LEE CANCER UPDATE -- Week 12

October 22, 2022

Week 12. It was a target to aim for at the beginning of CANCER 2.0 treatments. This week Lee did not get any chemo, just infusions to help hydrate him and build up his electrolytes. So next week should be the 12th week of chemo.

Fall colors in Renton WA

Each week seems worse than the last. This week what goes through my mind constantly is “It’s darkest before the dawn.” It’s been a dark week. The cumulative effects of the chemo, plus the pharmaceuticals to counteract the chemo side effects which have side effects of their own, have left Lee in a very weakened state -- weak physically, mentally and even emotionally.

His protein levels are dangerously low and he is encouraged to eat lots of protein. Since food tastes like cardboard to him and the inside of his mouth is sore, he isn’t interested in eating. I haven’t found anything  that pleases him to eat. He struggles to fulfill Dr. Chen’s order.

The edema hasn’t gone away. His legs, ankles and feet are so puffed up that he needs help getting his pants and socks on or off. Yet his face and head look like a skeleton with skin pulled tautly over it.

Let’s talk about some of those side effects from the pharmaceuticals that are supposed to be helping him… The side effects he is experiencing are from just three of the drugs he is taking: trouble talking, unusual hoarseness, dry mouth, wounds that won’t heal, feeling very tired and sluggish, feeling confused, mood changes, memory problems, decreased appetite, swelling in arms or legs, not sweating in warm temperatures (like a sauna). Diarrhea still plagues him, especially when it is unexpected.

I’m thinking about Job…

Job and Lee are one-syllable, three-letter names. (Just an interesting data point.) Job got piled on with ever-increasing physically crippling tests. Just when he thought it couldn’t get worse, it did, exponentially.

We have a better understanding of what Job went through as we work through this trial. Our focus has gone from general awareness of the events of the world that affect us to myopic, dealing with the here and now of getting through each day while staying in fellowship and oriented to God’s plan.

In the end Job was blessed beyond what he could have imagined. “It’s always darkest before the dawn.” We will get through this. Dawn will come. Dawn could be Lee starts feeling better, leading to a remission of cancer (a “new normal”). Or Dawn could be his transfer to eternity, face-to-face with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

God asks us to walk in faith. We only see to the next curve, we don’t see the whole plan. One foot in front of the other. Keep moving forward.

Lee: Thank You Lord!

My latest tumor marker dropped from 866 to 469, nearly cut in half.

Also, two, maybe three major side effects are under control. The Genix injections popped my white count back up into normal range. Between the Procrit injection and LactoFerrin supplement my red count is low but stable. I'm still anemic, but "acceptably" so. Alas, my stamina is short-lived. I'm good for about 15-minutes of light work, before I have to take a break, but thank You God I'm still mobile. "Little" things.

They'd have to do a thyroid panel again to verify, but the pig thyroid supplement has helped the symptoms of the hypothyroidism (brain fog, foot shuffle). The thyroid raw hormone (T4) is converted to usable form (T3) in the gut and liver, so since both are compromised, I'm convinced that problem will persist at least until we can get my gut fixed.

The other stubborn side-effect is edema. Above the waist seems to have deflated pretty well, but gravity has me looking like Popeye (do I date myself?) down below. I BELIEVE God is definitely motivating and guiding Dr. Chen and his crew, so I TRUST these side-effects are part of the Plan or will be resolved. Dr. Chen's still suspicious it's C-diff. He ordered a second test. We'll see.