Chemo maintenance – end of cycle 27
June 23rd marked the end of my 27th cycle of post-transplant chemotherapy.
Had blood work and visited the UofM Cancer Clinic to meet with Dr. Jakubowiak’s staff (he was on vacation) and assess my progress. Things continue to go well, with all indications that the cancer remains in “complete remission”.
The biggest event since my last blog posting was our trip to South Korea to visit son Larry. We had a great trip – my health issues only posed a small problem: some discomfort with heat and direct sunlight on a couple of hot days, and shoulder pain again – no lifting luggage, difficulty opening/closing car doors, other stuff {pain has subsided since I started PT}. Despite 30 hours in airplanes neither Irene nor I suffered from any of the common “travel bugs” that regularly affect frequent flyers.
NEWS FROM MY CLINIC VISIT
This was a relatively boring clinical visit – no changes and the only follow-up was the status of the shoulder pain that I reported in my last update.
I had a slew of shoulder x-rays and a pair of MRI’s, followed by a referral visit to an orthopedic doc at UofM. Dr. Graziano suspects either arthritic joints or tendonitis, and prescribed Physical Therapy as the first response. After PT we’ll assess my progress and determine the next course of action. I’ve been in PT twice-a-week since then. The condition has improved, but has not gone away completely. I have a follow-up ortho appointment scheduled in July. Stay tuned for more in my next update.
MEDICATION CHANGES
I’ve now finished four cycles with the reduced dose (10 mg) of my Revlimid chemotherapy drug.
SIDE EFFECTS
Neuropathy – The reduction in Revlimid dosage has made my feet feel a little better. Hardly noticeable these days.
Neutropenia – No news here. My WBC and ANC counts continue to vary from blood-test to blood-test, low – but not dangerously so; however my immune system numbers never manage to climb into the “normal” range. The clinic staff advised me to simply accept this condition as the “new me”, and to continue taking precautions related to infectious diseases and germs.
NEXT STEPS
A few more weeks of Physical Therapy, then a follow-up orthopedic visit. Other than than, it’s just “Chemo Light” – daily pills and a monthly blood test.
We don’t meet with Cancer Clinic staff again until September, so my next blog posting won’t be until then.
That’s the latest news from Hamburg.
-larry