The fight back

My first treatment with the drug they call cetuximab started yesterday. There was not much to it. First the nurse stuck a needle into my port, and drew out five veils of blood. This will be my base lines counts. The ones they can compare to in the future. These will be used to make sure all the medicines and what not that they are giving me are not sending these counts below any certain levels, that they would deem as dangerous levels. They have also weighed me now several times, and I am coming in at right 210 lbs. My goal has been in the last couple of weeks to put on as much weight as possible, before I am unable to swallow solid food and left with just liquids and smoothies. After all of this, the doctor came in and wanted to remind me of the possible side effects from the drug I was going to get. Aside from dying of a massive heart attack, he said the main one which usually occurs a couple weeks after use, is red acne like blemishes on the head and neck. I though great, just what I needed, zits to make feel like I was back in high school. He tried to make it sound normal by stating that is was "a sign that the medicine was working well". After this, I was led to the "infusion suite", yes, that is what it is called. Its pretty swank actually. A large room with about 14 nice recliners pointed toward the window with a nice northerly view. Lots of blankets and magazines abound. There is coffee and tea and refrigerators for bringing your lunch. They have tried to make it as comfortable as possible. They first gave me 50mg of benedreyl to fight off any possible allergic reaction. Thought I was going to pass out from that and take a nice long nap. No such luck. Next came a steroid called decadron. Once those were in, came the cetuximab. It took about 2 hours to drip in, and I had to stay an hour afterward to make sure I was not going to suffer any additional side effects. I was there about five hours in all and had no ill side effects. My vital signs, which were constantly monitored, stayed relatively the same. That was that, afterward Andrea picked me up and drove us home for a late lunch. The overall experience was kind of weird in a way. I felt like the youngest person in there first of all. I realized that a lot of the folks getting treatment were not only older, but most likely in a lot worse shape then me. I could be wrong of course, but just looking around, I felt that most of them were most likely suffering from a deadlier cancer then the one I have been dealt with. Not to downplay what I have, which is serious in every sense, I just feel that on the scale of things, mine is going to be very curable, aside from the very ill side effects ahead of me. Cancer is weird thing to most people. Just hearing the word conjures up a countdown to death for most people.Like the begining of the end. I used to think the same thing, and its just not that way these day. There are over 8 millions cancer survivors living normal productive lives today. I know two in my family alone, my sister and mother in-law and another guy that I used to work with. Most families I hate to say, will be affected by it one day, in some form or another. That is when the learning begins about this disease. I have learned a bunch in the last couple of weeks. I feel lucky in one way, in that what I have, could have turned out to be something a lot worse. It could have been a cancer with very few options to treat and only a limited time to live. But it is not. Mine has not spread to anywhere else on me, and for that I am fortunate as well. Being virus based, it puts me in a higher curable percentage. Plus I am getting this new drug. These are a few of the things that made me feel just a little less anxious I guess, as I was looking around this room, that was filled with people who seemed to be in a somewhat bleaker positions then me. I could be wrong of course. Lets see how I feel a month or so from now when I am the sickest one in the room, and feeling like crap. I will let you know then as well of course. Well that's it for now. The fight is on and the countdown to March 20th has begun. Thanks to everyone. Stay posted.