Iditarod weekend - one of the traditions Sam and I look forward to every year. Sam surprised me this year by wanting to go to the start in Willow. The past couple weeks Sam experienced intense pain in his lymph nodes in his neck and in his left hip/pelvis. So we kept a slow pace today, missing some of our favorites mushers, but we at least got there and stayed for an hour or so. The Iditarod committee spends a great amount of time each year reminding people to NOT bring their pets to neither the ceremonial start nor the actual start, including placing signs in the parking lot stating, "No pets allowed," and most people respect the request. However...as we walked back out to the parking lot, a guy came towards us with an adult Irish setter/retriever mix and I could not stop myself. I stopped him, politely explained pets are not allowed at the race...and do you know what he said to me? Well, where can I take him? HELLO??? Anywhere but here? The Iditarod is a professional race with a ton of money involved and you want to bring your pet? ARGH. Anyway, he followed us back out to the parking lot with the dog. Does it take a rocket scientist to realize bringing your pets to the Iditarod might not be a good thing or is it just me? Ok, I will stop my rant for now as I am sure you get how I feel about this.
For those of you who would like to track the teams,
www.iditarod.com is the place to go. Sam and I are "Iditarod Insiders," as like I said before, we are completely hooked on the race. We tell each other all the time it is a good thing we did not move to Alaska earlier in our lives because we would probably be out there ourselves.
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| Dara & Sam on the trip to Sitka, Alaska. |
Back to Sam's current issues, we talked yesterday and he is going to contact his primary physician at the VA about the pains, especially the pain in the hip/pelvis area. The reason for this is that the primary will hopefully send Sam to an orthopedic surgeon to look at the hip/pelvis and determine if it is worth the while to replace or at least do something to mitigate the situation. If not, Sam will more than likely end up with some kind of patch which will work as a localized painkiller, such as Fentenyl. Not sure how I feel about that, but if it is going to alleviate the pain he is in, then ok, let's go for it.
He is working hard to build back up his energy level and his strength. Slowly but surely he is succeeding. His moods are good, he is looking forward to the summer, and is making plans to do things, albeit not at the same levels as before, but fishing is only a couple months away! Today he even discussed indepth with me an easier way to take the cats with us which completely surprised me.
Overall, Sam is doing good, although we both know the cancer is slowly progressing. Yesterday during our discussion we both agreed absolutely no more chemo, although he might consider Zometa again for the bone mets. What the Alimta/carboplatin did to both of us last summer is something neither of us ever want to experience again, especially since it is not a cure, just a growth management treatment, which may or may not be successful. Just not worth it to either of us.
As for me, life is good. Work is terrific (still!) Fishing is right around the corner, even better.
q'ua
When does one make the decision no more chemo? I imagine it is individual, but what where some of the things that a person should consider in making such a choice? Thanks Dara
ReplyDeleteOh Ellen, it is so difficut to decide. For Sam, he chose to do chemo because the odds were good it would increase his life expectancy. However, if he had to do it over again, he probably wouldn't do it because of the effect on his quality of life. That being said, if the chemo was a "cure", that would be entirely different, but in his case...there is no cure, so it just isn't worth it. Such a tough decision to make.
DeleteDara and Sam, I think of you often and worry with you. I hope Sam does get on some Fentanyl or MS Contin as soon as possible. It can make such a huge difference at this point. There is nothing to gain by not aggressively treating any pain at this point. You can always titrate the dose to optimize your comfort and ability to function and enjoy each day as best you can. I know you're both experienced at this point so you really don't need my advice. But I use morphine (MS Contin) in many of my patients who are suffering and it makes such a huge difference. Love and prayers, Mike
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mike. I've been trying to encourage Sam to call his doctor and move his appointment up, but he won't do it. So, because he is taking an abundance of his current painkillers, we spent yesterday in the ER because his bowels are all backed up. OMG. The pain he experienced from that was so intense! He is still dealing with it today but now understands why it is imperative for him to not wait until the 19th to talk with his doctor. The side effects are just not worth trying to be brave, yet, I completely understand his fear. Such a difficult situation.
ReplyDeleteMore than anything, I greatly appreciate your input. It means a lot.
Dara
You ought to consider getting on hospice. I know that sounds scary, but that provides a home health care nurse to come to your home as often as you might like to assess needs such as pain control, bowel care, and the other problems that will arise as you move forward. The home health hospice nurse is a great resource to communicate between you and your doctor to alleviate the need to go to the doctor's office every time you need something.
ReplyDeleteWe've actually discussed that. He's been on palliative care since Day 1. Recently, the VA (his primary) and his oncologist have both suggested going on into hospice care. They all agreed to wait a couple more months as Sam might begin the Zometa treatment for the bone mets again. If that's the case, he'll stay in palliative care. Otherwise, he'll move on into hospice care and the VA docs will come visit him rather than vice versa. We are really lucky here in Alaska as the VA care is absolutely excellent.
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