Ready for chemo -- again

Today was our first visit with Dr. Ansari since surgery. It is always so nice to see him, even if it was basically so he could check out Johnny’s belly zipper.

He reviewed the notes that Dr. House had sent him and everything was great. He had the results from the biopsies of everything they took out. The nodule that remained in the colon was completely free of cancer, just remnant tissue. Wheeeewww! The gallbladder did have stones, but nothing out of the ordinary. The lymph nodes around the liver (which was a little nagging worry in the back of my brain) were completely clear as well.

So, the liver remains the nasty culprit in this mess. Dr. Ansari told Johnny, “You are very strange. My chemo worked so well in your colon, but your liver didn’t like it.” We reviewed the chemotherapy agent for the HAI pump, which is called FUDR. It is in the same family of agents as the 5-FU that he came home with on the pump during his first round of chemo. FUDR has shown a 60-70% response rate in the liver when infused through the HAI pump. Keep in mind, this response rate is for all comers. Not just healthy 43-year-old butt-smokin’ hot, scar sportin’ hotties. It includes everyone. We are not so crazy as to think that Johnny’s odds are exponentially increased, but we do think his age and overall good health gives him the best possible hope for the best possible outcome.

He will also receive a systemic agent through his existing port (Dr. Ansari feels this is the icing on the cake) called CPT-11. I haven’t yet done as much research on this agent, but believe you me I will! The little I do know about it is that the major side effect is “significant and dehydrating diarrhea”. That just sounds like something to look forward to. We will leave it up to Johnny to decide which is worse to deal with, the gut-busting constipation from the first go-round, or the booty-burning diarrhea he has to look forward to with this new stuff. His little tushy just can’t get a break!

Chemo is scheduled to begin again on Monday, Feb 22nd. He will get the infusion pump reservoir filled and have a 2 hour infusion through his port. The schedule is the same as last time, every other Monday. Unfortunately, we have no idea how long chemo will take. Johnny will receive intermittent scans to see what the reaction of the liver has been. As long as the tumors continue to shrink, the chemo continues. If the tumors go away completely, then the pump stays in for a while to make sure nothing comes back and eventually will then be removed. If the tumors shrink but stop at a certain point and don't shrink any further, we head back to Indy for resection of the remaining tumors and discuss future options. We are praying for and believe that complete resolution of the tumors and "peppercorns" is a possibility and we look forward to the day that we get the "all clear".

We also found out that Johnny will not be able to sit in a hot tub, bath tub, or fly in an airplane while he is receiving chemo through the pump. Any dramatic changes in body temperature or pressure will dump the entire reservoir of chemo into his liver -- and we really don't want to piss the liver off any more than it already is. This might not be such hard news for the majority of people to handle, but I have to tell you - Johnny is the bath-taking-est person I have ever met. He takes AT LEAST one bath a day, sometimes two! He loves a good soak in the tub. We had a hot tub for 13 years, but it petered out 2 years ago and we hadn't yet replaced it. We had actually considered buying one this spring because we loved it so much. Now, it just seems cruel. I told Johnny that I will buy him the hot tub of his dreams when he is all better.

We spoke at length with two of the infusion nurses. They both have prior experience with filling the pumps, which helped increase my confidence level. I asked them if they had the pump rep coming, and they had already made the arrangements. I also said that I want the supplies ordered and over-nighted and Johnny’s name clearly labeled on them so they don’t get accidentally used for random procedures. I know I sound bossy, but they really didn’t seem too bothered by my list of demands. I actually watched Dr. House do the Nuclear Medicine procedure in Indy, and for all my medical friends out there you know what I mean when I say, “See one, do one, teach one.” I’m not afraid to push them out of the way and say, “Hand me that needle!” Johnny would probably never let me come to another appointment of any kind if I actually did that!

I should just be happy that I get to remove his staples. It is a little unnerving (to him) that I am so excited to take them out.

After the office visit, Johnny wanted to get his daily exercise by roaming around Bowne (where he works). It was so nice for him to see all of his friends. Johnny is such a social person (duh!), that it has been tough on him to not connect with his friends and co-workers on a daily basis. It made me so happy to see everyone’s response to him stopping by. I could tell that they were genuinely happy to see how well he is getting around and every single person he encountered hugged him. I can tell others appreciate the great guy that I get to call my own. It was nice. When we got back in the car after our visit, Johnny thanked me for taking him there. I could tell that it was important to him.

This evening we had several friends stop by for meal deliveries, chats, and puppy booty calls. Dave, Soleil is still crying and sniffing at the door looking for Oscar. Serious chemistry, don’t you think?

Dave Balog, thanks so much for the chicken soup. We swear by it at our house. Johnny had a little bowl before bed to settle his tummy. Just what the doctor ordered!

Thanks to Amy Gourlay, and Connie Davis for the food deliveries! Again, it is so comforting to have a decent meal without the stress that goes in to not only making the food, but the scary trips to Wal-Mart to buy the stuff!

We continue to be surrounded and upheld by our friends, family and community. We thank you all so much.