Feeling Out the New Chemo

Photo of the Day
The broken into FJ Cruiser

There just is no such thing as chemotherapy without side-effects. So as I move through my first week on the new chemo drug Torisel I wait and watch to see what side-effects will present themselves.

So far, in general, overall, I feel better than I did on Nexavar. Fourteen-months of Nexavar really began to take its toll on me. So I've wondered the past couple days whether I feel better because Torisel side-effects just won't be as severe as Nexavar side-effects. But it's really still too early to tell.

Since I've begun Torisel I have had headaches. Mainly, outside of Saturday's monster, marathon, severe headache, the headaches have been very small. But I've still had headaches. The past two mornings I've woken up with small little headaches.

My appetite, also, has not been great. I'm eating small portions without difficulty. I get full fast. Overall the digestive system doesn't feel quite right. But it feels better than it did on Nexavar.

I do feel that my body is in a transition. Not only did I stop taking Nexavar, but I've also stopped taking all the supportive drugs that were used to control the Nexavar side-effects.

So, I'll continue to wait and see. I'll report everything to the oncologist on Friday before being hooked up to the Torisel again.

I'm a little concerned about my oncologist, in more ways than one. We did hear yesterday that he is coming back to work on Thursday after being hospitalized for complications that developed from his summer kidney transplant. I was praying for his return to health, and hopefully he is doing OK.

I'm also worried that his personal health battles have left him a bit unfocused on his work - when I need him most.

I enlisted the help of my family doctor last week because of this concern. I heard from him yesterday and he found me a doctor within Lancaster General Hospital that performs ablation procedures to remove tumors. The ablation procedure is a minimally invasive procedure that is meeting great success. It's so easy on the body patients are back to normal activity as soon as the next day.

My oncologist had told me previously that no one at Lancaster did this procedure. Huh? That's when he sent us on the wild goose chase to Philly. So...I'm a bit concerned about how much he's really going to be able to help me. I'll discuss it with him more on Friday. But I'm certainly keeping in touch with my family doctor on everything.