9-18-06

Well, Eva and I got Tom and Chris to the airport in the morning and then went straight to my infusion. This was the first time that I had an infusion in the morning and we were interested in how the day would go after that. Again just over 162 and feeling pretty good. Somehow I always feel good going into Dr. Isacoff's office. It is always very calming.

So it looks like the Taxotere was a little harsh on my lungs and I did have some lung toxicity problems with it. So we have switched up the chemo regimen a bit. Everything seems to be pretty fluid but it looks like I am going to go onto a 2 day of infusions one week and then get one week off schedule. I will get Gemzar and Irinotecan on the first day (and sometimes erbitux, though I did not get it on today). Then on day 2 I will get Cisplatin . I will stay on the Xeloda (modified 5FU in pill form) during the whole time though I need to clear that up with the doctor. Everything seems to be going well and I am definitely OK with switching the regimen around though I am a bit surprised that it sort of happened so fast. I was kind of expecting to be on the GTX with Erbitux thing for at least a few months before we would even consider trying something new. The lung toxicity issue seems to have been the deciding factor. Taking the taxotere out should keep me in better shape. The approach that Dr. Isacoff takes, though a touch erratic at times, really just continues to lead me to believe that I am getting the best possible care around. As soon as an issue pops up, we deal with it. Any sort of little problem is attended to before it can get out of hand. This seems like that approach is going to be the key to getting through this. It would be nice if he spelled the plan out a little more thoroughly but that is understandably hard if the plan is as dynamic as it has been.

Anyways, I got my pre-meds, the Gemzar, and the Irinotecan and was out of the office earlier than expected. I did pretty well during the day. Eva and I stopped for some food and watched a movie back at the apartment. I spoke to a few people from work in the afternoon and it was really nice to catch up with them. At night I sort of crashed for while then did some computer stuff. So far so good, no vomiting, no diarrhea, and I ate some though not as much as I would have liked. Better to go a little light on infusion days.
-TN