Hi Everyone -
Just checking in to let you all know that I'll be wrapping up my eighth chemo treatment today. I'm officially past the half-way point. Other than being stir-crazy, things have been going well. I've begun physical therapy on my left shoulder in an effort to increase it's strength and mobility. I won't ever have the strength and range of motion I had prior to losing my scapula, but through the PT I should be able to get some of it back.
With the temperature being a balmy 20 degrees today, I can say I'm looking forward to warmer weather. While I often feel weak and tired on days off from the hospital, there are days when I'm relatively alert and would love nothing more than to get outside and walk, visit of hiking trail, or take Sean to a quiet park. Hopefully this is our last cold front and we can start moving on to some relatively nice weather.
I hope everyone is doing well. My next chemo next Friday if all goes well. I hope to post before then, but if not, take care.
Alex
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Back to the Chemo
Hi Everyone -
It's been a while, but chemo finally started back up last week. Seven down, seven to go. This last one hit harder than I was expecting, partially due to the fact I'm still recovering from the surgery. However, things went well and it feels good to be hitting the stretch run.
Getting used to not having full use of my arm has been an interesting experience. I still have full use of my lower arm and hand, so it hasn't slowed me down too much. I can't reach in the air with my left arm, or lift anything heavy at the moment due to the fact the muscles in my upper arm were damaged during the surgery. I'm doing some physical therapy to get strength back in my upper arm, so in the future I think things will be much easier.
I've taken a break from the guitar at the moment, but they say once my strength is back I may actually be able to continue practicing, so I'm looking forward to that. Assuming all is well with my counts my next session of chemo starts next week. Good thing to, due to the surgery break I actually started growing some hair back. :)
Take Care,
Alex
It's been a while, but chemo finally started back up last week. Seven down, seven to go. This last one hit harder than I was expecting, partially due to the fact I'm still recovering from the surgery. However, things went well and it feels good to be hitting the stretch run.
Getting used to not having full use of my arm has been an interesting experience. I still have full use of my lower arm and hand, so it hasn't slowed me down too much. I can't reach in the air with my left arm, or lift anything heavy at the moment due to the fact the muscles in my upper arm were damaged during the surgery. I'm doing some physical therapy to get strength back in my upper arm, so in the future I think things will be much easier.
I've taken a break from the guitar at the moment, but they say once my strength is back I may actually be able to continue practicing, so I'm looking forward to that. Assuming all is well with my counts my next session of chemo starts next week. Good thing to, due to the surgery break I actually started growing some hair back. :)
Take Care,
Alex
Monday, January 20, 2014
Back Home From Surgery
Hi Everyone -
I am back from surgery, which went well. To remove my tumor they had to remove my whole scapula, so my mobility is now limited on the left side. Alas, my dream of becoming a championship weightlifter will go unrealized.
However, there are two pieces of good news to come from this removal of the scapula. One, they were able to remove the whole tumor and once chemo is over they are confident the cancer will not return. Two, this surgery eliminates the need for major radiation therapy, which would have also hurt my left arm's mobility and likely would have caused further issues 10-12 years down the road.
All that being said, I'm happy with the trade-off and with a little practice I should be able to do most of the things I did before. They are going to give me a little time to recover before they start chemo, but we should get the ball rolling again before the end of the month.
I'll be back soon for another update. Until then, I'm happy to be back home with Sam and the kids and look forward to finishing up the home stretch. Take care, and thanks for your prayers, thoughts and support.
Alex
I am back from surgery, which went well. To remove my tumor they had to remove my whole scapula, so my mobility is now limited on the left side. Alas, my dream of becoming a championship weightlifter will go unrealized.
However, there are two pieces of good news to come from this removal of the scapula. One, they were able to remove the whole tumor and once chemo is over they are confident the cancer will not return. Two, this surgery eliminates the need for major radiation therapy, which would have also hurt my left arm's mobility and likely would have caused further issues 10-12 years down the road.
All that being said, I'm happy with the trade-off and with a little practice I should be able to do most of the things I did before. They are going to give me a little time to recover before they start chemo, but we should get the ball rolling again before the end of the month.
I'll be back soon for another update. Until then, I'm happy to be back home with Sam and the kids and look forward to finishing up the home stretch. Take care, and thanks for your prayers, thoughts and support.
Alex
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Surgery on Thursday!
Hi Everyone -
So the past week or so has been pretty uneventful, just a lot of tests to ensure I'm ready for surgery. They say I am, so surgery to remove the tumor is supposed to happen on Thursday as scheduled. After the surgery, I'll have eight more chemo treatments to clear things up and then I'm free to return to a life of normalcy.
I'll provide another post late this week to let everyone know how the surgery went. Until then, thanks to everyone for their support and prayers. We continue to appreciate the hell out of every one of you who have helped us along the way.
Take Care,
Alex
So the past week or so has been pretty uneventful, just a lot of tests to ensure I'm ready for surgery. They say I am, so surgery to remove the tumor is supposed to happen on Thursday as scheduled. After the surgery, I'll have eight more chemo treatments to clear things up and then I'm free to return to a life of normalcy.
I'll provide another post late this week to let everyone know how the surgery went. Until then, thanks to everyone for their support and prayers. We continue to appreciate the hell out of every one of you who have helped us along the way.
Take Care,
Alex
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year everyone, I hope you had a safe and fun New Year's Eve. They release me from the hospital today, very happy about that. Six days in a hospital can make you rather stir-crazy. The next couple of weeks will be a lot of tests to prepare for the surgery on the 16th. Hopefully the tests all give positive news and we can keep on schedule. I'm ready to get to the home stretch of chemo and wrap this thing up.
Take care all, have a great start to 2014.
Alex
Take care all, have a great start to 2014.
Alex
Monday, December 30, 2013
Happy Holidays
Hi Everyone -
Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I'm into my six session and so far things have been going relatively well. There is some discomfort, so I've been watching the Legally Blonde series in the hopes that emotional trauma will replace the slight physical discomfort. It's worked pretty well, with the side effect that chihuahuas now make me nervous...
Christmas was wonderful overall. I was given the go-ahead to head back to St. Louis, so I got to see both the laws and the in-laws. The only issue was right before Christmas half of Sam's family came down with the flu, so we unfortunately had to avoid those folks (her mom, dad and brother-in-law) on Christmas and Christmas Eve, but luckily we did get to see everyone before they came down with it. I went ahead and spent most of my time with Sean and my family, just to ensure I did not contract anything.
After this treatment wraps up this week I'll spend the next few weeks having some tests done to prepare for surgery on my shoulder and having the surgery done. Hopefully that goes well, we shall see.
Until my next post, take care and have a wonderful new year.
Alex
Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I'm into my six session and so far things have been going relatively well. There is some discomfort, so I've been watching the Legally Blonde series in the hopes that emotional trauma will replace the slight physical discomfort. It's worked pretty well, with the side effect that chihuahuas now make me nervous...
Christmas was wonderful overall. I was given the go-ahead to head back to St. Louis, so I got to see both the laws and the in-laws. The only issue was right before Christmas half of Sam's family came down with the flu, so we unfortunately had to avoid those folks (her mom, dad and brother-in-law) on Christmas and Christmas Eve, but luckily we did get to see everyone before they came down with it. I went ahead and spent most of my time with Sean and my family, just to ensure I did not contract anything.
After this treatment wraps up this week I'll spend the next few weeks having some tests done to prepare for surgery on my shoulder and having the surgery done. Hopefully that goes well, we shall see.
Until my next post, take care and have a wonderful new year.
Alex
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Cells - Apparently you need them
Hi Everyone -
I had an unexpected hospital stay yesterday due to my cell counts being very low, especially my red cells and my platelets. They gave me a transfusion of both during my stay, so hopefully that resolves the issue. We'll find out tomorrow as I'm scheduled to have labs done to determine if the transfusion provided enough of a boost.
One issue with having treatment at a children's hospital is the bed I was using for the transfusion was designed for a child. Not a major issue as for the most part I was sitting or standing, but it did make me feel taller than normal.
Until next time,
Alex
I had an unexpected hospital stay yesterday due to my cell counts being very low, especially my red cells and my platelets. They gave me a transfusion of both during my stay, so hopefully that resolves the issue. We'll find out tomorrow as I'm scheduled to have labs done to determine if the transfusion provided enough of a boost.
One issue with having treatment at a children's hospital is the bed I was using for the transfusion was designed for a child. Not a major issue as for the most part I was sitting or standing, but it did make me feel taller than normal.
Until next time,
Alex
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)