Al fin asomo la cabeza .... Finally I show myself

Ha sido mucho tiempo y me doy cuenta de que muchas cosas han pasado. Sin dar fechas, pero en orden cronologico,:
1 El catheter se infecto y tuvieron que removerlo, unos pocos dias en el hospital.
2 Lo reemplazaron con un tubo mas grande que sacaba el fluido a una "caja" external que me tocaba llevar conmigo a todas horas. Tambien, como habia peligro de otra infeccion en los fuidos, me dieron dos antibioticos (hasta siempre).
3 Poco despues de mi estancia en el hospital me llegaron resultados de que di positivo a la mutacion ALK. Eso significa que puedo tomar una medicina nueva que funcona muy bien para mi cancer. 
4 Si, la caja es incomodo. Pero al cabo de unas semanas no se veia fluido "manando" de mi costado.
sacaron varias imagenes de rayos X y las tres dieron la misma image: limpio: no fluidos.
5 con esas noticias decidieron que no necesitaba la "cola" (el tubo connectado a la caja). Aleluya
6 Un poco despues decidieron que no necesitaba los antibioticos.

... Y ahi estamos,con libertad de movimientos, recuperando fuerzas.Me siento muy bien. La semana que viene tengo un CT scan. Espero que todo vaya bien

Un abrazo

It has been a while and I realized that a few things happened and you might not know about. I will list them in chronological order but without dates:
1 El catheter got infected late in January, and they remove it, a few days in the hospital
2 The catheter was replaced by a bigger tube and a external "box" to drain the fluid. I had to carry this box everywhere and at all times with me. Since there was a risk of infection in the fluids,  they gave me two antibiotics, in principle for ever.
3 Afer my stay in the hospital I got the results on the ALK mutation: positive.That meant that I could stop chemo and start this new protocol that targets the ALK cancer. It works very well.
4 carrying around the box was a pain. A few weeks later we notice that I was not draining any fluid. Three Xrays show that I was accumulating any fluid.
5 So we decided to remove the "tail: (el tubo y la caja)
6 a little later we decided to eliminate the antibiotics (they had no infection to fight since there was no fluid)

Well, this is it. I am happy that I am free to move. I am recovering my strength. I feel good.
Next week I will have a CAT scan. I hope for more good news.

an update to the update .... poniendo el blog al dia otra vez

A brief update: I got the PET/CT scan report. The results are very good, the right lung is pretty much clean and the tumor in the left lung is mostly unchanged. Good news overall.
 Meanwhile we keep draining the catheter. After the blockage of two weeks ago (had to go to the hospital for a fix), it is working well and getting enough fluid out.



Segundo "poner al dia". He recibido los resultados del PET/CT scan. Son muy buenos, el pulmon derecho esta bastante limpio y el tumor del pulmon izquierdo parece que no ha cambiado mucho. Buenas noticias.
Hace un par de semanas tuve problemas con el catheter: se obstruyo y tuvimos que ir al hospital para que lo "arreglasen". Ahora esta funcionando very well.

Back to the blog ...De nuevo en el blog.

It has been a month since the last blog and there are a few things to update. The most important is that the I had a port installed on Dec 7. A  port is a little implant that is placed high in the chest. Now when someone needs to draw some blood or inject medicine (the chemo for example), they go to the port and there is no need to find a vein. I am happy with this.
A few weeks ago I had a blood transfusion. The goal was to increase the red cell count and fight the anemia. It seems to have worked.
Last week I had a PT/CT scan and MRI. I do not have the results from the PET/CT scan yet but I did get the one for the MRI (brain): excellent results according to the oncologist.
We had a great Christmas eve and day. Jon came to dinner with his girlfriend on Sunday. We had a great time: cooking (lobsters, clams and more good staff), chatting and eating. I did not get enough of the good company.

Ha pasado un mes desde el ultimo blog y hay unas pocas cosas para poner al dia. Hace unas semamas tuve una transfusion de sangre. El objetivo era incrementar la cuenta de los globulos rojos y mejorar la animia. La transfusion funciono en ambos objetivos.
Mas importante fue la installacion de una via el 7 de Diciembre. La via es en pequeno implante en el pecho para dar mejor acceso cuando hay que injectar (la quimio) o sacar sangre.Mis venas estaban quedando bastante maltrechas y ahora evitaremos tener que buscar venas sanas: se ira a la via para secar sangre or injectar.
La semana pasada tuve un PET/CT scan y un MRI. No tengo resultados del PET/CT pero si del MRI: excellente de acuerdo al oncologo.

Tuvimos una Nochebuena muy tranquila. Jon y Mari vinieron por Navidad y lo pasamos muy bien: cocinando (langostas y almejas entre otras cosas bien buenas) comiendo y con tertulia. 

Not a lot to talk about ... No hay mucho que contar

the change to our routine has been the draining of the catheter. Nothing exciting. Last night we drained after three days. It was a little surprising that we got 200cc of a reddish color. I do not think that it is anything bad because I have been breathing a lot better since the drainage. I have a persistent cough that nobody knows where it comes from. I need to take care of that. We had a little concern with my INR being too low but it is back to almost normal and I do not have to give myself Lovedox shots anymore
Weather is turning cold, it is almost like winter, getting ready for Thanksgiving.

El unico cambio a nuestra rutina es la extraccion de el liquido por el catheter. Nada excitante.
Anoche, despues de tres dias, sacamos 200cc de un color rojillo. No creo que sea nada importante porque he estado respirando mucho mejor desde que sacamos el liquido.
El INR nos ha procupado porque era muy bajo, pero ahora esta bien, asi que puedo dejar de darme injecciones de Lovenox. Aun tengo esta tos muy persistente que nadie sabe de donde viene.
El tiempo esta enfriando, casi Invierno.

back at home ... de vuelta en casa

Despues de la Peurodesis me quede en el hospital un par de dias. Llegue a casa el Jueves. Durante la operacion sacaron 500cc de liquido y dejaron una sonda para eliminar mas liquido. El plan es que cada vez que saquemos liquido, la cantidad vaya disminuyendo hasta nada. En este punto podamos parar y quizas remover la sonda. Por ahor nos movemos en la direcion buena: Miercoles 150cc, Jueves, 75cc y viernes 55cc. Lynnette es la encargada de sacar el liquido y limpiar el area de la sonda. Es mi Florence Nightingale personal.
Por lo demas, estoy respirando mejor pero aun me canso con facilidad. La recuperacion va a llevar mas tiempo que lo que esperaba.

Gracias por todos los mensajes de animo.


After the pleurodesis, I stayed in the hospital for a few days and got back home on Thursday. The procedure took 500cc of liquid and the surgeon left a catheter for drainage. Since then each day it has been a little less liquid:Wed 150cc, Th 75cc and Fr 55cc. Lynnette has taken over the draining job (Th and Fr) and she is doing a marvelous job. She is my Florence Nightingale.The idea is that once the draining gets to nothing for a few days, we will be able to stop and remove the catheter.
I am breathing a little better but still tiring easily. The recovery will take longer that I had hoped.

Thanks for all your messages of support and dinner (it was yummy)

Pleurodesis

Dear friends,
Last week the CT showed that I have more liquid in the lungs and that some of the lobes are partially collapsed. This Tuesday I will have a small surgical procedure, a Pleurodesis to remove the liquid and perhaps do a little retrofitting of the pleura. The surgeon will enter the lung cavity with a probe and peek around to decide what to do. I will be under general anesthesia and they will keep me in the hospital (they remember how such a good company I was) for 2 or 3 days. Otherwise I am OK, a little tired but my usual cheerful.


The next update when I get back home.


El CT de la pasada semana mostro que tenia mas liquido en los pulmones y que los pulmones estaban parcialmente collapsados (por el liquido).
Este martes ire al hospital para que me hagan una Pleurodesis. Es una intervencion quirurgica pequena para sacar el liquido. El cirujano entrara con un tubito (dos en realidad, uno es para el liquido) para ver que hay por ahi dentro y quizas decida hacer un poco de obras de remodelacion (pegar las superficies) en la Pleura. Van a usar anestesia generaly me tendran en el hospital 2 o 3 dias (soy tan buena compania ... ). Por lo demas todo va bien, un poco cansado pero de buen humor.

El proximo cuando vuelva a casa/

Friends and family This week has been a lot harder than anticipated. Finally on Friday I had a CT (no PET). The goal was to see if I have more pockets with liquid. I expect the results on Monday. Thursday I had my first official haircut

Today my friend and buddy Piper came to visit for lunch with her partner Jaque. Thanks to both, it was great and gave me a little energy.

Esta semana ha sido un poco mas dura de lo que habia anticipado. EL viernes tuve un CT del pulmon. Estamos buscando si hay mas bolsas de liquido. Espro tener los resultados el Lunes.
El Jueves fui a por un corte de pelo, con mi amiga Toni. (ver foto)
Comimos lunch con mi amiga Piper y su pareja Jaque hoy. Gracias a las dos por venir a Oakland. Estuvo muy bien.