Ok, I finally caught up. Day 3 is actually today!
My day was pretty slow. I felt a little weak after lunch so I just went back to bed and slept all afternoon. I feel great now. Raquel is taking me to a little party at her grandma's tonight, so it will be nice to leave the house a little.
Given that today was an uneventful day, this post will be short - just to bring the good news! The results of my bone marrow biopsy came out. The disease has not reached my bone marrow, which is great news. That confirms that I am on stage IIIa and reasures me that I will beat this thing.
My dad and I are going to São Paulo for a second opinion on Monday, but I will write more about that when I am actually there.
I will not bend. I will not break.
sexta-feira, 28 de novembro de 2008
Day 2 - Staying at home
Since the chemotherapy isn't that kind to my body, even though I didn't feel it much, my doctor said I should just stay home on the following day. My immune system was a little compromised and I could catch something quite easily at a crowded place, for example.
So I just stayed home with Raquel (you will hear lots about her, I am sure). In the morning we had quite the breakfast and hung out. Right before lunch, I decided I should start this blog and posted the first couple of posts. My brother, who I hadn't seen since I got my diagnostic, came over for lunch. He was out of town and arrived the night before. Since he wasn't here during this week, he was obviously super worried about me. I think he calmed down a little bit once he saw how well I was doing.
After lunch Raquel and I watched a flick in between phone calls from many friends with best wishes. That brings me to the point of this post, actually. You have no idea of how much a word of support can make a difference. I have been getting these phone calls, e-mails, and facebook messages from people all over the world, some from good friends, some from people I unfortunately lost touch with, some from people I barely know.
I mean, I won't lie to you. For my sanity's sake, I must be super confident I will beat this thing. But sometimes I do think, "what if I can't beat it?". In those rare moments that my inner strength isn't enough, your words of support and strength comfort me. They keep me positive and make me keep my eyes on the ball. I need to fight this thing with my mind too, and your support, through your kind words or acts, sure makes me stronger.
I will not bend. I will not break.
So I just stayed home with Raquel (you will hear lots about her, I am sure). In the morning we had quite the breakfast and hung out. Right before lunch, I decided I should start this blog and posted the first couple of posts. My brother, who I hadn't seen since I got my diagnostic, came over for lunch. He was out of town and arrived the night before. Since he wasn't here during this week, he was obviously super worried about me. I think he calmed down a little bit once he saw how well I was doing.
After lunch Raquel and I watched a flick in between phone calls from many friends with best wishes. That brings me to the point of this post, actually. You have no idea of how much a word of support can make a difference. I have been getting these phone calls, e-mails, and facebook messages from people all over the world, some from good friends, some from people I unfortunately lost touch with, some from people I barely know.
I mean, I won't lie to you. For my sanity's sake, I must be super confident I will beat this thing. But sometimes I do think, "what if I can't beat it?". In those rare moments that my inner strength isn't enough, your words of support and strength comfort me. They keep me positive and make me keep my eyes on the ball. I need to fight this thing with my mind too, and your support, through your kind words or acts, sure makes me stronger.
I will not bend. I will not break.
quinta-feira, 27 de novembro de 2008
Day 1 - First Chemo Session
My first chemotherapy session was scheduled for my birthday. You might be thinking that is sort of cruel, but I would argue otherwise. Bear with me for a second here. I see this thing as a challenge, but I am confident I will beat it. The first chemo session was the first step towards the cure, the beginning of my rebirth. From now on, November 26th will mean birth and rebirth to me. By the end of this post, you will agree with me it was a happy birthday.
It was tough to sleep the night before the first session, though. I didn't have a clue of how the hospital was, how the treatment would feel like, how much pain I'd feel, or how sick I would get. In the very little time I fell asleep, I actually dreamed about going to the hospital and starting the chemotherapy.
I woke up at around 7am and went straight to the shower. I had a normal breakfast (some serial, juice and a couple of pieces of toast) and went to the hospital; I got there around 9am, straight to the chemotherapy section of the building. Up until then I was extremely worried and nervous. As soon as I walked in, things started to become a little more peaceful.
The hospital was nice, the nurses were extremely kind. They started the treatment at around 10am. The first drug they gave me was Dacarbazine (they're all given through IV); it's the one with the heaviest side effects, including nausea and a little burning sensation when it goes in. Thanfully I didn't feel any nausea, but the burning sensation made me really uncomfortable. The nurse had to slow down the infusion, which took 3 hours. The other three drugs (Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine) took an hour each to circulate through my body and I really didn't feel anything.
Of course there was some interval in between the drug infusions, so I spend the whole day in the hospital. My mom was there with me during the whole morning and we chatted a lot. She brought lots of food and we believe that helped to reduce the side-effects of the chemo. My sweetheart Raquel brought my mom and I soup for lunch and she stayed there with me for the rest of the day. We played some backgammon, watched a couple of movies, and hung out (ok, she helped me pee a couple of times). We left the hospital at around 8pm.
After this long day at the hospital, I got home and my mom had prepared some food and bought some cake. The house was decorated with balloons. My aunts that live in Porto Alegre got them delivered here so it would actually look like my birthday. A few friends came over, had some food, cake, and wine (no wine for me, though) and we had a good time.
Around 11pm I was filling a little tired and a little ill. So I just left the party and went to my bed to get some sleep. My friends sticked around and drank wine with my parents until mid-night. My sweetheart came along and tucked me in. She actually spent the whole night watching me to make sure I was doing well. She's my angel.
To wrap this post up, I spent the whole day around my family and the love of my life. I had a little get together with my friends, and I even got some gifts. And I was feeling completely healthy. How was that not a happy birthday?
PS: These posts might get a little corny at times. I apologize, I can't help it.
I will not bend, I will not break.
It was tough to sleep the night before the first session, though. I didn't have a clue of how the hospital was, how the treatment would feel like, how much pain I'd feel, or how sick I would get. In the very little time I fell asleep, I actually dreamed about going to the hospital and starting the chemotherapy.
I woke up at around 7am and went straight to the shower. I had a normal breakfast (some serial, juice and a couple of pieces of toast) and went to the hospital; I got there around 9am, straight to the chemotherapy section of the building. Up until then I was extremely worried and nervous. As soon as I walked in, things started to become a little more peaceful.
The hospital was nice, the nurses were extremely kind. They started the treatment at around 10am. The first drug they gave me was Dacarbazine (they're all given through IV); it's the one with the heaviest side effects, including nausea and a little burning sensation when it goes in. Thanfully I didn't feel any nausea, but the burning sensation made me really uncomfortable. The nurse had to slow down the infusion, which took 3 hours. The other three drugs (Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine) took an hour each to circulate through my body and I really didn't feel anything.
Of course there was some interval in between the drug infusions, so I spend the whole day in the hospital. My mom was there with me during the whole morning and we chatted a lot. She brought lots of food and we believe that helped to reduce the side-effects of the chemo. My sweetheart Raquel brought my mom and I soup for lunch and she stayed there with me for the rest of the day. We played some backgammon, watched a couple of movies, and hung out (ok, she helped me pee a couple of times). We left the hospital at around 8pm.
After this long day at the hospital, I got home and my mom had prepared some food and bought some cake. The house was decorated with balloons. My aunts that live in Porto Alegre got them delivered here so it would actually look like my birthday. A few friends came over, had some food, cake, and wine (no wine for me, though) and we had a good time.
Around 11pm I was filling a little tired and a little ill. So I just left the party and went to my bed to get some sleep. My friends sticked around and drank wine with my parents until mid-night. My sweetheart came along and tucked me in. She actually spent the whole night watching me to make sure I was doing well. She's my angel.
To wrap this post up, I spent the whole day around my family and the love of my life. I had a little get together with my friends, and I even got some gifts. And I was feeling completely healthy. How was that not a happy birthday?
PS: These posts might get a little corny at times. I apologize, I can't help it.
I will not bend, I will not break.
Diagnosis
A couple of months ago I noticed a couple of nodes on my neck, they seemed pretty harmless; there was no pain at all. I have no idea of how long they were there, but I didn't think much of them. I showed them to my mom, who always worries too much, and she forced me to go see a doctor. Well, it turned out she was right to worry too much.
At first, I went to a physician since I had no idea of what it was. He told me to do an X-Ray of my chest and a blood test. Both tests were pretty inconclusive and the doctor didn't seem to know what to do. So I decided to go see a good family friend who is a very competent doctor and he started investigating my situation.
After more detailed blood tests, ultrasound and CT scans, no conclusions could be made at all (other than that I had swollen lymphonodes on my neck). The only way to actually know what I had was through a biopsy. I was actually in the middle of a holiday trip, but my doctor made me come back for the biopsy. They made a 1.5 inch cut on my shoulder and removed the whole lymphonode for analysis.
Since my doctor has pretty good connections, the biopsy results came out quite fast. And the veredict was tough to swollow: cancer. It's pretty shocking to hear that, trust me. The doctor calmed us down a little bit, he explained that Hodgkin's Disease is actually the good type of cancer, whose treatment is normally very effective. I honestly thought those were great news and I am 100% positive I will beat this thing.
I will not bend and I will not break. I will write again soon.
At first, I went to a physician since I had no idea of what it was. He told me to do an X-Ray of my chest and a blood test. Both tests were pretty inconclusive and the doctor didn't seem to know what to do. So I decided to go see a good family friend who is a very competent doctor and he started investigating my situation.
After more detailed blood tests, ultrasound and CT scans, no conclusions could be made at all (other than that I had swollen lymphonodes on my neck). The only way to actually know what I had was through a biopsy. I was actually in the middle of a holiday trip, but my doctor made me come back for the biopsy. They made a 1.5 inch cut on my shoulder and removed the whole lymphonode for analysis.
Since my doctor has pretty good connections, the biopsy results came out quite fast. And the veredict was tough to swollow: cancer. It's pretty shocking to hear that, trust me. The doctor calmed us down a little bit, he explained that Hodgkin's Disease is actually the good type of cancer, whose treatment is normally very effective. I honestly thought those were great news and I am 100% positive I will beat this thing.
I will not bend and I will not break. I will write again soon.
Little intro
Hello everyone,
My name is André Campos, I just turned 26 years old yesterday. This is the first post about my fight against Cancer - Hodgkins Disease to be more specific, this is my way of venting my thoughts and I hope you find it somewhat helpful, inspiring, or even entertaining. I find the title appropriate because I repeat those words to the mirror everyday when I wake up. I won't bend, I won't break.
I won't elaborate much on what the disease is simply because I am not a doctor and I would probably say something silly. If you want to learn more about it, check out Wikipedia's article, it's a good starting point.
So yeah, this will be my diary. I hope you enjoy and participate.
My name is André Campos, I just turned 26 years old yesterday. This is the first post about my fight against Cancer - Hodgkins Disease to be more specific, this is my way of venting my thoughts and I hope you find it somewhat helpful, inspiring, or even entertaining. I find the title appropriate because I repeat those words to the mirror everyday when I wake up. I won't bend, I won't break.
I won't elaborate much on what the disease is simply because I am not a doctor and I would probably say something silly. If you want to learn more about it, check out Wikipedia's article, it's a good starting point.
So yeah, this will be my diary. I hope you enjoy and participate.
Assinar:
Postagens (Atom)
