Thursday, December 18, 2014

27 Treatments Complete

I finished my 27th and last BCG Treatment.  In many ways the day was quite surreal.  I knew that it was the final treatment and that I should be celebrating, but the 3rd treatment in each series of three hits you the hardest and there is was very little time to sit back and reflect on what is soon coming to an end. 


This last series of treatments had the BCG potency cut back to 50% of the normal dose.  This was done to lessen the side effects.  The first and second treatments were very normal and had side effects hit me at the normal time.  The three main side effects were 1) chills, 2) fatigue and 3) bleeding in the bladder.  The bleeding in the third treatment went about 20 hours, which is about 17 hours longer than normal.  It has finally stopped this morning.  A fourth side effect hit me yesterday and it can be best described as chemo brain.  I was trying to remember my country club member number during the day and I could never get the four digit number correct.  I knew that I was close, but not until this morning did I actually remember the number.  This was quite troubling to me, considering that I've known and used this number almost weekly for over 5 1/2 years. This fuzzy brain effect is why I don't answer business emails during treatment days.


It's been a long, long journey.  I've endured 1 CT Scan, 2 surgeries, 10 cystoscopies and 27 BCG treatments.  I've tried to always keep my goal in mind during these 45 months of not wasting this cancer.  Trying to keep grinding away until the end. That we are here to fight for our lives and to do whatever it takes to stay on this earth to be with our loved ones and draw closer to our God.  I've come to grips with my mortality 45 months ago and have seen friends die from cancer and other beat cancer back.  I'm hopeful for a long life without cancer and look forward to spending many more years with my wife, family and friends.


I don't know when it is finally going to hit me that I'm through with the treatments.  I've been living with this stress for so long, it probably is going to be in January when I'm on the beach in Hawaii.  I'm looking forward to this two week celebratory trip and plan on getting some sun, playing some golf and eating some great food with the love of my life.



Friday, December 5, 2014

Treatment #25 is Done.

After two weeks in a row of failing to have my treatment, due to having too many blood cells in my urine, I finally had no blood show up in the testing.  I was given antibiotics after the second failed test and it certainly did the trick of clearing out any infection that may have been causing the blood cells.

The installation of the BCG was the easiest of all the treatments that I've had.  Getting catherized is never a pleasant procedure and so I decided to change my mindset this time.  Instead of dreading the procedure and trying to relax, I decided to just process the feeling of the catheter differently.  What this means was to just realize that the feeling of the catheter during the whole process was the normal feeling of the procedure and to follow it in its journey.  It's not so much that it is painful, but that it just feels different and unpleasant.  It worked this time and we'll see if it make a difference next time.

The two hour holding time was spent rocking as the weather was a little too cool to go for a walk.  The time did not fly by and I was counting the minutes at the end as it was getting a little unbearable.  The six hours of flushing the bladder went without any blood (as is normal for a first treatment) and I  drank about 1 1/2 gallons of water and lemonade during that time.  I was able to eat some grilled chick from Chik fil A this time and that was very unusual to want solid food with all the fluids I was pushing through my stomach.

Lastly, I have to give kudos to my buddy, Dana, who helped to attend to my needs during the 8 hours.  Nancy was out of town due to a my treatment schedules not going as planned and Dana agreed to fill her spot for me.  When you are diagnosed with cancer, we all have friends that tell you that they are willing to help you whenever you have a need.  Well, I asked Dana to help with the unpleasant duties of flushing the toilet 15 minutes after I filled it with BCG laced urine and 2 cups of bleach.  He did it without complaint.  He was a great help with the flushing, getting me to and from the doctor's office and running to get me lunch.  Most importantly, I enjoyed having him to talk to during treatment day and being my friend since we first met in Atlanta in 1987.