O-Dark-Thirty

The nurse made a point of telling us that the chemo medicine takes seventy-two hours to leave my body, and mucus will expose others to its toxic effects. If I blow my nose and my dog eats the tissue, he will now have the medicine in him. Fortunately, I don't have a dog. > I felt okay last night, but somewhat wired, which seems to be why I could create both of the previous posts and get them online. My pulse rate was pretty steady between 95 and 115. Seems high, but I think my body os working harder than I am, so I'll just keep an eye on it. That was the steroids. I finally managed to get to sleep about midnight, but then I slept fine. Darling, not so much. This is taking a toll on her. My blood pressure this morning is running between 80 and 95, so that's an improvement. I'm not having the diarrhea or the constipation. I have been drinking copious amounts of liquids, and, if necessary, drinking water. No, really. I had a lot of coffee this morning. I was already a ta

11/22/2022 0748 I’m sitting at home and we’re waiting to leave. I plan to write my thoughts as I go through today. If you’re reading this, perhaps you are heading off to do an IV chemo session for the first time. Nervous? Worried about how it will all work out? Yeah, me too. Joshua 1:9 states “Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord, thy God is with thee wheresoever thou goest.” Yeah, it’s tough to not be dismayed at all this. I don’t think I fear death, I fear pain. Death, to me, is like that trip to a very cool place and you’re leaving soon. The bag is packed (hopefully) and you just go about living your life until the morning you leave, then you’re committed and rush around and hope you did all the right planning. Except Death, of course, we don’t usually know the date of departure. Still, butterflies in the stomach… IV Chemo doesn’t seem like such a fun thing. Darling and I read all the side

This is an overdue post, and it's a long one, so be prepared. If you want the short version, the current treatment failed,  and I am just now starting IV chemo. There are also some added complications, yet to be addressed. LONG VERSION (Bless your heart if you continue) Three weeks ago ( Nov 1, 2022 ), I went in for blood results. My awesome Oncologist expected the results to be in line with previous results. With most patients the drugs I am using would combat the cancer for months, perhaps years. In ten to fifteen percent of patients using my therapy, the drugs fail to halt the growth of cancer. I always knew I was special. Let's face it; I'm a tough guy, and my cancer cells are tough, too. Last week I had new blood tests, a Bone Scan and an MRI. PSA Those tests confirmed that my Oral Chemo is not working. In fact, I'm regressing. My PSA is soaring, from 0.2 on August 30 to 8.4 on November 1 to 13.5 on 11/16. I didn't show the Testosterone chart,