The Roller Coaster Continues

It has been yet another week of ups and downs. At the end of last week and through the weekend I was experiencing the worst fatigue I have known since Indy, but that was corrected yesterday with a blood transfusion. My heart rate was continuing to race due to the HCG induced hyperthyroidism, but the medications now seem to have that under control. I learned on Sunday that my HCG had gone up tremendously, only to see it plummet back down with another blood draw yesterday. Today I have my energy back, but I have begun to cough up blood again. Tomorrow I am headed back into the hospital for a repeat of the cryogenic procedure to stop the bleeding. That is everything in a nutshell, below you will find more of the details.

Last week I was overwhelmingly fatigued. I had very little energy to do very much other than sleep and nap. Yesterday (Monday) I had an appointment with my oncologist to discuss progress at the end of the first round of oral Etoposide, and we discovered that my hemoglobin was down to 7.7. Normal is at least 14.0! I was quite anemic, which explains why I was so tired. I ended up spending the day at the hospital and received a transfusion of 2 units of blood. I immediately felt better and had more energy. Driving home I felt like myself again and I have felt great today. Hemoglobin is what carries the oxygen in your blood, and it is amazing what a little more oxygen can do to make you feel better!

Last Thursday I saw the endocrinologist and he put me back on some medications to slow my thyroid and to slow my heart. My heart was racing at 120 to 140 beats per minute at times last week. That was mainly due to the elevated HCG triggering my thyroid, but the low hemoglobin may have contributed to it as well. My heart rate is now back down in the 80's, which is still slightly high for me but much healthier than it was last week. I will stay on these medications until we can get my HCG back down again.

Speaking of my HCG, I had it checked on Thursday as well. My oncologist called me on Sunday with the results, and they were quite concerning. When I began this round of chemo my HCG had gone up to nearly 58,000. Last Thursday it was more than double that at 120,968. My doctor was very concerned, as were we. At the appointment we discussed the possibilities that this chemo is not working, and that we need to find another clinical trial; hopefully the new one in NY will open soon. However, after the appointment I received a text message from my doctor with the results of my HCG from Monday morning, and it was down to 87,000! This is certainly much more encouraging. As we have seen, this may mean nothing if it just shoots back up, but if it stays at that level or continues to drop lower, it would be an indication that the Etoposide is starting to work. We certainly are not celebrating yet, but we hope this is the start of a downward trend for my tumor marker.

Even though I have felt great since receiving the blood transfusion, I have begun to cough up blood again. It is much less than before, but certainly any bleeding in my trachea or lungs is not a good thing. My doctors today decided that I should have another bronchoscope and hopefully they can freeze the site with a croyogenic mist once again. When I had that done 2 weeks ago the doctor said he may have to repeat the procedure a couple times before it permanently stops the bleeding. So tomorrow morning it is back to Ann Arbor for another day at the hospital. It is a relatively quick and painless procedure, but nonetheless I can think of many other ways I would rather spend the day. On the other hand, continuing to cough up blood is not one of them.

There is not much else to report since I have spent much of the last week sleeping. Megan is now exhausted since I have not been able to help much around the house or with Ethan. She is a trouper though, and she continues to be my rock. Please do include prayers of strength for her as you pray for me. Our families continue to be great sources of support, and we certainly would not be able to deal with all of this without their babysitting and their love. Thank you all! This has been a trying couple of weeks for us, particularly when we thought this round of chemo was going to be smooth sailing. This is what it is like to be living with cancer, and I continue to be grateful that I am living with cancer. You have to roll with the punches, take each day one at a time, and continue to be grateful that God is with us, as are so many of you that care about us and keep us in your prayers and close to your heart.

Thank you! God Bless! Livestrong!