Les Fountain's Cancer Experience

Thursday, 1/29/04 Here are the details I promised. I’ll start with the most recent information and then share some stories that happened last week. My sore throat was gone by the time I woke up on Wednesday (1/28/04). Thanks for all the prayers – they must have worked. I’m still feeling fine, though still tired. Jason was wonderful and allowed me to go to bed and stay there all night long last night. He took care of Les’ feeding and medications as well as getting up with him throughout the night. I didn’t get up until after 7am. (Which is sleeping in for me). Back to the hospital visit. One of the Physical Therapists visited us on Monday to check out Les’ muscle tone, especially in his legs. She explained to me that what the Vincristine chemo does is interrupt the nerve signals from the brain to the muscles. We can attempt to strengthen his muscles as much as we want, but unless his brain tells his muscles to work, most of our efforts will be in vain. (That’s my understanding anyw...

Tuesday, 1/27/04 Good News, Good News, Bad News, Good News, Good News. See, more good than bad. :) The first Good News was that Les was able to get his MRI very soon after he was admitted to the hospital yesterday (1/26/04). We were back in the room by 2:30pm (last time he didn’t start until 6:00pm). The second Good News was that because his MRI was so early, they were able to start his chemo on Monday afternoon instead of waiting until Tuesday morning. I was anticipating one day for MRI and then three days for the chemo. By starting the chemo on Monday, we are able to shorten our hospital stay by a whole day (and night). The Bad News was that I started getting a sore throat last night. I had a long night without much rest. The third Good News was that my grandma (who lives close by) didn’t have anything scheduled today, so she came and relieved me at the hospital. I was able to go to her house and take a nap as well as take a shower. I’m feeling much better. I spoke to the p...

Saturday, 1/17/04 This last week Les only had one transfusion. It was for platelets. We are now on our “rest period” with no chemo until the end of the month. Hopefully his counts will recover well. Les started his Aranesp shots last Monday (these are weekly shots to help his hemoglobin levels recover better). I talked to the homecare nurse and she said she is scheduled to come every Monday until Feb. 2nd to give him the shot. I think after that I’m on my own. It’s kind of a mixed blessing, on one hand she pokes him instead of me; on the other hand, I have to schedule a time for her to show up and that just adds one more appointment to our lives. Les is starting to really be affected physically by the chemo. I guess the vincristine chemo is mainly responsible. Les has developed what they call a “slappy gait” where he doesn’t control his leg and feet movements smoothly. He is also losing strength in all his limbs and becoming very clumsy and needs help much of the time to climb up ...

Saturday, 1/10/04 This past week went fairly well. The home care nurse was able to deliver the G-CSF shot quickly and Les was grateful that there was only one this round instead of 10 days in a row. He was able to select a toy from the “Brave Box” in the playroom as a reward for getting his shot. He chose a miniature Mr. Potato Head that can be a policeman or a fireman. (Les wanted me to share that part). Les’ counts dropped fast and hard this round (meaning his energy level was low right off the bat instead of a delay of a few days). We went in for our clinic visit on Tuesday (1/6/04) and his hemoglobin was low enough to require a transfusion. The hemoglobin transfusions take 3-4 hours with an additional 1-2 hours just waiting for the blood to show up. Inevitably they conclude just about the time rush hour traffic starts, so we are grateful for grandma’s house. We zip over there and have a relaxing dinner then drive home after the traffic has calmed down. We did this scenario twice...

Friday, 1/2/04 Happy New Year! Les and I spent New Year’s Eve and part of New Year’s Day in the hospital. I found out that the cafeteria doesn’t serve much for breakfast on a holiday. Other than that, the stay was fairly uneventful with no surprises. Let me catch you up on all that happened last month since my last update. Les had two more transfusions, one for hemoglobin and one for platelets. They went smoothly. His energy level was fairly low for the majority of the month, but he did perk up a bit more around Christmas. Praise God, Christmas came during a “rest-week” when he didn’t receive any chemo. His counts were high enough for me to not be too worried about infections and our schedule was slow enough that I think we all rather enjoyed the opportunity to kick back and relax. Christmas was wonderful. With extended family and travel plans for others, we stretched our “Christmas” from the weekend prior to, well now – we’re still waiting to deliver and receive at least one more...