Spring Equinox

    It’s been a while since I posted any updates. Not much to report with respect to my therapy. I had my seventh and eighth rounds last month and so far side effects have been pretty mild. Bloodwoork is much the same. Not better, not worse.
    A few weeks ago I had a teleconference with two folks from CoH genetics research department. Very comprehensive consultation, over an hour! The summary was inconclusive, in that there don’t appear to be any CA mutations although many relatives have died of cancer. In the event that you, dear reader, have family members who have been diagnosed, you may want to have a cancer screen done yourself, for your children & grandchildren. Talk it over with your primary care-giver.
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    Sometimes it occurs to me that my life hasn’t been so ordinary. Maybe I ought to give some kind of accounting for what I’ve done with the time I’ve been given here. I think I’ve gained some valuable life lessons worth sharing, as well as some mistakes I rue to this day. People I’ve known and loved, books and music that have touched my heart, scenes indelibly etched in memory… so much of my story is a stereotype of the “baby boomer” I am: a white male born in the USA after the end of WWII, with almost all the power and privilege this male-dominated racist society confers on its favored WASP sons.
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    I went out to Duarte last Friday (4/9) for the CT scan and to South Pas on Tuesday (4/13) —Karen’s Birthday— for pre-infusion labs. When I met with Dr Kim the next day (4/14) he told me that I was disqualified from the trial and the infusions would be discontinued. Why? The CT scan. Most of the masses and cysts were stable or not likely malignant, except for the mets in the liver… more of them and some larger since February. The trial didn’t fail; it wasn’t as effective as hoped, for me.
    Before I was put in the “chemo-light” trial, there was a Plan A protocol. Irinotecan (liposomal), followed by Leucovorin, infused fortnightly through the power port (catheter). And I have fluorouracil in a pump for two days. Today (4/19) I got my first session on this protocol. So far I feel okay, nothing disturbing. I expect the effects will be cumulative. Still early days…
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    Now it’s Tuesday (4/20), Cannabis day, or Jack’s birthday, I can’t recall. After all, fifty years smoking pot is a long time for short-term memory. Most days, if it isn’t too windy or wet, I sit outside on the deck, next to the kitchen/dining room, where we mostly spend our time when we aren’t sleeping. It’s been warm these past few days, sunny. At any rate, I don’t feel any worse. I suppose the side effects will come with time.
    Which reminds me. Suzanne wrote a wonderful essay in her recent quarterly newsletter on spending time and paying attention. You really will enjoy her newsletters, if you haven’t found her yet at Stagthicket.    

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