dpbuck = Bad Blogger

Okay, so today is day four of my fifth treatment cycle. I have been a combination of 50% busy and 50% lazy over the last month in not updating my blog. Once again, I apologize to all, and will attempt to catch everyone up. Last time we left our erstwhile hero, he had escaped the dungeon of The Garden, and defeated the PET Scan dragon, and was now set for another journey into the depths of the third floor of Kadlec Medical Center…

On Monday August 11, I checked back into the hospital for my fourth cycle. Everything got started as normal (read: as screwed up as usual). I was put into a room with a non-functional shower, and then didn’t have my chemotherapy orders in the system yet. So, despite arriving at 10:00 AM, I didn’t get started until after 3:00 PM, and then had to change rooms in the middle of the evening. Total pain in the butt…

On Tuesday Morning, Dr. Weeks stopped by, and he was just BEAMING. He said that the results of my PET Scan were OUTSTANDING. Because they looked so good, Dr. Weeks expects that I will only need two more cycles instead of three. Needless to say, that is fantastic news. It is still expected that I will have to do radiation afterwards, but if I can only go through five cycles instead of six, I’ll take it!

Despite the good news, I had a pretty rough treatment week. I was nauseous and tired the entire cycle, and had some major homesickness. Friends and family stopped by to cheer me up – my parents, Kim and Gary, Suzi, Amy – and Melissa came back down on Friday night. All the friendly faces lifted my spirits, though I looked and felt like crap.

My recovery period after the cycle wasn’t too bad, though. Melissa was here the entire weekend to keep me company, and by Monday afternoon (discharged on Saturday) I was feeling pretty good. I still decided to take it easy and not return to work until Wednesday August 20, especially since I was traveling up to Vancouver for Melissa’s family’s golf tournament this weekend. I felt I should save up my energy so I could suck less. The tournament was a good time (minus the first three holes), and I actually played halfway decent. It was a little hotter than I expected, which took its toll on me, but overall I had a fantastic time.

I put in a full week of work August 25-29, and actually felt great all week long. I felt really back to normal – work every day, dinner at my parents’ house, poker. I even got out on my rollerblades and got a little exercise in (hockey season’s coming!). Melissa came down on Thursday night, and we had a nice weekend. We had dinner with Michell and Herb on Thursday, and dinner and a movie with Ryan and Sarah on Saturday. Very, very good weekend.

(Please note that this will be the only mention of Michigan and Rich Rodriguez’ “high-powered” spread offense. I mean, 36 yards rushing?! Are you kidding me?!?!?!)

Monday September 1 (Labor Day), I checked back into the hospital for my fifth (and final!) cycle. Melissa was here until Tuesday, and then she had to head back home for the first day of school. (She teaches preschool, remember?) Dr. Weeks discontinued one of my drugs (the Doxorubicin), as he felt I no longer needed that drug. I still had all of my other drugs, and that didn’t really affect my cycle. I felt pretty good through Monday and Tuesday, but Wednesday was not so good, especially in the evening. I was tired and nauseous for most of the day, and just didn’t have the energy to do anything.

Wednesday, Dr. Weeks stopped by, and I asked him some more questions about the radiation treatments I have coming. He expects that I won’t start radiation for a month or so after my final cycle, and he will be referring me to a radiologist to get that rolling. That month delay works well for me, since I have work trips to Florida and Ohio this month. Overall, though, Dr. Weeks is thrilled with the way everything has gone.

And that catches us back up to today, Thursday September 4. The NFL Season starts tonight, so I am looking forward to Giants/Redskins tonight. I have TWO MORE NIGHTS in the hellhole, and then I (hopefully!) never have to come back. Melissa will be coming back down tomorrow night as well, which of course will lift my spirits.

Thanks for being patient with me as I finally get caught up. I hope to hear from everyone soon!