Closing Down The Chemo Room

After our appointment with Heels yesterday we were told my oncologist would be calling tomorrow (today) to schedule an appointment to talk about treatment plans. Well, they did call and we did come in for an appointment and we did go over all the treatment options. And then he asked when I wanted to start. So we asked a few more questions and here we are, closing down the chemo room. We've been in the chemo room since 11 this morning and I still have about 2+ hours left. Treatment time will go faster from now on - they have to go slow on the first day to make sure you don't have a bad reaction to anything. 

Basically I go once every three weeks for treatment (I think - I'm double checking this when I leave) and I will have 6 cycles. So, I should be finished sometime in July. I am getting a crazy combination of drugs. I'm getting 5FU, Taxotere, and Cisplatin (which is the parent drug to Carboplatin which is what I had last time around).  I will lose my hair in a few weeks, but don't worry I've got some really cute scarves picked out. Aside from the main mass in my left lung, I do have some nodal involvement in my abdominal area along with another spot on my lower right lung, and the knot on my shoulder is also and tumor, as I pretty much expected, but the main concern is still the left lung. Surprisingly, my lungs are still clear whenever the doctors listen to my breathing which is good. Another good thing is that these tumors popped up extremely fast - the doctors pulled all my films and reconfirmed that there were no traces of cancer on the past films. Since the tumors grew fast it is a good sign that hopefully they will respond to the treatment better. I also got some drugs at first this time for high calcium levels in my blood, which is common with this type of cancer in the lungs. So, the meds will lower the calcium levels and give me more energy. I've noticed in the past week and a half or so that my energy levels have been dropping fast, so this should hopefully fix all of that. 

Since I've been here so long today, I've seen the majority of the people who have been here come and go. I talked to the guys next to me for a few minutes while Warner went to get lunch and my computer, and a book for him. He started the conversation out by saying "Man, you're awfully young for this." I wanted to tell him to tell me something I didn't know, but instead I just told him it was my second time around. He didn't stay for very long, he was just getting the home pouch / 24 hour treatment thing changed out. I've been listening to the two guys across the room from me and both of them were geologists, which is pretty neat. I still haven't seen anyone under the age of 40, maybe even 50, in here. So, maybe that's why everyone remembers me. 

And to clear up any confusion. I don't have lung cancer. I have pulmonary metastasis to my lung from my tongue. So, I have squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, spread to my lung. And they treat it the same way they would if it were on my tongue. So, I have tongue cancer on my lung.

Well, I've got about 2 hours left, so I'm going to go do a crossword puzzle or something.