Handling New Chemo Well

I started my first dose of Procarbazine last Wednesday evening. I take two pills right before going to bed every night. The first couple of days I took Zofran (an anti-nausea medication) with it just in case, but gradually I stopped taking it and now I'm fine without it. I'm pretty lucky to be one of the few that hasn't experienced the vomiting/nausea sometimes associated with the chemo. I have also been doing pretty well on the low-Tyramine diet. I've eliminated all the high-Tyramine foods such as aged cheese, aged meats, etc., but have continued to have coffee, tea, and chocolate in moderation. Again I'm very lucky to not have had a reaction to these foods, especially chocolate! The weeks that I'm off the Procarbazine I get to resume to my normal diet :)

Last night I went in to get my counts checked and today I met again with my oncologist and nurse practitioner. My counts all looked great so I will be on the new chemo for two weeks, then one week break, then back on for two weeks. This schedule will continue as long as my counts stay stable. I will have another chest x-ray in approximately 3 weeks before I see my doctor again to see how I'm responding and I'm scheduled to meet with radiation next Tuesday to see if there's any possiblity of me getting some more.

Work continues to be very busy for me. I think I will continue to be busy since hiring is at high volume for us right now. I really enjoy my job a lot though, so I have no problem working the long hours.

This past Sunday, Chris and his stepdad worked some more on the house. They covered up the big hole we had in our living room with new sub-flooring. I can't wait to start painting and putting in the new floor. This past weekend we also bought a new clothes dryer (something we've needed for a long time now). Our next big purchase will hopefully be a new gas stove. I can't wait for the day that I can cook with a gas stove instead of electric.

Being Strong

So many good things have happened the last few weeks...Chris and I got married, we bought my dad's house, and I got a great job. Sure it's been stressful and I've been exhausted with the transition into my new role, but I really have been the happiest the past few weeks. Today I realized that everything was too good to be true. I received some bad news once again...

I had my CT scan done last night. The whole thing was quite the adventure. First, the IV that they put into me didn't work properly so when they injected the contrast, it squirted out everywhere. They had to put another IV into my arm and start all over. Then, I noticed that something wasn't right with the scan (I didn't go into the machine as far as I usually do), so I asked the technician if they were doing a scan of my chest, abdomen, and pelvis. He said it was only of my abdomen and pelvis. After much discussion back and forth, I convinced him and the radiologist that I needed to have my chest scanned since that is the main area where my disease is located.

Today I met with my nurse practioner and oncologist as planned. When I first saw them they asked me how I was feeling now compared to six months ago and a year ago. I thought that was rather strange, since they never ask me that. Then the bad news came. They said that the mass in my liver and the nodules in my lungs were the same size (tiny), but the mediastinal mass had grown by 1.5 centimeters since my last CT on January 24th. I wasn't completely shocked, because the last few weeks I've been battling with daily fevers and the last couple of days I've had some shortness of breath and slight coughing. It is always difficult however to hear the news.

Next, my oncologist went over all the possible treatment options. She mentioned quite a few different types of chemo treatments, but felt that the best one to try is a drug called Procarbazine. This drug used to be primarly used for Hodgkin's disease, but is now used for Non-Hodgkin's as well. It's taken orally, so basically I just have to take two pills at night every day for two weeks. Then I get a week or two off (depending on my counts). The main side effect is nausea/vomiting, but I will be taking some nausea medication with it to help out. The other bad thing about it, is absolutely no alcohol consumption and a limited diet. I have to be on a low Tyramine diet. This means no cheese (mostly aged cheeses), aged and smoke meats (such as salami, jerky, and smoked salmon), coffee, tea, soda, miso, yogurt, peanuts, and chocolate to name a few things. This is going to be extremely difficult since cheese and chocolate are two of my favorite foods. I can't imagine my life without chocolate.

I will see my doctor again next week so they can check my counts and I will be monitored closely with chest x-rays the next few weeks to make sure my tumor is not continuing to grow uncontrollably. She has also suggested meeting with a radiation specialist again to see the possibility of getting more radiation. Everyone is pretty sure that I've exhausted that possibility, but it wouldn't hurt to double check. Especially since I've always responded so well to radiation in the past. Clinical trials are a more difficult option because they usually don't take patients who have both Hodgkin's and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Meanwhile I will focus on this new drug working and try to remain positive. I'm fortunate to still have options available.

Another Great Birthday

This year was another very memorable birthday for me. First I woke up to snow filled mountain tops (without having to go to Tahoe), then I got treated to my newest favorite restaurant for dinner (Shabuway), and got some great gifts. Among them were a cherry tree (which I've always wanted), a huge cutting board (perfect for rolling out dough when baking), a hoops & yoyo stuffed animal, some nice French made coffee mugs, an electronic Sudoku puzzle handheld game, some teas, and a lot of great cards!

This past week was extremely overwhelming with work. The transition was a lot harder than I ever expected. The volume of work is extraordinary and not one that I'm used to. At any given time of the day my email inbox kept climbing up to the mid 100's!! I've managed to work entire days, only taking breaks to go to the bathroom and/or grab something to eat. I'm sure things will settle down once I get the hang of everything, but for now I better get used to being busy.

I did have chemo as scheduled this past Wednesday. I had the usual high fevers all Wednesday night thru Thursday morning, but I still managed to go into work. The last few days my mouth has been bothering me a little bit and I've been more tired than usual, but I think part of it is attributed to the long work week I've had. Next week is free of appointments, then the following week I have my CT scan and appointment with my oncologist for the results. That will be another stressful day as always.

A Very Busy Week

This past week was a rather busy/hectic week for me. I began working at the Oracle campus in the afternoons, so my day would consist of going to Siebel in the morning to do my usual duties, going over to Oracle in the afternoon for training, and then working from home at night to catch up on everything I missed at Siebel in the afternoon. It was quite overwhelming/exhausting. On Friday I got the news from my new manager that I would be fully transitioning to my new role starting this Monday. So I packed up all my things, said goodbye to my co-workers, and moved to my new location in Redwood Shores. It finally hit me that there's no more Siebel. I will definitely miss my cube, which had the most beautiful view and my co-workers (although I will see them again at the end of the month when they move over).

Last weekend we began working on the house. Chris' mom and stepdad came over and helped us tear out the carpet in our living room. We were all overwhelmed by the smell of cat urine that had soaked through the carpet, padding, and sub-flooring. It really made us realize the big job we have ahead! This weekend we went to look at carpets and wood floors and also got some paint samples.

This week is treatment week for me. I will have my labs drawn Tuesday evening and have chemo Wednesday as usual. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that I don't feel too awful on Thursday since I don't have the flexibility that I used to in regards to working from home (at least not until I get situated into my new role).

Our friend Dave who was our witness during our marriage ceremony in Vegas has decided to join the Hike for Discovery team for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We have been trying to get him to join TNT the past few seasons and he has finally decided to dedicate his time. I was delighted to hear the news. He has created his own website with details and pictures of his training. You can check it out at: http://www.davidtsai.com/hike