Halfway mark!

My oncologist gave me some unexpected news on Monday. I went into Dr Gregory Litton’s office and we were discussing the outline of the rest of my treatments. He said I was on cycle 4 (out of 6), and I kept thinking to myself that I was on cycle 3 and he must be mistaken. I finally got my pad of paper out so I could have him clarify what he meant. The very first day of chemo was done on March 29th. On March 30th I broke my femur and ended up taking a couple of ambulance rides; finally arriving to IMC in Murray to await surgery the next day. Then, there was the surgery on March 31st. So there wasn’t any possible way to complete the cycle I had just started on the 29th because I was recovering in the hospital and then put into rehab for 30 days. To make up the items I missed on the very tail end of my treatments may not be that beneficial either, I was told. So in actuality, since the first day of the first cycle was counted as complete, and because I have completed two other full cycles, I am at the halfway mark; Cycle 4!! I started today. Can I get a "wahoo!?!" Also, I found out that my cancer is in remission; which I didn’t realize even knowing what the pathology report said. I am being treated with chemotherapy for the potential of microscopic cancer; or what might be there. Sarcomas are high grade and fast growing. If there was even one small cancer cell left that the naked eye could not see, it could grow very quickly and be twice as hard to deal with the second time around. Or even metastasize. There were negative signs on my chest x-ray (lungs) of any tumor growth. This x-ray was done quite a few weeks ago and I guess I had figured no news was good news. The lungs would be the first place it would metastasize, so that was indeed good news. All in all, a very positive day ending with a trip to JCW’s for a hamburger and french fry with my mom.

This is how my chemo road map should have been. However, on the first cycle I only completed day 1, and will not be making up the rest on the tail end of treatment.

Cycle 1:
Day 1: adriamycin and cisplatin
Day 2: adriamycin and cisplatin
Day 3: neulasta shot
Day 21: high dose methotrexate (with leucovorin)
Day 28: high dose methotrexate (with leucovorin)

Cycle 2:
Day 1: adriamycin and cisplatin
Day 2: adriamycin and cisplatin
Day 3: neulasta shot
Day 21: high dose methotrexate (with leucovorin)
Day 28: high dose methotrexate (with leucovorin)

Cycle 3:
Day 1: adriamycin and cisplatin
Day 2: adriamycin and cisplatin
Day 3: neulasta shot
Day 21: high dose methotrexate (with leucovorin)
Day 28: high dose methotrexate (with leucovorin)

Cycle 4:
Day 1: adriamycin and cisplatin
Day 2: adriamycin and cisplatin
Day 3: neulasta shot
Day 21: high dose methotrexate (with leucovorin)
Day 28: high dose methotrexate (with leucovorin)

Cycle 5:
Day 1: adriamycin
Day 2: adriamycin
Day 3: neulasta shot
Day 14: high dose methotrexate (with leucovorin)
Day 21: high dose methotrexate (with leucovorin)

Cycle 6:
Day 1: adriamycin
Day 2: adriamycin
Day 3: neulasta shot
Day 14: high dose methotrexate (with leucovorin)
Day 21: high dose methotrexate (with leucovorin)

* cycle length is 36 days approx. (unless hospitalization, other illnesses due to cancer, low blood/kidney/liver counts, holidays, scheduling, etc…)
** adriamycin and cisplatin are done as outpatient.
*** high dose methotrexate (with leucovorin) is done as inpatient, and usually requires about 4-6 days each time in the hospital.

I will likely be done with the chemotherapy treatments in December instead of sometime in the Spring of 2011, which is what I had thought. It is important to keep looking forward... forward to the end of treatment, forward to life next year, forward to the years to come... Keep looking forward.