Back to Folfox

I went to the doctor today and he decided to put me back on Folfox, which I had tolerated so much better. While it's unclear whether it was the Xeloda, the increased dose of Oxaliplatin, or the combination that was making me sick, it seemed like it was time to go back to what had been working better in June. Also, they are able now to acquire the drug that had been on shortage (though they didn't have enough today, and can't be sure how long their supplier can get it for them.)

Chemo is tough regardless, but the chance that the bad days won't be as bad and that the cycle lasts for 2 days instead of 14 seems like a good thing. It was a rocky tart as the infusion started too fast for me and made me sick immediately. It took a few hours for my stomach to settle down to a more manageable level of nausea. I'm feeling okay right now, though it's all relative.

So now I have my old pump, which I had been carrying around for 3 months, for the next two days. I get it off on Saturday. Before the surgery I started feeling better on Monday and back to myself again on Tuesday (except for the one time I started coughing up blood-thank you Avastin :)). I'll try to update sometime this weekend about how I am doing. Thanks as always for your prayers and words of encouragement.

I also want to say thank you to everyone who has supported my sister, Janet, who is running the Chicago Marathon for Team Livestrong. Because of the amazing generosity of some many people, she has raised over $10,000 for cancer research! I'm amazed by her commitment and stamina and all of you who has given so sacrificially to me personally and to this cause. A silver lining in the new treatment protocol is that I will be off chemo for the race and hopefully feeling pretty good.