We have two days until our Chemo Treatment #2, which will complete our first full “Cycle” of treatments. We will for sure have three full cycles, and possibly four. So after this next treatment on Tuesday, we’ll be either 33% or 25% of the way done with chemo treatments, god willing!

 

Daytona Beach

I snuck away for a couple days to do a long planned business trip which took me to Daytona Beach for the weekend. BetAmerica sponsors the country’s championship greyhound race, and I was down there to look after the first championship for greyhound bettors; we hosted a contest with $25,000 at stake for the players. That amount of prize money isn’t considered especially large for horse racing players, but we think it’s the largest such contest ever offered for dog players.

I even got a chance to get in the Winner’s Circle photo for one of the stakes races. Check it out.

Luckily, everything went very smoothly both in terms of business and health.

I was a bit worried going in that this trip would push me to the max in terms of energy and fatigue. I knew this trip would see me tasked with staying out rather late with key clients a couple nights in a row.  Ever since my first chemo treatment, I had regularly been going to be no later than 9pm, and sometimes sleeping 11 hours or so if my body would allow it.

Fortunately, I was able to do so without any trouble. I did get a bit tired on the evenings, but nothing too bad. And we stayed out late both Friday & Saturday night – well past midnight on both evenings.

The weekend was also completely free of any side effects. Everything I’ve spoken about at length the last 10 days, nowhere to been seen.  No acid reflux, no mouth pain, no tummy issues, no nausea, no insomnia… nothing. I ate whatever I felt like eating without fear of triggering a response, all weekend.

I even had the chance to lay on the beach for a couple hours on Saturday! The weather in Daytona obliged at 80 degrees for the afternoon.

 

The Lump

I am so happy to report that “The Lump” has noticeably reduced in size. It’s taken me a few days to say that with a certain level of confidence, knowing that I wasn’t just wishfully thinking it’s receded. But it really has. It’s definitely smaller than I can remember it being at any time since before my very first trip to the general practitioner last summer.

It’s still there. I can still feel it. But it’s much smaller.

It really is a relief to be able to physically observe positive progress during treatment. In the absence of bad side effects, my mind wondered frequently whether the treatment was actually working! They warn patients about this phenomenon – and they specifically tell you: Just because you don’t have any side effects does NOT mean your treatment isn’t working!  But despite the warning, it’s something which definitely crosses your mind.  So being able to feel this progress helps to keep me positive and excited about the next treatment.

 

Next Treatment

I’m back to feeling 100%, and yet I know I have Treatment #2 coming up now less than 48 hours away. Even if I go through exactly what I went through the first time, I’m feeling pretty confident. The experience was very mild, and I can easily weather that storm for each treatment if that’s the case.

I am hopeful that with the experience of one treatment, that I am better prepared for the side effects. For the acid reflux, I am taking a daily pill (off brand Pepcid) that seems to have worked well. If the mouth pain recurs, I have the expensive and highly effective mouthwash; although I am hoping that the mouth pain was more attributable to the pre-chemo dentist visit and that those pains will not happen again.  I am well stocked on anti-nausea medicine.

I’ll also be interested to get my pre-chemo blood tests. They’ll tell us how my white blood cells are reacting to the treatment so far; we’re hoping they haven’t fallen too low. They also have some other indicators they’ll be looking for, and I’ll report fully on Tuesday how they come back.

 

Care Packages & Cards

Before I left on the trip, I got a nice care package from Amanda. She has MERV BEATS CANCER screened on a nice tote bag, and also sent a fuzzy warm blanket embroidered with the purple Hodgkin’s Lymphoma ribbon. The tote will be a great ‘chemo bag’ to bring the necessities for the five hours of office stay. Thanks, Amanda!

I’ve also gotten a several more Get Well cards, which are now taking over my mantle in the front room. Most are from close friends and family, but some are from those who I would never have expected – including a couple from the faculty at my old grade school St. Albert the Great!

And sincere thank you to those who have send gift cards or cash to help; it really had helped us with the financial stress. We never imagined that we’d have to pay our medical deductible twice in the span of 4 weeks.

Honestly, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to send us care packages or cards or Facebook messages or texts, and to those who keep us in your prayers daily and send good thoughts on the regular. The positivity keeps us positive.

 

Much Love,

Merv