Tina to the Rescue

On a previous post I had shown a picture of the pill bag Tina made for me that I carry around religiously.  It was a more masculine version of the borrowed one she made for Gayle.  The morning after posting my adventures with nausea I found a package on my doorstep.  Apparently the Japanese have products that deal with this sort of problems.  They are bags from Daiso that are used mainly for bodily function disposal.   It is a bag with gel to absorb liquids and neutralize odors. They include a bag to dispose of the inner bag.

Leave it to the Japanese to invent the product and leave it to Tina to find it.  If you ever have been at Daiso, you know it would take a few days of searching to even come across the product.  That does not include picking it up, reading the instructions and understanding the translation.  My backpack, car and jacket pocket now have them ready for use.

I did meet with the nurse practitioner this afternoon and we are trying some alternative and additional meds to eliminate my daily visits.  I am a little more understanding what women go through when they are nauseous during pregnancy.  It is the female friends that offer suggestions of dealing with the nausea.  The slightest smell, position or taste can set it off.

 

For the life of me, I can't remember how to spell nausea and it's various versions.  I need to go back and edit check my previous posts for the spelling errors and spell check that inserted other words in it's place.

Update:  Tina says it is in the travel section at Daiso.

The Porcelain god

Subject Warning: Vomiting

I have inherited an intolerance for alcohol from my father.  I can tolerate maybe one or two sips of beer before I start feeling sick, and it would not take consuming the whole bottle to induce vomiting.
This creates problems of various proportions.  At one time I was thinking of joining a group dealing with Businesses in Japan.  As most know, socialization based on alcohol after hours is a requirement.  Not to mention my dislike for the taste of most alcoholic beverages (beer and wine in particular, sake being the exception).

I have adjusted by not participating in most social activities where alcohol is involved.   This is not the main reason for my anti socialization tendencies, but a factor.  I don't mind other people drinking, and my family members have not inherited the trait.  So it is not unusual to find beer or wine in the house.

All of this leads to the porcelain god, the toilet.  On our honeymoon, the hotel left us a bottle of complementary champagne.  I took two sips and ending up the entire evening in the bathroom.  Gayle on the other hand ended up ordering room service and enjoyed a nice meal.  I assume it was very nice from the charge on my bill.  From that point on, I avoided that experience other than due to illness.

With Chemo, especially this latest round (round 4)  I have found myself meeting the receptacle about twice a day.  Our visits are unpredictable and usually short in duration.  But what has come out is not one would expect.  I never experienced the pleasure of vomiting water before.  I do take anti nausea medications, but for some reason I assumed it would eliminate the nausea.  It lessens the affect and produces some unexpected side events.

Usually after my visit, things calm down and within an hour I am settled down.  Lately the visits have been late at night or early morning causing disruptions in my sleep patterns.  I have been learning the early signs that I might require a visit, but am being proactive in always carrying a bag with me (I wonder if Amazon sells airline barf bags).

So if you see me suddenly excuse myself without saying anything, you can guess what may be occurring.  Thanks for your understanding and willingness to allow me to discuss the subject.

Support

Gayle gently drove me to an introductory cancer support group meeting this evening.  She had gone last week and decided it would be good for me to attend.   Remember me mentioning that often she has these ideas that are good, but difficult to implement?

So what is so difficult to implement here?  Let's list the issues, I am a guy, who is not very verbal in person, who does not freely express his feelings, privately or publicly, who tends to be anti social in nature.  What can go wrong here?

The support groups are designed to give you a perspective of you are not alone.  Their goal is to get you into groups that are targeted for your type of cancer.  This doesn't sound like that bad of idea does it.  That is the problem.  My normal George says, don't do it,  my conscious George (Gayle) says it would be a good thing to do.

As you may know, as I age, normal George's won loss record is slanted to the loss side.  Conscious George (Gayle) has been gaining steam and winning by large land slides.  But normal George still has that inborn stubborn streak.  As we can tell by my medical history, that stubborn streak probably contributed to the bypass surgery and late colonoscopy.  Conscious George (Gayle) has been running at about 95% correct.  I reserve the 5% for the margin of error and preservation of my ego.

So you get this feeling of where this all is heading.

Update: Round 3

White blood count came back up and round 3was administered.  This time around I have immediately
felt the side effects.  I'm a bit unsteady (shaky) even when I'm walking.  My new tradition with the start of each new round is a bowl of chicken pho.  As I began to eat my soup, I had visions of my dad in his later years shaking as he ate.  I'm sitting there trying to lift the plastic soup spoon with my hand shaking and mouth vibrating out of sync with the hand.  To make things more difficult, I was unable to enjoy a glass of lemonade and soda (similar to a Lemon Squash drink in Japan) or a lettuce wrapped egg roll.  Even taking the three chemo pills after dinner was difficult.  As I'm sitting here, I feel a very slight vibration throughout the body.  I can't  figure out if it is a cumulative build up from previous rounds or the two weeks off due to the low white count.

Perspective check:  I recently read that it is increasingly possible to live to 115.  But I just may have a better understanding the inevitable degeneration of our bodies as we age.  I should repeat that even in a crowded waiting room, I am still one of the youngest there.

Update:  short term memory loss.  I keep forgetting to run the faucet until the water warms up when washing my hands.  Cold equals fuzzy electrical sensation on the skin.

Batter Up

I have a habit of waking up late and then head out searching for breakfast.  Every once in awhile I end up at McDonalds for an egg mcmuffin.  It became a watershed moment when the server automatically announced that she was giving me the senior coffee.  Wait a minute, did I ask for  the senior discount?  Then I looked around me and noticed that everyone there were on the grey side.  Apparently weekday mornings at Mc Donald's are a key time to find seniors.  I humbly accepted my senior coffee.

Humility tends to come in bunches.  I was confident about starting round 3 of chemo.  I had my routine down.  Schedule in the late afternoon, request a ride to get there, dress warmly with long pants, bring my backpack with all the essentials (iPod, headphones, iPad, books).  I get called in to get my blood tested, then stroll in to select and settle into my recliner.  Methodically positioning myself near an outlet and a view out the window.  Then comes the news that my white blood count was too low and that my treatment will be postponed for another week.  I pack up my stuff and shuffle out the room.

It was like being called to pinch hit in a baseball game.  Getting your name called By the manager, selecting your bat, warming up in the batters circle taking practice swings in sync with the pitcher.  Strolling up to the plate, settling in and ready to take that first pitch when you are called back to the dugout.  You can tell I watched a Dodger game tonight.

I was told that this was not unusual.  Apparently chemo does reduce the white blood count, and they did not want it going lower, increasing the risk for infection and the ability to fight back.  But this pushes back my chemo schedule another week to end in late Jan. This pushes chemo into Thanksgiving and Christmas.  It never occurred to me that there would be setbacks like this. Other than altering my calendars. It pushes back the goal or light at the end of the tunnel. Or as Gayle puts it, someone is trying to teach me something but i just don't quite get it.

Hello Kitty.

One of the byproducts of cancer treatment is the ability to manage the multiple perceptions from the various doctors.  Timing I found to be the critical factor in how well you adjust to the Meds.  If I take the anti nausea meds too late, it diminishes their effectivity.

In order to manage the timing I use my phone alarm and calendar, while toting around multiple vials of prescriptions.  A friend had made a little tote for Gayle that was just the right size.  The only problem was that the design was somewhat feminine in nature.  Being classified as a senior and the reduced capacity to be embarrassed, I carry it around with me religiously, plopping it down on the table in front of me at restaurants.

One day as I sat by myself with my drug tote, I realized how strange it looked.  I  took the photo and requested a more masculine design.  My request was more of a desperate plea with a concession that a black Hello Kitty was acceptable.  Tina within a day delivers a Star Trek themed bag with a hidden hello kitty patch inside.  I now maintain my masculinity by proudly carrying my new bag exploring new worlds where no man has gone before.  Thank you Tina!!

By the way the Wada clan welcomed another boy, congratulations to Kerri and Josh on the birth of Luke !!!

How You Doing?

The question I get more often is how I am doing.  The lady who I banned from editing this blog suggested I describe the process I am going through, then how it affects me.  Hmm, not bad coming from the side lines.

You will read some repeat information.   Like two weeks after my colon reduction surgery (my description, it has been reduced by about 33% by surgically removing the affected regions) I started my Chemo Therapy regimen of 8 rounds.  Each round lasts 3 weeks and starts out at the oncology office with an IV infusion of a strong Chemo drug I have a hard time pronouncing.  This process takes about 3.5 hrs where I sit in a reclining leatherette chair with my reading material and iPod.

The side affects if this particular drug is tingling of the finger tips (sometimes toes) and a weird reaction to cold.  I have been told not to open a refrigerator and to wrap up warmly including the neck and head for a few days.  If i had to describe the sensation when exposed to cold, it is a fuzzy, semi electrical sensation.  If I eat, the first bite results in pain to my jaw joints, then somehow disappears for the rest of the meal.  I avoid cold drinks, especially ice for about a week.  When I use the facilities, I have to run the water until it gets hot before I can wash my hands.

Following the IV infusion, I am allowed to eat but within 20 minutes of the meal I start taking the Chemo pills (3), twice a day for two weeks.  This takes bit of coordination and discipline (uh oh) as one of the side affects is nausea.  I time the nausea pills just after my first bites to lessen the taste of the pills and to give it time to settle in before I take the Chemo pills.  The side affects other than nausea is fatigue and irregular sleep habits.

It becomes a vicious cycle when you take the pills, get tired, take a short nap, wake up for a short time and repeat the cycle.  There is some doubt from the side lines about my sleep habits as they are similar to what I was experiencing at the hospital.

After the two weeks I take a one week break.  Part of that week is consumed with my body gradually expels the Chemo pills.  That leaves about 2 to 3 days of feeling normal just before we start over with a new round.  They send me a new perscription with each round, therefore I display my pill bottles to remind me of which round I am currently in.

Looking ahead, this puts me on schedule to end Chemo in mid January.  Round 5 week 2 ends the day before Thanksgiving.  Round 7 starts just before Christmas.

Appetite wise,  I can eat anything.  But as stated before, I have no cravings.  Put me in front of food, it will disappear quickly which would explain why I have regained 10 lbs.  I do miss our visits to Kansha for Ice Cream, but like Pavlav's dog I have been conditioned to avoid it.

The other aspect they don't really address is how to juggle the doctors and any conflicting orders.  Oncologist, Cardiologist, Nephrologist, Surgeon, and their various staff and nurses.  I find the Nurses to be the most helpful in advice as they often suggest the non pharmaceutical options based on experience of dealing with numerous patients.

The other repeat observation is that I am still on the young side.  Walking into the waiting room gives me a jolt of the fountain of youth, but acknowledging that age may be a factor later in life.

Once I reach January, it will still take a year to fully recover and that depends on test results to verify Chemo was effective.  Five years before you are considered "cancer free".

Hope this puts the process in perspective.  Of course there is a disclaimer that this is unique to my  situation, stage 3 colon cancer, chemo therapy that is designed for my situation and my irregular disposition.