Todd's Journey

Mark your Calendar

The results of my cancer treatment scans will be revealed on Monday, December 11th during my morning blog. Good or bad. So mark you calenders and tune in for the results. Keep your finger crossed.

Had a great chat last evening with my urological oncologist, Dr. Morash - one of the best I know - and he suggested to me that I might NOT have a bladder infection. Given my symptoms, it doesn't appear I do. But he ordered a urine culture be done, just to be sure.

My urine today has been clear and urine coloured again. So he may be right. We'll see in a few days when I get the results back from the culture.

Also met with my family doctor today, Dr. Seguin, to give her an update on my cancer journey. She seemed pleased with the progress being made, and told me there were a lot of positives to be proud of. Although I know that there is never a guarantee with chemo or cancer treatment, we are hoping the results of December 6th scans will be positive.

Feeling much less fatigued today, and on the upswing again. Ready to take on my last chemo cycle starting next Thursday.

Will keep you all posted.

This chemotherapy is wiping me out! Seems each cycle of chemo is a bit rougher on me than the one before. I just got over a bladder infection a couple of weeks ago, and now I have yet another one.

These infections are probably occurring as my immune systems are under a lot of stress these days, and so I am prone to more infections.

I am awaiting to hear back from my urological oncologist, who will likely ask me to get another urine culture. Then will treat my infection with antibiotics again.

Hopefully after the last chemo session, my immunity will return to more normal levels over time, and I should see less infections. At least I am hoping so.

Update to the journey

I was warned before I began chemo that there is a higb probability that with each cycle of chemo, the side effects may become more pronounced or worse. Well, I can legitimitely say that is a true statement.

With this Cycle 3 completed, I do have more fatigue, and much more nausea and actual sickness. Moreso than in previous cycles.

But, I only have one cycle left to go, so I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

I have to give credit to my aunt-in-law Danielle who did warn me that the chemo could get harder with each cycle. She was right. As she is most times.

To celebrate the end of my chemo and hopefully my radiation therapy, Jamie and I bought season tickets to the Ottawa Redblacks for next year. We do like the outdoor event of football, so hopefully we'll be in good shape to attend the games.

Just one more thing that I can look forward to, and helps incentivize me to keep up the fight.

The date is set! December 6th will be the day that I have my new CT scans and bloodwork done to determine whether or not the 4 cycles of chemo have successfully stopped the growth of my cancer, or even shrunk some of the tumors.

The results of these CT scans and bloodwork will determine which forks in the road of this journey we will head.

We will either continue forward with radiology treatments, go for more chemo or immunotherapy, or have to look at bladder removal. The results of these tests will determine the journey forward. Obviously I am hoping the chemo has been working for me, but I have learned with cancer, there are no guarantees.

Cancer is a horrible disease that fights me as much as I fight it.

Let's hope shortly after December 6th, the results show we may have won this battle, and keep moving to winning the war.

Well, I was hoping that maybe when they changed my nephrostomy tubes yesterday, they might actually remove one, but that was not to be. I guess my urological oncologist, Dr. Morash, decided to wait a bit longer to remove them. Perhaps after I finish my neo-adjuvant chemotherapy on November 30th, they may look to removing them then. It would be a nice Christmas gift to have them gone.

Other than that, I am definitely a bit more nauseous this time. Was sick twice yesterday after eating. It could be related to the new neutraphil booster shots I am taking. Tomorrow is the last day for the shots so we'll see if my nausea improves.

Also have much more fatigue this round. Been sleeping a lot more than previous chemo sessions. They did say that some of the side effects of chemo build up each cycle, so this could be a normal result of the 3rd cycle.

Anyhow, going for bloodwork today to see if I am able to take my chemo on Thursday. Will keep you all posted.

Here is my 10th video update!