Since the last post, I've done a needle biopsy from my lung on February 10th and had two chemotherapy infusions on the 12th and the 19th.
The biopsy was done under CT so they could be sure to include one of the lesions that have now shown up in my lungs. They were there previously but had gone away during the previous rounds of chemo. They're really tiny, but lots of them. The belief is that they are the cause of the coughing I've had and likely the ache in my abdomen. The plan is to also do gene mapping on them, so we can have better options when choosing a clinical trial.
We got the pathology results of the biopsy and they are indeed the cause of the coughing and are related to the cancer. You'll recall that I've been at Stage IV since the early detection so this is really no surprise. The gene mapping is not yet done.
The chemo infusions were the same as earlier. Bloodwork was good so I got the full doses of the drugs. We had several visitors during infusion on the 12th. First the University of Utah cheerleaders came by talking to each chair with valentine wishes. There are forty chairs and beds so it took a while. A little later a couple of room mothers (I assume) from an elementary school in West Valley City brought everyone some handmade valentines and a roll of mints or candy. Later the Spirit Team from the University brought valentines to each chair.
On the 19th, a therapy dog training handler brought her dog and went to each chair asking if we wanted to pet her dog. Most people did. At the end of the infusion they gave me an on-body-injector for a shot of neulasta. It saves an extra trip to get a 30 second shot of the drug that stimulates the bone marrow to produce more white blood cells so I'm good to go again for more chemo again in two weeks. The injector is just stick to my upper arm and 27 hours later it gives me the shot. You peel it off when it's done and throw it away. I can just imagine all the engineering that went into this gizmo with the timers, clickers, flashing lights, and completion indicators.
I really appreciate all the prayers, e-mails, texts, phone calls from so many people. It really helps me to keep a positive attitude about all this.
I'll end with the text from "Will," an elementary student who wrote the following on his valentine to me. The first letter on each line spells SUCCESS. He'll be president some day.
See your goal.
Understand the obstacles.
Create positive mental picture.
Clear your mind of all self doubts.
Embrace the challenge.
Stay on track.
Show the world you can Do It.