Marshall's Cancer Updates

Better news today: Spoke with the orthopedic surgeon this morning and they're going to move quickly to stabilize that arm and bring me some relief. I'm scheduled for outpatient surgery at 7:30 am on Monday where they will insert pins and rods to secure the bone and help it start to heal and possible remove some of the tumor. They'll also inject a pain blocker into that arm to provide a bit of relief, which should be pretty immediate in terms of the pain I've been experiencing, with some residual pain from the surgery itself. Should heal up within a couple weeks. Also switching the meds from Norco to Oxycontin which should provide much more relief and help to sleep much better at night.   I will still continue with radiation on the tumor in my lung over the next week, but they'll hold off on radiating my shoulder until two weeks after the surgery. The surgeon seemed quite optimistic about the procedure and its efficacy in getting us where we want to be. All in all, m...

Waiting for radiation therapy to start has been a long and painful process. I'm beginning to learn ways of moving around that aren't quite so painful for my shoulder. I press my wrist to my chest with my free hand any time I stand up or sit down or roll over or walk around. I haven't quite figured out a way to use the sling so that it's effective. I finally googled some tips on getting in and out of bed and sleeping after shoulder surgery and learned that it helps to sleep on a large wedge pillow or in a recliner and have found that both help quite a bit. Still, I have to get up every 90-120 minutes to limber up a bit and take another hydrocodone. I now have a sock aid to help get dressed and am rocking the Danish fashion vibe with black lounge pants and t-shirts and clogs and cardigan.  No buttons or zippers or laces for me.  I've been able to get a bit of emotional support through bi-weekly tele-sessions with a social worker through the cancer treatment center and...

Sunrise over Emerson Lake, Branch Township, Michigan, April 15, 2023 Not a lot of medical news this week. I've started on insulin to manage my glucose levels during immunotherapy and I have a supply of FlexPens and needles to administer the insulin. Pretty easy and painless. My PCP also prescribed a DexCom G6 continuous glucose monitor, but I'm having trouble getting insurance to cover it. The company that my PCP ordered the meter through says that they're out of network, so I have a query in to my insurance company about how to get that covered. For now, I'm sticking with the standard finger-prick meter. I'm scheduled for an echocardiogram early Wednesday morning as standard procedure to establish a baseline before chemotherapy starts. Don't expect anything surprising there. I have a CPAP fitting on Thursday.  I suspect it should also help with shortness of breath issues while sleeping  on my back. I've felt myself having panic attacks in the night over cat...

A new head scarf from Cindy for the anticipatory hair loss.  I still haven't figured out how to set this blog up so that people can subscribe to it and get automatic email updates rather than seeking out updates periodically. 🤷 So, feel free to check in periodically and to message me through social media or email such as mwkitch@gmail.com. This week was the simulation session for stereotactic radiation therapy (SBRT). Cathy, Cindy, Liz, and Jody have been gracious enough to share their stories with me in terms of what to expect, and that was very helpful. I went to the treatment center in Reed City on Wednesday and it took about two hours total. The first half was spent on the education session where one of the nurses explained the process to me,  and then I spent the second half of the time on the table while they molded the forms around me and tattooed three small dots -- one on a left rib; one on a right rib; and one in the center. They are about the size of a small mole a...

Today is Friday. Sunset on Emerson Lake I met with my chemo oncologist in a telehealth session at the Wheatlake Cancer Center in Reed City. It was a beautiful day for a drive in northern Michigan, and I tapered off my narcos  Norco for the day to make it safely, 40 minutes each way. It would have been the perfect day for the motorcycle if my right arm would cooperate. The left side with the port has pretty much healed and is no longer sore. But although I can bend my right arm at the elbow, I can't raise it at all and can't carry anything heavier than my phone. It's pretty limited in terms of mobility because of the pain. I find it pretty hard to eat and drink left handed. My vitals are all still good, and Dr. Hansen continues to be optimistic. Apparently, there's a lot of paperwork going on behind the scenes to get pre-approval from the insurance company for the medications involved which are newer and stronger. They still intend to use carboplatin and paclitaxel for t...

Flowers from colleagues. They're the best. Yesterday (April 3rd), my neighbor Tim drove me to Spectrum Hospital in Big Rapids to have an infusion port and catheter implanted on the left side of my chest by Dr. Rausch to be used for sessions over the next year for chemotherapy and immunotherapy.  I asked if he could place the port near my USB tattoo, but no dice. I felt a bit groggy afterwards.  Tim dropped me off at home and my friend Cornelia arrived shortly afterward to make sure that I handled the procedure ok and made pierogi for dinner. I slept through the night, but now ache on both sides.  After taking hydrocodone and using an ice pack over the port, I feel a bit better and slept through the night  Moonrise over Emerson   Another Sunrise over Emerson Cornelia as first helpful visitor got to be first to sign the guest book. Talked to Paige W, Reed City Oncology Social Worker today about resources through the Reed City Cancer center for emotional and legal ...

Emerson Lake For Friends and Family: I wanted to update everyone on health issues that have come up for me recently. Over the last few months, I've been diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer, beginning with an abnormal chest x-ray in early December, which has led to a number of follow-up scans with my PCP in January, the pulmonology team at the cancer pavilion in Grand Rapids in February, and finally in the last few weeks of March with the oncologist and radiologist in Reed City.  On Thursday, March 30th, I met with Dr. Kirkland, the radiation oncologist at the Lemmen Holton Cancer Pavilion in Grand Rapids, and he says that all test results are in: X-Rays, CT Scans, Bronchoscopy, PET Scans, Biopsies, biomarkers, more CT Scans. The multidisciplinary treatment team at the Lemmen Holton Cancer Pavilion in Grand Rapids, Michigan has gone over the case, determined the diagnosis and staging, and worked out a treatment plan. The diagnosis is conclusive and the current plan is more aggress...