Two new chemo drugs, many new side effects

It's been about a month since the last post, so it's time for another update.

They did a nerve block on August 29 to kill nerves around my upper abdomen.  This was to deal with the pain I've been having since last December. The dull ache in my side is likely due to the cancer having spread to my lungs; it's gotten progressively worse these past nine months.  Previously, I could feel it with every breath, so I was glad this procedure would offer some relief.  

Immediately afterward, my blood pressure took awhile to come back up, so they gave me two extra liters of fluid. 

I went home but still felt pretty light-headed when standing. After a few days of this, I finally went back and they gave me two more liters of fluid. They took some blood at the end and found I was really anemic, so they gave me three units of blood. They also drained a liter and a half of fluid from the lining of my lung which helped with shortness of breath. After all of that, I finally felt pretty decent.  The nerve block has dulled the pain some, which is a relief.

Tarceva, the new chemotherapy drug that I started in mid-August, was giving me so many side effects (heartburn, rash/acne) that the oncologist reduced the dosage and now those side effects are much more manageable.  One side effect that has not gone away, unfortunately, is extreme fatigue.  I thought I was pretty tired before from regular chemo, but this is even worse.

When I saw the doctor again in mid-September, he said that the chemo infusion drug that had worked for so long and got me the ten months of remission was now wreaking havoc on my bone marrow. I have basically stopped producing red blood cells. They gave me another unit of blood that day, so in between that transfusion and the three units I received earlier in September, that's four units total -- about half of the total blood volume. Because of this, Dr. Gilcrease took me off the chemo infusion drug and put me on one that is the second in the arsenal against gallbladder cancer.  The name of the drug is 5FU and it has some pretty hefty side effects: mouth sores (I haven't had too much of that yet) and some chest pain (nothing too debilitating so far; it feels like pressure around my chest).  It's delivered over a 48-hour period via a small ball that hangs around my neck.  I don't need to go to Huntsman for infusion now, though I still go every other Friday to receive the "chemo ball" and to meet with the doctor.

Overall, this past month has been particularly challenging.  I've lost weight and I've lost a lot of strength.  The fatigue is relentless.  It's hard to remain positive but I'm doing my best.  We will do scans in the next week or two, and then we'll be able to see whether these new drugs have been doing what they're intended to do.

Thanks as always for your continued words of encouragement, concern, and prayers.  They mean so much to me and my family.