Home, what an absolutely delicious word, especially when the previous three-plus weeks have been spent in hospitals. This past Friday I was discharged from Kentfield Rehab, and returned home for the first time since January 7. I had been admitted early that morning to Marin General Hospital with intractable pain due to the compression of spinal nerves by a collapsed vertebra in my upper back. As I've written earlier, that was due to the metastasis of my cancer to my spine. That tumor was treated with 10 days of radiation which caused the tumor to shrink. This was definitely a good thing, but it didn't come without some cost. As the tumor grew smaller, there was less material holding the bone together, and it began a slow collapse compressing nerves and producing pain and other symptoms.
Since then a good deal of water has passed under the bridge. Without going into too much detail, pain management has been successful; it does require medication on a very regular basis -- I'm taking methadone and a second drug that specifically treats nerve pain. In addition, I'm being treated for shingles -- I broke out with blisters just this past week -- which would help to explain some of the pain as well. The bottom line is that pain levels are manageable, and at times zero.
The compression of nerves has also caused weakness and some loss of function in my hands, in particular my right (and, yes, I am right-handed). However, I am getting a bit stronger and have learned some adaptive skills that are enabling me to function fairly independently around the house; time will tell if I will get some or all of my function back. I do need to be in a neck and back brace any time I'm out of bed, if even to make a trip to the bathroom, but with it on, I'm fairly mobile. I will probably need it for another five to six weeks to be sure that the bone heals without any further fracturing. I am learning to accept the fact that I am pretty much dependent on others though, and for fairly simple things in some cases -- just getting the brace on requires someone else to get me in it.
All in all though, and given the complications of the past two months, I feel good both physically and emotionally, better than I have since before Thanksgiving. I was able to begin chemotherapy this past week -- a new C1D1 -- with a new drug, abraxane, which has shown promise in treating pancreatic cancer. Therapy will continue on a once per week, three weeks out of four, schedule. Hopefully, I'll see the same sort of beneficial results several other patients of Dr. Tempero have seen since beginning therapy. One additional plus with chemo, is that I am able to do it here in Marin at California Cancer Care thanks to the cooperation between UCSF and Dr. Peter Eisenberg. That cooperation and the support I've received from so many professionals, friends and family have been hallmarks of my treatment since early January. The staffs at both Marin General and Kentfield were wonderful. My recovery has been due in no small part because of their work with me. And, I can't say enough about the continuing support family and friends have offered me, in particular that of my wife, Jane. I am a lucky man and feel loved. Thank-you to all who continue to remember me in thoughts, prayers, good wishes; they are an important part of healing.
Peace,
Don
