Avastin is a drug that inhibits the growth of new blood vessels. As tumours grow new blood vessels get created and become the tumours' food supply. We don't want that. However one can't have Avastin too soon after surgery, as there is a chance freshly-healing incisions will start to open up. We don't want that either, so I started to receive it half-way through my treatment. The initial dosage of Avastin would add another 90 minutes to my session in the chair. Thereafter each dosage would be decreased through the remaining sessions.
Since my chemo session normally began around 9am and finshed around noon, I would generally go home and have lunch (I was getting over that whole chemo-makes-me-not-eat thing). However the extra time it took for the Avastin treatment made me eligible for a fine Hospital Lunch! Tuna Sandwich and Soup and Milk and Tea. I don't like Tea. But the wonderful volunteers (some who are survivors or have had loved ones enter into the process) saw to my needs and brought me coffee. Genuinely grateful for this, yet another Deliberate Act of Kindness that I would encounter time and again throughout my journey. This only reinforces my belief that Technology provides one part of the cure; people provide the remainder.
Speaking of technology, my 5FU pump did not want to cooperate. My chemo sessions were on a Friday and I would wear the pump until Sunday afternoon, roughly some 48 hours. Now the little balloon inside the bottle is supposed to push the solution into me slowly, measurably and I should observe gradual changes. Saturday I did not notice much, if any change. I also had another indication that something wasn't working: I felt too good!
Feeling good as a symptom that something is wrong is just another indicator that Cancer treatment is different. I had to call the Cancer Centre, who in turn got hold of my Oncologist ("Hi Doc I think I have a problem - I feel great!"). I was directed to go see the fine folks at the Bayshore Clinic (where I get my pump disconnected anyways).
Off we go to the clinic to get my pump checked out. It was disconnected and reconnected, however the culprit appeared to be a slight, almost invisible 'pinch' in the plastic tubing, wrapped tightly in tape and covered by more tape attaching it to my port. This was all fixed Saturday afternoon. By Saturday evening I knew it was working without even having to examine the bottle, because I felt like crap.
Even though I didn't feel the greatest I was still able to do stuff around the house. In particular I worked on some of my electronics projects. My hobby/passion/demented obsession is making small electronics projects. In particular I make numitron and VFD single digit clocks. In fact while I was in the hospital for my first surgery I was concentrating on the wiring and layout of a VFD clock
What I wanted to do is give out these little projects as tokens of my thanks and appreciation to those who have helped me throughout my journey. I originally started with Six, then seven, then...it's amazing..I cannot find ways to express my thanks to all the fine people who have helped me. I currently have a backlog to make and give away.
It was not mere idleness that I engaged in my hobbies during and between treatments; there's a positive feeling in being able to create, to express one's self in a tangible fashion when presented with overwhelming challenges. You are distracted from that always-in-your-mind THING that dominates your life. This observation was presented in a seminar by a remarkable 'cancervivor' , which I found extremely moving and enlightening. People with everyday courage living extraordinary lives.
I was halfway through my chemo treatment. Still to come would be the CT scan of my liver. My colon surgery was healing really well, and I would begin bike riding again. Shorter distances, around 20km but by the end of summer I would easily be riding twice that.
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