First of all, how is my health? Another and better way to phrase that question is: How am I feeling? Answer: I am feeling very well, thank you, and I am as surprised as anyone that I can say that. The reader may recall from two postings ago that with the failure of my treatment with Velcade I was about to undergo a different chemotherapy treatment regimen, this time with a four-drug cocktail known as either “Cold Ice” or “Bold Ice.” (Sorry to report that I haven’t yet solved this acronym naming dilemma, that is, what acronym to use for the combination of Ifosfamide, Carboplatin, and Etoposide, also known as VP-16, and Rituxan.)
This four drug cocktail is administered round-the-clock in the hospital and in my case took place over three days. So far I have had two separate treatment sessions. When I call this treatment regimen a “four-drug cocktail,” I am taking certain liberties. I am thinking of only the chemicals that have the job of directly attacking the cancer—Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL), in my case. Chemicals in addition to the big four are infused in the hospital. These chemicals have the job of protecting the kidneys and preventing nausea, among other jobs.
In Chemotherapy, Kidneys Important
Protecting the kidneys is very important in Bold Ice (or Cold Ice) infusion. In an infusion procedure, it is the kidneys that have the job of removing the saline that is a component of chemotherapy solutions and leaving the chemicals in the body, specifically in the blood stream, that have the job of working on the cancer.
When I say that I am feeling well, I am commenting on the combination of attitude, energy level, and experiences of pain and discomfort that I think of as the measure in total of that sense of being alive that I am calling “the life force.” No, I am not feeling perfect, and certainly two separate three-day chemotherapy sessions in the hospital have had negative effects, one of which is quite obvious.
The amount of hair on my body including on the top of my head is drastically reduced. In addition, my experience with food is altered. Related to a change in food interests is the intermittent battling with feelings of nausea and digestion issues, none of which has been severe so far.
Bring on Baked Beans
Chinese food, for example, now has no taste for me, and I have lost my interest in it. I do hope that my tastes for these foods will return, as they used to be part of my regular diet. On the other hand, foods that I have previously had only a mild interest in have drastically increased in appeal. At the top of this list is baked beans. I now love this product including the low-fat type. For me, baked beans have become a very soothing food and even a nausea-quelling staple.
Most gratifying for me is the fact that my energy-level has so far been only mildly impacted by the chemotherapy. Though in the midst of intensive chemotherapy, I have been able to undertake two challenging publishing ventures, which I will report on at the end of this posting. In addition, I am pleased that ideas for new writing projects have been coming to me at a fairly rapid rate.
Here’s an important aside about chemotherapy. When you are undergoing chemotherapy, you are holding two contrary wishes in your head: One is that the chemo will not make you too sick. The other is that the chemo will make you sick enough to kill the cancer inside your body. You sure don’t want what I experienced back when I was being treated with Velcade. You don’t want the treatment to be a total failure.
Not Terminal
In summary, I do not feel in any respect that I am close to death, in other words that I am terminal. I feel very much alive and hopeful. That said, I need to comment on the fact that I am moving ever closer to the next big stage in my medical treatment, which is the bone marrow transplant.
The idea behind the bone marrow transplant is that the patient has his blood chemistry redone. The hope is that through this extreme life-risking process the impurities in the blood that allow the generation of cancerous lymphocytes, a disease known as lymphoma, will be eliminated. Back six years ago, that is, in 2002, I had my first bone marrow transplant.
Called Autologous
Back then I was my own donor, that is, the basic stem cells that were used to rebuild my blood system came from me. The technical term for this kind of bone marrow transplant is “autologous.” The stem cells taken from me were purified to the maximum extent possible and then cryogenically frozen for later infusion in me.
In an allegenic bone marrow transplant, the stem cells come from a donor other than yourself. In this type of bone marrow transplant, the patient has an even greater chance of receiving a completely clean infusion. On the other hand, the risks from an allegenic bone marrow transplant are far higher, especially for anyone over 60. (I am approaching 69.)
Hoped for a Cure
Back in 2002 I hoped that the bone marrow transplant would cure me of lymphoma. What it did was give me five years of remission from the disease, but alas it was not a cure.
If and only if I am in remission from my latest chemotherapy—and that can only be determined in a CAT scan—I will go through a round of injections to build up the stem cells in my blood. My blood will be drawn so that the technicians can get at my stem cells, which will then be purified and preserved through a deep freezing or cryogenic process. What is left of the blood chemistry generation system that remains in me, most of which is centered in the hip bone, by the way, will then be killed.
Tense Time: Blood Chemistry Regeneration
The process of growing a new blood chemistry generation system in me will begin with the thawing of my purified stem cells and their infusion back into my body. Then comes the tense time when I and the medical staff wait for the reinfused stem cells to take up home in my hip bone and to regrow a new blood chemistry generation system. The whole process will take no less than seven weeks, and then there is the recuperation and recovery time, an indeterminate period.
I will be coming back to this subject of the bone marrow in subsequent postings, and so let me now switch to my big news, my “exciting announcement.” I have now signed a contract with Xlibris, an on-demand publishing service, for two books. My hope is that the first of these books will be available in about a month. The Xlibris bookstore is at the following address: http://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore.
Announcing: Murdoch McLoon
The first book is a sea adventure called “Murdoch McLoon And His Windmill Boat, An Epic For Our Time.” The second book is called “City Above The Sea.” Both books are poetry. “Murdoch McLoon is a story poem, and both are illustrated featuring the work of talented illustrator Lisa Marie Brennan. Look for more information on both books in these pages and on my general website: http://www.sasaftwrites.com. It is anticipated that both books will have their own websites and will be offered through the Xlibris bookstore as well as Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Borders and other online outlets.
I will be providing more information on these two books in subsequent postings. Thanks for tuning in to Mind Check. Look for another posting in about two weeks.
Copyright © 2008 by Stephen Alan Saft
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