2 Down, 1 to go

This weeks treatment went off without a hitch. Showed up at 1 pm was asleep by 1:15 and pretty much had to be awakened at 4 and told to go home. I actually slept pretty well Tuesday night, though I was awake early on Wednesday morning. Worked all day and am ready for a good nights sleep tonight. Not many side effects this past week, just a few of the usual pimples on my eyelids, no where else yet. Also the Sandostatin seems to be working and keeping the diarrhea under control – at least to single digit bathroom trips each day. I’ll take it.

The stent finally came out last Thursday. Wahoo…what a relief – immediate relief actually. It took a few tries to get it out, but it’s incredible how much pain and discomfort a piece of penne pasta (which is pretty much what the stent resembled) can cause. Dr. Karian and I talked a bit more about the pathology report on the 10 (yes, the actual number was 10, not 2) polyps that he removed from the inside of my ureter. They were all benign and the lab called them inflammation. No idea of the cause, where they came from, what they were, no idea whether or not they are going to come back again, how to keep them away, etc. Dr. Karian wants answers. I do too, but I know chances are that I’m not going to get them. Just hearing the word “benign” was fine with me.

Dr. Karian spent some time during the initial procedure making sure there were no other polyps or unusual tumor like substances in my ureter or kidney, and he said the bladder looked great. This was good news for me – I haven’t experienced any problems (other than this little blockage) and the bladder has always felt fine to me. I have to have one more ultra sound to make sure everything is working properly and that the kidney has gone back to normal size. I’m off of all pain meds and down to just my twice daily Sandostatin injections.

Only one more dose of Erbitux this round, then a CT scan, then some travel, then back to the beginning. We’ve given up on the 8 doses per round and for now are just going to fit in doses between my travel schedule.

Just a little travel this past weekend – down to Greenwich, CT for the christening of Keagan Mack Gasbarro, our latest godchild. Pat had already spent the previous day in NYC, so after our familial obligations we headed to Tarrytown NY visited Kykuit (the Rockefeller estate), then on Sunday off to Sunnyside (Washington Irving’s home) and Lyndhurst (a gothic mansion) and a leisurely drive back to Boston. This weekend the goal is to take it extremely easy – perhaps we’ll even stay home.

All for now…