A rainy morning post with sunny news

Last week on Monday HB and went to Ann Arbor for a follow up CT scan.  This was kind of an ordeal, because the night before we had just gotten back from the Wheatland Festival.  The CT scan was quick, and the staff in the Radiology unit at the hospital was great as always.  They are always on time, and do quick and friendly work.  I almost like going there because they treat me so good.  It helps that I was there twice a week to get ascites drained.  They know me by name, and remembered that I had a garden, even though I haven't been there in months.

I was supposed to have an appointment with my urological oncologist later that day to go over the results.  Long story short (and this is why I hate the cancer center at u of m), they changed the appointment to Friday.  They did this by letter, on the Thursday previous to the appointment.  We had Thursday and Friday to try and get things rescheduled or figured out before the appointment on Monday.  We didn't want HB to have to take another day off from work, and drive the 4 hours round trip, to wait in the office 2 hours past my scheduled appointment, to see the doctor for 3 minutes.  Yes, this is how that clinic has been operating at all of my past appointments.  They finally agreed to call me with the results on last Friday.  I was supposed to call a number between 8-4, and the doctor would call me back when he had a free minute.  I called at 8:15, gave them my info, and waited.  At around 2, I hadn't heard anything and called back.  They assured me that Dr. Hafez would call me before 4. At 5:30, I received a call from a nurse practitioner with the results.  A special thanks to HB for calling and getting all of this arranged.  I was ready to wash my hands of U of M, but she was persistent, and was awesome for getting this arranged for me.  Anyway, the news...

No growth since March!  No growth anywhere, kidneys, pancreas, or liver!  Hope this news brightens your day, especially on a day like today, like it has mine.

How Medical Marijuana May Have Quite Literally Saved My Life

I'm not going to lie.  July and August were pretty terrible.  The side effects of the cancer drug are getting worse.  There was a span of a few weeks where I couldn't keep much food down at all, and even when I could, I barely had any appetite.  My sympathies go out to any woman who had to deal with morning sickness, I know what it's like, and it's not fun at all.


That's when it would mainly hit.  Every morning, I would wake up, between 3:00 and 6:00, and have to make a mad dash downstairs to the bathroom.  Once there, I wouldn't be able to move from that spot for another few hours.  It left me completely exhausted, and I would end up sleeping most of the day to make up for it.


That's when I decided that I needed to talk to my doctor about it.   I knew that marijuana could help with fending off nausea and increasing my appetite.  My oncologist was all for it, but wasn't willing to sign the paperwork for Michigan’s Medical Marihuana Program.  His rationale was that since it's still illegal on the federal level, and that's where his medical license is through, he wasn't willing to take that risk.  Luckily, I found a doctor at a clinic in Kalamazoo who would see me.

I made an appointment, brought him a book off my medical records, and he promptly told me that I was one of the most "slam dunk" cases he had ever seen.  His office over-nighted the paper work, along with my application fee check.  I waited the 15 days to make sure I didn't get denied, and now I'm officially able to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana.  I can't drive while I'm on it, not that I would anyway.  I can't smoke it in public.  However, it does mean that I don't have to feel like a criminal when I use it to manage symptoms, even though I still feel a bit weird being able to carry it around.  

During August, I lost 10 pounds because of the drug side-effects.  I've been legal to use marijuana for almost 3 weeks now, and I'm happy to report that I've only been sick a few times, and I'm starting to put a little weight back on.  (I was 137, today I'm 141!)  I know that the marijuana debate is a pretty heated topic.  But, I want you to know that when used in appropriate cases, it really does help.  I have been off the sutent for  few weeks now, for a short medicine holiday, which helps, but I still have some rough mornings here and there.


I owe a great big thank you to my cousin, Josh.  He is acting as my caregiver, and has helped me out a lot.  Thanks, Josh, life would have been a lot worse without your help.  

I'll be posting again soon about the trip that I Heather and I took to the Upper Peninsula a few weeks ago.  I had an idea for another upcoming blog post, and it requires your help.  I want to do a question and answer post, because I feel like people have a lot of questions, and may be afraid to ask.  I promise a no holds barred discussion.  Any topic is fair game, and I'll do my best to answer as honestly as possible.  I'll make sure that the comments section can have anonymous posting, if you'd rather ask something anonymously.  I hope you all are enjoying this beautiful fall weather.  Thanks for reading!