Update. Monday October 11th, 2010

Update ....Monday, October 11th, 2010

Friday, October 1st, was my second dose of the trial drug Avastin from Duke. This is administered by IV in a hospital's Chemo clinic in Cumming, Ga. Today was my 20th radiation treatment of 34 total. I'm definitely ready to get these over with. The radiation and chemo are finally starting to take a toll on me. God is keeping me strong and staying right by my side. Power naps are the key to being able to function later in the evenings.

I am starting to lose hair now, so I went ahead and "buzzed" the rest off.

During the administering of Avastin on Friday, Oct 1st, I felt fine, but a couple of days later. I came down with a small cold. My radiation oncologist listened to my lungs, and said they sounded clear (The doctors at Duke are worried about blood clots in my lungs because of the Avastin and Temodar (chemo). As an added precaution they put me on an anti-biotic to be taken twice a day. My chemo oncologist told me he wasn’t worried about blood clots because of the physical activity I’ve been doing. Blood Clots only happen to individuals who are sedentary, which I definitely am not.

I did experience a significant nose bleed Monday and Tuesday morning, but was able to stop it fairly easy. I was warned that this is would happen and is a side effect of the Avastin, so I am keeping lubricated with a Saline nose spray. Up until I picked up the small cold, I was walking 1.5 miles every morning, I took a week off from walking, to rest, eat healthier (lots of fruits and veggies) and get better. I communicated my condition to my local medical oncologist, Dr. Reddy, He told me as long as I’m not running a temperature, that he is not worried about anything, but he did stress to me to monitor closely. I continue to feel strong and am doing pretty good at keeping a positive attitude. It’s hard to sometimes, but a little prayer goes a long way. Well, that’s all I have for now……Thanks to everyone for their kind words