by Dave
This is weird. An anomaly. It just doesn't happen.
Yet it IS.
Almost everyone who reads this blog knows someone who has been through chemo. It's usually a mixed blessing: you get chemo's cancer-killing benefits, but you also suffer some discomforting side effects that vary in intensity based on the type of chemo to which you're subjected.
But apparently not me...at least not yet.
Here was the majority of my conversation with my doc yesterday; word for word:
Doc: (Feeling my stomach area) I don't need to wait for the CT scan in 2 weeks to be
able to tell you that your liver has shrunk noticably. Me: Is that good?
Doc: Yes, absolutely. Me: Awesome!
Doc: So...how you feeling, tired, huh? Me: Yeah, especially the last week off chemo.
Doc: What about chemo weeks? Me: I feel great.
Doc: You feel GREAT on chemo weeks? Me: Yeah. Isn't that the whole purpose?
Doc: The purpose of chemo is to kill cancer cells. Me: Exactly.
(Doctor tilts head quizzically.)
Doc: Any nausea? Me: Very little. I think I've taken four of the pills.
Doc: This week? Me: No, total. (Doc tilts head again.)
Doc: Any vomiting? Me: Not since 1991. (Doc raises eyebrows but doesn't look up.)
Doc: How's your appetite? Me: Great.
Doc: Any diarheia? Me: No.
Doc: Constipation? Me: No.
Doc: Any swelling in your feet or ankles? Me: No.
Doc: How about hair loss. Me: Not yet. (He raises his eyebrows again.)
Doc: Any coughing? Me: No.
Doc: Any sores or burns inside your mouth? Me: No.
Doc: Mind if I take a look? Me: Go ahead.
(Doc shines flashlight in my mouth, has me move tongue around.)
Doc: This is quite amazing. Me: What is?
Doc: It is like you are taking all of the benefits of chemo, but suffering none of the side
effects. Me: Isn't that the ideal?
Doc: It is, but you need to understand: the severity, the intensity of your specific chemo
protocol couldn't be much rougher. I have never seen anything like this. How did
you feel after your very first chemo treatment? Me: MUCH better. I felt
immediate relief from each of my symptoms. (Doc tilts his head and stares into
my eyes.)
Doc: Well, you are one in a million...maybe less than that. I can't explain it.
Me: I can. I serve an awesome God alongside a number of strong Christian friends who
have been praying for weeks. I also have other friends who, through their love and
compassion keep me encouraged, laughing and focused.
Doc: Well ask them to keep it up. This is amazing.
Amazing. Yes, it is.
I've wondered throughout this journey what people without faith in Jesus Christ would do in my situation (and I write this knowing that several readers are not believers - I love you, too). But there is nothing, NOTHING that tops the power and comfort of the prayers of those who love the Lord.
Yes, I know this high tide is unlikely to last. But I ALSO know that every chemo treatment that goes like these first thee is killing cancer cells, shrinking my liver, and giving me at least more days or weeks. And I believe if thinks go this way a while longer that could turn into months - even a year or more.
So I ask you to KEEP PRAYING. It's working!
In the meantime, I have a new identity: "CHEMO FREAK" (cue Rick James)!
I LOVE you and thank each of you for caring and loving Angela and me through this.
Dave
Dear Mouse,
One of my favorite childhood stories of you is the summer when you claimed one of the desks up at the radio station and wrote out a sign on poster board that proclaimed you: "The Informashun Lady." Clearly it was a self-imposed title, but it FIT! Outside of myself, you were the only one up there who knew what was what. You even served as the Traffic Director - a VERY important job back then - for the whopping salary of $20 (I always wished I had more to pay you back then). But my inspiration this middle-of-the-night is claiming a title then fulfilling it.
If you can be The Informashun Lady, then I can be the Chemo Freak!
LONG MAY WE REIGN!!!
I love you with everything in me,
Daddy xxOx
No comments:
Post a Comment