For those of you who have ridden any number of roller coasters, you will know the feeling of anticipation as you climb the hill and hear the click, click, click of the steel as you rise to begin some awesome descent into a collection of crazy twists, turns and loops. I have just come through the rise and have begun this bad ass roller coaster. Just so you know I’ve always loved roller coasters, and while this one isn’t quite like any one you find at Disney and it takes a far greater physical toll on me, as Mr. T said in Rocky 3, “ain’t so bad.”
You’re going to have to bear with me and if you can imagine me talking with a slur and a little incoherently as I say these words to my secretary Mom, that will probably help you understand my state of mind and body at present moment. As wacky a state as I am in, I really am quite comfortable.
Yesterday I got re-acquainted with an old friend of mine, another old friend, who us patients affectionately call “Ampho-Terrible.” Mr. Terrible is extremely effective in fighting fungal infections which my team of docs feel I may now have. I’ve had many run ins with Mr. Terrible, and the last one being two years ago while I was asleep in ICU downstairs. At that time I had two things “going for me” one was that I was asleep and paralyzed in my coma, the other was that because of my super delicate state, they gave me a brand new kind of Mr. Terrible that’s really expensive but helps the patients with the tough side effects that come with the drug. The most prominent of which is Mr. Ryger, except with Mr. Terrible, Mr.Ryger usually comes for quite sometime, settles in and doesn’t leave until his terrible buddy is through with me for the day. Thankfully the docs have chosen the newer form of Mr. Terrible once again, which I suspect is a major contributor to my comfort.
First dose of Mr. Terrible yesterday and my reactions to him were none. The tricky part is that as with blood transfusions, I get a ton of pre-meds, far more than with blood. I’m right at the pre-med state now, and yes, one of my four member cocktail is our friend Benny. He’s a good buddy who helps me through a lot of these adverse and potentially very tough situations.
I usually don’t feel much pain throughout this whole process, but man do these drugs … ever … make me wonder who I am and really challenge me to remember where I am going. Fortunately, I’ve got that Remission destination burned in my brain and on my heart.
So far this is one of those situations, where the drugs required to get the drug that I need are a bigger part of the challenge, kinda like the extra baggage you always carry around that you never know if you’ll ever use or need, but it’s important to have it anyway. Present plan is two days of Mr. Terrible, the same continuous monitoring of my vitals (heart rate, blood pressure and temperature), continued use of one broad-scoped antibiotic to cover all possible other infections, and then re-evaluate my status after 2 days which is tomorrow. Still no real positive on the blood count front, but that’s within my expectations as I’ve always been a slow poke in recovery from previous chemos and my Transplant.
Many more thank you’s to those of you who have written emails and dropped off cards. I read them all and it is a great feeling to know that I have been able to and am still able to make some kind of a Positive impact on another’s life. That impact was the driving force behind the development of RealTime Cancer and it’s at the core of everything we do, most specifically with the sharing of my journey. I will say again, I really encourage you to share the web site address and an email group experience within your circles as I trust if you’re here and listening you’re experiencing some of the Positive impact. And for my money, win-win situations like this are what it is all about.
So great to have you all along for the ride. Back soon.
Always…
Live Life. Love Life.
Geoff
