Heading to the 50 yard line

I guess it has been a long time since writing last, but fortunately for me there are plenty who lend their time to fill the gap. I am in the last hour of the fifth day and last day of my fourth session, which has been much better than the third session. If there is one thing to be learned, it is not necessary to take everything they offer you as the manditory stuff will do plenty to screw up your head. During week three, I forewent the pain killers however continued all of the other goodies and found myself in a fog for nearly a week after finishing the last day. My head was so screwy that I had maximum difficulties with memory and trying to communicate as spewing out a simple sentece was a real challenge. This week I decide to dump all of the "optional" medications and found things going pretty good until Thursday, when it became apparent that my food intake was going to be reduced or haulted by a lingering and creeping case of nausia. Nothing like a little Marinol to induce a nice mid-morning coma. That said, my fourth week has been uneventful and appears to be the calm before the storm considering the activities planned in a couple of weeks.

The good part is that I have until August 10th before imaging will attain the current status of the tumor. Of course something less than the last measurement of a 3.9 cm diameter will be welcome, but the real scary thing is waiting for the full body scans to see if anything else has grown within my body since my first scan which occurred before starting chemo. If nothing new appears, I will be invited to join the surgeons first thing on the morning of Wednesday, August 12th. Unfortunately there is no clear course for my lung surgery since imaging does not clearly show the extent of the tumor's attachement to my lung or the downward extent of a necessary portion of the margins. The first could require permanent removal of two ribs should the tumor have grown through the inner lining while the second could require partial removal of a second lobe if it enters the vicinity of a major blood vessel located in the neighborhood. Timewise this translates to a 3 to 10 day stay in the hospital. Nothing like a variable schedule projection.

The family and brotherhood presence has been phenominal as throughout my haze of the third week, into my time off, and into this fouth session. You do not know how much everybody's continued visits, calls, and emails enhance the "good" side of this experience. I would continue, but therapy is over and...I AM GETTING THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!