Damn Car Would Not Start

Weight: 136
Pain: 0/10
Nausea: 2/10
Depression: 3/10
Tiredness: 2/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 3/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin

The battery on my car died since I haven't used it for about a week (riding my motorcycle all that time). Now that I'm on my chemo week, I was expecting to use my car again. But no go; even jump starting it with my motorcycle didn't work - probably not enough cranking amps. I'll see if I can use my sister's car to jump start it tonight. Riding my motorcycle to work today drugged up with chemo while wearing my chemo pump probably wasn't a great idea, but oh well.

As for my health, I have begun to feel the effects of the chemo from yesterday. Slight nausea (which caused my to lose some of my breakfast this morning), slight neuropathy in my cheeks (causes pain when eating) and very slightly in my hands. I can only expect it to get worse in the next 2-3 days.

Oh yeah, Happy Halloween!! =D

4th And Last Infusion Before Radiation

Weight: 136.4
Pain: 0/10
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 2/10
Tiredness: 1/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 3/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin

Currently getting an infusion and they're still having difficulty with my port. I'm pretty much used to it now; I just gotta do the hokey pokey with my right arm every time the machine beeps with the message "occlusion".

Since this will be my last infusion before radiation starts, I will be getting a 3-week break from chemo. But, I'm supposed to get another PET/CT scan in about 2 weeks or so to see if the chemo is doing its job.

Weight: 137
Pain: 0/10
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 1/10
Tiredness: 1/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 3/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol

Feeling a little better today from a very relaxing weekend. I'm hoping to do well tomorrow for my 4th Infusion - my last one before I start chemoradiation.

Relaxing

Weight: 137
Pain: 0/10
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 2/10
Tiredness: 1/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 3/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin

Relaxing most of the day. Went to a friend's Halloween party that night. Lots and lots of sweets were offered, but I couldn't take them cuz we all know that sugar feeds the cancer cells.

Where Are All The Young Adult Cancer People?

Weight: 136.4
Pain: 0/10
Nausea: 0.5/10
Depression: 2/10
Tiredness: 1/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 3/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol

I attended a yoga class at the Wellness Center at Santa Monica. I was the youngest in the class - everyone else was at least 40. Where are all the young adult cancer people? I feel so left out.

The Wellness Community

Weight: 137.0
Pain: 1/10 (little aches all over)
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 2/10
Tiredness: 1/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 3/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin

The Wellness Community, as I've just learned, is an amazing place where people affected by cancer can come in and get support that they need. The place that I went to (the West LA community), has been decorated to function as a real home - not an office, not a hospital, but a place where you really do feel like being at home. The moment I stepped through the door I was stunned. I wasn't expecting a place like that to be so comfy and "home-y". But its certainly a very good thing. I'll definitely be going to that place pretty often. Tomorrow I'll be taking their "Easy Yoga" class. I can't believe all of this is for FREE!

I posted a new picture of my which was taken just today (its under the "About Me" section on the right). You can probably tell that my hair is thinning out...

Found A Support Group

Weight: 136.8
Pain: 0/10
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 4/10
Tiredness: 1/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 3/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin

I'vce been doing some research on PlanetCancer.com and came to a link directing to "The Wellness Community". Not only do they offer support groups, but mind/body classes. To top it all off, they're local! I wish I had known about this two months ago. I'll be joining their "Welcome to Wellness" meeting tomorrow morning.

Need Some Inspiration?

Weight: 137.0
Pain: 0/10
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 3/10
Tiredness: 3/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 3/10
Medications: Vitamin E, Multivitamin

I had difficulty sleeping last night. I woke up around 3am and couldn't really fall asleep after that.

If you're looking for some inspirational music, try here. I miss the 80's....

Weight: 137.0
Pain: 1/10
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 2/10
Tiredness: 3/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 3/10
Medications: Vitamin E, Multivitamin

Portacath Dye Study

Weight: 138.2
Pain: 0/10
Nausea: 2/10
Depression: 3/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 3/10
Medications: Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Heparin flush

Currently waiting in the waiting room to get my port-a-cath dye study underway.

Its been about 5 hours later and I've been finally discharged. I didn't know it was going to take THAT long. Most of the time I was just lying on my hospital bed naked (except for a gown) waiting until someone would come in. Things finally started rolling after a nurse came over and accessed my port. I had two x-rays of my chest - one with my right arm down and the other with my arm up. The results of this revealed a slight kink when my arm was down. Surprisingly, the dye study which was performed after the x-rays revealed no kink in the catheter. The x-ray machine used in the dye study was one that generated a live-image video of my internals - which was pretty cool to see. So the end result is that there was really no problem with my port. What's probably causing the blockage, most likely, is due to a kink which is probably suspposed to happen since the catheter was inserted in the subclavical vein - instead of the jugular.

One of the doctors I met who was the radiologist was herself a cancer survivor three times over. I haven't personally met any doctors who themselves went through cancer treatments so that was quite an experience. I know that cancer does not discriminate at all, but just knowing a doctor who had it who is treating me makes me feel better.

The worst part out of all of this is that the nurses forgot to give my port-a-cath a heparin flush before removing the needle. This is very important as it can cause the port to clog up with blood rendering the port useless for chemo. Good thing I remembered and told them about the heparin. But isn't it sad that I had to tell them how to do their job?

Weight: 137.4
Pain: 1/10
Nausea: 1/10
Depression: 3/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 4/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin

Weight: 136.8
Pain: 1/10
Nausea: 3/10
Depression: 3/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 3/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol

Music To My Ears

Weight: 138.4
Pain: 1/10
Nausea: 3/10
Depression: 3/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 3/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Compazine

Same level of tiredness as yesterday and also feeling dehydrated (even when I think I've drank enough water). I also feel a little warmer than usual - hopefully its nothing serious. Maybe its just the outside temperature.

Its 5pm and I'm still at work on a Friday. Just a few hours ago I was so tired that I had to step out of the office and take a short nap in my car - I could not function at all it was that bad. And If Mike is reading this (my boss), I'm just kidding. LOL. I'm guessing the tiredness is from my lower-than-usual blood counts from the chemo - especially red blood cells.

Well, I've been doing more research on ways to avoid the side effects and one that really works for me is music. I've read a report that claims a reduction of 30% in the symptoms caused by cancer treatments just from music therapy, which seems really impressive. For me, it might even be up to 50% depending on the track thats playing (I'm not kidding!). Its just all about matching the right track to my current mood at the time which isn't as easy. And it certainly helps a lot if you have a real appreciation of music to begin with.

I'm currently building up a playlist of the tracks that really do it for me, I'll post it up when I'm done with it (which might take some time). Stay tuned!

Now if only there was a way that Last.FM could keep track of your mood changes when playing a track...hmmm...

Feeling More Tired

Weight: 140.0
Pain: 1/10
Nausea: 3/10
Depression: 4/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 3/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, 5FU

Gonna get my chemo pump disconnected later today.
Tiredness has increased. Too tired/lazy to write anything else.

New Massage Chair Arrived

Weight: 139
Pain: 1/10
Nausea: 2/10
Depression: 3/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 4/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, 5FU

Our massage chair arrived this morning - its an OSIM uHarmony purchased from BrookStone. The char is extremely comfortable, even when its turned off. This should help a lot dealing with my treatments.

As for the chemo, same side effects as last time, but I do notice an increase in tiredness.

Infusion #3

Weight: 138.4
Pain: 1/10
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 2/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 4/10
Medications: Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, Cephalexin

I had a meeting with my oncologist this morning - everything is OK so far. I have one more infusion after this before I get another PET scan. After that, I start chemo+radiation.

There was some difficulty in my port again (like last time) - it seems like the catheter inside of me is kinked somehow and is preventing any fluids from coming in or out. The only way to unkink it, so far, is for me to turn my head a certain way and move my right arm in a certain direction. They might have to do a dye study on my port to find out exactly why its doing this.

Daddy's Got A New Pair Of Headphones

Weight: 139.2
Pain: 1/10
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 2/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 4/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, Cephalexin

I decided to treat myself out last week and purchased a new pair of headphones and a headphone AMP since I consider myself to be more of an audiophile than the average person. I got myself a Sennheiser HD650 and a Mobile BitHead headphone AMP. According to many reviews these headphones are pretty much the best you can get. I can't complain, these sound fantastic, much better in sound quality than the Bose Tri-Port (although, I'd give the Bose headphones a slight edge on comfortability). My ears have never been closer to heaven. Wow!

Under Hypnosis

Weight: 138.2
Pain: 1/10
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 1/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 4/10
Medications: Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, Cephalexin

I ordered an MP3 album from Amazon (their new MP3 download service) a few days ago titled "Mind-Body Healing (Volume Eight)" by the famous "Dr. Rick Collingwood". The sound is supposed to put you into a deep hypnotic trance while he gives suggestive words on healing.

My first session was great; I felt a little better after - more relaxed. The other sessions (you're supposed to listen to it once each day) didn't have as much effect, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. I think I fall asleep half-way through the recording since I don't recognize certain parts of it when I fast-forward near the ending. But this is OK since it is your unconscious mind that does all the listening.

As for the "healing" it provides, we shall soon see...

I Have My Bike Again! Yay!

Weight: 138.4
Pain: 1/10
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 1/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 4/10
Medications: Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, Cephalexin, Imodium AD

Some new symptoms showed up, possibly from the chemo: I'm starting to get mouth sores and a little diarrhea. Although, the latter could be because of my antibiotics. And of course, my hair is still falling out but its hardly noticeable since I had thick hair to begin with. Maybe in a month it'll start to really show.

I moved my Ninja 250 from my mom's place over to the apartment. Here is what it looks like:



The car right behind it is my 2005 Toyota Corolla.

Shopping For A Bike

Weight: 137.4
Pain: 1/10 (slight abdominal pain)
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 1/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 4/10
Medications: Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, Cephalexin

I went to a motorcycle dealership today checking out the gixxers. I was looking towards getting a GSX-R750, but the sales guy convinced me to instead get a GSX-R600, since I've only been riding a Ninja 250. That's fine, I guess. Heck, I'll be saving myself $1100 in getting the 600cc.

While I would really like to get this bike, I don't know if the timing is right. I mean, I don't know if I'll be "well" enough to ride it when I start chemo-radiation in about a month.

The Price of Healthcare

Weight: 137.4
Pain: 1/10
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 1/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 4/10
Medications: Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, Cephalexin

I logged on to my account at United Healthcare (my healthcare provider) and found out the total cost so far for my treatments. Here it is:

Total charged: $41,520.93
Total paid by plan: $26,530.97
Total paid by me: $195.00

As you can see, the cost of nearly two months of treatment is quite a lot: $41k. What's surprising (to me at least) is how insurance companies get such a great deal - nearly half. I only had to shell out 0.0047% of the total cost (mostly in office visits). Wow! I'm glad I have insurance.

Weight: 138
Pain: 2/10
Nausea: 0/10
Depression: 3/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 4/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, Cephalexin

Slight internal pain a little to the left of my right hip bone (adbominal area). Started maybe a few days ago and hasn't gotten worse, but hasn't really gone away either. It could be nothing, but I'll notify my oncologist about it.

As for the tests yesterday, more torture then I expected. First, I had 3 small tattoos (small dots) which required 3 pokes. Then, I had a mini CT-scan of my abdominal area (which required an IV through my arm - poke #4). Then, I needed a blood test for a pulmonary exam - this had to go through an artery on my wrist (ouch!); poke #5.

Yes, that was 5 needles in me yesterday. I think thats a record for me.

More Doctor Appointments

Weight: 137.8
Pain: 1/10 (little aches all over)
Nausea: 0.5/10
Depression: 2/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 4/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, Cephalexin

I'm off to see my radiation oncologist today to possibly get tattooed to mark the place where I'll be getting radiated. After that I'm going to for a pulmonary test (breathing test) to see how much my lungs expand so that they'll be able to avoid radiating it.

I've noticed another side-effect with my treatment - my skin on my face has gotten darker. At first I thought it was blackheads but now it looks as though its small, round internal bruises because I'm also getting it on my hands and fingers. My blood counts were normal at my last blood exam (which was last week) so I'm not sure what it could be if its not a side-effect of the chemo. My oncologist said that it is a possible side-effect so I guess I shouldn't worry about it too much.

Weight: 137.4
Pain: 1/10 (little aches all over)
Nausea: 0.5/10
Depression: 3/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 4/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, Cephalexin

I'm concerned about my weight. 137 is a little too low for me from my usual weight of 141 pre-diagnosis. Since its my off-week from chemo I'll try to eat as much as I can.

Weight: 137.4
Pain areas: 1/10 (little aches all over)
Nausea: 0.5/10
Depression: 3/10
Swallowing Difficulty: 4/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, Cephalexin

My Ways To Avoid Nausea

Weight: 137.8
Pain areas: 1/10 (little aches all over)
Nausea: 2/10
General Attitude: Positive
Swallowing Difficulty: 5/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, Cephelaxin

More hair loss and more nausua today. This morning was particularly bad for
nausea - but again not as bad as the first round. One simple way that I found
that works to relieve nausea (besides the medication) is walking on the treadmill. I usually go for 1.5-2.0 miles at a walking pace on a slight incline (3.5mph). This seems to help me quite a bit dealing with these side effects, even if its temporary. And of course, its great for your health in general

I was also at the mall today I got myself a 20 minute session from an "aqua massage" (massage works by heated water jets). This was really relaxing - and almost as good as a traditional full-body massage. I like the way that you have control of the water pressure and even the location of where to apply the jets. The soothing music through the headphones was a big plus. I'll have to keep this in mind after my other chemo sessions.

The best method that I have, however, must go to riding my Kawasaki Ninja 250 motorcycle. Its been a while since I last rode him (1 month and 11 days ago - around the time of my diagnosis). And it was a total pleasure being back on the saddle; it instantly put a big smile on my face and made me completely forget
about my nausea and headache. If you're looking for a good starter bike, this is the one to get. No questions about it. The only downsides are that its not fuel-injected and a little slow, but you can lane-split like no other bike can.

The Hair Loss Begins

Weight: 138.4
Pain areas: 1.5/10 (little aches all over)
Nausea: 2/10
General Attitude: Positive
Swallowing Difficulty: 5/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, Compazine, Cephalexin

I noticed this morning that my hair easily falls off if I wash it - or even if I were to run my fingers through it. I still have most of my hair, but I suspect that I'll end up losing most or all of it once I start chemo+radiation.

Weight: 139.6
Pain areas: 1.5/10 (little aches all over)
Nausea: 1/10
General Attitude: Positive
Swallowing Difficulty: 5/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol, Compazine

The nausea isn't as bad as it was 2 weeks ago, most likely because I've been taking compazine before I was nauseated. The side effect, though, is that I'm now more tired as usual - and sleeping doesn't really help. But I've ended up sleeping a lot today anyways.

Day After Round #2

Weight: 138.6
Pain areas: 1.5/10 (little aches all over)
Nausea: 0/10
General Attitude: Positive
Swallowing Difficulty: 5/10
Medications:
1. Prevacid,
2. Vitamin E,
3. Multivitamin,
4. Tylenol
5. Fluorouracil 50mg/ml 100ml

I've noticed the same side-effects from round #1: slight sensitivity to cold and soreness in my cheeks right when I start eating. The nausea hasn't started yet, I expect it to start tomorrow.

Round #2

Weight: 139.4
Pain areas: 1.5/10 (little aches all over)
Nausea: 0/10
General Attitude: Positive
Swallowing Difficulty: 5/10
Medications:
1. Prevacid,
2. Vitamin E,
3. Multivitamin,
4. Tylenol
5. Prochlorperazine (Compazine) 10mg x1
6. Fluorouracil 50mg/ml 100ml
7. Leucovorin
8. Oxaliplatin

I'm here at the UCLA Oncology Center waiting to get another infusion. Hopefully it'll be better this time around: one of my cousins sent me several tubes of lidocaine (local anesthetic) - this should help a lot for the initial pain from the needle stabbing.

Update: My life flashed before by eyes. The nurses couldn't flush saline through my port - I thought the port had clogged up with blood! It turned out that the needle was closer to the edge than to the center of the port - so they had to stab me yet again - this time with a 1-inch needle. Ug!

Update 2: That second needle didn't work either. Another needle was needed. I'm begining to think that there is something really wrong with my port.

Well, it turned out that I just needed to move my right shoulder around for the fluids to start flowing - the catheter from the port was most likely getting cut off from my massive pectorals =). I'll know better next time.

Weight: 140.0
Pain areas: 1.5/10 (little aches all over)
Nausea: 0/10
General Attitude: Positive
Swallowing Difficulty: 5/10
Medications: Prevacid, Vitamin E, Multivitamin, Tylenol