Monday, 27 April, 2009
Any Lord of The Rings fans out there will recognize this as Bilbo's accounting of his great adventure with the dragon, and the basis for the Ring Series. I have had my great adventure the last few weeks as well. And, while it was not necessarily the path I would have chosen, it is what God choose for us, and He got us thru safe and sound.
Radiation treatments concluded last Wednesday. I had been radiated twice a day for 15 days, and the REAL side effects started to come out and play. I had also just finished the second round of chemo the previous Thursday.
In a nut shell, I had nothing left in the bag of tricks. Did not have enough energy to sit upright. Walking felt like wading thru a pool of warm grease. Was unable to keep any food down, and I was getting severely dehydrated. In addition, the one critical piece of anatomy I needed to begin to recuperate, the esophagus, was now burned to a crisp. Drinking, eating, talking, anything other than breathing was not going to happen. So after the last radiation treatment, we asked Dr. Chang to just admit me direct to the hospital, otherwise I really didn't see a way to get any better.
I got to choose, so I opted to get admitted here locally at Dekalb County Hospital, as I know lots of the people there. Jan took me there straight from Dr. Chang's office. First thing they did was get me plugged in with IV fluids. Lets see, I got there Wednesday late afternoon, and did not pee until Friday morning, after 3 liters of normal saline. Yup, dehydrated.
The nourishment side actually turns out to be an easier fix. The esophagus is not going to heal for about ten more days, so nothing beyond ice chips and small sips of water are going to get thru. So I got a feeding tube placed directly from the outside world to my stomach, so I can get some fuel into the body finally. It sounds gross, it's actually kind of neat. No need to worry about what your meal will taste like - taste isn't an option! Pop the top and pour, that is about it. The tube will need to stay in place for two months, but I hope I will only need it for the next 2 weeks. And it works well - I have gained back about six pounds from Wednesday.
I got discharged yesterday morning, so now I'm back home on the sidelines, feeling reasonably well, ready to do some stuff. It is nice to be able to get a whole night's sleep in, during the night! I have to limit my talking during the healing process, so I will be in electronic stalker mode for the time being.
Next round of chemo is a week from tomorrow, and I hope that it will be not as bad this time since I will not be doing the simultaneous twice daily radiation beatings.
Thanks and God bless to Beth, Herb, Ted, Dale, Bill, and Jess for visiting me this week. It is good to see our friends in person!
More of my heros at the bottom!
More later. Thanks so much for checking in, and thank you more for your thoughts and prayers. They work!
God bless,
Mark
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Another round complete
17 April 09
This will be short. Round 2 of chemp is done. Still doing twice a day radiation. The fatigue is unbelievable. I am sleeping nearly all day right now. Hope this gets better over the next few days.
Love an miss you all! God bless!
M
This will be short. Round 2 of chemp is done. Still doing twice a day radiation. The fatigue is unbelievable. I am sleeping nearly all day right now. Hope this gets better over the next few days.
Love an miss you all! God bless!
M
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Updated treatments!
9 Apr 2009
Welcome to my blog! If you are reading this, then I want to say thank you for thinking about me, and for your prayers, right up front. I hope this blog is serving it's intended purpose of keeping so many family members and friends up to date. I get cards, emails, and calls pretty consistantly each day from so many of you, and it just plain old makes my day! Thank you so much!
I had my Jonesing for a needle puncture fulfilled Tuesday. Dr. Z did the first blood workup since treatments started. My white blood cell count was a bit below the normal range, but Dr. Z said he is not worried. My red blood cell count was normal. Dr. Z said that he wants to accelerate the chemo to every three weeks instead of every four, which my two most favorite nurses in the world, Gena and Betsy, says is a good thing.
So we start round 2 next Tuesday rather than the following Monday. If I can stay on the three week cycle, I get done almost a month earlier! That would be great! The frequency of the beatings will increase, but the duration will decrease. Fair enough for me.
To put it in perspective, if Dad was traveling and I got in Dutch with Mom and had a good butt whooping coming when Dad got home, then the news that he is coming home a week early is one of those good news/bad news things. The good news is you don't have to agonize over the impending "meeting of the minds" an entire extra week. The bad news is that the results are not going to change.
And Dad was a school teacher, so I (we) got what we USUALLY deserved from a professional! There is that incident with the fly swatter while I was taking a bath that was something one of my siblings blamed me for, and for once I was completely innocent, but that is a story for another time. Needless to say I probably still ended up ahead of the game, but had one coming for something I didn't get caught doing. There may be many similar stories in the entire Hidy clan, I'm sure.
So that is about it for now. Still feeling good, hoping the weather warms up some more soon. I am just about 1/2 way thru the radiation treatments. 9 more days to go!
Today's post is for Jan, who I could not have possibly made it this far without. Thanks sweetie!
More in a few days. Thanks again, and God bless!
M
Welcome to my blog! If you are reading this, then I want to say thank you for thinking about me, and for your prayers, right up front. I hope this blog is serving it's intended purpose of keeping so many family members and friends up to date. I get cards, emails, and calls pretty consistantly each day from so many of you, and it just plain old makes my day! Thank you so much!
I had my Jonesing for a needle puncture fulfilled Tuesday. Dr. Z did the first blood workup since treatments started. My white blood cell count was a bit below the normal range, but Dr. Z said he is not worried. My red blood cell count was normal. Dr. Z said that he wants to accelerate the chemo to every three weeks instead of every four, which my two most favorite nurses in the world, Gena and Betsy, says is a good thing.
So we start round 2 next Tuesday rather than the following Monday. If I can stay on the three week cycle, I get done almost a month earlier! That would be great! The frequency of the beatings will increase, but the duration will decrease. Fair enough for me.
To put it in perspective, if Dad was traveling and I got in Dutch with Mom and had a good butt whooping coming when Dad got home, then the news that he is coming home a week early is one of those good news/bad news things. The good news is you don't have to agonize over the impending "meeting of the minds" an entire extra week. The bad news is that the results are not going to change.
And Dad was a school teacher, so I (we) got what we USUALLY deserved from a professional! There is that incident with the fly swatter while I was taking a bath that was something one of my siblings blamed me for, and for once I was completely innocent, but that is a story for another time. Needless to say I probably still ended up ahead of the game, but had one coming for something I didn't get caught doing. There may be many similar stories in the entire Hidy clan, I'm sure.
So that is about it for now. Still feeling good, hoping the weather warms up some more soon. I am just about 1/2 way thru the radiation treatments. 9 more days to go!
Today's post is for Jan, who I could not have possibly made it this far without. Thanks sweetie!
More in a few days. Thanks again, and God bless!
M
Sunday, April 5, 2009
A great weekend!
Sunday, 4 Apr 09
Has been a great weekend! Jessica came home from Boilerville, and as usual she lights up a room anywhere she goes! A few more weeks and she will be a Purdue alumni, which doesn't seem at all possible. More on that later down the road.
I updated my heroes photo on the right. Heroes and angels, all in one!
Young Master William S. Bryant just celebrated his sixty fourth, er, umm, no his forty sixth, birthday. Happy Birthday bro, and thanks for getting me started with Facebook. A whole new way to spend time in front of the computer, and time I got!
I started radiation therapy on Thursday. Got a bit of a surprise, Dr. Chang decided to change the protocol from once a day for six weeks to twice a day for three weeks. So I have a set of bookends to help structure the day, 8:10 am and 3:30 pm. The whole process takes about 15 minutes start to finish, and for those of you who wonder about such things, you do not feel anything at all. Just noises of the machine spinning and moving. The radiation techs at Parkview North are all very kind and courteous, just like my favorite nurses Gena and Betsy.
One of the possible side effects of the radiation will be, alas, coughing. Siiiggghhhh, I was just getting adjusted to not hacking up a lung every three minutes. Oh well, its part of the plan, and I'll get thru it. God has prepared me to be a professional at coughing the last few months. So those of you who hear me, it's just the treatment!
And something seems to be missing from my life. Hmmmm, oh yeah, needles! I have not had anyone stick me with a needle or an IV port in about three weeks, so tomorrow I go to Lutheran and get tapped for a few tubes of blood. It's time to start monitoring white and red blood cell counts. I still have an almost full head of hair, but I don't think it is going to last much longer. I am down to shaving every three days, maybe four this week, so it will be Kojak time pretty soon. Look at the money and time I get to save!
That about sums up status right now. I have a load of work to do, plenty of emails to answer, and always a card or letter to write (that's old school communication for you youngsters out there).
God bless all of us, remember to be thankful and gracious, and thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. They work!
M
Has been a great weekend! Jessica came home from Boilerville, and as usual she lights up a room anywhere she goes! A few more weeks and she will be a Purdue alumni, which doesn't seem at all possible. More on that later down the road.
I updated my heroes photo on the right. Heroes and angels, all in one!
Young Master William S. Bryant just celebrated his sixty fourth, er, umm, no his forty sixth, birthday. Happy Birthday bro, and thanks for getting me started with Facebook. A whole new way to spend time in front of the computer, and time I got!
I started radiation therapy on Thursday. Got a bit of a surprise, Dr. Chang decided to change the protocol from once a day for six weeks to twice a day for three weeks. So I have a set of bookends to help structure the day, 8:10 am and 3:30 pm. The whole process takes about 15 minutes start to finish, and for those of you who wonder about such things, you do not feel anything at all. Just noises of the machine spinning and moving. The radiation techs at Parkview North are all very kind and courteous, just like my favorite nurses Gena and Betsy.
One of the possible side effects of the radiation will be, alas, coughing. Siiiggghhhh, I was just getting adjusted to not hacking up a lung every three minutes. Oh well, its part of the plan, and I'll get thru it. God has prepared me to be a professional at coughing the last few months. So those of you who hear me, it's just the treatment!
And something seems to be missing from my life. Hmmmm, oh yeah, needles! I have not had anyone stick me with a needle or an IV port in about three weeks, so tomorrow I go to Lutheran and get tapped for a few tubes of blood. It's time to start monitoring white and red blood cell counts. I still have an almost full head of hair, but I don't think it is going to last much longer. I am down to shaving every three days, maybe four this week, so it will be Kojak time pretty soon. Look at the money and time I get to save!
That about sums up status right now. I have a load of work to do, plenty of emails to answer, and always a card or letter to write (that's old school communication for you youngsters out there).
God bless all of us, remember to be thankful and gracious, and thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. They work!
M
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