Opdivo Day At UT

Today, was Opdivo day...  with a 7:30 am arrival time that forced me to leave home no later than 6:30 am and an alarm setting of 5:50 am which to me is no different than 6:00 am but those extra 10 minutes gives me an opportunity not to feel like I m rushed and make a cup of coffee before I leave.

I see the Oncologist every other month and this appointment was set with the doctor so he could review the results of my CT scan that I had on Monday.  My results were good however there were a couple of spots that around a millimeter of growth which is almost insignificant...  but, for me, growth is growth.

My Oncologist did not appear to be too worried with the results and said that we were going to proceed as we have in the past....  in other words, there will be no changes in my treatments.

However, when I asked about the discoloring on both of my forearms and if that was caused by the treatment, he first comment was, "they aren't bruises?", to which I replied NO.  So, after examining them further, he was concerned about why there was blood just under the skin and wanted me to see a Dermatologist.

After 13 years of treatment and going into my 14th year in 2022, I am grateful that my recent test results are extremely positive and hope that this positive rhythm will follow me forward.

My Stress Test Today

I arrived at the Heart & Lung Building of UT Medical Center in Knoxville at 6:45 am as requested and signed in a the front desk.  Five minutes later, I was escorted back to a patient waiting area with 5 other patients and all of us had IV's put into our arms by techicians who also explained the procedure to us.

One by one, we were taken in to have the radioactive isotope pushed into our IV and after wating 30 minutes, we had a 15 minute CT scan of our heart and its blood flow at rest.

Shortly after that we were taken in one by one to the treadmill area heart monitor connections were attached to our upper body, a blood pressure cuff was attacked to our left arm and we got onto a treadmill and began walking flat for a minute or so.

My nurse told me that my target heart rate was 125 becasuse of my age.  

A minute or so later the treadmill's speed and incline were increased and I began to breath more deeply and my knees began to ache.

A minute or so later the treadmill's speed and incline were increased and the incline had to be 30 degrees or better, and another technician  entered the room to administer another nuclear dosage once I reached my target heartrate.

By now I was really get hard to breathe and my chest hurt a little and I felt faint but no dizziness or room spinning.  As I leaned on the bars because of feeling faint, I reach my target level, the dye was pushed into my IV.

The speed of the treadmill was lowered a bit but not the incline and I needed to walk another 90 seconds.  I managed to find the energy to do that and when the treadmill was stopped, a chair was placed behind me and I sat down...  with a plop!

It took about 2 minutes for me to begin breathing normal again but the nurse wanted me to sit for a full 5 minutes because I had felt faint.

I was taken back to the  waiting area and told to eat non-healthy cheese and crackers which would assist in making the second scan turn out better.

Ten minutes later, I was in the CT scan machine and 15 minutes after that, I was walking out the door, and heading downstairs to my car.  I pulled out of my parking slot at 10:00 am.

I am assuming that someone from my Cardiologist's office will call me with the results in the next few days.   

Cancer Treatment Day

Despite the fact that I awoke early and cannot go back to sleep, I am usually up early on these days anyway...  so, it is only an hour early which is not that much of a lost sleep night...  and, for the last 4 days, I have had to get up early each and every one of those to go to some kind of doctor visit, treatment, or procedure.

This morning my routine is (arrivig driving the 45 minutes to the cancer center) to check in and have lab work done...  this is place where they access my port, so I make sure that I have put plenty of numbing cream on the skin covering the port...  it must stay on an hour or more.

The next step is to wait the see the Oncologist who is trypically seeing loads of patients each day and always seems to fall behind as the day progresses so I try to see him as early as possible.

Then I return to the lab waiting room to be called for my treatment after checking in again.  Within 15-20 minutes, I am taken to a chemo suite of 6 chairs.  

UT Medical Cancer Center has 10 suites on the 4th floor of the center.

For some reason, I always wait another 30 minutes or so for the OPDIVO to arrive and then my infusion lasts only 30 minutes and I am outta there.

I arrive at 7:00 am and typically leave at 10:30/11:00 and much of that time is due to waiting.

Today, I will be informed of the results of my CT scan that I had on Monday...  so, I am really interested to see if there has been any metabolic activity inside me.

My CT Scan

Today was my quarterly CT scan to see if there was any metabolic activity in either one of my cancers:  Lymphoma and Melanoma.

Unlike PET scans, patients can eat or drink anything they want right up to the point that they start the machine.  Actually, a few minutes before because you have to lay down on this movable rack and they have to position your head and knees and arms.

Prior to any of this, a nurse must insert an IV line into your arm but in my case, I have a port for them to access so they have to call upon a more skilled nurse.  Wait time is usually 30 minutes or more depending upon how busy they are.

However, I was there at 7:30 am this morning and those nurses start at 8:00 am so I was the first person on his list.

Once the line is hooked up, they start they insert some kind of dye into your body that makes you feel like you have to go to the bathroom or for some that you peed in your pants.

The actually test is 3 passes in the machine and patients are usually in and out in less than 5 minutes.

The machine is like a huge doughnut hole so only a fraction of your body is inside the machine and the rack that you lay on can slide so that from your head down to your feet can be scanned.

A PET scan, you are a lot more enclosed...  almost your entire body...  and, it moves much slower so a PET scan will take about 15-20 minutes and for a while there is the feeling that you are in a coffin.  I usually tilt my head back so I can see outside the machine and that helps.

An MRI is different and you are totally enclosed and I have to be knocked out for that scan to happen.  I have only had one so far...  knock on wood as they say...

What's On My Mind Today???

Just got back from the University of TN Medical Center - Cancer Bldg. in Knoxville, TN after going through a PET Scan procedure...  Every 90 days, I MUST have a CT scan or a PET scan to determine staging of the cancers.  When cancer is staged, the Oncologist is informed by the Medical Physician interpreting the scans if the cancer has decreased/increased in size and/or spread to other organs in the body and/or started growing in a new location.

Over the 12 years that I have been treated for Lymphoma and the 6 years I have been treated for Melanoma, my cancers have increased, decreased, increased, spread, and maintained their size as new drugs are used to fight the disease.

Last year, my Oncologist discovered through a recent clinical trial at another hospital that when Opdivo and Radiation are used simultaneously that the results are more positive than negative.  When that cocktail of treatment was used on me, dead Melanoma cells were removed from my neck...  so, in my case, it worked perfectly.

Right now, my two cancers (non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma & Melanoma) are being contained...  at least those were the results from my last PET scan...  so, I am anxious to discover what these new results might be.
                                                                                                                       

ALSO, every time I leave home, I am really concerned about my health because of COVID-19 especially since I have NO IMMUNE SYSTEM of which to speak at all.  Today, I wore a face mask as well as disposable gloves.

Please take care of yourself and be careful when you leave the house...