The Cancer Chronicles, Part Deux

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

Greetings from the Center of the Universe,

Tarceva arrived Friday via Next-Day UPS whilst I and my son were at The Glen burning up a lot of 110 octane gas.

Took the first on Sunday night. So far no rashes, no blisters, no side effects. (Watta ya mean, it takes awhile? I already took two! )
As I swallow the pill I imagine it's the Cavalry coming to the rescue, or paratroopers landing behind enemy lines or knights going off on a Crusade - whatever it takes for my warped mind to visualize this thing working.

So, Happy Bastille Day,

Yr hmbl & fthfl srvnt,
R.W.Turchuk

 

Le Chronicles de Cancer, Troisiemme Arondissement

 

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

(Don’t ask me why the French or what, if anything, it means. Go with it.)

Saw the doctor yesterday, well, actually she’s an APRN, but she acts like a doctor, she has a killer body, and she seems to know more about my oral chemotherapy than my oncologist does. Anyway, her first question to me was have I had diarrhea – one of the side effects of Tarceva. I said: “Yes, last Sunday”. “Oh, good,” she says. “And look, your forehead broken out.”

Yes, these are things that bring joy to my heart. Diarrhea and a rash. Actually my nose looks very much like pizza. Ugh!

But why the joy? Clinical studies have shown that the side effects are a good indicator of the effectiveness of the drug. It’s directly proportional. The other good news is that the side effects usually peak around two weeks, which will be this weekend. (Oh, joy. More rashes. More …. ) But, more importantly, I found out that the stupid test results finally came in and I don’t have the specific mutation that this drug targets. However, because I’m either an Asian female or a non-smoker male the probability is high that the drug will be effective for me. So zits and shits are a good thing – a good thing.

To help with the skin condition, the oncologist prescribed an antibiotic called Doxycycline. After a week of the side effects of the Doxy…, I’m now taking Prevacid, because the acid reflux was worse than anything I ever got from eating deli (a New York term) or Polish food. I mean, growing up, I had so much heartburn I thought I was Jewish. So who knows, maybe I’ll need something for the side effects of the Prevacid, and something for that and so on.

And for those who are keeping score, my blood counts are good and they told me to increase my intake of vitamin D3 to 2000 mg daily.

All-in-all, I feel good physically and mentally. And when you consider the shape I’m in – fat and out of – that’s pretty good.

So, tata for now.

Rudy the T