My latest procedure went well...
Since it has been over 2 months since my last entry I am going to summarize what has been going on in my cancer world.
- My CEA has risen to an all time high of 187.
- My Platelets have continued to remain too low for me to do any regular chemo, or any of the chemo I was on the past two years.
- A week ago Saturday I started to take an oral form of chemo, called Xeloda. It is a continuous form of chemo in that I am taking the pills morning and night for 2 weeks and then 1 week off. So far I do not feel any side effects of this drug, but because of my low platelets I am only on half dosage.
- On the May long weekend, I accidently pulled out my feeding tube. I have been trying to eat enough so I don’t lose any weight. Unfortunately that has not been the case and I am now booked to have the tube reinserted into my small intestine on August 8th.
- Part of the reason that I was unable to east enough to gain weight is that I developed ascites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ascites), which is an accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity (abdominal area). The ascites plus the lack of my digestive system was making things very uncomfortable for me. On Friday I had a ‘pigtail’ catheter inserted by my left hip to drain the fluid. To date I have drained approx. 6 litres (6 kgs) and now I don’t look like I am pregnant anymore! I still have pain from the procedure but I do have some relief from the discomfort of carrying the extra fluid.
I think that is it for the cancer update. Since I have been dealing with a lot of discomfort/fatigue I have not been doing too much. Hopefully things will dry up and I can start enjoying the outdoors again.
Thank you to all of you that continue to see how I am doing. Your prayers and well wishes are greatly appreciated.