Marshall's Cancer Updates

  Italian beef by Corrine It's been a week and a half since my second chemo-immunotherapy session and I have to say that this time has been much easier. The oncologist reduced the chemotherapy drugs (carboplatin and paclitaxel) by 20%, as well as one of the immunotherapy drugs (atezolizumab). The other immunotherapy drug, bevacizumab, he eliminated completely. The entire session ended up being a couple hours shorter than the first session. This time, I remembered to smear lidocain on my port and cover it with cling wrap, which made the poke much more tolerable. I passed the 8 hours or so doom scrolling. Crazy stuff in the news. John came in Monday evening after chemo, and then left late to drive a 3 hour round trip errand to pick up Greg at the Amtrak station in Grand Rapids at midnight. They chattered the whole way back and drove 30 miles an hour down the last stretch of HWY 10 dodging deer that were poised on the edge of the rode. Corrine was able to fly back to Chicago and drive...

Cashmere beanie by Cornelia. It's the only thing I can stand to have on my head. I'm feeling better today.  When I reported my side effects to my oncologist on Monday, he sent me to the infusion center on Tuesday for an IV infusion for hydration, and they sent me on to the ER for a CT scan to check for blood clots. Six hours later, I was discharged after they found no evidence of clots in my lungs. My BP was 100/50, which is a sign of dehydration. There was some disagreement between the ER staff and my oncologist over the interpretation of the CT scan. The ER staff consulted with an on call oncologist in Grand Rapids who suggested that there was evidence of disease progression:  Irregular spiculated mass within the right lower lobe is again noted. The dominant aspect measures approximately 42 x 28 x 32 mm, probably not significantly changed, however, there is progressive consolidative and/or soft tissue opacity seen extending inferiorly and laterally, possibly reflecting super...

It's been 2 weeks since my first chemo-immuno therapy session. There's just no way to prepare anyone for how awful this is. I have a lot of respect for others who've gone through this, and their caretakers who've borne witness and held space with them. It's a lot just to manage the medication and linens and bedclothes and meals and water and watching the pounds melt away. I've now dropped about 30 pounds, 10 pounds in the last 2 weeks. Generally, the first week, once the steroids wore off, I was sleeping 20 hours a day, nauseous, and fell a couple times from dizziness. This lasted through Monday of last week.  In the early part of last week, the side effects from the infusion seemed to taper off, but then they came back in a wave on Thursday after a PT session to work my arm.  I seemed to backslide with the fatigue and joint discomfort. By Friday, I had a pretty severe rash on both elbows, and light rashes on my knees, chest, and back, as well as some radiation ...