Strength Today

Yeah, yeah, yeah! That's an old Elton John song if you don't know. I apologize once again for not posting in a while. I received another "ultimate stabbing" from the Oncologist a couple weeks ago to check on progress at a low level. It's called a bone marrow biopsy and I guess they will be a part of my life every 6 months or so for however long.

When I think about the procedure in the grand scheme of things, it's not that bad at all. Just a hollow corkscrew into your ass bone (hip really) and then a smaller tube that slides in to get bone, marrow, and blood from the source. Kind of like a straw pulling out ice from a slushy. I suppose it brings new meaning the phrase "tap that ass". The reality is that the procedure totally sucks. It's a weird achey sensation that lasts about 5 minutes that are just as good as eternity. I suppose I'll get used to it eventually.

Bottom line... the Doc upped my Gleevec dosage to 600mg from 400mg. At dx, 95% of the white cells in my marrow were leukemic. It's now at 65%. The Doc feels I should be lower than this considering I've been on the med for 6 months. Apparently he's on the warpath. He actually gave me the option of staying with the 400mg providing I get another BMB in 3 months. The jury is out on my view of BMBs, so bring on the 600mg.

So far so good. I'm starting to develop a bit of a rash on my ass (what are the odds?) and my energy has been subpar, but not too bad. I assume there will be some getting used to the extra dosage as my body adapts. Nausea has been pretty nonexistent. And so once again it's back to visiting my favorite Phlebotomist every week to keep tabs on my WBC count, a source of drama in the past. It's still crazy to think about how much of a surprise all this has been.

That's about it. I'm still hitting the gym pretty hard. Despite what you would think, I've put on about 20 pounds in 6 months and am stronger than ever. I'm using easily, 30lbs more weight on every excercise with the most strength gains in my legs and back. For anyone with CML, I can't emphasize excercise enough. By the end of the work day I feel tired and crappy, 10 minutes into a workout I feel awesome! I end up feeling great the rest of the day. I really hope to continue my good fortune.

Posted by James at 2/21/2007 10:25:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Since the slump in my counts a couple weeks ago, I managed to find a new Oncologist. I met with him last week for a meet and greet, to talk about the super fun bone marrow biopsy cued up for Friday, and how he'd like me to talk to a bone marrow transplant specialist. Any talk of a BMT sends shivers down my spine and the mere mention of it sent my mind racing, but he assured me that it's good practice to get those wheels in motion in order to have a good backup to the backup.

Overall I thought the Onc was pretty knowledgeable and definitely rattled out the terminology that I've recently became so familiar with. He admitted that he wouldn't have taken me off the Gleevec because he thought my counts weren't too terribly low. As it stands, I'm not too sure where my counts are at because I haven't heard from him. I assume they are in the acceptable range, but I'm going to get them faxed to me tomorrow. I just like to know where I'm at at all times. Strangely, I look forward to getting stabbed on Thursdays for bloodwork.

Healthwise, I guess I've been feeling decent. Some days I'm real tired in the afternoons. Most days I feel pretty congested, almost like a real low grade cold. The only other thing I've noticed is constant neck pain. I don't know if it's my pillow, my job, or some weird side effect, but it's getting annoying. I daydream about seeing the chiropractor or some massage therapy. Could it be that the lifetime of jarring that I've put my body through is starting to catch up with me? That's a scary thought.

Posted by James at 2/04/2007 11:14:00 AM | Permalink | Comments