Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The results (changed from earlier today)

You won't find a lot of healthy looking people who aren't medical personnel at MD Anderson. Only some of it has to do with Houston being one of the fattest cities in the US. It's more because of the obvious--there are a lot of sick people here. They really look the part, too. Many don't walk upright or walk at all. They move very, very slowly. Many have a dark gray complexion and that gaunt look. And that's before you even talk to them.

I don't see myself as one of these patients. I move much faster and still look pretty fit. But apparently that's not what it looks like inside of me. I was expecting a good reduction in the tumor and was hoping that much of it would be gone. I didn't get that. My doctor said that the tumors have only decreased in size at the most around 25%. Both sides of my chest still contain active tumors. And my labs are still down. He is now going to put me on a new chemo regimen. This one entails getting a treatment every eight days for the next month. He won't tell me what Plan C is if this doesn't work. He said that this chemo has a 50% chance of further reducing the tumor. Although I didn't think those were good odds so early on in my treatment, he disagreed. 

With these results I thought I was categorized as something called "chemo-resistant" and wrote about it in a previously title post. That's a really bad thing since survival rate odds go way, way down. As in I would have a 10-30% chance of seeing Bobby Jindal kick off his Presidential election campaign. But Dr. Wendy straightened me out with one phone call.My body responded  to the chemo. It just didn't take to it enough. Looks like I'm going to have to fire a few Generals in my army.

This is crappy news, for sure. But so what. I'm going to move on. And I get to experience the joys of Houston for at least another month. 

One interesting tidbit. In all the waiting rooms there are TVs. A little more than half have that Fixed News station. Remember, it is Texas and most old people are patients. The hospital has these signs about not changing the station no matter if it's on a real news station, like MSNC, or Faux News. Still, I make it a point to change the channel to MSNBC whenever possible. I figure I'm either annoying a Fixed News fan (which is actually a delight) or I'm pleasing someone who's not. Either way, I think I'm doing my part to educate Texas. 

2 comments:

  1. So, like everyone else I read this entry and was thinking, "Wow, this really sucks." Then I reached the second to last paragraph and saw the silver lining, the ray of hope, the needle in the haystack, that the glass is half full - of beer. It all comes down Bobby Jindal continuing to look like an idiot on the national stage and the good folks of the Republican party realizing that it's one thing for Americans to elect an African American as president, but it's just to much to ask that we vote for some swamp rat from the Bayou. Assuming that they figure this out sooner, rather than later, then he will not be kicking off a presidential campaign any time soon and you win. Since I'm not a doctor, although I often play one in the bedroom, I haven't figured out how we explain this theory to the cancer cells, but it seems like a mere technicality.

    Here's to Mitt Romney getting the Republican nod in 2012 and scaring Bobby out of the race before he even enters it.

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  2. To borrow from Jack Handey's Deep Thoughts:

    "My Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis."

    I actually happen to think laughter has some healing properties science hasn't fully studied yet. So here's a nice healthy dose...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2BgjH_CtIA&feature=related

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