Friday, March 4, 2011

Chemo life ... viviendo con la quimio

Dear all, I am the worst blogger in the history of ... blogging?. Let me mend my ways.
After the last post, some secondary side-effects popped up, no biggies. In fact I cannot complain at all. In any case, it made the weekend uncomfortable, especially on Monday. But the good news is that the all but minor things (light buzzing in the ears, metallic taste, ... ) went away and today I feel great. So far we have had two blood tests (Tuesday and Thursday) and the profile looks good: the chemo is not killing me, just the cancer. I am all for that.

This morning Lynnette and I went to Stanford for a consult. Really it was the Stanford Dr that wanted us there to sign consent forms for possible clinical trials if my last test is positive for the ALK mutation (EGFR and KRAS are already negative). I did. Now we have to wait for the ALK test results and see the progress that the chemo drugs are making. Obviously, as long as the current chemo protocol works, we will not need the trials. I am all for that too, even if means missing the clinical trial :-)

It is funny how this works. One day I feel like I have no energy whatsoever, other days I am energetic and gun-ho. Where is the middle way? But that is why I do not complain. I think that overall I have it easy.

Still I try to keep moving and get some exercise everyday, even if I have to shuffle my feet. That is one of the things that aggravates me the most: walking so slow when I used to walk so fast ... . But I have my Lynnette by me and she patiently follows my pace.

Waiting for the second session of chemo on 3/14.



Hola, soy el peor blogger de la historia. Aver si mejoro.
Despues de el ultimo mensaje, aparecieron algunos effectos secondarios pero nada importante. De hecho no me puedo quejar, creo que por ahora va bastante bien. Me han hecho dos examenes de sangre y todo tiene buena pinta: la quimio esta matando al cancer pero no a mi! Esto me agrada :-)

Lynnette y yo fuimos hoy a una consulta en Stanford University. En realidad, el medico de Stanford queria que fuesemos para firmar unos documentos para ser parte de un estudio clinico. Si mi última prueba da positivo para la mutación ALK (EGFR y KRAS son ya negativas) y la quimio que estoy tomando ahora no funciona, entonces entramos en el estudio.  Firme, y ahora toca esperar a los resultados del examen ALK y ver el progreso que los medicamentos de quimioterapia están haciendo.  

Es curioso como la quimio funciona. Un dia estoy agotado y otro (como hoy) estoy lleno de energia. Donde esta el punto medio? pero por eso no me quejo, tengo muchos mas buenos dias que malos.

Intento hacer algo de ejercicio cada dia, incluso si significa que tengo que arrastrar mis pies un poco. Esta es una de las cosas  que mas me fastidian: el caminar tan lento cuando solia ir tan rapido ... pero tengo a mi Lynnette a mi lado y a ella no le importa ir a mi ritmo, con paciencia.

Y ahora a esperar al segundo tratamiento de quimio el 3/14.

2 comments:

  1. Really good to hear the positive news. Thanks for the update.

    Chris Clouse

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  2. Xabier, glad to hear that you are feeling okay. My Dad just finished radiation treatments this last Monday and is just now starting to feel better. Today he will find out how well the radiation worked. You both are in my thoughts.

    Jim Peltz

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