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 8^th.

- 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.