Marshall's Cancer Updates

Nighttime Skyline in Chicago If you missed the last two blog postings, they are here ( Comfort and Joy ) and here ( Change of Plans from Phase 1 to Gemcitabine). The other morning for breakfast, I had yogurt and granola with Skittles, M&Ms, and chocolate chips. It’s quite colorful, like something out of Elf. I’ve never really been much of a sweets eater, but here I am.  From the most recent CT scan a couple weeks ago, I still have no brain mets. A clean brain. A good thing. That’s one thing they keep watching out for in the CT scans with each course of chemo. But the latest CT scan did reveal, among other things, a 4 cm metastasis to my left supraclavicular lymph node at my shoulder and neck. That’s a golfball-size mass in the lymph node at the crook of my neck leading to my spine, pushing on the left side, and radiating out to the shoulder and down the left arm. It’s causing quite a lot of pain. They’ve (I’ve) increased the dosage of Hydromorphone (an opioid slightly stronger...

A Chair with a View: Rooftop Cows at Northwestern Children's Hospital UPDATE (5/24/2024): I had the follow-up with the oncologist today. In discussing side effects with the palliative care specialist, I noted that I had much more energy last week while I was taking steroids in preparation for the transfusion. I asked if there were meds I could take to help combat the overall fatigue I've been feeling -- steroids, Adderall, cocaine . . . what do I have to lose at this point? She laughed and said that yes, it's become fairly common to prescribe Ritalin (Methylphenidate) to help with the fatigue during the day. She wrote me a prescription for 5 mg at 8 am and again at noon if I needed it. How many other helpful meds are out there that I don't know about unless I ask? I met with Dr. G, who said that the Northwestern tumor board recommended against surgery and radiation for the kidney mets, partially because of additional mets in my lungs that we had skimmed over when readin...