Monday, December 28, 2009

2 down, 4 more to got

after a wonderful xmas holiday in houston, it was back to the business at hand. i had my 2nd chemo treatment today. my doctor, and nurses, were very happy with how i handled the first round. according to dr. kasper that's a good indicator of how i'll react to future treatments.

my bloodwork is still coming back as strong and healthy, with the exception of slight anemia - which explains why i've been getting winded so easily lately. at least it gives me a good excuse as to why my already lackluster housekeeping skills are slacking off.

they were able to speed up the rate of the IV, so instead of being stuck there for 6 hours, they were able to shorten it to 5. it's just an hour less, but the less i have to be there, the happier boy i am.

things that occupied my time during treatment: blissing out to Donna de Lory's "The Lover and the Beloved" (Donna was one of Madonna's longtime back-up dancers), reading "A Single Man" by Christopher Isherwood (tom ford just made this into a movie, but i want to read the book first), listening to Wanda Sykes' "Sick & Tired". and a lunch visit from my good friend Earnest who's visiting from Minneapolis.

So far no sickness...but i'm super pooped tonight. i barely have any interest in reaching for the clicker for the tv, so you know i must be tired. i guess it's gonna have to be another marathon night of golden girls.

i'm hoping it doesn't last too long though, my boo is coming in from LA on Wednesday....I'm so excited my tail is wagging.

till next time...

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Death to the Wound Vac

Hi Everyone,

I want to thank all of y'all for your kind words of encouragement, messages, phone calls, etc...it really means a lot to me and really helped me get through this past week. If I haven't responded yet, I will shortly - I'm still playing catch up.

Anywho - today I finished my last 2 finals of the semester : Lit & Research and Exercise Physiology. What a relief! I definitely am not interested in trying to start chemo during the last few weeks of a semester. Fingers-crossed that won't be an issue ever again.

So I feel super lucky, the horrendous side effects I was expecting weren't so bad. It was actually pretty manageable. Aside from a bit of queasy-ness for 2 or 3 days, the worst was just being super exhausted. It's been a week and feel like I'm somewhat back to my normal energy levels. Supposedly my hair should be falling out later this week, but I buzzed my head a week ago to take care of that situation. In fact, I'm kind of digging how it looks. very butch/military. woof! lol.

Another huge relief was having the wound vac removed from my inner thigh last Friday. One of the spots where I had a lymphoma removed was not healing correctly and ultimately got infected. It landed me in the hospital for several days during thanksgiving week (when I was supposed to be in LA...grrrr). The only way the hospital would release me is if I let them attach a little machine that essentially created a vacuum on the wound to keep it free from bacteria and suck out all the bad stuff. Horrendous. But I guess we suffer for beauty. Having it on for a week and a half wasn't too bad...but I sure am glad that it's off.

Now I guess it's a waiting game until my next treatment on the 28th of this month. I'm getting some bloodwork done tomorrow where they check all my blood platelet levels, white blood cells, etc. On Thursday I meet with a nurse...I guess she just makes sure that I'm not falling apart and that all my vitals are good and strong.

Soooo.....so far so good! Keep sending the good vibes, I feel them working.

Love,

Stephen

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Update

Hi All,

As some of you may or may not know, 3 weeks ago I was diagnosed with stage IV, high grade, Large B-Cell Lymphoma. Since I'm so awful at responding to communication these days, I thought I would start this blog so that all who are concerned can keep tabs on how things are going. These past few weeks leading up to the beginning of my treatment have been such a whirlwind, that I'm pooped already when the "party" has barely begun.

I started my chemo treatment this past Monday, the 7th. It was about 6 hours of being hooked up to an IV and getting all sorts of odd things pumped through my veins. Luckily they have all sorts of pre-meds and aftercare meds that help limit all the common awful side effects you hear about. I woke up this morning feeling like I was hit by a truck and a little queasy. After I took my medication though, that all went away for the most part for the rest of the day (except for a rather embarrassing incident at Target that was truly a scene out of "The Exorcist").

I will be getting chemo treatment every 3 weeks, 6 times, for a total of 18 weeks. My finish date is 3/25/10...

Overall, my medical team is optimistic about my response to treatment, and the general prognosis tends to be around 75% success. Taking into consideration that I'm a physically fit, active, healthy, strong guy everyone seems to feel that I should respond well to treatment. It definitely seems like it will be a battle, though, and I intend to be every part the little soldier.

A big shout out to everyone who has been so supportive so far and has witnessed my roller coaster of a life the past few weeks. I truly appreciate it. It's probably been the most surreal experience I've ever had and is truly baffling.

And to everyone who has emailed me, or called, over the past few weeks with words of encouragement and well wishes, and I haven't responded yet, I have not forgotten...once my finals are over this week(yes, amidst all this I still have to crank out 5 finals, arghh) I'll have a chance to catch up on my correspondence.

As one of my favorite drag queens says..."If you don't love yourself, how the hell are you going to love someone else. Can I get an Amen?"

love,

Stephen