Round 10

 I recently tested positive for COVID after our trip, but I almost didn’t even know it because the symptoms I had was that of a common cold. Of Course I was physically tired, but then I usually am these days with chemo. My Oncologist said enough days passed and wasn’t worried about me having my 10th round of Chemo today; although he was going to modify one of the drugs slightly due to my constant numbness and tingling in my feet and some in my hands.

My newest numbers from last chemo draw. The CA-19 numbers take a week or more to result which is why you will see an old date.

CA-19
9/18/2024	291
8/26/2024	288
8/14/2024	348
7/25/2024	241
7/10/2024	230
6/27/2024	222
6/7/2024	637
5/10/2024	1917
4/13/2024	1246

This round of chemo was a little harder because I was already feeling a little nauseous before even starting the infusions.

Hurricane Helene

 Looks like we lucked out again. Even though we had a major branch come down in the front lawn, there was no damage to the house or vehicles. Unlike my neighbor who had a tree come down on her roof (for the 2nd time).

I got the strength to go out with the chainsaw and start cutting the limbs to 3-foot sections, but quickly became winded and had to stop. We had our tree guy come out and finish the job. I felt like I was going to collapse when mom called it quits. She probably saw how hard I was breathing.

Neighbors house

Tuesday Cancer Update

I had a CT at 0900 this morning. My Onchologist called me later in the day and said that the mass in the tail of the pancreas and another spot is "mildly bigger" but says the area is quite small and there are no new masses. He said another area was smaller.

We plan to continue this same treatment until the next CT in 2 months (4 more rounds of chemo) and reevalutate it again. He said he has been looking into some clinical trials as well. 

One thing he always asks is if I've lost any weight, how is my appetite and how have I been feeling. I only lose my appetite on chemo day, mainly because I just want to sleep. Although I could stand to lose a few pounds, I have not. Overall, I feel good. I'm not as strong as I was. If I kneel down for any reason I need to grab something to get myself up. My legs alone have a hard time getting me back to standing. Just things I have to learn to live with.

I was hoping to hear that the masses shrank or stayed the same size. There were some issues this last cycle with one chemo bag leaking and then being delayed by infected port. Maybe that had an effect on what we see today. Probably didn't help that my vacation also delayed me by 1.5 weeks, so I won't be surprised if my CA-19 goes up a little again.

CA-19
8/26/2024	288
8/14/2024	348
7/25/2024	241
7/10/2024	230
6/27/2024	222
6/7/2024	637
5/10/2024	1917
4/13/2024	1246

Monday

 Another travel day. The Airport debt a taxi for is at the Holiday Inn Express at noon. After picking up one other person we got dropped off at Terminal 3 of Heathrow. It was about 1pm when we got through security and had 2 hours to spare so we had lunch. 

The plane left about 20min late due to the airport sequencing of aircraft departing. This time we were a step up from the Delta Comfort + and were in Premium. There is much more room with only 2 seats together on the left, middle and right side of the aircraft. It came with headphones for the in-flight entertainment system instead of the ear buds prior. There's also bottles of water between the two seats with a larger armrest between the seats. With the 20 Premium seats we got our own flight attendant that referred to us by name when taking meal orders. The two meals didn't look appetizing so I ate my Belvita. She brought us hot towels prior to the meal. Half way through the flight she brought us warm chocolate chip cookies. There's supposed to be a pre-arrival meal as well. One thing is for sure, any future flights will be this or first class from now on. 

Atlanta airport was chaotic as expected. We had about 40 min to get through customs and then through another security checkpoint for connecting flights. The Gainesville flight was slightly delayed and we made it with about 20 min to spare. We finally got home at midnight.

Sunday

Today is just a travel day flying from Oslo to Heathrow where I booked is a hotel in the airport. The connections were a little too close for comfort when I planned this trip and I wanted to limit my stress. We took a taxi to The train station and then the train only took 20 min to get to the airport. They served us a meal of chicken and pasta which for once was pretty good.

No good plan goes off without a hitch. I planned to stay at the Aerohotel in Terminal 3. We found out that the water has been turned off to the entire terminal and they are going to make arrangements for another hotel with taxi service to and from. Since there were 4 different parties we got driven around to two other hotels before we got to ours. Then there was a problem at the reception desk. Something about the voucher left of what we paid. Not sure how that mattered, but the manager came out and got us a room. Then I discover we have an adjoining room but our side doesn't lock. So anyone in the next room can just walk in.

Saturday

Today we went back to Bygdoy to the Norse Folkmuseum, an open air museum with it’s collection of medieval buildings from different areas of Norway. There was some very steep paths where the path was either roots or rocks. The Stave church is probably the most popular building on display. Many buildings were built in pillars to keep the rats out, which is also why there's a gap between the steps and the door.