Where I Stand

Life is beautiful. 'nuff said.
Okay, probably not. I have completed 10 weeks of arsenic chemo at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine at Penn. It has dropped some of my blood counts down a bit, but not dangerously so. I have a little peripheral neuropathy as a result - some burning in my feet and hands. That, fortunately is fading quickly as the arsenic leaves my system. Right now I am experiencing some numbness and tingling in my feet. So that's going pretty well.

I have 2 glorious weeks off from my "bad part time job" getting chemo. The only downside of that is I miss all my new best friends, the gorgeous and glamorous oncology nurses at the infusion clinic. It is amazing how fast you become accustomed to new things. Their good humor and smiling faces make poisoning my body so much easier to take.
NOTE TO SELF: Must use that idea in a story one day.

Next Up: In 2 weeks I start on a new chemo regimen. Actually it is the old chemo regimen I had in the hospital, daunorubicin and ATRA. This will destroy my immune system and my ability to make blood cells again. I will be easy pickings for any bacteria or virus that passes by. It's like burning the sugar cane fields, I guess. You need to clear everything out so new healthy growth can return.

When my blood counts come back, they will hit me with the same combo again and torch the field one last time. After that, my friends, the sky's the limit! Hopefully I will be back in time for the beach.

So that's the story. This week and next week I will be loving life as much as possible before returning to the drug chair and a life of germaphobia. Stay tuned.