HewRon@aol.com wrote:
>
> Dear Diana,
>
> Thanks for asking.
>
> My friend and I went to the hematologist/oncologist last night in preparation
> for my third consolidation (I'm having four), which begins next Monday,
> December 8. God willing, my bacterialogical visitors have departed and I will
> be in hospital for just the standard five days. I'll get chemo for the five
> days, then come home for more neupogen. Marty thinks I may be overdosing on
> the neuopogen -- 10 days -- and thinks maybe it should be stopped sooner. But
> they keep a constant watch on me with blood tests - every couple of days
> while I'm on the neupogen. During each of the two neupogen series I have
> received blood transfusions as a result of these tests. So much "foreign"
> stuff pouring into my now quite bald body!
>
> When I left the hospital 10 days ago, my white count was 9,800. Yesterday it
> was a bit short of 6,000, which of course is just fine. My red count is a bit
> low, which accounts for my ongoing tiredness. Nevertheless it was up from
> last week, which means my system is building strength. The platelets are also
> holding their own.
>
> I am maintaining the supplements -- soy milk, green tea, vitamins, Chinese
> herbs. In all, I'm really not feeling bad apart from the tiredness and the
> aches that I have come to identify with chemo and neupogen.
>
> My last "maintenance" takes place in January. Then I will have a bone-marrow
> biopsy and hope to high heaven that the good doctor is satisfied and I can
> then relax into a routine of monthly visits to him for blood tests. If all is
> well, the plan is to wait until June and then take the necessary ingredients
> from my blood for a possible marrow-replacement should that prove necesssary
> in the future.
>
> I had hoped that following the satisfactory completion of the chemo I could
> have this broviac removed from my chest, but the doctor says it should stay
> there until next June in case it is necessary to use it. Also, it could then
> be used for the bone-marrow procedure. This broviac thing is a marvel. You
> don't have to take injections directly through the skin or have blood tests
> taken the same way. But it comes at a price. You have to flush out the two
> tubes daily with heparin, using syringes, and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
> you have to change the dressing as well as flush. I had hoped this would all
> be behind me in January but now I have to face it: it will have to wait until
> June and every day I shall have this routine of emptying a small bottle of
> heparin into my blood stream. Not to grumble ...
>
> This puts me off any idea of traveling to Europe (we were about to depart on
> a much anticipated short trip to London and Paris when we learned I had
> leukemia). Even if I am declared in remission, I would have to travel
> carrying syringes and needles, and I don't fancy facing the customs folk here
> and in Europe, even carrying a doctor's note. So now we are hoping to make
> our trip in the middle of 1988, without the broviac and with, please, some
> hair.
>
> Thank you for your encouragement and the loving attitude you demonstrate in
> your postings. How interesting is this relationship among the folk who take
> part in this correspondence. Intimate anonymity! Love among strangers! But
> then I believe that in the end (as in the beginning) we are all the same
> person, that the center of each of us is the center of all of us. The kingdom
> of heaven ...
>
> A good place to end.
>
> Again, God bless us all.
>
> -- Ron
> Dear Ron,
I can only stand in admiration of your courage and determination. I have
been following your postings closely and know that, with your positive
outlook and the light at the end of the tunnel in January, you will be
enjoying the fast life in London and Paris before long.
An endocronologist that I had the pleasure of working with at one time
had been trained in both eastern and western medicine. I witnessed the
effects of Chinese herbs used in conjunction with ti chi on several
oriental end-stage cancer patients and could only marvel at the results.
The extension of time and the quality of that time was markedly better
when compared to traditional western treatment modalities. I would be
interested in learning what herbs you take as I have access to a large
oriental community in Manhatten.
Your observation concerning intimate anonymity and love among strangers
is interesting. I like to think of it as the wonders of technology
bringing together people from all over the country and world who
otherwise would be separated by space and time. The unfortunate
circumstances that we all have in common...our individual cancer...
have ironically served to humble and enlighten us, removing the barriers
of self-sufficiency (an illusion after all) and forcing us to reach out
to find that sameness of person...that kingdom of heaven. Through my
disease, I have been able to get in touch with courage, caring,
spirituality, determination, and love that, otherwise, would have been
glossed over or missed alltogether...the Ying and Yang of life!
It is indeed a good place to end.
God Bless and continued enlightenment in your journey.
John
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an automatically-generated notice. If you'd like to be removed
from the mailing list, please visit the Medicine-On-Line Discussion Forum
at <http://www.meds.com/con_faq.html>, or send an email message to:
majordomo@lists.meds.com
with the subject line blank and the body of the message containing the line:
unsubscribe mol-cancer your-email-address
where the phrase your-email-address is replaced with your actual email
address.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
