Today is my "last" chemo, #12 of 12. "Last" is in quotes because I may be receiving chemo as part of later care. And, more importantly, this series of chemo treatments have been in preparation for the next phases of treatment, which will be clarified after visits to Memorial Sloan Kettering (NYC) and Johns Hopkins (Baltimore) March 20th and 22nd, respectively. Next steps may include surgery, to remove the tumor. Or perhaps radiation, or even something else I haven't yet considered. I will certainly post here in about three weeks, once we find out. Please note that my next update to this site may not be until after those visits. Thus, for those of you who count the days, please don't fret if you don't see anything new at the two-week mark!

 

I continue working out when I can, limited to my second week as before. I tried doing some cardio the Friday following treatment but after just 20 minutes had to stop since I felt very lightheaded. However, during the following week, I was able to do up to 1.5 hours of cardio at a time on some days, indoors at the Y. I did some stationary biking, as well as alternating run-walking on the treadmill, but not quite as often as every-other-day due mostly to lower daily energy levels.

 

I experienced a tougher-than-normal weekend-before-treatment, all starting with Friday night during which we had to deal with a private, long-standing, medical issue within the family, nothing related to my cancer. Also, my peripheral neuropathy has lasted longer than before, with sensation irregularities in both my fingers and feet right up to today's treatment. Reasons to limit this aggressive chemo to 12 treatments is because we don't want there to be permanent damage to my peripheral nerves. And there may be diminishing returns on the effect of the chemo poisons on the tumor.

 

Wherever you are, far or near, I always appreciate your Comments here. Each one has been so very helpful to me, and I am so grateful to hear from so many of you during my treatment. Thank you, all, and expect to see an entry here before March 26th!