Week Nine

      Today started off good, I was informed by the radiation oncologist that today was my last radiation treatment not Friday as I had previously posted, because I have reached the total amount needed. I have a follow up appointment on the 14th of February.  

      I want to to thank everyone at the St. Vincent's Mary Virgina Terry Cancer Center for their friendly and professional treatment and service I received over the last nine weeks, specifically but not in any order ~ Cathy at the front desk who always had a warm smile and pleasant hello when I checked in everyday ~ the Nurses Cathy and Jennifer who handled my weekly doctor consultations ~ Dr. Snead and Dr. Ossi who always explained all of the procedures and results in a clear and precise way that made it easy for me to understand ~ Radiation Therapists, Sylvia, Janie, Ruth  and Linda who also greeted me every day with a warm and friendly smile and made sure I understood what procedures they were performing. The external beam procedure was a different experience as were the Pet and Cat scans but I will have to say that the Brachytherapy was the most interesting and I'm glad I only had to have three of them. Thanks again to a great staff of highly skilled and professional people. 

     I also reported to the cancer oncology center for blood work and consultation with the doctor, he said that my blood counts were good enough to receive my chemo infusions today and then I'll come back next Monday for follow up blood work then phase 2 of my chemotherapy starting on the 6th of February which will be the same pre-meds and a stronger dose of the same chemo infusions, I'll receive 3 or 4 of these cycles every three weeks. 

     Still no adverse side effects from today's infusions, just a little tired. I'll update next Monday with any further information.

Week Eight

     This will be a routine week for my radiation treatments and I will have my last treatment on January 20, 2012. I had my weekly consultation with the radiation doctor and she said pretty much the same thing that my pulmonary doctor said, that everything is looking great!
     Well I didn't get my chemotherapy infusions today as my white blood cell count is too low, it was 1.5K/ul and normal range is 4.1-10.9, so the doctor said I'll get my last of these infusions next Monday, then a month off followed by some scans and then 3 cycles of stronger infusions every three weeks. I'll update more later if anything changes. Thanks again for the support to all who are following my progress :>)
 

Week Seven

     Week seven started out on Tuesday January 3, 2012 with my third and final bronchoscope with brachytherapy catheter placement for the internal radiation procedure. The bronchoscope also revealed that the right upper lobe blockage is now open and looking good. The outer mass (tumor) is still shrinking.
     Wednesday thru Friday I had my standard radiation treatments using the narrower field of radiation. After today I will have 7 more treatments and then I will be finished with radiation treatments. Wednesday I also had chemotherapy infusions, with minimal side effects. My blood work was good.
     Thursday I had a follow up appointment with my pulmonary doctor and he is quite pleased with the outcome of my treatments so far. He said I'm doing great and my system is reacting really well to the treatments. :>)
      I still feel great and my breathing is the best it has been for some time.