Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Frank Schwall Update


Tomorrow I start my last round of chemo for my Stage III C metastatic colon cancer. It is the 12th round. I started at the end of January after surgery in December. It’s been 3 days every two weeks. One day at the infusion center and then two days with a portable pump bottle. On July 8th the group at Memorial Sloan Kettering will do tests ( scan and blood work ) to see what if anything is going on and then on July 11th  I meet with the doctor to find out the results. Hopefully I will be NED – no evidence of disease. If that is the case I get some time off and will go back in 3 months for another scan. Most likely if there is a tumor growing it will be on the liver or lungs. That is how it usually works with colon cancer. You see I had a lot of cancerous lymph nods so most likely I have cancer cells floating around in my blood. They are looking to grab onto something and grow a tumor. The chemo is designed to kill those cells before they find a spot to grow again.  If there is a tumor in either of those areas I will be classified as Stage IV. Then they might do surgery or chemo or both. But I think that all will be clear.

The purpose of my telling everyone this is to get people to take action now. I don’t want people feeling sorry for me – no need to. I do what people to heed my advice. So I hope that describing this stuff in detail will at the very least scare you into doing what you need to do to take care of yourself.
Here is what I have learned.

1.You have to go to the doctor every year. Not every two years or every 5 years but every year. If you don’t you are a wimp.  Feeling fine is not a reason to skip your annual checkup. You have no idea what could be going on in your body. So suck it up and get it done.
2. If you are 50 or over you need to get a colonoscopy. If you have a history of colon cancer in your family – even extended family like a great aunt or uncle you need to get a colonoscopy now! Colon cancer is called the silent killer. Blood work and a colonoscopy are the ways to know for sure what is going on.
3. You have to know your family’s medical history. For the most part this stuff if genetic. Yes you should eat right and exercise but even if you do that you can still get cancer. In large part because you might be predisposed to get it because of your genetic makeup. So here is my suggestion. This does not need to take a lot of time. But ask your parents questions. Ask your aunts and uncles if they know of anyone in the family with medical conditions. I know that the last thing you want to do is find out what is going on with your crazy uncle’s colon. But doing so might save your life and allow you to walk your daughter down the aisle at her wedding or make a great toast at your son’s rehearsal dinner or coach your grandkids little league teams – all the things I plan to be doing in the future. You can send or email or even better at the next family gathering take 2 minutes to bring it up. Then get back to having fun. Your doctor has to know what is up with your family – even great grandparents count. (as it turns out my great grandmother had colon cancer as did my great aunt) Think of it like this. If you are a financial advisor or CPA how can you give your client advice if they don’t tell you all the facts of their situation? If you are a lawyer your client is doing themselves a disservice if they don’t tell you all the things that apply to their case. Doctors are no different. If you can’t tell them the facts of your extended family’s medical information then you are wasting everyone’s time.
So if I got your attention and you are going to take action you can quit reading this now. (expect you need to check out the link to my Swim Across America page – fundraising for cancer research) Otherwise I will fill you in on some more details.
I have not lost my hair. For the most part I have kept a regular schedule. I have also been running our church’s junior youth group and coaching my daughter’s 2nd grade softball team. But one of the drugs I was getting Oxaliplatin was really strong. In the cold weather it caused me to feel like a thousand needles were sticking in my face. I could not drink anything cold for several days after each round because my mouth and tongue would also feel like they were full of needles.  I could not hold anything cold because my fingers would sting. Anyway after 7 rounds of that stuff my platelets were so low that they had to quit administering it. But that was more rounds than most people could tolerate. By the way – scare technique alert – if your platelets are too low you can bleed to death – even internal bleeding from a fender bender. So it underscores the power and dangers of chemo. At one point my white blood cells were too low so they gave me a booster shot to get the counts up. That was probably the worst time. I was moving slow and really tired for a week. Usually I slept some in the afternoons during each of the rounds. In 4 or 5 days I ended up feeling fine. One of the side effects of chemo is numbness in the fingers. I am experiencing that now. It feels like my fingers are asleep. Not that big of deal and it is supposed to end soon. I also want to mention the steroids I was given to offset the chemo. The steroids helped to keep the nausea at bay and too boost my immune system – I never got sick with flu or fever so that was great. A lot of people really struggle with their immune system during chemo so I was lucky.  It also helps to stimulate the appetite. Steroids work …so I am now losing the weight I gained i.e. Swim Across America. I used to think that steroids were no big deal. I did not care that much about the performance enhancing drug thing. But now I will say this. Steroids suck. At first you can feel the energy but in the end it just feels weird and not right. So if you have a kid playing sports who is looking for an edge tell him it’s not worth it. It is a great drug for doctors to prescribe to help with specific things but I now believe it was not meant to just help you get stronger so you can show off.
The worst part really has been having to see others – many people younger than me - deal with cancer.  I see them at the treatment center and hospital. It is depressing. I can take it but it is heartbreaking to see some of the other cases. I almost start dry heaving when I walk into the place each time. But I thank God it is me and not anyone else in my family or among my friends. I do believe that God gives us what we can handle.  The reason I got this is to spread the word of the importance of early detection. And as my buddies who love the blues know we just call it some more mileage.
Two more things. I really appreciate all the support and prayers and good karma I have gotten from people I know and people I don’t know. It makes a difference and I am luckyfriends. It has been proven many times. So thanks.
Last thing. For the last 3 or so summers I have participated in and event called Swim Across America. It is an organization that puts on swimming events which are used to raise money for cancer research. Most of the swims are in open water. The one that I participate in takes place in the Long Island Sound. I started doing it not because I knew anyone who had cancer or had some cancer related story but because it seemed like a good cause and it is really fun. The swim gives me something to get in shape for and it makes for a fun day. Little did I know that I would end up swimming as a patient/survivor this year. What is really weird is that Memorial Sloan Kettering is a sponsor and their logo is on the towel that all the competitors are given. I just noticed that last week. So here is the link. If you can, I would appreciate your support. Please nothing crazy. $10 or $20 would be so appreciated. You can do it all online. The web site has all the information about the organization. http://www.swimacrossamerica.org/site/TR/OpenWater/LongIslandSound?px=1084546&pg=personal&fr_id=1944
I will let everyone know how things go on July 11th. Take it easy. Frank