Last Cycle

     Last cycle of chemo is in progress. Well, it's the last cycle for now. There will likely be more chemo in the future. It could be just an occasional maintenance cycle or it could become another full run of chemo. It could just be medications in pill form. Treatments are evolving rapidly and no decisions or future options will be discussed until my next CT scan and bloodwork analysis, about six weeks away. I'm sure I'll have ongoing blood and lymph node checking long into the future, probably forever. Or forever for me. As I've said before, there is no 'cure' for my disease. It's chronic. It's forever. If I continue to be lucky, I'll die with this not from this. Of course who knows when that will be or when it would have been without this disease. Does anyone know when they will go, or from what?

     Well, actually, I've met/known some who know almost exactly when or why they'll go. Luckily, so far, I'm not one of those.

     Day 1 of this cycle went well. The IV was started quickly and easily. Not even a pinch as the needle went in. We also planned out the maximum rate the meds would be infused ahead of time. Past cycles here at the Smilow Center haven't all found us on the same page.  I want to avoid a reaction caused by too fast an infusion rate and I also want to avoid dying of boredom from too slow of a rate. It took about 3 1/2 hours to infuse the larger, slower rate drug so my total time was about 6 hours. Not too bad. While I was getting my infusion Carol picked up Pho (a Vietnamese soup) for us to have for dinner. This is almost a tradition now although we've had to substitute Thai instead once or twice in the past.

     Day 2 of the cycle is always quicker but this time the IV wasn't started perfectly. Same nurse but I had a significant pinch this time. Actually said "ouch" just as the right 'connection' was made finally. Oh well. I was on the road back to the boat in an hour or so. I felt fine on days 3 and 4 of this cycle and almost (but not quite) 100% on day 5. This is normal and I really don't feel that bad when this happens. Just a little off. Can't complain. Or I do, but I shouldn't. Day 6 or 7 sometimes is the day I feel the worst during the month. This cycle it was Day 6 and it was a little worse than past months. Just off. Don't feel right. Tired. A little nauseous. Grumpy, although that's hard to believe, headache, just semi-miserable. It passes. One day. Sometimes 1 1/2 days at most. Again, for one day, I can take it. Could be worse. Much worse.

     So that's it. For now. The 6 months seemed to go quickly in spite of all the changes in society and our environment in that time. I've changed. A bit. Maybe. But everyone changed, too. Perhaps not willingly but nonetheless.

     Since my last blog entry boating has started up a little and we've opened up our interactions with people a little. Very little. We had a rendezvous at Hamburg Cove with some of our Squadron members with maybe half the numbers of past get togethers. We didn't allow anyone aboard but by rafting our boats together we could talk but still be 6 to 10 feet away from each other. Some came by dinghy and conversed from the water, still maintaining a proper, safe distance. Perhaps not as wisely, I restarted volunteering at the Mystic Seaport Museum. I give a quick overview to people coming in and also answer questions. I am wearing an N-95 mask with gloves and people coming in are also required to wear face masks. I'm entirely outdoors in fresh air and keep a large desk between me and people. Or I try. Very hard. Some others don't. A bit of risk probably. I hope my anti-viral medication prevents all viral infections. Don't tell the Orange A-hole about it. He may cause a run on that, too.

     I'll probably make another entry here after my next CT scan and blood results. Improvements in blood numbers may not be great initially but should improve as we get farther away from the chemotherapy. It's almost like a sine wave. Things should improve a lot then go downhill in the future. We can only hope that future is actually well into the future.