My Cancer Journal

The Sixteenth Week

Sunday, March 30 was a very busy day. We had a number of visitors all day long. And, I was eating like a pig. Our friends Kathy and Edd were coming back from a stay in Auburn and I had mentioned Awful Annies restaurant to them. They know Awful Annies quite well, so on the way home they brought me a cherry pie and Awful Annie’s Cinnamon Orange Decaf tea. It is soooo good! You can even order it on line.

Our dear friend Phyllis spent the afternoon and evening with us and we ordered from the California Fish Grill restaurant and watched the Warriors beat the lowly San Antonio Spurs. At the end of the day I had consumed 2500 calories of food on my own. I was stuffed. I hadn’t eaten that much food on my own in six months.

Monday came and my lower back was really painful. My walking slowed to a crawl. Every step was painful. We had an appointment to see Dr. Edward Sun, the back doctor, on Monday, April 7, but Mar called his office and pleaded to get an earlier appointment. They rescheduled us for Wednesday at 11:45 a.m.

Tuesday was no better than Monday. Mar put Salonpas patches on my lower back and they helped a little bit, but getting around was a challenge. Every false move brought on excruciating pain in my back. I could not do much of anything other than sit with some sort of pressure on my lower back. We watched the Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzlies, a must win game for the Warriors. That was fun to watch.

Wednesday morning we had our appointment with Dr. Sun. He was not too encouraging about the benefit of a cortisone injection in my lower back but was willing to try it. First, he said, we needed X-rays of my lower back to see if anything is broken. So, after the appointment with D. Sun, we went to the Mills Health Center and got five X-rays of my lower back. I had to stand for the X-rays, but it was not painful to just stand. later in the day I saw the results of the X-rays and nothing is broken. That is a good thing, but age and osteoarthritis in and around the lower vertebrae, particularly the L5, is extensive. We will have to wait to see when Dr. Sun can do the injection. Normally, he does them on Mondays, but the insurance has to approve it before he can proceed. I don’t think next Monday is going to happen. Another week of really bad back pain is in store.

Thursday morning we met with Dr. Al Taira, the radiation oncologist. He is very pleased with my progress and said there would be no more follow up appointments with him. It will now be up to Dr. McLain my oncologist and Dr.Dalal, the surgeon, as to what comes next. We discussed my eating and time on the G-tube with Celine, the dietitian, and agreed to 10 hours on the G-tube at night and eat, eat, eat during the day. She also suggested adding protein powder to my food to increase my protein intake.

Friday morning I got a call from Dr. Sun’s office. Their machine is broken and the soonest they could do a cortisone injection would be Monday, April 28. They gave us names of other doctors who could do cortisone injections. We called Dr. Young Chen in San Mateo and he could see me on Wednesday, April 10 at 10AM. That is the same time as my appointment with Dr. Osterhoff. So, a call to Dr. O’s office got his appointment changed to Thursday morning at 8:30. Dr. Chen could do the injection Thursday but we don’t know the time until our initial appointment on Wednesday. Anything would be better than April 28. My back aches constantly and I am so tired of having to deal with the limitations it imposes on all of my other activities including my exercises and walking.

Friday afternoon Mar had to run some errands, so Minnie and I went along just for the ride. One of the stops was at Home Depot to buy a new toilet seat. The toilet seat in our half-bath broke. How, no one knows. Well, while Mar is working on her neo-nursing degree, she now has a side job in the plumbing business. Nice job on the new seat. Friday evening we watched the Warriors beat Denver. First time in a long line of Denver wins.

Saturday morning after breakfast, Mar went walking with her girl friends to be followed by attending a protest rally in San Mateo. I went to lay down on the sofa as it provides the best relief to my back pain. Mar put two Salon patches on my back this morning and they do provide some relief. The pain is constant and varies from low on the sofa to extreme when standing up or getting out of bed.

Early Saturday evening we took our dear friend Nurit to Pasta Moon in Half Moon Bay to celebrate her birthday. Chris and his friend Brian joined us. Chris put together a package of wine, flowers and See’s candy for Nurit. She was overwhelmed with all of the gifts. We had a good time and the food was really good. It was nice to be out enjoying some normal living despite the constant back pain.

Next week will be very busy with doctor’s appointments and a possible cortisone injection in my back. Time is approaching when surgery becomes a major issue.

So closes week sixteen. Four months since it all started on December 16. It has been quite a ride. Lots of ups and lots of downs. It is an experience I wish on no one. I thank you all for staying with me on my journey and I love you all for doing so. I will see you all for week seventeen. Take care of yourselves and those who can’t.