Tour de Infusion Center

Last day of Cycle 2!  We spent the day relaxing and enjoying the Labor Day weekend.  We tried out the board game Flashpoint.  It's a cooperative game where each player is a firefighter and players must save people trapped in a house.  Putting out fires is actually a secondary goal as there are explosions occurring every turn!  Here's a recreation of the board (I forgot to take a picture of it after we were done).

Half of our team died each game because the building collapsed on them.  It didn't help that the residents kept multiple gasoline cans in various rooms of the house.  Also, me chopping down walls to get to people probably didn't help either.  :\

Roberto is doing well but is not looking forward to the next cycle, understandably.  In a weird way, I'm no longer anxious about the cycles.  There hasn't been much difference between the first and second cycles.  Enduring the week while watching Roberto won't be easy, but at least I know what to expect this time around and have plenty of soup, ginger ale, and ginger candy stocked and ready to go. 

This is the end of week 6!  Only 50% left to go.  :)

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So, as a bonus, I took some pictures of the hospital so everyone can get a visual of where Roberto spends his week of terribleness (a.k.a. chemo infusion week). 

The Infusion Center is on the third floor, so we take the elevators.  Once we reach the third floor, this visual greets us:

No, this is not an episode of Dexter brought to life.  The building is undergoing a renovation so parts of the floor are blocked off.

Turning right, we have a more friendly scene. 

Below is Roberto in the cozy waiting room.  We usually don't have to spend too much time in here because Roberto gets the 8 am appointments. 

The whole waiting room.  I know, these are getting really exciting.

A view of the Infusion Center from our little room.  Each patient gets their own little, private space.  Each space has a tv also so patients and visitors can watch tv together to pass the time.  I put black dots on peoples' faces to keep them (sort of) anonymous.

They keep the center cold for some reason.  So, they have this nifty blanket oven to keep blankets nice and warm for patients.  There's a little kitchen area to the left side of this picture where they leave left over bags of chips and pretzels, juice boxes, and water.  I recently discovered the pretzels, which might not be good for me in the long run.

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Cycle 2 - Day 21

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

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

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.