To Pump or Not to Pump

To Pump or not to Pump

It is now going on five weeks since my last infusion of chemotherapy.  My tumor marker scores are climbing, but I feel way better if that makes any sense.  This break I have been getting has really been wonderful for my energy, strength, and I think attitude.  Sure I’m nervous and concerned about what is going on.  And there are some GI things that have changed over the last few weeks…but all in all my body is bouncing back fairly well.  The only thing I wonder about is since the cancer is part of me, does it have the same resilience that my other body functions/parts do?

This weekend we took the kids to another ballgame at the Dell Diamond to watch the Round Rock Express.  I ran into my best friend and his son, some friends from the neighborhood, and even an old college baseball buddy. It was great catching up with those guys. During the game each kid ended up with a baseball.  They were both very excited, but this is a pattern that is bordering on disturbing.  The first game where we come home empty handed is probably going to be shocking.  They are probably going to look at me like I have three heads.  “Dad, WTF?  Where’s the swag?”  I’ll have to explain that for 99% of the ball park attendees, that’s how it goes.  It’s actually special when you get a ball or something else.  It should be a funny but teachable moment when it happens…or they are the luckiest kids ever and will always walk to the car with more stuff than with which they walked into the stadium.

There is a group called Wonders and Worries that helps kids adjust to parents with cancer.  They do some amazing things and have really helped Connor and Josie have a better understanding of what I’m going through, what it means, the terminology, etc.  Monday they invited us to do a river cruise to watch two million Mexican free tail bats fly out from underneath the Congress avenue bridge to go feed on 10 tons of mosquitos and other insects.  It was amazing.

 

My Best friend Omar had a birthday this week and we all went to dinner the other night.  It was great just telling old stories and making fun of each other.  I later found out that while he was playing at the PGA Championship last week, he had a flag signed by a few major winners.  He said it would be for the auction prior to the golf tournament.  It’s pretty sweet.  When we get back from our vacation, I’ll provide some more details on the tournament.  But it is shaping up nicely.

We’re taking the entire family to Breckenridge today.  The parents of one of the kids I coached this season has donated their condo to us and I had enough air miles to get us up and back for under $50.00.  So we’re off.  I went to the oncology center to have my blood tested and port flushed and to ensure I was healthy enough to fly and be around other people.  Imagine my surprise when my blood tests came back with normal platelets, white blood cells, etc.  In just a few weeks off the chemo, my system has recovered nicely.  That is pretty cool.  And it gives me a lot more confidence going into the week after next when I will get the next infusion and come home with a pump.

I’m not sure what will happen but I realize that my mind and my body can take quite a bit of punishment right now.  That helps believe it or not. 

A few weeks ago I sent out a note regarding having a Q&A.  I got a few questions back and thought I would share them with you.

Q: How did you not know you had cancer?  Were there any warning signs in retrospect?

A:  Great question and apologies for the long answer.  I worked at Dell for 15 years and it may come to no surprise that I had hypertension (high blood pressure) and ended up with a cardiologist.  He gave me some prescriptions that were intended to reduce my blood pressure, but they came with other effects which resulted in minor tweaks to my medications over a couple of years.  Additionally, I started working out more, losing weight, and changing my diet. 

Here is the weird part.  As my diet and medications changed so did my bowl movements (colon cancer, stick with me here).  I chalked the poop changes up purely to diet and changing medications.  Those changes included frequency, color, and texture.  In short about four or five loose movements per day.  My cardiologist suggested that if things didn’t get more “normal” that I should consider going to see a Gastroenterologist. But hey, I was a busy guy and didn’t have time for that…I figured I’d switch protein shakes or something.

Concurrently, I started having really bad back pain. So bad it forced me to walk out of a golf tournament on the second hole.  I could barely drive my cart home to lay down and stretch.  So I went to Austin Spine and Rehab.  They took X-rays and found that I might have a slightly inflamed disk.  So I did a ton of rehab and stretching on my back. I even got deep shock therapy in my back. It started to feel better, even to the point where I was playing golf again.

Months after the back pain started to subside and years after my GI (Gastro Intestinal) issues initially popped up I had my emergency event with the blockage.  Once the CT scan was performed my cancer and the tumors were obvious and had unfortunately already metastasized.

So did the GI issues signal the growth? I don’t know.  Was the back pain the indicator?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that since my surgery, I have not stretched or worked out my back and I have not had any back pain.  So the tumor could have been hitting a nerve causing it to manifest as back pain.  Again, I don’t know.  But what I can recommend is, get checked out if you have recurring back issues or if you have GI issues (loose movements, overly frequent movements, changes in color, etc.).  I wish my “time” had been less important back then and I may have caught this earlier when it was still treatable.

Q:  Do you feel differently now than you did before?

A:  I certainly pay more attention to how I feel than I did before.  I’m not nor have I ever been a hypochondriac and I rarely got sick, so this has been a new thing for me.  Chemo week is pretty standard, you are going to feel bad and wrestle with the side effects.  During non-chemo weeks I have to pay attention to changes in my poop and any new aches or pains in my abdomen.  Believe it or not, chemotherapy can cause other things like ingrown toenails (called chemo toe on the inside), joint pain, and of course bone pain when you take the neupogen shots to increase white blood cell production.  I think the biggest thing is balancing little aches and pains with not letting it get in the way of what you want to do either for work or your family.  There are things that just need to get done, so you go do them.

We’ll have more questions and answers as they come in and space permitting.  Thanks again for all your love and support.  I cannot begin to tell you how much of a difference it makes.  All of you old athletes out there know that a great coach could always bring more out of you than you thought you had.  Shouting at you to give one more rep, dig deeper, etc.  That, in effect, is what many of you are doing for me.  I know that there are some things that I will never experience.  I will more than likely never see my daughter get married.  I will not ever meet my grandchild(ren).  I won’t be around when they are looking for their first jobs.  I will most likely not be there to teach the kids to drive (I will reach out to a couple of you for help here – no offense Nita).  J  But for now, I can give one more rep.  I can swim one more lap, and I can go one more round of treatment.  How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.  TeamMarco@austin.rr.com