Wednesday, March 25, 2009

DAY 88: Here we go again... Round 5

Hey there, it's Stuart again.

Well after a few days of recovery, it's time to go back in the game. I have surgery scheduled for tomorrow at 7:30am to put ANOTHER port in my chest. This time it will be on the left side... so I guess I'll have matching scars. After surgery, I'll be admitted for Round 5 of chemo.

Yesterday, we spent the day at the clinic getting lab work, meeting with the nurse practitioner and also getting a new PET/CT scan. While my counts are 'back up' enough to be stable, it amazes me how low they are relative to normal ranges. Virtually none of my blood levels are within normal specs. I guess this is what they mean when they say that the chemo is cumulative. My starting point each time seems to get lower and lower.

The bout with infection last week was really, really, really scary and rough for us. I've never had a fever north of 104 and the shaking was so bad I thought I would pass out. Neither of us really enjoyed another 5 nights in the hospital between chemo rounds, either. But we made it through, by the grace of God, and here we are... onto the next day.

Adding insult to injury was a pitiful first-round loss by my alma mater Wake Forest against powerhouse (?) Cleveland State. Is there nothing sacred?

Another update hopefully coming soon, after surgery and check-in tommorrow...

6 comments:

Myr and Hollie said...

Poor Wake. I had them winning that one as well. On the bright side, Tennessee lost their first rounder by 2. Vandy? Well, nevermind. Glad you and Candace got to go to the beach and see the aliens. I hope it was a relaxing trip. We have "prom" on Saturday night, should be fun. I'll give you the skinny next week.

Martha said...

You went to the beach?
Have courage, Stuart. It's really painful for us to see you have to go through this, too. You are young and strong; you can do this with God's help and Candace beside you.
When you perform with the band, just take off your shirt; they'll all think you got those scars in a street fight and you'll sell more records.(Like the scars on Johnny Cash's face).

Ryan D. Keiffner said...

hey buddy...good luck with port #2. may i ask what a port is?

glad you were able to get away this weekend and rest up a bit.

stay strong buddy! you've got a lot of people behind you :)

David, Jenny, Jack and Victor said...

Really scary for me too bro. We are praying for you!

Lindsey Elizabeth Burke said...

Praying renewed strength. This verse just came to my mind after I typed that..."but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

And, we are jealous about your beach trip-even if it did involve all the crazies! Glad y'all were able to do that :) You and Candy pants are loved :)

Martha said...

Checking on you, precious ones...