing with the big "C" mentally too well......

Basically, I felt he was calling me a pussy and a head case.....I'm not too happy with him right now.

All know is that next week is my last "Hell Week" and I'm looking forward to getting it behind me. I figure I'll be out of it Wed-Mon.....

I want to make sure I have my CT Scan and all other tests scheduled for Jan. 12. I want to know ASAP if I need surgery or if I'm going to be done with this.

I've started thinking about what I'm going to do when this is all over. With this wonderful economy we're in, I may be unemployed awhile.....

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!

-Mr. Clean

5 treatments to go.......

Today was another Bleo treatment.....I am pleased to announce that it was uneventful!!!!!!!

I'm a bit tired and actually just woke up from a nap.

I am dreading next week though.... Since it's Christmas week, they are going to condense 5 treatments into 3 days - double the chemo fun!!!!! The only good thing is that it's the last "Hell week" and I will only have 2 more bleo treatments before I'm DONE!!!!!

It's been a busy few days. Deanna was here for the weekend and we actually had a "date" on Friday. That means we left Mom & Dad's house for a few hours and went out to eat - woo hoo!!!!! Her flight was cancelled on Monday so we actually had a "bonus day" and she ended up leaving this morning.....

My bro and his kids were here on Sat so my sis and her family came over too. It was a "Wii day" and I even got a bit of enjoyment from beating my nephews (sad but true.....)

Sunday was another day for visitors. My cousin Scott and his wife, Marne stopped by on their way back from celebrating my other cousin's successful defense of his PHD dissertation. We have another Dr. in the family - congratulations Peter!!!! They came bearing cool gifts to keep my mind occupied - THANKS!!!!! In fact, I'm writing this proudly wearing the SuperMan PJ's they got me!!!!!!

Since I'm feeling OK, my mind is wandering between dreading next week and contemplating what I'm going to do when this is all over.....Lot's to think about.....

Bye for now.

-Mr. Clean

2/3 of the way through Chemo!!!!!

I finally made it through round 2 and another bleomycin treatment. I think it is the cumulative effect of the toxicity of the drugs but they really kicked my ass for almost 5 straight days..... I was hurtin.....

I realize now that I only have 1 more bleo treatment, Christmas week from hell with all the drugs for the last time and then 2 more bleo treatments after Christmas. Then Chemo is history!!!!!!

I'm hoping I do not need more surgery but the docs are preparing me for the worst. It is likely that I will need to have some sort of surgery to remove any residual tumor or other growths. Since there were "teratoma" cells present in my cancer, they typically do not respond to chemotherapy and need to be removed so they don't morph into additional cancer down the road. I just hope that it's "minor" surgery and not the full-blown RPLND they were initially planning.

I have less and less hair by the day and feel like I've lost almost all of my muscle mass.....I can't wait to be able to get back to the gym and the golf course.

I appreciate all the telephone calls and messages (please keep them coming.) I'll try and start returning them today since I'm feeling MUCH better.

-Mr. Clean

Down for the count.....

This round of chemo is kicking my ass..... I've basically been in bed since Thursday...

I have another round of Bleo tomorrow and am seeing the Doc. Hopefully I will get some drugs to help me.

I'll write more when I feel better....

I guess the good news is that I only have to do this 5-day thing one more time....

This blows BIG TIME!!!!

2 down - 3 to go....

Day 2. I received the Bleomycin today - along with the Cisplatin, Etoposide, various steroids, benedryl, Tylenol, and anti-nausea drugs. No reaction to the Bleo today - hooray!!!!!!

I also got what I think is good news today. My lab results came back and the tumor marker that was way up (around 15) that caused them to cancel surgery and do chemo is now 0.1. 0 is perfect but it's pretty damn close. It definitely means that the chemo is working. I'm hopeful that it means the cancer will be totally gone and I will not need surgery after chemo. The doctors aren't saying so because they are afraid to commit to anything 100%. The plan is to have a whole barrage of tests after chemo on Jan 12 and determine if surgery is required or just follow up tests for the next 2 years or so.

If the tests are clean and I don't need surgery, I'll probably head to Florida with my parents for 2 weeks or so to recover and get some strength back before I head back to CA and get my life back on track.

I miss all of my friends in CA and my home (and the Weather, Town Hall, golf, etc.....)

I feel OK today, just really tired, but am expecting to get progressively worse thru the week....

Once I get past this week and feeling shitty, it should be down hill from there.....

Take care and keep up the messages.

-Mr. Clean

1 down, 4 to go.....

My first day of phase 2 of chemo was uneventful (sort of......)

They couldn't get the IV started so after playing around with the needle stuck 1" in my arm, they decided that one wouldn't work and tried it on my other arm. The second stick was successful and after drawing 5-7 vials of blood, I nearly passed out and my blood pressure was 80/50.......not good.....

I was fine 10 min later and the chemo began...

I was at the hospital by 8:00 AM (actually 7:30 - Dad likes to be early,) and I was finished by 1:30.

I feel OK - just a little tired. I expect to be fine until Wed night or Thurs and then feel like crap thru Sat or Sun.....

So far, I'm glad we decided to try this out-patient instead of staying in the Hospital....we'll see if I still feel that way later in the week.

-Mr. Clean