So, in my last episode I was beginning my radiation treatment for prostate cancer. I had the first treatment and all was going well. Actually, I was doing fine even after my 4th treatment and played golf that afternoon, and the next day. I thought that this was going to be a piece of cake…WRONG. After the 5th treatment I started feeling the side effects. I knew this was a possibility because I had been told the side effects were cumulative, i.e., it builds up the more you get and it finally catches up to you. The bad side effects, mainly GI, urinary problems and fatigue hit me pretty hard. So hard I was unable to play golf for the next 3 weeks. As I have mentioned before, I gauge how I feel on whether or not I can play golf. In this case, I could not. Starting week 4, I finally began to feel a little better, even playing golf twice that week. Of course, right in the middle of my feeling poorly I developed an infection, which prompted a visit to City of Hope for treatment. Finally, I think the antibiotics have done their job and I think it has cleared up. At the end of the radiation, I did get to RING THE BELL, which is something cancer patients get to do when they have finished treatment. In my 24 years with CLL, I have never gotten to ring the bell, so this was a milestone of sorts.
So, you are probably thinking, oh, that’s not too bad, but I’m
not done yet. Before I went to Alabama,
I had gone to a cardiologist for some chest pressure I was having. He wanted to do a stress test right away, But
I said, it will have to wait because we are leaving for Alabama the next
day. So, he scheduled the stress test,
and gave me a prescription for nitroglycerin, saying take this if you have chest
pain. The prescription was for 100
tablets, so I don’t know what he was expecting to happen.
As luck would have it, my prostate radiation was delayed a
week from the original start date, and the stress test was now scheduled right
in the middle of the radiation treatment.
So, I called City of Hope and asked if it was OK, for me to have this test
right in the middle of radiation. The
nurse first responded yes, then the cardiologist called me to confirm the test
for the next day, so I said OK, but then at 5pm the City of Hope Doctor emailed
me and said ‘absolutely not!!’. So of
course no one was in the cardiologist office, so I had to leave a message telling
them I would not be there at 7am the next morning for the test. So, I called and rescheduled the stress test
for the next week. Now keep in mind I
was in the middle of the side effects from the radiation and I thought it was
going to just be a drug induced stress test, but NOOOO, if was a full-blown
treadmill, with nuclear dye. I honestly
did not know how I was going to get thru it.
I managed, but had to time trips to the bathroom at strategic
intervals. Luckily my original post
stress test appointment with the cardiologist was the next day, so Donna and I
go into the cardiologist’s office and he gives me the news. You had an abnormal stress test, that shows ‘some’
blockage. I need to schedule you for an
angiogram and a possible heart stent ASAP.
So, 8 days later I went into the hospital and had the angiogram, and
they put in a heart stent because my right coronary artery was 100%
blocked.
So now I am recovering from radiation side effects, the
infection and the heart procedure, all within 4 weeks.
We were actually supposed to go to Arizona to be with Sarah
and her family after she had surgery, but her surgery and my heart procedure
were scheduled for the SAME day. So that got nixed and Kevin’s mom went in our
place and then they all drove here last week so Sarah and her boys could
recover here instead of in 114-degree weather.
I was finally feeling pretty good and well enough to play
golf this week and I also got to do a video shoot for the drug company (Lilly)
for the drug (Jaypirca) I am currently on for my CLL. This was about a 5-hour deal with makeup and
the whole nine yards. There were about
12 people on the production set, so it was the real deal. This video will be shown at a Hematology conference
in December where they are presenting information about the drug I am on, including
a patient perspective.
I hope things are going to settle down for a while because I
don’t need anymore excitement in my life right now.
Stay well
Terry
