Right after writing the last update in early Nov. 08, I started a new treatment which includes also a regular chemotherapy, on top of three other targeted medications. I continue to drive very early in the morning twice a week to Dana Farber, by now on an auto-pilot. This is a new ball game and much tougher on my body. It took me a few weeks to get used to the new side effects of the regular chemo. As a Navy veteran who almost never vomited at sea or had nausea (only once in my entire service and reserve!), vomiting was a bad surprise to me.
In the beginning it was really bad. One day on the way back from work in heavy traffic on the highway, I felt like I am bout to throw up. I move slowly to the right lane, trying to find a wide enough shoulder lane, such that when I open the door it wouldn’t be clipped by a passing car.
Before my plan materialized I threw up directly in front of me into the wind shield, blocking my vision. Looking to the right window I slowly moved to the shoulder lane, stopped the car, crawled out through the passenger side door and “Fed the Fish” as we say in the Navy (and a lot of it…). Now I have learned to take the right medications in the prescribed timing to minimize the nausea. The good news, I continue to eat well and not lose weight in spite of the nausea.
Yesterday I started the 3rd cycle of this treatment with its periodic tests that determine progress. This is a critical milestone. The anticipation to the results is a little nerve game. Some of you may know what it means. In my case it must start to work as I have already used 3 options.
My goal was to get into the scale. I started with being twice (!) out of scale and I am within the scale after a year.
The first cycle had very good indications but the doctors don’t allow making any conclusions from one cycle.
The good news to report – I am finally in the scale. It looks like the new treatment works. The same big drop I witnessed after the first cycle, repeated itself in the second cycle.
In the past it took months to get the same drop. Now I hope that it will continue although the body reaction is non-linear and I am also prepared for surprises.
These latest results are my best new year present. I’ll start 2009 with a clear indication that this will be the year of recovery.
There are some rather funny moments during the treatments. One of them, which happens every once in a while, is when I have a serious discussion with the doctors or medical staff. Every treatment starts with blood test, in which the results come back within an hour. Based on the results, the particular daily treatment is decided.
And so from day-1 (13 months ago) when I get the 2-pages printout of the results, I quickly put them in an Excel file that automatically generates all sort of graphs and tables. It helps me to see trends and ask questions. Here comes the funny part. Occasionally in the conversations with the doctors they don’t remember all the facts and their system do not give them the graphs I have. Initially, when I saw a hesitation on their behalf, I pulled the charts and tables and provided instantaneous answers to their questions. Some of them were shocked. These days, they simply ask me “can you please pull out your database”. I do so gladly and everyone is happy. In such a complex treatment with many course changes and so many conflicting parameters, it is critical to know what was administered, when and how did the body reacted.
This reminds me of the Excel file and Fortran programs I used to write when Neta was premature in intensive care for 11 months in Israel. On this ordeal I can write a best seller.
As I said to myself many times, life goes on. In spite of the lingering disease, ups and downs, and not so pleasant new treatment, one must always look forward and try to live normally. I must admit here that in the new treatment, practicing what I say was a lot harder than ever before. The real test is when you feel really lousy in all your body. I think I passed this test too. It is really a matter of practice, like many things in life.
In the spirit of ’life goes on’ I try not to miss a beat at work, although moderate travel is something that I miss. My colleagues are just wonderful and so is Orbotech. Had I worked for a heartless company (and there are many), I would be in a much different situation.
A day before Christmas we went skiing in NH. Typically Multiple Myeloma patients have some very flimsy bones and ski would be completely out of question.
Remember me saying that out of every bad situation there could be a good outcome? Luck struck again. When I did my last bone marrow biopsy, I though I have seen it all. Drilling into the bones without knocking you asleep, is the most painful thing I have ever experienced (already done it 4 times). So when my doctor had to try not once but three times (!!!) I was about to pass out. At the end she mentioned something like “your bones are surprisingly very strong and we managed to go through only on the third try”. A few weeks later when I asked about skiing, the answer was “with your bones, yes, sure, but still be careful”. I didn’t ask twice…
On Christmas day we hit the slopes in New Hampshire, as you can see in the pictures. Skiing is about high adrenalin and feeling the high-speed below your skis. I skied the moderate slopes just to be on the safe side, and we had a blast. The entire site was ours: no waiting time for the ski lifts, just a few skiers, mostly Chinese and some Jewish.
Other events from the last update you can see in the pictures:
Thanksgiving Day Football Game between our town Needham and neighboring Wellesley. We won big times! This is the oldest high school football rivalry in America – 119 years!!! Many people from the two towns come to see and cheer. There are marching bands, cheerleaders, dancers and of course the food!
We also celebrated the first snow storm of the season. We got lucky. There was a huge ice storm that struck 25 miles north of us all the way to NH and VT. Some houses did not have electricity for 2 weeks!
I still love the white fluff with the later ice formations on the roof and windows. We have a guy that comes with a truck to clear our driveway (thanks god). Most New Englanders think that I am crazy loving winter. They all hate it.
In between we have a few nice dinners with friends, Thanksgiving dinner, Chanukah and Christmas. My brother in law came back from 4 months in Afghanistan on behalf of NATO and to see him and Iris back in their home in England via Skype was a great relief. Inbal & Pierre flew to Paris for 2 weeks – not a bad time to be in Paris in Christmas. Neta almost completed her degree in Umass Amherst (5 more months to go) and came home for 2 weeks. Lior now goes back to the Needham High School (last year) as a result that the British Consulate did not approve her UK student visa (bastards!). She is cooking us some amazing creations (cookies and Tapas). Shoshi is taking good care of all of us, all the time! We finally celebrated our new kitchen which was a very long project, but turned out beautiful and inexpensive. Shadow, our cat, always feel like the queen of the house. I worked hard to get Danny a Nikon D300 on Ebay, lost 4 bids and won a great deal on the 5th try (5 is my lucky number).You can see it all in the pictures.
It was a very busy festive end of the year.
If you noticed, in between the updates I am also trying to add pictures and stories about living in America. As part of this I included a picture of the latest gas price which now hovers above $1.50 per gallon! (this is almost 1.5 Shekel per liter). Four months ago it was above $4.15 per gallon! For most Americans, gas price is the national mood barometer.
And so, on the last day of 2008 I wish all of you the very best for 2009.
Be healthy, happy and lucky.
It is symbolic that I got my test results a few hours before we usher the New Year, and they are very good!.
Maybe it is a good sign to come, a blessing that in 2009 the trend will continue toward recovery.
A few hours before 2009, I say to all of you: Be positive, look forward, and don’t believe in all the gloom and doom that the ‘experts’ tell us. We have seen how the majority of them have been so wrong.
Cheers!
Yours, always optimistic,
Guy
In the beginning it was really bad. One day on the way back from work in heavy traffic on the highway, I felt like I am bout to throw up. I move slowly to the right lane, trying to find a wide enough shoulder lane, such that when I open the door it wouldn’t be clipped by a passing car.
Before my plan materialized I threw up directly in front of me into the wind shield, blocking my vision. Looking to the right window I slowly moved to the shoulder lane, stopped the car, crawled out through the passenger side door and “Fed the Fish” as we say in the Navy (and a lot of it…). Now I have learned to take the right medications in the prescribed timing to minimize the nausea. The good news, I continue to eat well and not lose weight in spite of the nausea.
Yesterday I started the 3rd cycle of this treatment with its periodic tests that determine progress. This is a critical milestone. The anticipation to the results is a little nerve game. Some of you may know what it means. In my case it must start to work as I have already used 3 options.
My goal was to get into the scale. I started with being twice (!) out of scale and I am within the scale after a year.
The first cycle had very good indications but the doctors don’t allow making any conclusions from one cycle.
The good news to report – I am finally in the scale. It looks like the new treatment works. The same big drop I witnessed after the first cycle, repeated itself in the second cycle.
In the past it took months to get the same drop. Now I hope that it will continue although the body reaction is non-linear and I am also prepared for surprises.
These latest results are my best new year present. I’ll start 2009 with a clear indication that this will be the year of recovery.
There are some rather funny moments during the treatments. One of them, which happens every once in a while, is when I have a serious discussion with the doctors or medical staff. Every treatment starts with blood test, in which the results come back within an hour. Based on the results, the particular daily treatment is decided.
And so from day-1 (13 months ago) when I get the 2-pages printout of the results, I quickly put them in an Excel file that automatically generates all sort of graphs and tables. It helps me to see trends and ask questions. Here comes the funny part. Occasionally in the conversations with the doctors they don’t remember all the facts and their system do not give them the graphs I have. Initially, when I saw a hesitation on their behalf, I pulled the charts and tables and provided instantaneous answers to their questions. Some of them were shocked. These days, they simply ask me “can you please pull out your database”. I do so gladly and everyone is happy. In such a complex treatment with many course changes and so many conflicting parameters, it is critical to know what was administered, when and how did the body reacted.
This reminds me of the Excel file and Fortran programs I used to write when Neta was premature in intensive care for 11 months in Israel. On this ordeal I can write a best seller.
As I said to myself many times, life goes on. In spite of the lingering disease, ups and downs, and not so pleasant new treatment, one must always look forward and try to live normally. I must admit here that in the new treatment, practicing what I say was a lot harder than ever before. The real test is when you feel really lousy in all your body. I think I passed this test too. It is really a matter of practice, like many things in life.
In the spirit of ’life goes on’ I try not to miss a beat at work, although moderate travel is something that I miss. My colleagues are just wonderful and so is Orbotech. Had I worked for a heartless company (and there are many), I would be in a much different situation.
A day before Christmas we went skiing in NH. Typically Multiple Myeloma patients have some very flimsy bones and ski would be completely out of question.
Remember me saying that out of every bad situation there could be a good outcome? Luck struck again. When I did my last bone marrow biopsy, I though I have seen it all. Drilling into the bones without knocking you asleep, is the most painful thing I have ever experienced (already done it 4 times). So when my doctor had to try not once but three times (!!!) I was about to pass out. At the end she mentioned something like “your bones are surprisingly very strong and we managed to go through only on the third try”. A few weeks later when I asked about skiing, the answer was “with your bones, yes, sure, but still be careful”. I didn’t ask twice…
On Christmas day we hit the slopes in New Hampshire, as you can see in the pictures. Skiing is about high adrenalin and feeling the high-speed below your skis. I skied the moderate slopes just to be on the safe side, and we had a blast. The entire site was ours: no waiting time for the ski lifts, just a few skiers, mostly Chinese and some Jewish.
Other events from the last update you can see in the pictures:
Thanksgiving Day Football Game between our town Needham and neighboring Wellesley. We won big times! This is the oldest high school football rivalry in America – 119 years!!! Many people from the two towns come to see and cheer. There are marching bands, cheerleaders, dancers and of course the food!
We also celebrated the first snow storm of the season. We got lucky. There was a huge ice storm that struck 25 miles north of us all the way to NH and VT. Some houses did not have electricity for 2 weeks!
I still love the white fluff with the later ice formations on the roof and windows. We have a guy that comes with a truck to clear our driveway (thanks god). Most New Englanders think that I am crazy loving winter. They all hate it.
In between we have a few nice dinners with friends, Thanksgiving dinner, Chanukah and Christmas. My brother in law came back from 4 months in Afghanistan on behalf of NATO and to see him and Iris back in their home in England via Skype was a great relief. Inbal & Pierre flew to Paris for 2 weeks – not a bad time to be in Paris in Christmas. Neta almost completed her degree in Umass Amherst (5 more months to go) and came home for 2 weeks. Lior now goes back to the Needham High School (last year) as a result that the British Consulate did not approve her UK student visa (bastards!). She is cooking us some amazing creations (cookies and Tapas). Shoshi is taking good care of all of us, all the time! We finally celebrated our new kitchen which was a very long project, but turned out beautiful and inexpensive. Shadow, our cat, always feel like the queen of the house. I worked hard to get Danny a Nikon D300 on Ebay, lost 4 bids and won a great deal on the 5th try (5 is my lucky number).You can see it all in the pictures.
It was a very busy festive end of the year.
If you noticed, in between the updates I am also trying to add pictures and stories about living in America. As part of this I included a picture of the latest gas price which now hovers above $1.50 per gallon! (this is almost 1.5 Shekel per liter). Four months ago it was above $4.15 per gallon! For most Americans, gas price is the national mood barometer.
And so, on the last day of 2008 I wish all of you the very best for 2009.
Be healthy, happy and lucky.
It is symbolic that I got my test results a few hours before we usher the New Year, and they are very good!.
Maybe it is a good sign to come, a blessing that in 2009 the trend will continue toward recovery.
A few hours before 2009, I say to all of you: Be positive, look forward, and don’t believe in all the gloom and doom that the ‘experts’ tell us. We have seen how the majority of them have been so wrong.
Cheers!
Yours, always optimistic,
Guy
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
