Week 3, Cycle 13

As I write this evening, I have but one more day until I'm back on chemo. That third week really went by fast. I started off on a high note with my 5K last Saturday. The course was two times around a loop along the south half of Central Park. Though it took a while to walk it all (an hour and 20 minutes to be exact), I did it without using my cane. It was the longest I have walked to date without it. I was not alone either. My parents walked with me too. So did one of the nurses who gives me chemo, Janelle, and her husband. Thank you for walking with me, and thank you to all of you who supported my walk with donations or kind words of support. Here's me doing the victory pose at the end of the walk:

From the next day onwards, though, things took a bit of a wrong turn. I started having diarrhea. As I've said before, this is the most significant side effect of irinotecan. There is a protocol we're given to follow if it happens. Take two 2 mg tablets of Immodium, and then take one tablet every two hours until it's under control, with a maximum of eight tablets in 24 hours. This is actually twice the maximum daily dose on the bottle. I have had instances of diarrhea in past irinotecan/temozolomide cycles that Immodium has almost always been able to control. This time around, while Immodium would give me a day's relief, the diarrhea would come back and I'd have to repeat the process. The culprit was found via stool test when I went in for my blood counts on Tuesday, and it was not irinotecan. My C. diff infection from the previous cycle was back. As I had an immune system this time around, there was no fever and hospitalization, but it was back to the antibiotics nonetheless. The specific one used here is called Flagyl; if I get another recurrence, I'll get the stronger vancomycin. Happily, the diarrhea is now under control. Hopefully, this is the last time I deal with C. diff, but I do worry about what will happen in cycle 15 when I'll once again get chemo that knocks out my immune system.

Ashley is now visiting. So far, we've done some wedding planning, gone out for walks, and painted pictures. That last item is something I'm going to get back to once I paint something I deem worthy of posting here; I was never much into painting before, but then the exhibit I saw at the MOMA before cycle 12 proved to be an inspiration. Ashley is a gifted artist, and she's helping to train me :)

We'll be going out again tomorrow, and then the next day, she has to go back to work and I have to go back to chemo. I am most definitely looking forward to being married to Ashley instead of chemo. Just 4 more cycles now, time to finish strong!