Sid Bacon

Fortunately, I have not had any nausea today.  That is two days in a row!  It is a real treat to wake up and not have to deal with that … I hope this is a long-term trend.  I did start the day, however, with a fever just over 102; it has decreased progressively during the day to where it is now only just over 99.  I am not scheduled to take my antibiotic until 5:00 tonight; I hope it keeps the fever down even further.  It should.  Someone from Piper will follow-up with me tomorrow with regard to my fever.  I hope to learn more then, at least in terms of what we need to do and what to expect going forward.

Because of my fever, I’ve just been taking it easy today.  I didn’t even go on my daily morning walk; we thought it would be better for me to rest.  It is more fun to walk, so I hope I am better tomorrow and can return to my daily routine. 

One of the things I plan to do tomorrow is watch the Kentucky-Kansas game!  I realize that the “smart money” will be on Kentucky, but anything can happen, especially in a one-game series.   But I don’t think Kansas can afford to play poorly in either half against Kentucky … they’ll need to put together two good halves, much like they did against North Carolina.  It will be fun to watch.  It is just a game … for the National Championship!!  I hope you all enjoy it, too.  

For all long-term and newly recruited Jayhawk fans, tonight’s game pits two of the most storied basketball programs in the nation against one another.  I am excited for the game, and am hopeful that it is a good game from start to finish.  March Madness fans deserve nothing less, even in April.  I obviously want Kansas to win, and will be thrilled if they do, but I will be okay if they do not.  (And although the first round threw off my bracket, I did predict a Kansas-Kentucky final, with Kansas winning it all … of course!)
 

I had a fever again this morning, which went away by late morning.  It is not clear what is causing this; it could be a number of things.  I am confident that the medical professionals at Piper ultimately will get it figured out.  I have not had any real discomfort associated with the fever, so that is good.  My blood pressure is still low, which is making me tired and lethargic.  Not good.  We think it may be medication-related.   That is, I now may be over-medicating for pain.  We are going to cut back on the strength of the fentanyl patch I use to control pain.   We had recently extended the replacement period from 60 to 72 hours, without any problems.  If I can tolerate a reduction in dosage without a significant increase in pain, then perhaps we can stay with that lower dosage and my blood pressure will increase and I’ll be ready to dance all night at Liz and Dan’s wedding (though I’d actually settle for simply staying awake for the entire reception!).  We’ll start the reduced-dosage patch tonight or tomorrow morning.  We’ll try it for at least a week.  Let’s hope it works!
 

On the bright side, today was the third day in a row in which I did not wake up with nausea!  This is really great news, and a very welcomed change.  I’m almost gaining an appetite.  Who knows how much weight I can gain if I actually have a semblance of an appetite.   
 

We’ll be going to Piper on Thursday morning.  We’ll discuss the recent scan results then, and we’ll talk more about what might be causing the fever.  I am hopeful that the fever will have dissipated by then, because if it hasn’t, there is a chance that my physician will decide that I should not have chemo this week.  As you know, I want the chemo.  I want to feel that we are doing all we can to shrink those tumors!  It is part of our fight!  A big part!
 

On Wednesday I’ll remind you that we get the scan results on Thursday.  I’ll ask for all your prayers, positive thoughts, vibes, etc.   This is a group fight, and I depend on you to help me get through this.
 

For now … enjoy the game tonight, and thanks for cheering for your adopted team.

March Madness came to a close last night.  It was not a particularly close game (the final score made it look closer than it really was).  This game was a showcase of two great basketball programs, two great coaches, and a great deal of basketball talent … though more of that talent was clearly on Kentucky’s team.  Once the sting of defeat has dulled, I hope that Kansas fans understand that they really have nothing to be disappointed about with regard to this team.  What a season!  The Jayhawks clearly exceeded everyone’s expectations, at least the expectations held near the beginning of the season, if not those going in to the final game.  So, as I promised, I’m definitely okay with the outcome.  It was a fun ride, but there are more important battles to be won!
 

Today was day four without nausea.  Wow!  That is a victory right there.  I also am definitely starting to develop an appetite.  These are really good signs.  I’m still a bit light-headed, but perhaps a little less so than the last few days.  We did put a new fentanyl patch on last night … a lower dosage one that we hope will help mitigate the low blood pressure, as the low blood pressure could be due to over-medication.  So far I have a little bit of back pain, but I’ve been getting that off and on lately with the higher dosage patch as we’ve extended the replacement cycle from 60 to 72 hours.  I’m going to hold off a bit before taking a pain pill, just to see if this pain, like that I’ve had the past several days, might go away spontaneously.  If it does not, I’ll definitely supplement my pain management with a pill or two as needed.   
 

I think we are making progress on the fever, too.  My temperature this morning was 98.9.  This compares to the 102.4 that I’ve had the past few days.  And I feel as though I have absolutely no fever right now … something I will verify a bit later.  By keeping the fever at bay, I am hopeful that I’ll be able to have chemo on Thursday … right after getting some good news [J]. So, all and all, I think we are getting back on the right track after some disappointing days.  Now, let’s stay on track!  I feel you are helping me do that … so please continue doing what you are doing as we fight together. Your contributions to my recovery are enormous.  Thank you!

In many ways it feels like I’m getting over a hump … this is day #5 without nausea and I feel like I am getting somewhat of an appetite back.  They probably are not unrelated.  But I don’t think they are perfectly correlated either.  I haven’t had much of an appetite throughout this entire ordeal, despite the fact that I have not been nauseas the entire time.  Although some things would taste good once I started to eat them, I was never hungry for anything in particular … that is starting to change. Hooray!
 

I am doing well with the lower dose pain patch.  I have not needed to supplement with a pain pill.  This is very encouraging.  I think it means we have indeed been over-medicating lately, which in turn might be a cause of my low blood pressure.  It feels as though my blood pressure is still low, although maybe not as low as it has been; I am sure it will take time to change – I’ve only been on this new patch for two days. 
 

This morning I had absolutely no fever, and I don’t feel as if I have one now. This is another good sign.  Hump day indeed!
 

As you know, we go to Piper tomorrow for “Results Thursday” and what we hope will be the start of the third cycle of our current chemotherapy regimen.  We will continue on this regimen if the tumors have stopped growing or shrunk.  And we will have chemo tomorrow if the fever I had earlier in the week does not suggest to my physician that we should hold off on chemo this week.  You know I want to continue with this regimen and that I do not want to have another week off.  I’m ready to go!!  And I am optimistic that we will.  Thanks for your prayers and good thoughts. This is a particularly good time to send them my way.  We’ll get this done together!  We fight together!!

Great news Thursday!  As you may know, I had two CT scans prior to the one I had last Friday.  The first was in mid January, which was supposed to confirm the preliminary diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.  It did not, although it confirmed the ultrasound results of a 5-cm mass on my pancreas.  The second was at the beginning of February, when I was being admitted to Mayo Hospital.  At that point, the tumor on the pancreas had increased significantly, as had the growths on the liver.   In other words, we were told that this was an aggressive tumor and that we needed to start chemotherapy right away.  The signals we received in the hospital were not especially promising or uplifting.

Fast forward to today: I had my vitals measured and blood drawn at 9:30, followed by an appointment with my oncologist at 10:30. (Cathy and Laura were right here with me; Cathy has, of course, been with me throughout – she is, as one of my friends noted in a recent email, my superhero.  Laura and Dan have been here whenever possible, and always here in spirit when they can’t be here physically.  I can’t tell you how important it is for me to have them here.  And it is also so important for me to know that you all are here with me in spirit every Thursday.)  My oncologist had reviewed the results of the most recent two scans (early February, last Friday) and reported that the tumor on the pancreas had shrunk by a factor of two, from about 5.5-6 cm to 2.8 cm.  The tumor is no longer pressing on the stomach, which explains why I am now able to eat more and am gaining weight.  He also said the two (smaller) tumors on the liver had shrunk by a factor of about two as well.   He was pleased with the results … a very good response to the chemotherapy.  Wow!!!  The power of Team Bacon is absolutely amazing!!  Thank you; thank you; thank you!  We are blown away by and so grateful for these results. 

Today’s blood work included the measure of the cancer antigen CA19-9.  It was also measured a month ago. (Piper measures this antigen at the beginning of each new cycle; this is the beginning of the third cycle.)  A month ago, the CA19-9 value had decreased relative to the pre-chemo value (from 192 to 164); today it decreased yet again … in a big way (to 65)!  This is another indication that the tumor has shrunk.  Hooray!

Now I think it is fair to say that recently we have been over-medicating for pain.  I was in so much pain a couple months ago (before getting a patch with the right dosage) because the tumor was pressing on some nerves that radiated throughout my back and, to a lesser extent, my stomach.  Without such a large tumor, the pressure on these nerves is much reduced.  This explains why I’m handling the reduced-dose patch so well right away, and it makes me wonder if I wouldn’t be fine with a patch reduced even further in dosage; in other words, we may still be over-medicating.  This is a topic we’ll address soon, once I’ve shown for an entire week that I am okay with the current dose patch.  I am certainly anxious to get to the correct dosage so that we are no longer over-medicating.  Particularly because I hope this addresses my low blood pressure.  On a positive note: my blood pressure was higher this morning when it was measured at Piper, so we are on the right track.

I was cleared to receive chemotherapy today; news I was hoping for. We are here just waiting to start.  All systems are go for beating down this cancer even further!!  We are going to continue doing this together, because we fight together!  As a team!  Go Team Bacon!!

The great folks at Piper have agreed to shift my chemotherapy day so that I am not getting chemo right before Dan and Liz’s wedding.  This should help with my energy level without compromising my treatment.  What a deal.  And if my blood pressure continues to increase to normal levels, I should have more energy for the wedding.  That is my goal.  After having chemotherapy on Mondays the 16th and 23rd of April, we’ll consider shifting back to having chemotherapy on Thursday, or perhaps we’ll stick with a Monday routine. We’ll see.

Thanks for all your prayers and positive thoughts.  They are working!  Fight on!