Starting My Climb Up the Mountain

They say that when dealing with cancer you'll go through peaks and valleys. This past week epitomized this experience.

Deb returned to work on Monday and the kids went back into daycare. Since they were off early in the morning (and I was still in bed), Morgan and Landon decided to come upstairs and give me a hug and kiss before they left. To my delight, they have made this part of every morning before leaving for school with Deb.

When I got up from bed on Monday, I felt an aching pain in my chest that was eerily similar to that before I was admitted to the hospital (although at a lower intensity and without the lower back pain). The last thing I wanted to have happen this week was to be re-admitted to the hospital to drain fluid from my chest, since this could impact my first chemo treatment scheduled for Friday.

When diagnosed with cancer, it is always in the back of your mind, but I have found that when I'm feeling well or when I have family/friends with me life is much more enjoyable. On Monday morning, I suddenly had neither of these positive influences. Then I noticed that I had a voicemail from my Dad that I missed from Sunday night, saying he wanted to come down and spend some time with me. It is amazing to me how the Lord recognizes and supplies our needs, before we even know we need them. Luke 1:49-50 (NIV)

49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.

Dad and I only spent about 3 hours together that afternoon, but in that short time we continued work in the kitchen (including the final fitments and hookups of the dishwasher) and had memorable conversations involving God, life, and family.

Late Monday afternoon, I had a follow up appointment with my pulmonary doctor. I had my early morning concerns about fluid build up in my left lung verified. Fortunately, the doctor didn't consider the amount of fluid necessary for immediate drainage, but he gave me the warning sign for when I should return to the hospital (shortness of breath at rest). At the time, his diagnostic tests showed my lungs at about 75% capacity of normal.

Sleep on Monday and Tuesday night was restless and alternating hot and cold sweats. My oncologist has said that this is a common occurrence with my form of cancer. On Wednesday, I experienced the chest pain again in the morning when getting out of bed, but I was feeling better once getting up and about.

I decided to install the last major piece of the kitchen remodel, the sink. Fortunately my friends and family had already assembled the plumbing, fixtures, and disposal, so all I needed to do was drop the sink into the square hole in the counter. After solving some minor fitting issues and putting down a bead of caulk, the sink was ready to go in. After all of the under-sink fasteners were secured, we finally had a functional kitchen. All that is left now is some minor trim work. Here are some pictures of the original to near finished project.

1950's original tile counter with painted cabinets

You can't find stuff like this anymore, unless you go to the Habitat Re-store in Detroit ;), where it is surely still sitting on a shelf.

Demo finished, beginning of prep (approximately 1 week before I went to the hospital)

The project near completion

My thanks goes out to all of you who helped us with this project (Derrick, Dan, Mike, John, Ben, Deb's Dad and Mom, Jim, Jorge, my Dad and Mom, Steve, Em, and anyone else I may have missed).

My Mom watched the kids Wednesday evening so Deb and I could meet with an estate planning lawyer. By the time we returned home, I was completely exhausted from the hour of driving and 2 hours of discussion. My temperature was running about 1 deg above normal. I had a difficult night, but for some reason I felt pretty good when I woke up.

Thursday was a milestone day for me. After 18 months with upper and lower braces, my dentist had them removed, giving me a mouth full of straight teeth. It was important to get this done before chemotherapy, fortunately the timing worked out perfectly. I'll be required to wear retainers most of the time the next 6 months as my teeth lock into their final position. It is funny to hear me talk with a lisp. In a few weeks I should be adjusted to the retainers in my mouth. On Thursday night Deb took the kids up to my parents for the weekend.

Friday was chemo day. We arrived at Karmanos around 7:30am, first stop being the lab for bloodwork. Unfortunately, there was a mix up with our paperwork and we waited 90 minutes before finding out that we had already missed our 8:40am appointment with Dr. Flaherty. Everything was eventually sorted out, but we were essentially running 1 hour behind schedule. My bloodwork came back OK for chemo treatment and we had a good discussion with Dr. Flaherty regarding the chemo and clinical trial drug treatment. My chemo drugs were Paclitaxel (often called Taxol) and Carboplatin (the nurses referred to it as Carbo). These chemo drugs are considered to be low on the toxicity scale, with side effects being relatively mild. The most common side effect of the clinical trial drug (BAY 43-9006) is dryness or a mild rash on the skin. Dr. Flaherty felt that the overall treatment would potentially reduce my lung fluid issue, as a very small tumor (smaller than can be detected on a CT scan) could be causing irritation resulting in fluid collection in my chest cavity.

We settled into our private chemo room at 12:30pm, and finally started the brigade of intravenous drugs at 1pm. The first 3 drugs (~60 minutes) were pre-chemo concoctions that included anti-nausea and steroid medications. Taxol was the first chemo treatment, which took 3.5 hours. Carbo was next, which took about 45 minutes. I didn't have any negative side effects to either of these drugs during the infusion. We finally exited Karmanos at 6:45pm, a long day but thankfully I was feeling well enough to drive us home.

Deb's mom arrived at our place late Friday night for a weekend visit. I slept well and felt just a slight amount of chest pain when getting up from bed (due to the fluid in the left lung). After taking my pill medications on Saturday morning, I felt like going out for breakfast. We stopped in at our local IHOP and found out that Doug Savant (one of the stars from Desperate Housewives and brother of the IHOP owner) would be at the restaurant from 1-4pm. Deb and her mom were quite excited and decided to return later to get a picture with Tom. I decided that I had enough of IHOP for one day ;).


On Sunday morning I got out of bed with no chest pain, which meant that most of the fluid in my chest was gone. My appetite has been great and I'm feeling energetic. I haven't experienced any of the negative side effects. I'm hoping that this will continue over the next few weeks as the drugs battle my cancer. Note that I'll probably lose what's left of my hair in the next 2 weeks ;).

Please continue to pray for my healing, specifically that I avoid infection due to my weakened immune system, that my lungs would stay clear of fluid, and that the chemo and clinical drugs would shrink my tumor.