Part II Day one

Okee dokee my brothers and sisters still following the saga. Today was day one of my new treatment and it went without a hitch. I would like to give a shout out to the Bard company for manufacturing the Power Port. That little bad boy was placed in my chest last Thursday and it makes drawing blood and administering the chemo drugs easy as 1 2 3. All you do is pierce the skin with a special needle and snap it into place. As my nurse put it "Slicker than snot on a doorknob". Mary and I got into the chemo room , after my doctors appointment, around 10:30. I was hooked up shortly after and pumped up with the good stuff. After all was said and done Mary and I were out of there a little before 5:00. Long day filled with a few naps induced by the Benadryl iv's. So far so good on the lack of side effects. I am hooked up to a portable pump that shoots me up with 5FU for the next 96 hours. I'll be going back the next few days for hydration and I will keep everyone updated. Thanks for your prayers and well wishes, it means alot to Mary and myself.

Peace and Lovie Dovie,
Steve

Update for 06/16/11

I will be undergoing chemotherapy again in about a week and it will be a more aggressive approach. Although my oncologists aren't sure what kind of cancer it is they feel it may be what I had in my neck and throat. She mentioned that lung cancer usually starts centrally in the lung and not peripherally where mine is located. There were a couple of options given for treatment and I decided for the more aggressive approach. This time around I will be having a port placed in my chest next week to accommodate drawing blood and for the ease of administering my chemo drugs. The plan of attack consists of three drugs. Cisplatin, Taxotere, and Fluorouracil(5-FU). All will be given on a Monday session. The 5-FU will be pumped into my system for 4 days by a handy, dandy little pump that I will be carrying on me. On Tuesday I will go back and have a shot of Neulasta which is a white blood cell booster. From my understanding the only drug after the initial Monday chemo is the 5-FU for 3 weeks. This whole process, "Chemo Mondays" and "Neulasta Tuesdays", is considered a cycle. I will do 2 - 4 of these before my radiation treatments. The side effects for all of this is neuropathy(diabetes), nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, low white blood count, allergic reaction to the texotere, and last but not least hair loss. The original game plan by the doctor is to be out for 6 months. That is only precautionary until after the first cycle and how my system handles it. If I do well with minimum side effects then I will petition the court to let me come back with IFAM. So for now Sunday, the 26th of June, will be my last day. Thank you for all of your support through all of this. It means a lot to Mary and myself.