Matt 2, Cancer 0

It may be too early to call round two for me yet, but I have decided to count round one as a 2 point takedown in my favor. I checked into the hospital yesterday afternoon to finish up my 5 days of chemo over the weekend. I had outpatient chemo on Wed-Friday, and will have a round this morning and tomorrow morning. As usual, I had blood drawn on Wed prior to begining chemo on Wed and I received some good news regarding HCG levels.

If you recall, HCG is a hormone that is released by this type of testicular cancer (choriocarcinoma) that is not normally found in men. It is one of the blood tumor markers that are tracked and was very high to begin with, indicating that this was choriocacinoma and possible a pure choriocarcinoma instead of a mixed mass with other types. When I began treatment the HCG levels were >200,000. After 1.5 weeks the HCG had dropped to 96,000, which is a tremendous improvement, and far more than was expected. The exciting news is that on Wednesday, before I started round 2, my levels were 4,900!!! That is a tremendous drop after just one round of chemo. Normal levels are, of course, very low. In the range of 0-5, but I have made tremendous progress. The real significance is that there is a direct correlation between HCG levels and tumor size. So as the tumor shrinks, the HCG levels go down. I will likely have another CT scan in the next week or two to see what the tumors look like, and I can't wait to see how badly I am pummelling those suckers!

Other results of the blood draw show that I am still neutropenic, which means that I have a high risk of infection. My white blood cells crept up from 2.0 to 2.5, but normal is 4.0 to 10.0. My neutophils dropped to 1.2, when they should be 1.7-7.6. This is very low, and in some regimens low enough to alter the chemo dose. In my case, however, since we have a cure we are sticking to the regimen and they will give me injections to boost those levels if the counts do not rebound on their own. The catch is that the injection interacts with the chemo (bleomycin) and increases the risk of pulmonary toxicity. It can cause fibrosis of the lungs and can cause permanent damage. Something we certainly want to avoid.

This is all a balancing act between countless drugs and weighing the risks and benefits of each one. Right now the goal is to get every drop of chemo into my body to kill this cancer. If, however, it continues to kill too many blood cells, we will have to address that. In turn, if that seems to interact with the bleomycin and cause breathing problems, then we may have to back off of the chemo slightly to prevent lung damage. The unknown in all of this is the thyroid medication that I am on. It has a 1:500 chance of lowering white blood cells as well, so we don't really know if that is holding my counts down or not. Thankfully, it appears that the lower HCG levels have reduced the stimulation of my thyroid, and my thyroid function appears to be nearing normal. They began weaning me off of the thyroid med on Thursday. What a balancing act!

Overall I still feel great, and everyday that I feel great I feel that I get stronger. Hearing that my HCG levels are down to 4,900 was a real boost last night. My fatigue is not as bad as it was last week, and my hair is hanging in there. It is still falling out, but it seems to be falling out fairly evenly now, so I still have not shaved it off. I just look like I am ready for the Marines. The hiccups have come back with this second round of chemo, and just a little stomach upset. I have not felt nausea, but I have been taking the anti-nausea drugs to prevent it and they seem to help with the hiccups. All in all I am doing great.

Fred flew in from California last night. We were supposed to be in Columbus for the Michigan game, as is our annual tradition. We both have some streaks going on this game. He has not missed a game since 1994, and I have only missed one since 1989. The irony for me is that the last 2 games I have missed were in 1988 and 1998, and here we are in 2008. So I told Fred count me back in after this year, but I don't plan to attend the game in 2018. I don't wish to see what catastrophic event has to occur to keep this 10 year pattern going.

Fred sold our tickets on ebay for about what he had paid for them on ebay, and he and Andy are coming here to watch the game with me and my Dad. There is nothing like a chemo-cocktail tailgate in the hospital!

I won't make any predictions for today's game, other than this; anything can happen, that's why they play the game. As with every game this season the question is how well can Michigan play today. They are set up nicely; they are big underdogs, they have nothing to lose, and all they have to play for is pride. No one expects them to win and OSU may be taking them lightly. The problem is that they need to play 4 quarters of football, and they have yet to really do that. Can they pull that off in the last game of the year? While it may not seem likely, there would be no better time than now. It they play 4 quarters of solid football, will that be enough for an upset? I don't know, but I hope to get a chance to find out.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support. The cards, the emails, the posts, the phone calls, and the prayers are inspiring. I want you to know that you are all a part of my success thus far and I give you my heartfelt thanks and a rowdy Go Blue! Beat the Bucks!

ADDENDUM:

I just met with one of the oncologists and he gave me wonderful news regarding my blood draw taken this morning. My white blood cell count is back up to 6.5 (normal is 4.0-10.0)! I am waiting on the full report to see how my neutrophils have rebounded, and it takes longer to get the HCG levels. I also just finished my walk around the floor. I made ten laps today, and when I was in for my first round the most I did was 8. So, the question of the day for the cancer has become, "What? Is that all you got?!"