Tuff Enough?

Tuesday night I noticed that my throat was sore. The allergy forecast says mold has been high for weeks. I really don't want to have an infection going on while I am getting chemo or radiation.

This morning I realized that my throat was sore on my right side only. I mentioned it to the techs while getting ready for radiation. They said -oh yes and it feels like a lump? Yes. It is the radiation. I have a compound that includes Lidocaine to swish
three times a day and before bed. I am going to discuss this with the radiologist when I see them next. My doctor, Kristen Warhoe is on vacation this week. I will see one of her associates. I wonder what it is going to be like in 5 weeks?

I see my oncologists tomorrow after radiation and then the surgeon about the portacath. A busy day with doctors for us. I am blessed that Charley will be with me as a second set of ears and a better memory.

Next Tuesday ( every 21 days) I have the next chemo treatment. So far the side effects have not been that bad compared to the four days of 24 hr chemo I first received. Although I am not looking forward to it, I wonder if its effective since its not as hard on me - well, not yet.

When I was first diagnosed the pathologist diagnosed Osteosarcoma. Since it is so incredibly rare to have two separate primary cancers at the same time, my oncologist sent the sarcoma biopsy slides to the Mayo Clinic for a second option. They thought I had Leiomyosarcoma.

"Leiomyosarcoma is an aggressive soft tissue sarcoma derived from smooth muscle cells typically of uterine, gastrointestinal or soft tissue origin. Primary leiomyosarcoma of bone is a distinct entity which is quite rare..... "
(http://sarcomahelp.org/learning_center/leiomyosarcoma.html )

I underwent ultrasound scans looking for cancer in the soft tissue of my abdomen. None was found.

"Many cases that are thought to represent primary disease of bone, after further investigation, actually represent metastatic disease from another site or bony invasion from a neighboring soft tissue lesion. Most cases of leiomyosarcoma of bone reported so far have been in the metaphysis of long bones. Primary leiomyosarcoma of bone is extremely rare. There have been approximately 90 cases reported since initially described in 1965"( http://sarcomahelp.org/learning_center/leiomyosarcoma.html )

So my oncologist said that she was going to "hit me hard" with chemo for leiomyosarcoma. I was all for that. I had some suspicious pulmonary nodules. One on my left lung and one on the right. The one on the right looked more like an old infection that had left a bit of calcium behind. However, when sarcoma spreads, it tends to go to the lungs.

After 3 treatments my sarcoma tumor was much reduced and confined (except for where the splitting head of the femur let material contaminate my gluts). That allowed MD Anderson (Patrick Linn) to replace my femur and knee. The Sarcoma Center there diagnosed the tumor as Osteosarcoma - not leiomysarcoma. They hit me hard for 6 treatments total and then I crashed hard.

Following the Sarcoma doctor's (Robert Benjamin) recommendation, I am now getting Cisplatin instead of the 4 other chemo drugs. I go back to the Sarcoma doctor on the 18th. I will have a contract CT to monitor the nodules. Hopefully the Cisplatin will have kept everything shrinking.

Until then I will wonder if its tough enough.