Lovenox

180 Needles later

Advanced Prostate Cancer, blood thinners, David Emerson, disc golf, Lovenox, PCa -

This morning was a good morning, I gave myself my last injection of Lovenox! (see this post http://flhw.ddmpreview.com/im-not-lovenox/)
Six months of daily injections are over, woo-hoo!! Now it’s just a daily baby aspirin to control clotting.
The mention of baby asprin reminds me of when I was young and one of my brothers liked those orange Johnson’s Baby aspirin so much, he ate the whole bottle. I bet the thought of the stomach pumping that followed still gives him chills!
Four years ago today I sat at work and wrote how frightened I was about the results of the biopsy I had experienced the day before. As it turned out, I had good reason to be concerned. Those thoughts, that fear, feels like it is from another life, one that I no longer lead. Not that I am naïve about the road ahead, but dwelling on the negative does no good.

Spring is going to tease us once again for the next few days with temperatures climbing well into the sixties. If the wind cooperates, we’ll be spending a lot of time outside both in the yard and playing, what else!

The needles go on, and on, and…

Advanced Prostate Cancer, blood thinners, David Emerson, INR, Lovenox, Wafarin -

My Oncologist’s Physician’s Assistant called yesterday afternoon with the results of Monday’s blood test.
When it was her, I knew it wasn’t good, as the nurse usually calls.
After increasing the blood thinner dosage to 12.5mg three days a week and 10mg the other four, she had the results. My INR was DOWN from 1.8 to 1.5! WHAT?!!!
She had spoken with Dr. V and he was concerned that perhaps the study drug (Atrasentan) was interfering with the INR number. The short story is this, I could increase the Wafarin yet again, or just suck it up and use the Lovenox exclusively (Lovenox is the thinner I have been self injecting since the clot was discovered in early August).
The choice was easy. I was already getting a little concerned about the large amounts of Wafarin I was taking and going to 12.5mg a day, everyday was not a guarantee that my INR number would ever get to 2.0.
So, just like every morning for the past seven weeks, I got up this morning and stabbed myself in the belly. I’m already bruised from side to side. I can’t imagine how my stomach will look after four more months of this daily ritual!
OK, so the whining about this is over…it’s just another bump in the road!

#’s

Advanced Prostate Cancer, Coumadin, David Emerson, Lovenox, Wafarin -

What I forgot to include in yesterday’s post was an update on the continuing saga of “The Clot”.
For six weeks now we have been trying to get my INR number high enough and stable enough to discontinue self injections of Lovenox. (INR is a blood marker used to determine the level of Wafarin or Coumadin in your blood).
In order to deal with “The Clot” I was put on Lovenox (self injection) and Coumadin (generic is Wafarin). The optimistic early prognosis from the doctors assistant was I would have to continue the self injections for 3, maybe four weeks until my INR reached a level above 2.0. It has now been over six weeks.
Things were progressing quite nicely, but not fast enough, when I reached 1.6 over two weeks ago. Last week we had a set back when it dropped to 1.3, this week it’s up a little to 1.4. My Coumadin dosage was increased again on Tuesday and we are hoping when we see Dr. V on Monday it will be really close to or above 2.0.
The worse side effect of the self injections is bruising at the injection site. So, needless to say, my stomach looks like Mike Tyson used me as a punching bag!
…oh well, life goes on…..

Hair today….gone tomorrow?

Advanced Prostate Cancer, blood thinners, Coumadin, David Emerson, DVT, Lovenox, PCa -

First, I’m going public with this a little early: my hair is at best ‘thinning’ at worst I’m losing it.
It started last week at some point. I noticed more than normal on my towel and then Tuesday morning Mary said my pillow was covered in hair. It has not started coming out in clumps (that will result in me immediately shaving my head) for now, we’re going with the description of ‘thinning’.
On another note, the Lovenox shots will only have to continue for another two weeks or so. I just talked to Dr. V’s assistant and I will start taking Coumadin (an oral or pill form of blood thinner) tonight. It might take a few weeks to get the dosage correct, so I will have to keep taking Lovenox at the same time.
I slept very little, three hours on Monday night however last night I was out for seven uninterrupted hours. That was a first in weeks, perhaps months!

BIG NEWS, GOOD NEWS….BIG GOOD NEWS!

Advanced Prostate Cancer, chemotherapy, David Emerson, Lovenox, Lupron, PSA, taxotere -

I was going to drag this out, be cute, be creative, etc. but I am tired!
My PSA today was 39.98, a 25% reduction from three weeks ago!!!
WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
As I mentioned above, I am beat. We did not sleep well last night, and we had to leave the house at 7:15 this morning to make the 8:00 appointment. I had both my monthly appointment for Lupron and Zometa and my three week chemo treatment all in the same day. We were through at the hospital 12:30ish. In the four and a half hours we were there, I had the following procedures:
– 8:35 blood drawn
> White blood count back up to over 12 !!!!
> Most other markers were back in range, red blood count was still a little low, but no show stopper
– 9:00 Met with Doctor V, the Physicians Assistant and the Clinical Trial Coordinator
Everything seems to be progressing as expected with the blood clot in my leg. The good Doctor did give me the green light to play golf on Wednesday afternoon, so I was happy
– 10:00 Began pre-treatments
– 10:40 Began Taxotere infusion #4
– 11:45 Began Zometa infusion
– 12:20 Received the Lupron shot
Mary and I made our usual stop for lunch at The Blue Koi and were home by 2:00.

I’m not ‘Lovenox’

Advanced Prostate Cancer, David Emerson, DVT, Lovenox -

Last night I came home from work and after cleaning up dinner I noticed my right leg was slightly swollen and felt rather firm or tight.

Even though it was going on 7:00pm we called my Oncologist office, since they told us when I started chemo to call for whatever reason. Dr. V himself called back in ten minutes. He told me to keep it elevated the rest of the evening and come see him at 8:00am this morning.

Knowing that he would have to work us in, we prepared for another long day at the doctors office.

I was in the lab waiting for an ultra-sound by 8:15, finished with the scan and in his waiting room by 9:15. So quick my head was spinning.

So it turns out I have small blood clot or a Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) in my right calf. The good news is clots in this area, though a reason for concern, are far less serious than if it were located somewhere else. The bad news is for at least the next six months I have to take yet another drug, Lovenox.

At first blush this might appear to be so bad, expect the Lovenox is self administer as explained here. And comes with these side effects:

• Bleeding or oozing from surgical wound
• Any other bleeding episodes; for example, bleeding at the site of the injection, nosebleeds, blood in your urine, or if you cough or vomit blood
• Spontaneous bruising (a bruise not caused by a blow or any apparent reason)
• Pain or swelling in any part of your leg, foot, or hip
• Dizziness, numbness, or tingling
• Rapid or unusual heartbeat
• Chest pain or shortness of breath
• Vomiting, nausea, or fever
• Confusion

OK, I know this is serious, but Mary Brad and I are currently laughing about the last one!

With nothing more to say, I’ll just end with this; the saga continues……