“David Foster's Kicking Kidney Cancer’s Arse”

Yawn

It has been a less than interesting month as I have spent much of it dragging around like an old dog. Oops, forgot, I am an old dog.

But not that old. Folks tell me I look "great" (though I always thought George Washington looked great, but maybe that's just me). Anyway, while Sutent has given up its attack on my hands and feet, joy of joys, it is persistent in the fatigue attack. I work just fine, for six or so hours and then it is happily to bed or any other place I can make myself supine (car seat, grass, logs, beds of nails, etc.)

Dr. Shlaer believes this is just a cumulative effect of the Sutent and he has given me another two weeks vacation from it. They did both a CT and an MRI last week and nothing as much changed. I still have five or six tumors in my lymph nodes, but the brain lesions are gradually dissolving.

I've had, for me anyway, some interesting results on the blog. For example I had no idea that if you search in a foreign language it somehow translates into that language. Now that's high tech. Several of those translations are in Chinese. 

Otherwise doing fine.

Ghosts of Sutent

A number of readers are coming in on the subject "Sutent." I have been on 50 mg per day (28 days then 14 off) for six months. Next week I begin my seventh treatment, this after a CT scan yesterday and an MRI. At first Sutent was one tough medicine. However, by the third month the hurting feet and blistering hands had disappeared, though to this day I still have strange tummy issues and fatigue. The fatigue is particularly interesting. For example, last week I went to Florida for the Masters (I live in Augusta and therefore the reason for leaving town) and spent a day fly fishing in the Gulf. Hooked into a very large tarpon (which we released). Now I felt just fine on the way out to the fishing area, but was in bed by 8:00 that night and spent most of the rest of teh trip there. Today, almost a week since catching the fish, I feel like a somewhat refreshed person.

I have discussed this with other Sutent warriors and many of them have the same issues. However, it seems the fatigue is cumulative. With the hurt feet and all that, once I was off the med for a day or two those sa's disappeared until the next round of treatment, as did the stomach issue (nauseua and dry heaves). This week, the fatigue has been as bad as ever and the dry heaves are happening during the break (for the first time).

None of this is directly related to the cancer. My scans yesterday showed nothing remarkably different from last month's scans. So it is the medicine. I don't think there is much we can do about the fatique (pace yourself and stay away from very large fish), but the nausea and dry heaves are very much controlable.

What I would most like to control is the shear weariness of cancer and powerful medicines. Man, that is the worst part...and that includes the finding of the brain tumors back in November. I try to be upbeat about all this (check out my earlier posts, especially "Pause") but sometimes when you are tired for yet another day it is difficult not to have a pity party or two and then I get meloncholy about allowing myself to go there. But the truth is I am still Stage Four with a pretty nasty, but at least slow moving cancer, and big boys and girls have to face that music. Good thing trout season is open. Another reason to think of something other than this...and the fish are much smaller. But I gotta tell you, when a big tarpon hits a fly and leaps its silver self out of the sea into the Florida sunshine it is a sight everyone should experience. Yeah, it wore me out, but it also invigorated with yet another reminder of the joys of life.