Ron Washington Wisdom
Back to the chemo lounge
Posted by TFG on January 4th, 2013
The judge (doctor) handed down his sentence (treatment) yesterday on the sub-carinal lymph node activity. It can’t be radiated, because of all the other radiation I had + it’s right in line with the trachea / esophagus / spinal cord (important stuff? who knew?), and it can’t be operated on because of [see above] plus major blood vessels. And so that leaves chemo, which I basically knew would be the deal. This time, I will be the recipient, and hopefully beneficiary of Gemzar.
I start on Monday, followed by two more infusions, then a week off, then another three infusions, then scans. These infusions are said to be short in length, and short in side-effects. One of the side-effects, though, is suppressed marrow function, which leads to low blood counts, which leads to an ineffective immune system, which means basically hermiting up for two months.
Overall, to me, after a year, the recurrence of tumor activity sounds kind of grim. It’s certainly not good to have it happen so quickly. Mostly, it’s my frame of mind, with winter here, and dim prospects of ever being a productive member of society again. Or enjoying being a non-productive member of society…I saw a kayak on the wall at Walmart the other day. You know how bad I want to be on a river, paddling along with some tall boys & an ultralight rig? I really want to do that again someday. OTOH, WallyWorld has cleared out half of the hunting aisle, of warm socks and camo backpacks and tracking tape, to put in — the baseball equipment!
If I was the head of a royal family in a half-baked HBO drama that will never end (not least because the over-self-indulgent author of the books can’t seem to manage an ending), my motto would be ‘Baseball is coming.’ We would be evolved to hibernate, deep in a cave system guarded by annually-renewed collection of roided-up undrafted defensive linemen, until you could wear batting practice jerseys without shivering.
Boy, I’m tired of typing about this, ya know?
9 Responses to “Back to the chemo lounge”
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At the risk of sounding cruel, it seems like that, at present, “it sucks to be you”. Cancer treatment, whether surgery, radiation therapy or chemo, is painful and extremely tiring at best. While I’ve been blessed not to have afflicted with cancer (knock on wood; I’m 58), I’ve lost friends and mentors to the “Big C” over the years – leukemia, pancreatic, colon – and I hated what it did to them before eventually killing them. I also know two women who are long-time survivors of cancer. For what it’s worth, I’ll keep you in my prayers.
Not cruel at all. I hate the pity-party aspect of this, but for some reason, people care & I committed to documenting the stupid thing.
I’d hate the thought of you having to go through all that by yourself. It’s all so tough.
I know. Baseball is coming! And, since you are tired typing about cancer, we need to resurrect our idea of seeing some grapefruit league big league ball this spring. Saw Field of Dreams on the tube the other day and almost cried. So, which way do we go – east or west? Seen the Phillies at Clearwater many times. Also saw the Dodgers at Vero Beach but they are now doing their spring renewal at Phoenix. Rangers Cactus League opener is February 22nd against the Royals. West is 400 miles less road trip. Which way do we go – decisions – decisions.
Oh knock it off my darling ex-husband. You will outlive all of us. This might make things worse, but I’m headed back to Dallas cuz I finally landed a job back in North Texas, therefore I am more than willing to fetch you more Keystone, aggravate and annoy you, and most certainly blow the dust of both our kayaks and settle’em in any lake or river and/of your choice…sans my usual Tequila episodes. I love you!
PS – I lied about the lack of Tequila…but you prolly already knew that…
Meh. You knocked the big turd off, and now you just need to scrape away the last few dingleberries.
Does hermit activity mean no more out door fires? It has become my highlight. At least you should be ready for Opening day. Hopefully we will watch yoing Rangers fullfill their promise and old Rangers play like has beens
Sorry to hear this. However, there is baseball to be watched (spring is always hopeful even for the Rangers). And if there’s a God, they’ll get a chance to crush the Giants.
Oh dear. My condolences and felicitations. I do thank you for documenting this journey, though. At my advanced age of almost 69, I can use the advanced warnings.
Must admit I will enjoy watching a Ranger game now and then, to see how they can do without Michael and Josh.
Seems to me WallyWorld would do better to add a few more shelves for all the guns they must selling.