I wrote my most recent post on April 30. From that point, my physical condition took a steep dive. I was taken by ambulance to the Emergency Room of CHI St. Vincent Hospital on May 2, where I was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit ICU); I stayed there for several days. During the early part of that stay, mi novia received a late night call, informing her that I had gone into Ventricular Tachycardia (V-tach), a rapid heart rhythm that can lead to cardiac arrest. She was told the ER staff might need to use “paddles” on me to put my heart back in normal rhythm. Fortunately, that was not necessary. A few days later, I was transferred out of ICU to a regular patient floor. And from there, days latter, I was transferred to another hospital’s physical therapy unit for in-patient therapy. I was released to go home from that unit on May 15. My memories of the entire hospital experience are fuzzy; some are quite unpleasant. Follow-up visits to my family practitioner, a pulmonary specialist, , home health care specialist, and my oncologist have focused on “what’s next.” I can summarize yesterday’s visit with my oncologist with the following quotation extracted from her written post-visit report: if [he experiences] continued decline, [he says he] would consider hospice care.
I will henceforth visit my oncologist weekly, until reasons to take a definitive course of action emerge. It will be my decision, with input from others, to determine the point at which efforts to prolong my life exceed the value of enhancing its remaining quality. My experiences during these two weeks of hospitalization helped me understand the options. The choices between treatment and palliative care are complex. In my case, the time and circumstances involved in tolerability are as yet unclear. Time will tell.
John, I’m just wondering if you are EGFR+ and whether you could take Erlotinib (I know it as Tarceva). It is a once-a-day pill that was just becoming available around the time that Don became ill. It’s more a maintenance med to slow down progression. Don did go on it, but at that point, he had so much damage to his heart from Docetaxel that it couldn’t do a lot although we noticed in the short time he was on it that his bone met pain greatly decreased. I don’t know if it has been superseded by other meds since then, but I do know of quite a few people who used it as their maintenance drug back when I was following the discussion group on CancerGrace.org (I used to do the updating on the drug list as a volunteer for Dr. West’s lung cancer website). Tarceva was also being used for more elderly people who couldn’t do the standard chemo treatments. It does have some side effects — mostly it can cause a skin rash. Don did get some of that – it wasn’t terrible. I don’t think he had other side effects. Anyhow, I’m just mentioning it. I would sort of kick myself for not mentioning it in case it might be an option for you — assuming the drug is still being used.
Debbie, thank you for your support and support; your comments always mean a lot to me.
Bev, I kind of assumed you probably dropped by most days and that you figured some thing was up. You often think what’s on my mind before I think it myself! I agree with you about making clear decisions in one’s own environment.
John,
Another friend relieved to see your post… you have been amazingly brave. We all hope for better days for you. So glad you are back home with Colleen (and Phaedra). You leave a bit of magic with every thought you share.
Thank you for posting an update. Knowing what you are battling, I assumed that there had been some complication. I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had a pretty rough few weeks. It’s good that you are home again. I’ve found that it’s easier to make clear-headed decisions when you’re in your own home place.
I understand so well about making decisions about treatment vs palliative care. Each journey is deeply personal and every person has their own limits to medical treatments and interventions. Anyhow, thinking of you. Have been dropping by your blog daily, so relieved to see your post here this evening. Take care.