2010.01.31 - CBG Status Report
================================

It's been a long time since I've sent out a broadcast on my health. Mostly, it
all just got a bit tedious and boring, and it was hard to think I should bore
all of you with all the endless tedious trivia. But the last two weeks have been
eventful, so here is what I hope will be a concise summary...

* Back in April-May (2009) I had 2 weeks of whole-brain radiation. The side
effects were minimal, just a touch of hair loss and radiation fatigue. That was
followed a month later by 7 weeks of radiation and chemo for the primary tumor
in my left lung. The side effects were a lot worse, but not horrific. Radiation
burns toward the end were the ickiest, radiation fatigue built up over the first
half and lasted for four months after the finish at the beginning of August.
Nausea has been a problem all along, being a major symptom of lung cancer; and
chemo makes it worse, but it responds to medication. The fatigue was the worst,
I was mostly a couch potato on into November, but it gradually receded, and by
them my breathing and overall health seemed much improved.

* November 20, I had a new MRI on my head. The results were very positive: the
smaller tumor was no longer visible, and the larger greatly reduced.

* January 20, I drove to Santa Rosa in a nasty rain-storm, and had a new PET/CT
scan to look at the rest of me. I was very optimistic because I'd been feeling
so much better, but the results were mixed when I talked to my oncologist and
got the results two days later. The lung tumor, as expected, was in full
retreat, but the bad news is that there are two new metastases in my liver. The
doctor made arrangements to start a new round of chemo (livers don't like
radiation) the next week.

* The next day, Saturday, January 23, I woke up feeling miserable and short of
breath. It got a little better during the day, but not much, so I finally called
my doctor. We kicked it around, and I decided to go to the emergency room @ 9:00
PM. It turned out that my right lung had collapsed, apparently an unhappy
coincidence caused by long term smoking. So they put me on oxygen, surgically
installed a tube in my chest, hooked me up to a vacuum pump, and hospitalized me
for the next four days. It sounds worse that it was - the worst part was no
Internet access! I could not have been happier with my treatment, Mendocino
Coast District Hospital (MCDH) is very good for a small town hospital.

* Yesterday, January 30, I started a new round of chemo, and felt very fatigued
after. It also seem to be causing goopiness in my lungs again (forgot to mention
that earlier), which is a drag because it makes me cough and I'm not supposed to
cough lest I collapse my lung again. AARRGGH -- PTOOEY!

And that's a wrap. Best to all of you.

* * *


Charles B. Gittings Jr.
223 South Harrison St.
Fort Bragg, CA 95437

+1-707-888-3561


Project to Enforce the Geneva Conventions (PEGC)
http://www.pegc.us