Firin' Up The Barbie

We took advantage of the Davis heat and celebrated Labor Day weekend today with some barbequing!  I think this was some unspoken compromise between him and me: cook burgers at home rather than going out to Burgers and Brew or In and Out.  Bah, I promise I'll take him to In and Out at the end of the chemo week!!  I just can't keep eating at those places again and again like he can.

Roberto flexed his fire-making skills and cooked the burgers.  I somehow botched caramelizing an onion but made a come back with a second onion.  Our roommate, Aubrey, sat back and enjoyed the fruits of our labor.  :D

Roberto also spent part of the day conquering random Starcraft players and climbed the ranks in his division.  He now obsessively checks the ranking boards.  I think this is a good thing?

I'm a bit worried about Roberto as we head into the third cycle.  He has a runny nose and hasn't fully regained all his weight. However, he is full of energy these days and has a more regular sleep cycle now (rather than just a few hours at night).  The oncologist is putting him on another anti-nausea medicine during the chemo week which may be better than the other medications that keep him awake. 

Adam is flying in tomorrow (Sunday) and then we'll have the ol' Chemo Gang back together.  Oh jeez, that's a terrible name.  But seriously, it'll be nice to have him back. 

Cycle 2 - Day 20

The Art of Folding Paper

We had medical and museum adventures today.  Roberto had three appointments today partly because he had varying types of appointments and partly because we messed up scheduling the appointments.  :(   So, we spent the day in downtown/midtown Sacramento. 

After the first appointment, we walked across the street to Sutter's Fort! 

 
The historical landmark had several anachronistic elements.  First, there are several rooms along the walls of the fort and a few of the rooms have automated narrations that are connected to motion sensors. 

Second, we discovered that the denizens of the fort had computers!

Despite the out of place objects, it was still a fun experience.

Next, we saw the oncologist and he said that the treatment is going well since the tumor has shrunk so much.  However, Roberto's red blood cell count is starting to get pretty low.  The numbers have gone from 400 (before chemo), 100 (after first cycle), to 75 (after second cycle).  Roberto may require a transfusion after the third cycle if his count gets too low.  I thought the Neulasta shot was for all blood cells but it only promotes the growth of white blood cells.  There's no wonder shot for red blood cells, thus the need for a transfusion if the count is too low.

After the doctor's visit, we went to the Crocker Art Museum.  My mother is a member and gave us free tickets to see the origami show!  Below is the modern side of the museum. 

I got a few pictures of the art before the guard came by and scolded me for using my camera (only certain exhibitions allow camera use).

Roberto was really impressed by the pieces that used only one piece of paper.  There was a fascinating velociraptor skeleton, but it used 70 pieces of paper so Roberto thought less of it (the velociraptor was really really cool). 

We ended the day with Roberto getting his PICC line dressing replaced.  While the tape and other stuff was removed, Roberto saw the PICC line move into his arm on its own!  Freaky!  The nurse said it might have been due to a muscle contraction.  Basically, it's normal.  :\

Two more day until the end of the second cycle.  Roberto is not looking forward to the third cycle.  I'm going to do my best to distract him.  Maybe it's a good time to learn a new board game! 

Cycle 2 - Day 19

Pros: Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women.

Another relaxing day.  :)  It was also filled with gifts and cards!  Thanks to everyone who sent a card over the last few days.  They were so fun to receive.  I also kept making Roberto go out and check the mail.  *smirking smiley*  Here's a current view of the card wall:

Pam also sent us a few gifts.  One of which is a gift card to In and Out!  This might be a bad thing because Roberto exclaimed, "Now we can eat In and Out all weekend!"  Umm ... yay!?

This also reminds me that Jessica sent another card and some more ginger candy!  We now have a good supply of ginger candy to last us through the end of chemotherapy!  Thanks!

Finally, we got this in the mail from Tom:

I laughed so hard when I saw this.  I'm still not sure exactly why he sent this AWESOME shirt, but I love it and it made me so happy.  hehehehehehe  Click this link if you don't know the meme.


Cycle 2 - Day 18

Domesticated

With all the crazy updates I've been doing on the blog, there actually isn't much to say about Roberto as of late!  He's sooooo boring now.

Roberto is just enjoying life by doing the little things.  For the small garden we are desperately trying to keep alive, Roberto got some plant food so that we could coax more life out of the plants.  Okay, the garden isn't that dead, but the plants seem to be ... bored?  I just want some peppers not little nubs!  At least the dahlia bloomed again.

He also fixed the flat tire of my bike, did some laundry (woo!) and got a few games of Starcraft in.

I forgot to post a picture from Michelle and Eric's place.  They live near Berkeley and have a great view of the bay.  You can see Roberto and me!

Cycle 2 - Day 17

Now to Present ... the Disappearing Tumor!

Did you get the gold star from yesterday's post?

On Monday, Roberto got a third CT scan.  CT scans are usually done (edit: mid-chemotherapy) to make sure the chemotherapy drugs are working.  We already know that the chemotherapy drugs are working because Roberto no longer has the respiratory problems he had prior to chemo, but we wanted to see just how far Roberto has progressed.

Before scrolling down, take a look at the previous post with the June and July CT scans: Old Scans

Here is the scan starting from the head.

Here is another scan starting from Roberto's front to his back.  His right lung is on the left-side of the image.

The images are truly uplifting.  :)  Roberto was a little disappointed, though.  I KNOW!  I think he is dreading the next cycle of chemo and was hoping that all of the tumor was gone so he wouldn't need to continue.  :(   Regardless, he is on his way to beating this thing and becoming awesomer by the minute!

Cycle 2 - Day 16

"Roberto Has a Big A** Tumor in His Chest" - Part Deux

Roberto got a third CT scan today.  I'm torn between completing the story from yesterday and showing you all the results of the CT scan!!!  I'm going to torture you for a bit and save the CT scan for tomorrow.  Muah hahaha  (Actually, I need time to create the .avi file.  *embarrassed smiley*)

 Roberto secretly had the sniffles since last Saturday (the day he got his Neulasta shot)!  I say secretly because he didn't say anything to me about it.  I started noticing more over the weekend and internally FREAKED OUT that I might have given him my sniffles!  He told me that he got the sniffles after the Neulasta shot during the first cycle too, so he didn't think much of it.  This time, the sniffles lasted a lot longer.  I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm forcing Roberto to take it easy and take naps when he can.  He's feeling a bit better today after all the naps.

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Now that we are about halfway through the chemotherapy treatment, I thought it would be good to recap what's happened, especially for those who haven't been with us from the beginning.  I first started this blog to keep close friends and relatives apprised of Roberto's status, but we've shared this blog with all who care about Roberto and they may not have the complete history of events.

*** I'M SORRY THIS POST IS SO LONG ***  but I really wanted to finish the story in two posts.

We left off with doing a CT scan in June and scheduling an appointment to see a thoracic surgeon.   

Thoracic Surgeon and the Biopsy

We first spoke with the Chief Resident and explained the symptoms Roberto was experiencing: a side ache and some pain when breathing in deeply.  The resident assured us that Roberto probably had a thymoma which is removed via surgery.  With our hopes up, the resident left us in the exam room to view the CT scan with the surgeon.  They rushed back in with very serious looks and explained to us that Roberto needed a biopsy immediately because the tumor was so large and pushing against his bronchial tube and the major vein of the heart (vena cava superior).  Lesson:  do not listen to what doctors say until they have *ALL* the information, especially if they are still residents (chief or not).

Roberto underwent a needle biopsy procedure the following Monday in the last week of June.  Since the tumor was so close (practically on top of) his lung, the procedure took some time.  They had to do a CT scan prior to the procedure to plan where they would insert the needle.  Then they did an x-ray to make sure they didn't puncture his lung.  While it was sort of complicated, the procedure didn't require Roberto to be at the hospital for more than a few hours.

One thing that piqued our curiosity was that Roberto over heard someone state that the tumor was a bit bigger than in the previous scan.  Unfortunately, we couldn't see that particular CT scan and wouldn't know the true extent of the tumor's growth for another couple of weeks.  (See this post for a comparison of the CT scans from June and July)

THE WAIT

We were told that the results of the biopsy would be complete by the beginning of the following week at the latest.  We tried to get on with our lives and patiently waited, and even went to Western States 100 to cheer on Pedro and Chris with Erin and Natalie (when we could find them).

During this wait time, Roberto's condition began to deteriorate  He was short of breath when climbing stairs on some days.  At Western States, we were up in the mountains and had to hike to one of the aid stations.  It was a short hike and certainly nothing that would challenge normal Roberto, but cancer Roberto had trouble with the half mile with some incline.  I made him stop a few times so he could catch his breath.  Moreover, his cough had worsen and it was difficult for him to speak without coughing every few words.  That was the most disconcerting. 

The start of the next week came and went, so phone calls were made to see what the &#$% was going on.  While the Sacramento pathologists are top notch (I was told this when my sister had a biopsy for her thyroid cancer two years ago), they were stumped by the cells they saw in the sample.  So, they sent the sample to the Stanford pathologists.

With the minimal medical knowledge we have, it was hard to gauge what that meant in terms of the possible outcomes of the diagnosis.  Does that mean it's benign?  Was the sample poor?  Is Roberto going to have a new disease named after him?  Okay, only I thought that last one.   Basically, we (I) went bonkers waiting and waiting to hear back from the doctor's office.  Having the Fourth of July holiday occur at the end of the week didn't help matters either.

We finally heard back on Friday, July 12th (over 2.5 weeks after the biopsy) when the surgeon personally called us to tell us the results.  

The Tumor is Revealed - Its Weakness is Love - And Lots of Chemo

The surgeon told us that the tumor is a seminoma with teratoma elements.  The seminoma is a type of germ cell tumor that grows rapidly but responds well to chemotherapy. The surgeon told us that chemotherapy is outside his jurisdiction so he was referring Roberto to an oncologist and got Roberto an appointment for the following Monday. 

This post is getting long, so I'll cut to the chase.  The oncologist told us a bit more about the tumor.  It's a type of tumor associated with testicular cancer, but there are cases where the tumor occurs outside the testicles - that's what Roberto has.  The oncologist put Roberto on a 12-week chemotherapy plan to combat the seminoma.  After the 12 weeks, Roberto will require surgery to remove the teratoma parts of the tumor; teratoma apparently does not respond as well to chemotherapy.

The 12 weeks consist of four three-week cycles.  For one cycle, the three weeks consist of: (week 1) receiving chemotherapy drugs intravenously; and (week 2 and 3) a resting period to regain lost blood cells.

Roberto is currently in the last week of the second cycle.  Now that I've written this post and had a chance to reflect back on all that has happened, it feels as though Roberto has been battling his cancer for such a long time.  To say that he is in his second cycle makes it feel as though very little progress has been made.

Let's use some math to put this back in perspective.  Roberto has completed 5 of 12 weeks of his chemotherapy.  That's about 41.6667% done, and is amazing.  Yay for math!

If you made it to the end of this post, kudos to you.  You get a gold star!  Stay tuned tomorrow for the CT scan.

Cycle 2 - Day 15

Previously on "Roberto has a Big A** Tumor in His Chest"

Another relaxing day spent with friends and playing board games.  We visited Michelle and Eric who were also entertaining the fabulous Deanna and Blake.  Lots of games were played and we made new fans of Deanna and Blake of Betrayal at House on the Hill.  Sadly, I didn't grab a picture of the final board.  :'(

Roberto has seven more days until the start of the third cycle.  He has one more week of recovery.  Let's try to keep his spirits up this week and get him mentally prepped for Cycle 3!

 ----------------------------------------------

Now that we are about halfway through the chemotherapy treatment, I thought it would be good to recap what's happened.  Especially for those who haven't been with us from the beginning.  I first started this blog to keep close friends and relatives apprised of Roberto's status, but we've shared this blog with all who care about Roberto and they may not have the complete history of events.

So, here's the approximate timeline of Roberto's cancer fighting journey that started in May.

Physical Ailments 

In May, Roberto had a small muscle ache on his right side that he thought was a strain from weight lifting.  He also complained about feeling some liquid in his lung when he moved.  He also had a small cough.  Nonetheless, at the end of May, he and I moved into our new place in one day and the next day he ran 18+ miles with Pedro and Chris. I remember being concerned enough about his side ache that I tried to talk him out of running, but not much can stop Roberto from running!  Well, except cancer, I guess.  :P

After that run, Roberto's cough persisted.  I nagged and nagged like a good fiancee for him to visit the doctor since it can't be good for anyone to be coughing all the time.  I thought, at the worst, that Roberto may have walking-pneumonia since he mentioned the liquid in his lung.  Roberto actually started feeling better; his ache was going away and I think he was getting used to the cough.  Despite his apparent improvement, he knew I would keep bugging him to go to the health center so he finally made the visit. 

First Diagnosis

In mid-June, Roberto and I went to the health center and 15 minutes grew into 25 minutes and then into more.  The doctor at the health center listened to his breathing and said that Roberto's breathing seemed fine, but ordered an x-ray since Roberto did have that cough and liquid feeling.  At some point, Roberto came out of the back room area and motioned for me to go in with him.  Trepidatiously, I walked in and was greeted by the doctor who took me to her office and showed me her computer monitor with the x-ray.

The x-ray was stunning: a large mass clearly took residence on the right side of Roberto's chest and may (most likely was) inducing a pleural effusion, i.e. excess liquid in his lungs.  The doctor stated that because of the size, the mass was probably a tumor.  X-rays aren't great for determining which part of the image was the mass and which was liquid, so we made an appointment for a CT scan.

CT Scan

The next day, we went to the Sutter Hospital in Davis to get a CT scan.  We learned the tumor was a significant portion of the mass we previously saw in the x-ray.  The radiologist and Roberto's primary care doctor gave us four possibilities for the type of tumor it could be (based on the location) that are affectionately nicknamed the "Terrible T's":  teratoma, thymona, thyroid tumor, or terrible lymphoma.

After that appointment, I was simply stunned with the overload of information we were receiving (Roberto probably was too).  We searched all the different possibilities for the tumor and started hoping for one type over the others.  I had so many thoughts racing through my brain: it could be cancer; it could be benign; how long has Roberto had the tumor; maybe it can be removed with surgery; was the tumor the result of Roberto "eating" his twin en utero?   Besides filling our time with medical information from the internet, we spent time updating close friends and family, studying the CT scan, and scheduling an appointment with a thoracic surgeon. 


 Well, this post is already getting pretty meaty, so I'll cut it off right here and continue the story tomorrow.


I've been giving people our address for sending cards.  Don't be shy!  :)


Cycle 2 - Day 14

Chillin' Out Maxin' Relaxin' All Cool

We had a whirlwind of a day today.  The day started with the Martinez boys building the new bed frame Roberto and I bought from Ikea.  I've never heard so much laughter over constructing a bed frame; it was nice to hear Roberto laughing so hard.  I'm not around many in-progress bed frames but I'm pretty sure Ikea furniture construction is accompanied by cursing and yelling.  I did catch a, "You guys put the piece in upside down!" 

In the afternoon, we had a bunch of people stop by for lunch:  Jim, Jun, Sophia, Eli, Alex, and Christina.  Roberto's parents slaved away at the barbeque and Roberto helped them pull together a yummy buffet of food.  We spent most of the day playing Fluxx and Carcassonne. We played the pirate version of Fluxx and I got some people to talk like a pirate (it's a special card)!  Carcassonne was fun and challenging because we had so many players.  There was a lot of talk about the pieces:  "Put it in!" "It fits perfectly," "Just slide it in," and "Don't do that!  That helps him!"

Below is a rare 5-person game.  Christina was the winner!  Eli's hand was conveniently pointing at something.

Okay, I'm totally drained of energy.  Time to call it.

The Martinez Clan Visits!

We started the morning off with a weekly PICC line cleaning at the Davis Infusion Center.  Notable differences at the Davis Infusion Center:  patient chairs do NOT recline;  there are nice "nature" noises through the ceiling speakers (birds chirping); the room is smaller; and they have a huge collection of paper cranes!

The Japanese legend is that one who folds a thousand paper cranes may have one wish granted.  Is it a coincidence that Roberto loves folding paper cranes?  Yes. 

The nurse Roberto had today told a story about a guy who required multiple PICC lines placed.  "Why?" you ask?  The man would let his dog play with the cords of the PICC line.  The man wouldn't make his canine stop because the dog loved the dangling cords so much.  :-\

After Roberto's PICC line got freshened up, we drove to Winters for a nice breakfast at Putah Creek Cafe with newlyweds Julie and Macie Blackwood!  The Blackwoods!  That has a nice ring to it.  The ladies were in town for additional wedding activities with relatives in the area and made some time to see me and Roberto.  It's been a long time since we've seen the two of them, so it was nice to spend some time catching up and comparing engagement stories.  

Then in the late afternoon, the Martinez family arrived in Davis!  We all (us and them) wanted them to visit earlier but it just wasn't in the cards (scheduling conflicts, illness, the usual travel-cancelling annoyances).  Roberto's mother, father, brother and cousin drove up from LA and are spending the next two nights with us.  Roberto, Pedro, Erik, and I played many rounds and various expansions of Fluxx (a card game where the rules are always ... wait for it ... in flux).  Somehow, Pedro kept winning!  While we were playing, Roberto's mom made a great dinner for everyone.  For tomorrow, there's a big barbeque planned and just simply spending time with family. 

Cycle 2 - Day 12

The Card Wall Grows

Roberto is doing great!  He's a little achy from the Neulasta shot from last week.  Neulasta stimulates the bone marrow to produce more blood cells, but that means he gets achy bones.  He still is a bit restless when sleeping and tried the couch last night for a bit.  Other than that, he's been doing more things around the house and also taking the time to upgrade his desktop computer.  I could say it's totally unrelated to Starcraft 2 but that would be lying, and I wouldn't lie to you!

I've started freaking out a bit because I felt a little dizzy today, my sinuses hurt a bit, and my nose was a tad runny.  :-O  I really really really hope I don't have some sort of cold or flu.  If I get worse tomorrow, I'm totally quarantining myself from Roberto.  Even if it means I cannot entertain his four family members visiting this weekend.  (My subtle sarcasm aside, they are great people.)  It could also be my body just being stressed out from the wacky day I had.  I started the morning in shower (that's normal) and then found myself in complete darkness (that is not normal).  The power company had turned off power to do repairs/upgrades, and they had given plenty of notice but my brain conveniently forgot about it.  I could go on about a flat bike tire and then sitting in traffic while on the way to a meeting, but it wasn't really all that interesting. 

Here's a current view of the wall of cards:

Roberto gets a lot of joy from receiving a card.  :) 

Okay, the weekend is nearly here!  Hurrah!

Cycle 2 - Day 11

The Hidden Side of Cancer

Yet another restless night, but I think we can blame last night on the terrible heat.  Roberto felt good enough today to clean up the backyard of his random crap!  His summer cleaning is just in time for his family to visit.  Now we can use the patio for barbequing.

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Since there's not much going on with Roberto, I decided to write up some of the little things we have to deal with since Roberto started chemotherapy.  The following are a few things we learned about before chemotherapy started when we had Chemo Education with the nurse.

PICC Line

The PICC line is the catheter in Roberto's arm through which he receives chemotherapy drugs.  We have to keep Roberto's PICC line dry which means showers are a big pain.  Before each shower, I wrap and tape up Roberto's arm in saran wrap.  Then Roberto has to awkwardly shower using only one hand.  All of this becomes slightly more complicated when he has the fanny pack during the chemo drug week because the fanny pack is attached to the PICC line.  Also, his PICC line has to be flushed with saline once a week to make sure the line is clear and the dressing is changed. 

Washing Sheets

I'm still not sure of the exact reasons for this, but we have to wash the sheets in hot water each week - twice!  At first, I thought maybe Roberto's body secreted the chemotherapy drugs out through sweat and that got into the sheets.  However, it's apparently okay for me to sleep next to him.  So, hopefully it's not that!  :-/  Perhaps it's to make sure the sheets are super clean and free of any little bugs.  

Fearing the Sun

Roberto has to make sure to not get any sunburns so he has to avoid the sun and wear sunscreen when he leaves the house.  One of our first purchases was a hat (unfortunately, not the fedora).  Wearing sunscreen is a new idea for Roberto since his dark skin rarely sunburns.  He needs to avoid sunburns because sunburns are breaks in skin which may become infected.  With his low blood count, infections are bad news. 


It hasn't been terrible dealing with those three things; just added nuisances. 

Cycle 2 - Day 10

Shake Shake Shake

Another uneventful day.  The night, however, was not.  Roberto had difficulty sleeping; it might stem from last week when the chemo drugs would make him sleep during the day and he had to wake up at night to go to the bathroom.  So, he took half an Ambien but it made his arms and legs shake as if he were dancing.  :\   We'll see how tonight goes. 

Eric sent us a great poem.

Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the Spirit.

Robostrong! 


Cycle 2 - Day 9

A Boring Day

Sunday night was another restless night for Roberto, but not as much as the previous nights.  He still had the little soccer kick when sleeping while I was trying to fall asleep.  Roberto told me in the morning that he was actually pretty active last night.  He woke up at some point and got a glass of orange juice arranged the comforter on the floor as a makeshift bed so he could sleep on the floor. 
Yup, he's still sleeping on the floor.  I'll whisk him to a masseuse this week.

Today, Roberto ate more food!  He got his In and Out with Tarik and me.  Roberto remarked while waiting for his In and Out burger that he wants to go to Burgers and Brew later in the week.  After the weekend with friends, I don't know if I can eat there again!  Anyway, it's good that he's eating more food now because he did lose a lot of weight.  His weight loss is more apparent than before because his clothes are fitting a bit looser nowadays. 

Roberto is almost back to normal now.  I can tell because he's teasing me a lot more.  He got a few calls from friends and he took the time to answer some emails.  If you're wanting to hear from Roberto directly, now's the time to send a message! 

Next Monday, Roberto has a CT scan scheduled so we can see the progress that's been made after two cycles of chemotherapy.  I'm hoping that we'll see a tiny, tiny tumor.  :) 

Cycle 2 - Day 8

Not Your Standard Punching Doll

Roberto had another leg kicking night.  The medication (we don't know which one yet) finally wore off towards the end of the night and he got to sleep.  This was after he asked for a massage and slept on the floor a few times because his back was bothering him.  All the sitting during the week, sleeping in the lumpy bed, and the shifting of his organs from the shrinking tumor might be causing the back aches.  I'm thinking about getting him to a professional masseuse. I guess Massage Envy?  I don't actually know a good place to take him.

---------------------------------------------

Amanda and Tarik stopped by today to see how Roberto was doing and to drop off a gift!

The above is a "Da***t Doll" that Roberto can abuse when he's feeling angry.  The instructions on the doll state that whenever one is feeling angry, they should take the doll by the legs and wail it against the nearest wall.  Apparently, Amanda gave Roberto permission to hit ME with the doll!!!  I have yet to confirm this with Amanda.  I might need to get a doll of my own.  But I can't hit someone with cancer!  Arrrrrgggg!

The next few pictures are of gifts we received a while ago.  Rob and Kat went to San Diego Comic Con and found a little Master Chief!  It's about four inches tall and is the cutest Master Chief, which probably comes in handy when fighting the Covenant (really, more nerdy references??). 

Before Martha left, she bestowed on us an array of candy and games!  She also bought us some new sheets so we don't have to wash as often (we have to wash the sheets each week).

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As for today, Roberto also ate lots of solid food!  He wasn't quite ready for burgers but did eat a good portion of pasta with plenty of fruits and veggies throughout the day and finished the night with a smoothie.  He hasn't forgotten about the burgers though.  He already has lunch plans with Tarik to grab some In and Out tomorrow. 

Roberto was also awake for the entire day!  Granted, he spent the majority of the day playing Halo and Starcraft 2, but that's better than sleeping or throwing up.  It's great to see him recover so quickly after completing the chemo infusion portion of the cycle.  I'm trying to think of ways to make the third cycle a little easier on him.  Any ideas?

By the way, I added my email to my profile so people can contact me.  I realized that not everyone who reads this blog may have my email address.  

Cheers to a full night's rest!

Cycle 2 - Day 7

Flowers!

Cycle 2 - Day 6

Friday night was probably one of the worst nights for Roberto.  He had difficulty sleeping, so we gave him an ambien.  About an hour later, he came downstairs and declared that the sleeping medication wasn't working because he kept thinking his pillows were part of some (video game?) mission.  I think that was sleeping but I'm sure that's not the type of sleep any one really wants to have.  Also, one of Roberto's anti-nausea medicines may be giving him restless-leg syndrome and general restlessness because his leg would twitch a bit at night as if he was dreaming about playing soccer and then he got out of bed and wanted to walk around the living room.  Soon, Roberto will be off the medication so hopefully he (and I) will get a full night's rest. 

We went back to the Infusion Center this Saturday afternoon to return the medicine bag he has to carry around for the duration of the chemo week.  Also, because he's been vomiting so much, he got a liter or two of saline for hydration.  It's standard practice to take stats of his vitals and we found out that he lost about 10 pounds this week.  That's not terribly shocking news since he hasn't been eating but still disconcerting. 

Roberto is already showing signs of recovering from the chemo drugs.  There was some dry-heaving action happening today, but that was in the morning.  Later in the day, he ate a whole peach, a cookie, and two tiny bowls of broth!  I'm more cautious about the soup since most of the time he will throw it up, so I gave him just broth.  Since he was not given the chemo drugs today, he was awake for a good portion of the day. 

Unfortunately, Roberto is still plagued with restlessness from Friday night and couldn't stay still for the nap he wanted to take.  He found a cure in the form of Halo.  Yay for Halo!  So we definitively know now that Halo also cures restless leg syndrome.  Basically, Halo is the cure for everything.  As I type this, Roberto is sleeping now, however, I can hear the sounds of kicking coming from Roberto.  I might move to the couch tonight.  Oh my, he's rolling about the bed and flinging pillows around.  Um, when you see Roberto, just pretend that I never wrote this on the blog (i.e. don't mention this).  I think he's making a pillow fort!  ...

Anyway, we got a wonderful surprise on our front door in the evening!

Aunt Patti and Uncle Doug sent us beautiful flowers already potted!  Roberto wanted to start a flower garden and all we have is a dahlia plant that refuses to bloom again (and a bunch of sad pepper plants, but those are my fault).  Roberto was soooooooooooo (yes, I need that many o's) happy when he saw the plants, he immediately watered them and tended to our other plants. 

This concludes the chemo drug infusion portion of cycle 2.  I'm going to be throwing so much food in front of Roberto's face this week.  I talked to Roberto about what he wanted his first meal to be and he enthusiastically said, "Burgers!"  My jambalaya never had a chance. 

Chemo - Cycle 2 - Day 5 - Survival

Day 5 had ended and, thus, the chemo portion of Roberto's second cycle has come to an end.  Now he has 16 days of recovery to enjoy with rest and lots of food.

Roberto still struggled with feeling nauseated today and it continues to stymie our attempts at getting Roberto to eat.  At the same time, we don't want to push him to eat and then have him throw up the meal a few minutes later.  The oncologist prescribed a fourth anti-nausea drug to help with the nausea.  Since he's been home, he's only thrown up once, so maybe it's starting to work.  The nurse also commented that since Roberto's nausea is worse than the first cycle, his symptoms might be psychosomatic.  There might be some truth to that speculation because Roberto was getting a bit anxious before the second cycle started.  I think I'll try to get Roberto to talk to me a bit more about how he's feeling about all of this once he is more lucid.  He already does not want to do the two remaining cycles of chemotherapy.

On a lighter note, Roberto received another card in the mail today!  Aunt Patti has been in almost constant contact with us since the beginning, and it brought a small bit of sunshine into Roberto's gloomy day to read her supportive words.  I also read to Roberto a couple of texts and emails.  I think such messages are so wonderful and they definitely uplifted my spirits today.

Tomorrow, Roberto gets to hand in his fanny pack of drugs and be done with the chemo infusion!  The first meal he craved after the first cycle was In and Out.  Of course, right???  That guy lives and breathes those burgers and fries.  We'll see what he eats this time around.  Any bets on my jambalaya?  Believe it or not, it's a strong contender.

Chemo - Cycle 2 - Day 4 - Tiny Bowls

Well, chemo is a huge pain in the ***.  Roberto spent the whole day fighting the urge to throw up.  He was successful a majority of times but was miserable the entire day.  It's hard watching Roberto suffer each day and be unable to mitigate his nausea.  Roberto's oncologist and nurse decided to give Roberto a third anti-nausea drug to take at home.  Hopefully it will do the trick.  So far, in the evening, Roberto has been doing well.

We're also trying portion control with Roberto.  It seems even while sick, he will finish all the food that is placed in front of him. so we've resorted to tiny bowls of soup.  Roberto is definitely not eating enough food, but there's just one more day of chemo drugs for this cycle and maybe on Saturday he will be able to eat more.

During Roberto's low points, he'll say, "Chemo sucks," and "Why did this have to happen to me/us?"  There's certainly no easy or comforting answer to that question.  Is it reassuring to know that your body is predisposed genetically to have cells that would go rogue by multiply out of control and murder you?  Another perspective of the same idea: was this part of a grand plan for Roberto's life? 

I have difficulty answering such questions.  I can't even begin to imagine what Roberto is experiencing and what could be said to make him feel better.  I'll say the usual, "You're strong and will get through this," and "You're going to be awesomer after this over," because it's the truth and it's easy to speak such truths.  Instead of attempting deeper answers, I focus on doing everything I can to help Roberto physically get through this ordeal.  Everyday I hope that my and Adam's presence at the Infusion Center and at home gives him a little bit more strength to get through the day.

Roberto is already dreading the next two chemo cycles and it's becoming harder to be Robostrong. For now, though, let's get him through tomorrow.

Chemo - Cycle 2 - Day 3 - A Tough Day

Today was very tough on Roberto.  He spent the day either sleeping or throwing up.  I would go into details of the day but they are messy and not necessary for the blog.  I thought we were pretty good at giving him the anti-nausea medication on time, but it might be more than that.  The oncologist told us last week that patients typically vomit the entire week when receiving the chemotherapy drugs.  This might be the norm for Roberto for the other cycles.

I first speculated that the smell of the medicine would induce vomiting because Roberto was complaining about the medicine smell all the time.  Also, the smell is strongest in the bathrooms of the Infusion Center and his quarantined bathroom at home; those were the locations in which he usually threw up.  But after the last two days, it might just be him moving too fast and not knowing what feeling nauseated is like. 

With all the vomiting, Roberto didn't eat much today.  We sort of prepared for this over the weekend with Roberto eating as much as he could on Saturday and Sunday.  He lost a bit of weight from the first cycle and he didn't quite gain it all back.  Hopefully he won't lose too much more weight.

On a lighter note, I've started taping up the cards Roberto has received in the mail.  If I could tape emails and text messages, there would be a lot more on the wall.  Here's a picture:

We're over half-way through the week of chemo drugs.  The next two days will be hard.

Chemo - Cycle 2 - Day 2 - Fedoras Are Cool

Just me and Roberto today at the Infusion Center.  We wanted to give Adam a day off since he's been so great about helping us out.

Here's a current picture of Roberto.  He's so cute in his military hat.  It's not a real military hat, by the way.  We just picked up a hat from Target.  The choice was between the military hat or a fedora.  Coincidentally, we had just finished watching "White Collar" whose main character likes wearing fedoras.  Alas, I could not persuade Roberto to mimic Neal Caffery.

Here he is sitting pretty in his comfy chair.  We decided that driving the 20+ minutes to Sacramento was worth it instead of going to the Davis Infusion Center because the Sacramento chairs recline and have the seat warming option!  Now that Roberto is bald, the cool air of the Infusion Center makes him colder than before, so he's using the beanie from Tasia!

The Infusion Center has brand new medicine pumps!  They seem to be more convenient for the nurses to keep track of the drugs with the digital library that the pumps contain.  So far, the nurses have had to spend a lot more time pressing buttons in order to find the correct drug name.  Also, they've started a list of drugs that are not in the pump!  Totally convenient.  Well, at least they are shiny and new.

Around lunch time, Jim stopped by to keep us company.  He brought a card/board game with him called "San Juan."  Players slowly build plantations and buildings in order to colonize Puerto Rico.  I ... yeah, that seems like a sort of terrible theme.  Don't get me started on "Archipelago."

I thought that Roberto's appetite would have started to wane but after listening to the nurses talk about the restaurant Tres Hermanas, he sent me out to get a burrito!  "It's within walking distance," he said.  "It'll be really convenient!"  >_<  So, I had a lovely walk today through mid-town Sacramento. 

Two days down!  Three more days!  We're almost half way through.  Robostrong!

Chemo - Cycle 2 - Day 1 - Return of the Fanny

Today was a good start to the week of chemotherapy drugs.  For the next five days (Monday through Friday), Roberto will receive his long list of chemotherapy and supportive drugs at the Infusion Center.  This also means the return of his fanny pack (which transformed into a stylish hand bag of sorts) that will administer a drug continuously through Saturday.

Roberto's reaction to the drugs is a little faster this time around than the last time. He has a sensitivity to smells such as the medicine that the fanny pack contains.  It could also be him anticipating the unpleasant smell.  He had me and Adam smell the inside of the fanny pack but all we smelled was a plastic odor.  He's also sleeping frequently throughout the day, but he did squeeze in some Halo time with Adam in the afternoon after getting home.  It's known that playing video games, especially Halo, not only improves hand-eye coordination but also kills cancer cells.

As for me, I spent the morning hanging out with Martha.  The idea was to give me a chance to relax after the crazy weekend of people visiting and some time not having to worry about Roberto since Adam was taking care of him at the Infusion Center.  While I felt a small pang of guilt for not going to the Infusion Center, it was nice to have a change of scenery so that my day didn't consist of home, the Infusion Center, and/or American River College.  I also got a chance to vent to and gossip with Martha.  There's nothing like girl talk over a couple cups of coffee.

Martha and I got a chance to visit Roberto and Adam at the Infusion Center.  Roberto asked the person distributing hospital lunches for TWO pieces of cake!  On the scale of 1 being cardboard and 10 being divine, Roberto ranked the cake as a 2 or 3.  He still ate every bit of both plates.  He also started cracking a lot of jokes.  Some at my expense.  :P  I guess I can forgive him. 

So, yay for a boring day at the Infusion Center!  Time to get ready to conquer tomorrow.

Achievement Unlocked - One Cycle Complete

We spent the day relaxing with friends.  One more board game was played in the morning with Eric and Michelle (we squeezed it in right before lunch).  This one is called Carcassonne and it's super fun.  You build cities and roads and claim them for yourself with little tokens called Meeples.  Well, I should tell you that it's origin is in Germany.  Leave it to the Germans to pick mundane tasks for the theme of a game.  Seriously, though, this is one of Roberto's favorite games.  You've probably guessed by now that I'm a super nerd about board games.  I blame Eric and Michelle (yes, I know you're reading this).

Eric and Michelle stayed for lunch and we met up with Kat, Rob, Jim, Jun, baby Sophia, and Martha for a lunch buffet which was so fun.  We hadn't hung out with all of them for a long time and it gave me a sense of normalcy that I hadn't felt for a while.  Martha is gracing us with her presence for the next two days to lend a helping hand with Adam.  :)  It's great to have her lovely face around and an extra voice against watching the Top Gear Bolivia Special.  We escaped with having watched only the first 20 minutes.  Whew.

When Michelle and Eric came the other day, they brought with them a bunch of ginger products:  candy, tea and soda!  Roberto is not going to be running out of ginger candy any time soon.  I truly hope one or all of these helps Roberto through this week.

Speaking of gifts, Roberto received a care package in the mail from the awesome Jessica!  She sent a gift card to iTunes and Starbucks (good call on my addiction to coffee, Jessica!).  She also sent hard candy made by the creepy Ginger People!  OK, they are not creepy, just creepy to me with their little ginger limbs.

Well, Roberto made it to the end of one cycle!  He's one-fourth of the way through his chemotherapy treatment.  There's nine more weeks to go which seems like forever at this point.  This week will be hard but we'll take it one day at a time with all your well-wishes, thoughts, and prayers to keep us going.  :)

Cycle 1 - Day 21

Friends and Games - Oh, and NO HAIR

Roberto has transformed!

He got fed up with the hair hurting him when he slept and when taking his hat off so he shaved the rest of the hairs.  Also, he was looking pretty mangy.  There is a bit of stubble because he had to use the electric shaver.  It's funny to see the tan line on his scalp from his hair.  Also, his head is very shiny in the sun!

Roberto is soooo happy now.  He spent the rest of the day commenting about how nice it is to not be in pain from removing his hat and how there are no more random hairs on his shirts.  He was also excited about the fact that he shaved all his hair!  Wearing his cap will be more vital now to protect his skin from the sun.  He needs to avoid getting sun burned.  Sun burns lead to burnt skin which may lead to an infection.  :(  In addition to being giddy about the lack of hair, he was trying to persuade me into shaving my own hair.  NO WAY. 

Later in the day, we got some visitors!  Eric and Michelle are visiting and we got a surprise visit from Kat and Rob!  We spent the day playing board games. I'm not talking about the fluff games of "Candy Land" or "Trouble".  The board games we like to play are along the lines of "Pandemic", "Smallword", and "Dominion."  Today, we tried out two games we hadn't played before: "Kingdom Builder" and "Seasons."  Both were pretty awesome!  Below are pictures of the games at the end.

Above is "Seasons" which is a sort of deck building and resource gathering game.  The rules and nuances of the game were challenging to learn at first.  Once we figured out the cards and resources, the game was a lot more fun.

Ah, "Kingdom Builder."  You try to build up your kingdom a few settlements at a time, but you can only build where you are told to build.  This game had simpler mechanics and was pretty easy to learn.

I haven't played board games for a while now, and I haven't played new ones for a long time so today was pretty fun.  Michelle and Eric brought "Pandemic" with them and it reminded me how I want to add it to our collection of board games.  Oops.  This blog just turned into a board games commentary blog! 

Tomorrow we'll make sure everything is in order for the second cycle.  Just a couple more days now.

Cycle 1 - Day 20

They See Me Rollin'

Today was full of interesting things.  Yes, that's the best intro you're going to get from me.  I've been grading finals.

First, Roberto's friends Greg and Gabby are visiting from LA!  I'm having fun getting to know them and hanging out with nice people.  We've taken them to the "hot" eateries of Davis - Cafe Bernardo and Burgers and Brew - and for a quick stop at the Ye Olde Beer Shoppe.  They are the first in a series of friends we are going to see this weekend.  Honestly, I thought that having so many people visiting was going to be a pain. However, it's been nice having the distraction.  The anticipation of the second cycle is rattling Roberto.  Well, as much as Roberto can be rattled which is not much.  So with friends around, Roberto and I can focus on them instead of the possible horribleness of the chemotherapy.  But, seriously, I just watched the Top Gear Bolivia Special again and I don't know how many more times I can see it before my brain implodes.

Second, we saw the oncologist to touch base and discuss the progress of the chemotherapy.  The oncologist listened to Roberto's breathing and could hear that the right lung is now taking in air!  Hooray!  No more collapsed right lung!  Also, one of the cancer indicators in Roberto's blood has decreased dramatically.  It's count was in the 1000's and has dropped to the 200's.  :)  Roberto may not need to have a CT scan after the second cycle because the CT scan would be needed to determine if the chemotherapy is doing its job and clearly it is.  

Third, Roberto is losing a lot more hair now.  It hurts when he brushes his hair against the grain.  Normally this is not a problem, except that he has to wear a hat now to protect his head from the sun.  Roberto now looks like he played with fire - and fire won.  Roberto got so fed up with his hair that he took the sticky roller he was using to clean the pillow and took it to his head!  This is the result:

I helped him out and we got a good 10 sheets of hair off his head.  I had bought a Bounce brand of roller which leaves a fresh Bounce scent behind so Roberto's head smells like Bounce now.  After a while, he took a wet towel and started brushing his head in the bath tub.  I was going to get a picture of all the hair in the tub but Roberto was too quick for me and washed the tub out unintentionally.

If you can, please send Roberto a quick message and tell him to be Robostrong!  We need to gear up for the second cycle.  Also, if you want to send a card or anything, message me and I'll give you our address.

Cycle 1 - Day 19

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Sorry for the title.  I couldn't help it.

I've been busy with the calculus class I'm teaching.  We're in the last week and I'm helping my students prepare for their final.  Also, there hasn't been much to report about Roberto - yay!  There's just one minor thing - his hair.

Over the last few days, Roberto's hair has started falling out - a side effect of the chemotherapy drugs.  I first noticed a couple days ago when I saw a few hairs on his pillow.  Then on Tuesday, Roberto pinched a bit of his hair and, with a little pull, his fingers left his head with a small bunch of hairs.  Below is the result of my own little pinch.

Roberto's head is slowly looking more patchy each day like a kid who tried to cut his own hair.  At first, Roberto was fascinated by how easy it was to pull hair off of his head.  Fascination turned to sadness as more and more hair fell out.  His pillow has a layer of hairs in the morning.  I'm not even going to talk about the shower drain.

Other than leaving hair all over the apartment, Roberto is doing great.  We're cat sitting for the week and the feline company keeps Roberto cheery.  Between him and the cat, there is a lot of shedding in the house.  Some friends will be visiting us this weekend before the start of the second cycle.  I'm looking forward to catching up with them and having some fun after grading finals.  :)

Cycle 1 - Day 17

PICC Line Pics

We visited the Davis Sutter Infusion Center today to get Roberto's PICC line cleaned out.  He also had to get some blood drawn.  The PICC line is a catheter that is inserted in Roberto's vein and goes all the way to his superior vena cava (main vein to the heart).  I have the pictures below. 

Just a warning, the pictures might not be for the squeamish.  They are, however, totally for people who like seeing odd things sticking out of arms.




I warned you!










Still here?





The PICC line in all its glory!!!  One step closer to the Matrix.

Usually, it's not just hanging out all loose like that since it could get caught on something and be pulled out of his body (yikes!).  The nurse had taken off all the tape and gauze pads that were keeping the catheter snugly in place.  This way, she could clean up the arm.

Action shot of the nurse placing new tape and this special bandage with a window on Roberto's arm.  The window allows nurses to see if there is anything wrong with the PICC line such as blood seeping out or an infection.

Kinda blurry picture of the PICC line.  The PICC line splits into two other lines.  From what I can tell (and I might be totally wrong about this), one is mainly for administering the chemo drugs and the other is for drawing blood when necessary. 

Speaking of drawing blood, here's the PICC line in action!  Just attach the syringe to the PICC line and pull.  The advantage of the PICC line is that Roberto doesn't need to be pricked again and again when he needs blood drawn and when he receives the chemo drugs.  Also, one of the chemo drugs is very harsh on veins so the PICC line avoids the drugs interacting with the smaller veins of his arm. 

 Finally, the PICC line all nice and snug in gauze pads and tape.  They place an extra mesh thing around it for added security. 

This might be the last post for a while.  Roberto is doing well although he has some back pain.  He has some special configuration with a bunch of pillows when he sleeps at night.  Other than that, his appetite is back and he doesn't sleep the entire day but does go to bed relatively early  The second cycle starts August 12th and I'll definitely start updating regularly again by that date, if not before.

Robostrong!

(Cycle 1 - Day 12)

 

Enjoying Life

We've made it to the point where there is no exciting news to share!  Tomorrow, Roberto is going to have his PICC line flushed and dressing changed.  The PICC line is a catheter inserted into a vein so the chemotherapy drugs can be administered.  I'll get some pictures of his arm for tomorrow's post. 

Keep the messages, emails and phone calls coming!  Roberto is able to talk on the phone now, so give us a quick call if you want to chat.  :)

Might Contain Microbes

I can finally say with confidence that Roberto is back!  He took his two precious cars out for some quality time and even gave them a good wash.  I'm not jealous of the cars!  I'm not!  *sigh*  Playing videogames and working on his cars - classic Roberto.

Today, Roberto got two cases of Spindrift soda from Shelly!  I got to try one today and it was pretty tasty!  This is a good time to mention, before we possibly get more goodies (hey, I can hope!), that Roberto has a somewhat restricted diet.  Chemotherapy weakens the immune system, so he cannot have foods that might contain microbes.  Basically, no unpasteurized foods, raw fruits or veggies unless they have peels or can be cleaned well, and no sushi or rare steaks.  Finally, I was able to stop Roberto from binging on sushi every day (just kidding!).

With all the focus on returning to some resemblance of normalcy, I got a small reminder of the upheaval our lives have taken; I had to speak with the florist for our wedding and explain why the wedding is postponed.  At least this was better than the email reminder I received from the caterer to setup the dinner menu (this was *after* I had already spoken with the caterer!).  My biggest worry a month ago was picking the bridesmaids' shoes. 

We've had an enormous outpouring of love since Roberto posted a note on Facebook about his treatment.  The positive energy has been truly uplifting.  Please, keep sending messages and emails.  They will be most important when Roberto starts the second cycle on August 12th.  Aubrey had the great idea of making "Robostrong" bracelets through http://www.reminderband.com/ .  I'm gonna try to look into this when I get a chance.  

(Cycle 1 - Day 10)