Nearing 30% Completion of the Zapping

Nothing huge to report today but given its the end of the week I thought I would post an update...

Today is radiation treatment #13 out 38 - Matt is starting to feel it (TIRED, kind-of punky and his stomach is pretty iffy again) and his hair is starting to officially fallout/thin, boo hoo. Neck and cheek rash has kind of stayed the same...But now comes the weekend when he (and his body) can regroup for the next onslaught.

Good news on the Cathy front: my arm bumpy-lumpy was totally benign so we don't have to worry about THAT thank goodness!

Love those calls, notes, emails, blog posts and everything! Thanks to EVERYBODY. What would we do without you?!

Jan. 26: Matt Update and Cathy's Bump

Well, today Matt has his radiation treatment #10 - whoo-ho! He is still feeling pretty good although with some ups and downs. Literally, overnight, he has developed a pretty obvious rash/red bumps all along his cheek and neck and he says it is officially uncomfortable (on the outside) now. He can't shave - but Dr. H, who we saw today also - said his beard hair will be falling out soon anyway so he won't have to worry about that. So...more later this week.

On a separate front: Cathy is going to share the post today!

Long story short, this summer I developed a small bump on my upper left arm, and given all this bad-bump stuff going on for Matt - and some concern about that stupid HPV virus - I spoke with my primary doctor and she referred me to a surgeon to have it looked at and taken out. I had an appointment this morning I thought was for a consult only, however the dr. looked at the bump, looked at me, asked if I wanted it out and when I said YES, he said, "do you want to do it right now?" and I said YES again, and voila 30 minutes later they cut the little puppy out, stitched me up and off back to work I went. I have this really groovy big bandage on my arm (check it out!) and it hurts a bit but nothing that Advil can't tackle. Matt offered me some of his pain meds but I am happy to say I don't need that level!

It's a tiny bit gross but a photo (of course!) is right; friendly RN (who helped keep me distracted by chatting with me the whole time) above. It ended up being the size of a pecan half so am really glad its out. The weirdest part was when they cauterized the incision site: there is nothing like laying there chatting with the RN and having wisps of smoke from your own flesh (he was sealing blood vessels) wafting above me!

The McFarland female genes do lend themselves to benign little lumps, cysts so the chances are best that is what it is - but it will be nice to know for sure (and plus, this way I will have my groovy arms back for the summer!).Results from pathology later this week. So that's the Cathy update!

Thursday Update: Thumbs Up?

Well, while it is still somewhat early in the chemo-effects cycle, I thought I would do a quick post: other than some major (and uncomfortable) hiatal hernia spasms of his chest, Matt is feeling pretty darn good. Thank goodness for better living through chemistry, and powerful anti-nausea drugs! Today is the first day off of the most major one, Emend, and so we will see how his stomach does but so far so good. As he says, "every day without barfing is a good day."

He has been getting extra fluids (2 liters of saline via IV) each day - to help flush out the Cisplatin and help clear his kidneys - and the only other note to report is that Matt can hold fluids like you wouldn't believe. He gained 17 lbs since Monday and it is ALL water weight they think! As such, they are dialing him back and down off of the 2 liters and have given him something to pee more often...

The radiation effects have not kicked in yet too much, FYI. Matt says he can feel the 'zapping' and his neck is just starting to look a little sunburned, but its not too bad either right now. By the end of next week it will be interesting to see what's what. That is when others have told us his taste is likely to go....

That's it for today. Thanks to our recent visitors and to my sister for the fab food!

#1 Chemo Down

How can they schedule a first session of chemotherapy - with its promises of nausea and all that - not only at 7:20am, but on a 'holiday' Monday no less! It should have been a perfect day to sleep in gosh darn it.

But alas, chemo called. So off to Methodist we went...Matt had his first session of chemo today and it actually - knock on wood - went pretty well. And he is continuing to feel pretty good - tired, but not too nauseous which is what it is all about. They were able to move up his radiation to match when the chemo was done, so we were out of there by 12:30pm I think. Our nurse, Cindy (above) has great too - able to keep up with Matt's unique sense of humor which is always nice to have.

So really, we don't have much to add or to say today, can you stand it?! Check out Matt is his throne in his very nice treatment room....

Yes to Chemo; Radiation Treatment #2

Highlights of yesterday, today....

1) Check out Matt at his new home-away-from-home: the radiation therapy center at Methodist. Tah-dah! The second treatment went okay. He was able to adjust his flouride trays - and Dr. Doogie prescribed something for the nasal drip so that hopefully will be better..and the mask is what it is. Matt is really tired - feeling a bit out-of-it - today after treatment...Hard to know if it's been the week (stressful, not a lot of sleep) or the radiation - we'll let you know.

2) Given the extra-capsullary + size of node + positive margins, radiation-plus-chemo is the final agreement around treatment of this cancer. Matt's first chemo session will be on Monday. He will have three sessions, concurrent with radiation: the first on Jan. 18, the second Monday, Feb. 8 [THIS IS A CORRECTION] and the final one will be the final week of radiation - March 1 (final radiation treatment will be March 5, god willing).

3) We learned all sorts of interesting new things about chemo. The drug will be Cisplatin...He may lose some hair (so today he got a "chemo haircut" and damn, he looks fine!) but it won't be permanent...He may have nausea but the chemo team will be working hard to prevent that so he is already prescribed all sorts of amazing anti-nausea drugs....Fatigue and the other key radiation side effects (such as dry mouth and, the potentially 'worse' mucositis/inflammation of the mouth and neck tissues) will be exaggerated - but so much depends on Matt's body so it's hard to call it. There are two really bad potential side effects we will be watching for: neuropathy (nerve damage in the hands and feet) and kidney problems - but Matt is in such good shape, and he will have blood checks every week so those possibilities while out there, are HOPEFULLY nominal.

4) We have an appointment with a nutritionist next Wednesday, FYI. Food and nutrition will be SO important. Cathy's foodie-friends (you know who you are): I'll be in contact....

So that is it for today....More later this weekend or after the first chemo treatment...

Treatment #1 (of 38) complete!

Today Matt had his first radiation treatment, whou - hoo. It went really fast as they said it would....Matt says he did feel a little something right after for an hour or so (a tingling and pressure in the back of his throat) but all is normal right now. The mask was tight and felt a little weird but not too bad. Only 37 treatments to go. Also saw oncologist - more about that (and photos of course) tomorrow. We are tired.

Radiation Begins Today and Matt is READY

Today is a big day: Matt undergoes his first of 38 treatments of radiation today, at Methodist. Oh boy. But he is ready freddy - proud of having gained a nice chunk of weight in preparation for radiation. This as ordered by the doctors, he reminds me to tell everyone ("and don't judge me!" he says). He also says he thought he would be able to hit 200 (such a goal) but just couldn't...all this after eating like a pig, every day, once the mouth healed. Check him out at 196 lbs.

Then we have an appointment with a Park Nicollet medical oncologist, Dr. Oa, right after. We are meeting with her primarily to finalize the decision re: yes or no to adding concurrent chemotherapy to Matt's treatment regime.

On that front, it is looking like Matt really should get the chemo. If yes, while he/we are prepared for the worse in terms of adverse side effects, he/we are thinking that maybe it won't be that bad.

One of the big news items from yesterday was a call from Dr. M at Mayo. They had requested and received the original biopsy slides of the 'pomegranate' (the neck lymph node) to look into finalizing once and for all, whether the node/tumor was extra-capsullary or not. Damn. It turns out the node WAS extra-capsullary which means the cancer was 'oozing' through its walls and into Matt's neck tissues. That combined with the fact that Matt's tonsil had positive margins means he has two out of two factors that recommend themselves for the additional treatment of chemo. Matt has to make the decision by Friday but I think he/we may end up doing it today with Dr. Oa...we will let you all know.