Followup

Curt has been doing pretty well since his treatment last Friday. At 1:30 PM on Saturday we returned to the upper campus of OHSU for his Neupogen-type shot to start rebuilding his white blood cells. The nurse recommended he stay away from crowds for at least a week (she gave him some masks to wear sometimes, but he hasn't used them yet). It was interesting that his weight was up about 8 lbs.!. Since then, it has returned to about 159 lbs. We did stop at Costco in Albany on the way home for some shopping and ice cream. He napped for about 1 1/2 hours when we got home and watched TV that night. He was happy that he had little, if any, pain and was able to read a book during the treatment and not have his eye bother him. It has continued that way so far.
So Curt did not go to church on Sunday (crowd). He fertilized his flowers, etc., outside in the morning, listened to a book on CD, napped, mowed the grass, and watched some TV. Monday we went to a friend's house from about 10 AM to 5 PM. We took about an hour walk (the weather has been great since we returned), ate and visited. Later that evening we went to the tennis club and hit some tennis balls for about 45 min. No naps this day.
Tuesday morning Curt played some singles tennis, but did not complete a set. He said his legs seemed rubbery. He cancelled his dentist appointment for that day because of the possiblity of infection (he takes his temperature every day). I drove him around for several errands in the afternoon. He had finished his followup anti-nausea pills the previous day and his stomach starting feeling a little queasy. He took a backup anti-nausea pill in the afternoon. They had him get 3 different anti-nausea prescriptions to use if necessary. He feels better if he eats or drinks a little. Tuesday night our neighbors had us over for some Gluten Free cake.
I worked at the Thrift Shop this morning. Curt said he did not sleep well last night (too many trips to the bathroom). He listened to a book and napped a little. He went to the store on his own this afternoon to return something and is napping again. There is a makeup coed softball game Friday night at 8:40 PM and another game this Sunday. He wants to go to those and might play. I think he might go to church Sunday too.

Chemotherapy

We had a nice visit in Illinois from May 5 to 20. We started by celebrating Beth's 40th birthday and watched lots of baseball and soccer. The weather was cool a lot of the time (the wind made it extra cold). Some games were rained out. We also went to a Boy Scout Olympics, helped the boys with their school work, and Curt launched 2 rockets into orbit (we assume they are in orbit because we could not find them). We were able to see both of Curt's brothers, his aunt and uncle, Jason's parents, and Curt's former baseball catcher from 5th through 12th grades. When we left, Beth's kitchen was gutted. They hope to have the new one done in about 3 weeks.
We got home about 10:30 on Wednesday night (20th) and came back to Angie's Thursday evening. Curt went to OHSU at 8 this morning. He first saw a Nurse Practioner who checked him over (he weighed 158.3 lbs.!) and talked about the treatments. She also mentioned we might work with a Palliative Care Team later. I think they are concerned about the tumor being so close to the carotid artery. They hope these treatments will cause the tumor to shrink in this area (as well as other areas). He will see Dr. Chui on July 6 to check it out. After seeing the Nurse Practioner, we waited back in the waiting room before going to one of the 22 stations they have for treatments. We had a nice view of Mt. St. Helens from the 7th floor of the lower campus building. Curt had a nurse there who put in the IV, hydrated him for awhile, gave him a steroid and another anti-nausea pill, and finally started the first drug (Taxotere) about 11 AM. After an hour she gave him the second drug (Platinol) for an hour. It took about 45 minutes to finish his last hydration. We were out of there before 2. Curt read a book and rested during the treatment. The Pharmacist came to tell about more anti-nausea pills to take. They would prefer he not take so much Excedrin and try some Tylenol instead. He hasn't taken any of those all day. On our way back to Angie's, we stopped to get a few groceries. We got back before 3 and Curt has been sleeping since then (about 1 1/2 hours). Tomorrow at 1:30 we return to the upper campus of OHSU so Curt can get a shot of Neupogen that will help to rebuild the white blood cells that were killed by his drug treatment. He can do whatever he feels like and needs to drink a lot to flush out the chemicals.
On June 9 we will return to Lake Oswego to watch Maddie and Vega's dance and gymnastic "recital". On June 10 we will attend a class from 10 to 11:30 at OHSU about chemotherapy. On June 11 he will have a "Port" surgically implanted in his upper chest for future blood tests and treatments. His next treatment will be on June 12 (provided the blood tests are okay at that time).
So far, so good. The next few days will tell more about how he tolerated everything.