TUESDAY - I am so happy that I have gotten to two of my three Sun City committee meetings this week. One more to go on Thursday. All that to say that I am STILL steadily improving and pretty darn happy about that. Plus getting other real work done.
So, now.... yes, I did talk to Dr. Katz today plus talked to her assistant. Remember who she is? Assistant prof at the Rush cancer center in Chicago.
She seems to favor doing the 3rd round of chemo. Why?
1. In spite of the infection, I have done exceptionally well through all the chemotherapy. She says that I am quite an exceptional person. Nice to hear. She cites a bunch of folks similar to me who just have struggles because of over all health, attitude...who knows. She did not says faith and prayer but that is certainly the foundation, isn't it?
2. She feels there is less of a risk of leukemia reoccurring by doing the 3rd round.
3. It is hard to compare option #2 to option #3 in terms of long-term outcome because there is not enough data. They've only been using the Decitabine [for maintenance] for about 5 years. They have much more experience with the drug for Consolidation Chemo.
4. I made it through all the chemo pretty well so far. Hard? Yes. But I did it. And, as I told Dawn, I could do it again if that's what I needed to do.
5. If I do round 3, then I am done with chemo and only require monitoring. I can pretty much just move on with my life.
It's a hard decision and I'm not 100% sure of what we'll do. Dawn and I will talk about it tonight if she's not too tired when she gets home about 9pm. So pray for us on this. And, yes, I am a bit fearful, as Dr. Katz said, of getting another infection. However, she also said that infections are different. Just because you had one, doesn't make you more likely to get another one. But infections are possible every time you have chemo because your whole system is so highly compromised. The maintenance chemo is not strong enough to have any side effects. But you need it often.
Dawn and I had dinner at mom and Gerry's tonight because Gerry had to go to a meeting and we don't leave mom alone. I just got home. Dawn was up as usual at 5:15am and off to get her mom up, then to work, then back there again and not home until later. Boy, what long days.
Love to you guys,
Bob Marcom
So, now.... yes, I did talk to Dr. Katz today plus talked to her assistant. Remember who she is? Assistant prof at the Rush cancer center in Chicago.
She seems to favor doing the 3rd round of chemo. Why?
1. In spite of the infection, I have done exceptionally well through all the chemotherapy. She says that I am quite an exceptional person. Nice to hear. She cites a bunch of folks similar to me who just have struggles because of over all health, attitude...who knows. She did not says faith and prayer but that is certainly the foundation, isn't it?
2. She feels there is less of a risk of leukemia reoccurring by doing the 3rd round.
3. It is hard to compare option #2 to option #3 in terms of long-term outcome because there is not enough data. They've only been using the Decitabine [for maintenance] for about 5 years. They have much more experience with the drug for Consolidation Chemo.
4. I made it through all the chemo pretty well so far. Hard? Yes. But I did it. And, as I told Dawn, I could do it again if that's what I needed to do.
5. If I do round 3, then I am done with chemo and only require monitoring. I can pretty much just move on with my life.
It's a hard decision and I'm not 100% sure of what we'll do. Dawn and I will talk about it tonight if she's not too tired when she gets home about 9pm. So pray for us on this. And, yes, I am a bit fearful, as Dr. Katz said, of getting another infection. However, she also said that infections are different. Just because you had one, doesn't make you more likely to get another one. But infections are possible every time you have chemo because your whole system is so highly compromised. The maintenance chemo is not strong enough to have any side effects. But you need it often.
Dawn and I had dinner at mom and Gerry's tonight because Gerry had to go to a meeting and we don't leave mom alone. I just got home. Dawn was up as usual at 5:15am and off to get her mom up, then to work, then back there again and not home until later. Boy, what long days.
Love to you guys,
Bob Marcom
No comments:
Post a Comment