First infusion

I had my first infusion yesterday - I'm on cetuximab, which is much less toxic than the standard chemo (cisplatin) - no hearing loss, no nausea, and probably no hair loss.  I'll be getting infusions every Monday for the next six weeks.

I had a nasty headache today, which might be the chemo triggering a migraine, so didn't do much.  I'm hoping I'll feel better and be able to go to work tomorrow.

The man in the expanded-mesh mask

Radiation planning session today -- they built me a custom cage for my head to hold me in place during radiation and ran a CT scan with the cage in place to map out the tumors for radiotherapy.  I felt like I was in a sci-fi horror movie.

I have also agreed to take part in a study comparing the current standard-of-care chemotherapy drug (Cisplatin) with a newer (and less toxic) drug, Cetuximab.  It's a randomized study, so I don't know which drug I'll get. Cetuximab doesn't have the ototoxicity problem (Cisplatin damages your hearing), but it's not as well proven.

More information about the study here:  RTOG 1016

Next up: Radiation dry run (testing the programming done based on today's scans) on 2/25.

A tale of two oncologists

Things are moving along.  Last Monday, I met my medical oncologist, who will be overseeing my chemotherapy.  Awesome doctor #2.  Chemo will be 3 doses 3 weeks apart, starting at the same time as radiation (doing the treatments concurrently works best for this particular cancer).  I have to do detailed hearing tests and kidney function tests,  as the chemo drug (Cisplatin) can cause hearing loss and kindey damage.  Fun.

Today I met my radiation oncologist, another awesome doctor.  She gave me the rundown on how radiation is going to work - relatively high, targeted doses 5 days a week for 6-1/2 weeks (for 33 total).   This will knock out my salivary glands, and I'll have to keep my mouth wet with a baking soda/salt solution every hour (or better) throughout the treatment (baking soda to neutralize acidity from the lack of saliva, and salt to kill bacteria).  And I had to get clearance from a dentist before treatment because radiation can wreck havoc on your teeth and jaw.  Any infection in the jaw could lead to serious consequences.

Radiation will make it hard to swallow, and probably knock out most of my ability to taste.
And I'm not allowed to lose weight, or it'll throw the treatment off.   This is going to suck.

Also, my little company is on the brink of going out of business.  A couple of weeks ago, our majority shareholder (an Indian services company) fired the CEO and installed one of their guys.  Then last Friday our principal engineer quit.  I spent the weekend thinking that they might just shut us down.  But the new CEO wants to keep it going and see if we can turn it around.  So I have a job for at least a while longer.  I hope that it'll last at least until I'm done with my cancer treatment...