End of Round Two

Last night I took my last chemotherapy pills of the second treatment cycle. On October 14th I’ll get another full body PET scan to evaluate the effectiveness of this cycle, the progress made since the last scan in August. I’m already scheduled for a third treatment cycle.

I don’t have the same anxiety I had before that last scan. I’ve got good reason to expect more good news. The tumors were no longer metabolically active at that time. I anticipate that whatever is left of them is being consumed and discarded by my body, kind of like the old electronic arcade game, Pacman. In my mind’s eye, I see a little cartoon head traveling through my lungs, scooping up and munching cancer cells.

For the past week or so my side effects have been minimal. The one distressing thing I’ve come to expect is continual tiredness. My energy is limited, and when it’s used up, I ache through my whole body. My bones feel limp. It’s as if the energy has been completely sucked out of me. I frequently wake up tired after eight or more hours of sleep.

I was fairly active this past weekend. Saturday, my daughter and I attended a consumer electronics show at the Javits Convention Center. After that we walked around Manhattan some, and ended up at the Farmers Market in Union Square. Sunday, I went to a local art show with a friend and walked around the outdoor fair for a couple of hours. Today I paid for all that activity with bone-weary tiredness.

I hope the next three weeks of rest from medication will provide reprieve from some of the tiredness too. I need to rest up for the next go round starting October 22nd.