Medical: 5 days 'til Chemo #2

Getting back from the eclipse meant getting back to work, and a chance to have a weekend at home after the two prior weekend's Ballet & Eclipse and before this weekend's Appaloosa Festival. All together that's nearly 4000 miles of driving on the old (2004) minivan, and is fairly taxing on the old (1965) me.

 Last weekend, while I stayed home, the family went to Eastham on Cape Cod and had a glorious time, but I just needed a chance to sleep late and do a few projects at home.  The outdoor community pool closed on Aug 26th, so I returned to the gym for exercise on Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday.

THE MEDICAL PART

Wednesday was my first doctor's appointment in a long time.  Mrs Blogger and I met with the oncologist and:

1) Saw that my tumor has stopped shrinking for now (and even grown back a little, I'd say)  It is definitely bigger than a Brazil nut, but much smaller than it had been.  Still, it has started pushing down the same lymph tube it had before. The bullet-tip point has re-emerged (but smaller).

2) Doctor said this was about a normal amount of shrinkage.  She was pleased-enough with the results.

3) We're starting to plan for a real second opinion of Stem Cell or altneratives after Round #3 of Chemo concludes, say, October 20th or so.

4) The doctor cancelled my port insertion, and frankly I'm happy.  She checked with the nurses and decided that my reaction to the Bendamustine had not been bad enough to warrant the risks and trouble of inserting the chest port.  Looking back, I'd asked for the port mostly because the number of needle stabs and blow-out bruises was getting a little hard to bear. But looking ahead, I'm just has happy to have only two procedures next week (4 hours of Rituxan-Benda and 2 hours of Benda) and not a half day of port-insertion. 

So then we drove to Virginia from 6pm to 4am Thursday into Friday.  Then on my Friday morning work call and work the day, while the rest of the family went to help their aunts and uncles set up the festival.

WHAT PORT INSERTION WOULD HAVE INVOLVED

I shared a diagram of the port.  But the surgery had two complications:

1) They wanted me to shower twice with Hibaclens to sterilize my front from neck to groin. Then wear only freshly-laundered clothes and sleep on freshly-laundered sheets.  That was going to be a big deal for a guy like me who treasures both his skin bacteria and his gut bacteria as symbiotic friends.

2) The surgery would have put the port in my chest Wednesday, and they'd have closed the skin around Thursday's first chemo needle and I'd have lived with a needle sticking out of the closing wound. Yuck.