Motley Crew – Dr. Feelgood, 1989 (Feel free to play while you read)
So, I had my first meeting with my new best friend. Dr. Van Der Jagt is my oncologist. He is a 6’2″ gentleman who is only about 80 kg (~180lbs). This is important to know as, after telling him that I had lost 15 lbs in the last few years, in response to his question of “if I have lost weight recently”, I was worried that my weight lost was due to the cancer. He almost laughed as he said he would only be concerned if I had lost more than 10% of my body weight in the last 6 months. Needless to say I was nowhere near that amount nor am I anywhere near where he wants me to be, which given he has 2″ on me and he says he is the ideal weight for his height, I have a lot more to go!
As with every stage of this journey, talking to a new doctor produced new information that contradicts previous information. If you have been following the blog you will see many examples of this happening and I am not going to disappoint you again. I was really hoping that today I would be writing about the plan moving forward. Instead, I am going to write about more testing that is going to happen over the coming week.
This new doctor wants to really get to know me, both inside and out. With that, I will be doing the following very shortly:
- More blood tests (9 vials this time!)
- Bone marrow (something I can now share with my brother – BMBs)
- CT scan of my neck (they missed that last time around)
- PET scan (will be glowing by the end of it)
- Heart and lung tests (to make sure I can take the chemotherapy cocktail – good thing Rita the margueritta maker did not need this much testing)
I am expecting that most, if not all these tests will happen over the coming week. Afterwards, once all the results are in, I will begin chemotherapy. At this point (assuming this too is subject to change), I believe the plan will be to do chemo once every 3 weeks for 6 rounds. At the end of this, I get the opportunity to redo all these tests again to see how the chemo worked and where I am at. Do not expect any updates on the blog until late next week or the following week, sorry.
The good news in all this: I get to continue to play hockey (he even encouraged more activities to keep me well), I can still go in the hot tub (much needed), I do not need to change my diet with the exception of maybe reducing my alcohol consumption, I can continue to work (so long as the chemo does not take too much of a toll on me), the chemo will not start next week so I can still make it to Toronto for Easter and no PICC line is needed because my veins are good and I will not need to be stabbed so frequently.
I wanted to thank all of you who have reached out and sent their best wishes. I really appreciate them and enjoy reading them. Where I am having a difficult time is with all the personal messages I have been receiving. It is hard for me to say this but I am getting stressed out with all the attention. When it comes to personal messages, I have an immediate need to respond to them so that the other person does not feel that I am ignoring them. I do not want to hurt anyone, especially those who want to express their well wishes however, when I receive these messages, it stresses me out as I feel like I need to respond even when I am not ready to do so. Please do not take any offence if I do not respond right away or at all to your PMs. I am trying to put a lot into this blog, more than I am really comfortable with, so to extend it further to address all the PMs I am getting is stretching my comfort zone. I am doing my best so please bear with me.
Looking forward to going to Toronto and seeing many of you. Better bring lots of cash for pitro though as I need to win big to pay some medical bills very soon.
Darren.
Mon onc’ Arcen’iel! If you’re as strong as your wit, you got this. If not, give us morons a call. We’ll give ya a little strength. Much love to the household!
I’m a bit late to this, I’m sorry. I just found out last night with an email from Matt. You seem to be taking a very aggressive, go-get-em approach! Very cool! And please, no need to reply, and I’m very confident other people sending you their well wishes will NOT be offended if you don’t reply, and we’re pretty confident you’re reading these messages as well (hopefully when you are well enough, which is hopefully most of the time). I see you have some humour left in you (ie comment about alcohol LOL). We’re pulling for you and wishing you the best in your treatment! I do look forward to bugging you again on the ice at hockey! Stay strong, we’re your sixth-man on the ice for you!