Tag: ostomy

Posted on by John Clark

Spring Update

We’ve been a little busy these past few months adjusting to life with little Poppy. Harry, Daisy, and Magnolia have been a great help, always eager to lend a hand. I haven’t been as helpful as I would have liked to be due to chemotherapy and the symptoms caused by the treatments.

I have survived nine chemotherapy treatments so far this year and they still seem to be working. Since my diagnosis, I think I have had over thirty treatments. 

I had another CT scan back on March 30 which confirmed that the latest rounds of chemotherapy are working. The lesions in my lungs and liver have decreased in size again.

A few weeks ago I had my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. My oncologist provided me with a nice little letter to prove that I am one of those High Risk folk. I am glad I was able to be vaccinated already, not only for my own sake, but also because I believe it is my biblical and civic duty to do so. I will be receiving my second dose early in June. 

My diarrhea is more under control now with the new medication and activated charcoal I am taking. I had come to the point where I only had about two normal days between treatments, which was not a great “quality of life.” Even eating was becoming difficult. My oncologist was kind enough to let me skip a treatment just to give my body a bit of a break and time to gain some more weight.

That brings me to last week’s excitement. Remember my ostomy incision that wouldn’t heal? Well, the wound finally closed up a few weeks ago but in the last week it decided to fill up with fluid. Last Friday, instead of having my regular chemotherapy treatment I had an ultrasound so the doctors could have a good look at my new abscess. It was only on the surface so it was in no real danger of bursting inside me and causing more problems. I was scheduled to see my surgeon a few days later to drain the abscess but it popped open on its own the next day. This was great as the pain went away as soon as the wound opened up again. I still met with the surgeon and he confirmed it’s probably caused by my fistula that is having trouble healing due to my chemotherapy drugs. It still might eventually heal on its own. To fix the fistula the surgeon would have to do a “main line incision.” The risk of that kind of surgery is not really worth the minor inconvenience of bandaging my open wound everyday. Essentially this means that my wound is not going to go away any time soon, and if it does heal over it’s likely I will get another abscess. (I think I’ll try popping it myself next time.) Anyway, I am just going to carry on with my wound as is and pray that the fistula fixes itself.

On the plus side, I got another break from chemo. On the downside, I got another break from chemo.

I have no hair anymore. Well, that’s not entirely accurate as there is a little bit left on my arms and a sprinkling left on my legs and chest. When I started treatment again back in January I shaved half my chest to make accessing my port (and the subsequent taping me up) less painful. The other side (the unshaved part) of my chest now matches perfectly. I had to shave my head again as the patchiness was starting to look ridiculous.

I’m still hoping to have another break from chemo at the end of June. Hopefully these unexpected breaks won’t change that schedule.

Please continue to pray for us.

  1. Thank God that the chemotherapy is still working and pray that it continues to do so. 
  2. Pray that my fistula heals.
  3. Pray for Leanne as she looks after everyone.
Posted on by John Clark

CT Results – June 2020

Summary

Thank you all for your continued prayer. Here’s a very brief summary of what has been happening since my last post.

COVID-19 Tests: negative
Nausea: cured
CT Scan: good
Ostomy reversal: in progress
Toe: healing

The COVID-19 tests

In addition to the ferocious interrogation to which I am subjected upon entering the hospital, Ontario Health has decided to award all of us cancer folk regular COVID-19 tests. This may not sound all that bad unless you know what the test entails. Let’s put it this way: I prefer rectal examinations.

You know you’re in trouble when the nurse administering the COVID-19 test asks you to try not to punch her (the nurse seriously said this to me before my first test). It makes sense though once the nurse has driven the 10ft swab up your nose and into your brain as hard as she possibly can. Once most of the gigantic swab is inserted and your cries of pain are at a sufficient decibel level, the sadistic nurse then begins twisting the swab around which only increases the agony. I had no idea there was that much room up there. (It certainly gives some credibility to Homer’s crayon incident.) Both tests were negative, by the way.

COVID-19 Test

Chemo

No more nausea. After 3 unsuccessful prescriptions my oncologist finally prescribed me a nausea pill that works. A single pill is supposed to prevent nausea for a week. I only needed 3 days. It costs around $150 per pill (thanks Trillium) but I’ve taken it before my past two chemo treatments and have experienced absolutely no nausea. I was even able to eat a bit on those weekends. I still somehow managed to lose 10 lbs but I gained it back quicker this time than I did after the chemo weekends when I ate nothing due to the nausea. 

Last month, at my oncologist visit, he told me my CEA marker was down to 4. This is good. At my appointment today I was told my CEA level was now at 1.7. This is great. When I was first introduced to Tony my CEA was over 800. Obviously the chemo is working. The longer the chemo works the longer I get to live. My oncologist was pleased enough with how my treatment is going that he decided to reduce the dosage of one of my chemo drugs to help clear up my spectacular rash. With the creams, antibiotics and reduction of the chemo drug, I think I am noticing a slight improvement of my rash. It is hard to tell though, as my rash covers every part of my body now, from the top of my head to my feet, and I heal so slowly that new flare-ups can be difficult to notice.

My oncologist has also reduced my Grastofil again down to 5 injections per treatment as my white blood cells are still nice and high.

The CT Scan

They let me keep my clothes on! I had to drop my pants right before they slid me into the machine but it sure beats having to wear a hospital gown. My CT scan was last week and I just received the results today. Actually I had access to the images a few hours after the scan was done, however they don’t include the radiologist’s report so it’s kinda useless unless you know how to read the scans. They are fun to look at though. I think I can identify liver lesions now. My oncologist is pleased with the results as they indicate that the chemo is still working. The nodules in my lungs have “significantly decreased” since my last scans and the lesions on my liver have also decreased in size. The oncologist says that I’m in a good place to take a few months off from chemo. We decided to wait and see when my ostomy reversal surgery will be and then take a several month break from chemo at that point. Yes, I will be back on chemo after I recover from my ostomy reversal. I’m doing two more chemotherapy treatments in June (June 12 and June 26) and then hopefully I will have a nice break while I await my ostomy reversal.

Here’s one of my CT scans. I’ll include the report at the bottom of this post. If anyone else wants to play “radiologist” I’m happy to share the DICOM files.

Ostomy Reversal

I had a phone call with my surgeon a few weeks ago to initiate the ostomy reversal process. He has scheduled some tests this month for me to confirm it is safe to do the reversal. First, on June 16, I’m having a Flexible Sigmoidoscopy. The way it was explained to me is they are going to “inject dye up the bum” (yes, my surgeon said “bum”) to make sure there are no leaks. Next, on June 25,  I have a Gastrograph which, after scaring myself by accidentally searching for “Gastroscope”, is just a fancy word for stomach x-ray. Then on July 3, I meet with the surgeon for the results and if everything is ok, he’ll book me in for my ostomy reversal. I miss pooping.

Prayer

Thank God that my nausea seems to be cured. I’m also thankful to the real smart people who made the fancy anti-nausea drug.

Thank God that the chemo is still working!

Pray for my poor wife who has had to work extra hard these past weeks since my toe has been preventing me from helping out as much as I normally would.

Please pray that my pre-ostomy reversal tests will be successful. I’m not looking forward to the Sigmoidoscopy but it can’t be worse than the COVID-19 test… can it?

Please continue to pray for my protection from COVID-19.

My toe could still use some prayer. It is still not quite healed (7th week) likely due to the chemotherapy. It’s really annoying and scary as the toddler and the dog show no regard for my toe’s well-being as they frolic haphazardly around the house.

Next

If my Sigmoidoscopy proves interesting enough I’ll try to make a post then, otherwise expect to hear from me after I talk to the surgeon on July 3.

CT Report