Tuesday, February 9, 2016

A Change Is in the Wind

Well, campers, today was another trip to Moffitt.  And again, I'm not totally sure what to make of it, so I'll just accept everything at face value and assume it's all for the best.  After being consistently low, my blood platelet count reached an acceptable level.  The last three trips found the count low so I could only receive one chemo drug instead of the usual three in the cocktail.  But since the full doses make my blood wonky, the decision was made to take a couple of weeks off and then turn to a regimen of immunotherapy, which is meant to boost my immune system to fight the cancer.  Depending upon what I qualify for, I may be placed into one of two clinical trials, or may receive a different drug on what they call a compassionate use basis.  This means using a drug that was developed for one type of cancer on another type.  In my case, I would be getting a drug that had been developed for melanoma and some types of lung cancer but has also shown to be effective against head and neck cancers.  So we shall see what we shall see. . .

All in all, I'm mostly doing OK.  Tired and mucousy, but that will probably define the rest of my life. My weight is good and, one more time, other than having cancer, I'm in great health.

And there will be several visitors in the next few weeks.  Our daughter Adrienne and her husband Eric and our granddaughter Amelia will be arriving Thursday from Brooklyn for a few days.  Then my sister Connie and brother-in-law Frenchy will be down from PA along with their son Len from Houston.  They will be here the first weekend of March.  All is good!!

Oh, and some folks from my old job at Tropics Software will be stopping by tomorrow afternoon.  That will likewise be fun.

So, peace and love till next time!
Joe