Thursday, August 7, 2008

Chemo's Dosing Dem Cells Outta Me Body

(As dictated by Dino to Dick)
Hi gang, Dino back in control here for the moment. It's now been 24 hours since they started my chemo treatment and there are lots of sighs of relief happening from a great many family and friends.

Thus far (knock on wood), I have yet to feel any seriously detrimental side effects; in fact, the drugs have made me lazy today and seem to have helped the pain level. We are unclear of the complete protocol, but we will let you know when we know more.

Very happy to be back at Alta Bates after five days at Alameda. We needed to be in Alameda to receive the pain pump. However, the quality of care at that facility simply does not measure up to what Alta Bates has to offer. To give you a short example, when I asked for a 10mg dose of Dilaudid, the docs at Alameda seemed so shocked and were so reluctant to provide this -- even though it was standard at Alta Bates -- that they made me wear a permanent EKG unit to check my heart function. This stupid unit caused me a considerable amount of discomfort and irritation for the five days I was there. I don't want to slag Alameda too much, but suffice it to say, we're all very happy to be back at Alta Bates.

Medically, there are a lot of niggling side issues that have kept us from getting chemo to this point, but when push comes to shove, we needed to begin chemo and blow out the cancer that's in my body. I won't bore you with the many details of these finer points that have held us up, but some were serious enough to force the doctors to err on the side of caution. Now, it's time to endure the protocol and take it as we go from there. If the treatment leaves me feeling anything like I do today, then I will consider myself to be truly blessed. Something tells me it won't be this easy the whole time, but we'll just take each day as it comes.

I have received several notes and e-mails recently indicating that I need to inject more of my presence back into the blog. I hear your messaging loud and clear. All I can say is that for the past two or three weeks, I have really not had the mental or physical energy to put together a substantial blog post. As we move through chemo and also deal with the recovery period in each cycle, I hope to begin a more reliable routine in which I can keep you all updated. A friend of mine said last weekend "We will always be here for you, but you need to sometimes make yourself available to us." I totally agree with that statement; each and every one of you deserves to know exactly what my current situation is. To that end, I have asked my Dad to take "dictation" which he is doing now and I will continue to use my parents as a resource so that you can read my thoughts through their fingers.

As for visitors, I know there are many of you that have expressed interest in coming to see me, and that makes me immeasureably happy. Unfortunately, my energy levels go up and down at a whim so often that making advance plans can be difficult. Please understand that most visits should be held to about twenty minutes or less; this is simply because several occasions of long visits have led me to pretty severe exhaustion and pain that is not easily controlled. I would love to see all of you guys, and I know that when the time is right, I will.

So that's the big news for the week. Now it's simply a matter of enduring whatever it is chemo has to offer. It may be a few days before I update again or I might have Dad or Mom help me with one. Outside of that, just waiting for football season to get started. Hope this blog brings you a little bit closer to where I am in the current moment. Keep livin', keep lovin' and enjoy your hot summer afternoons. With much love,

Dino

21 comments:

VocalNurse said...

Good job my friend!

-Diva

Peloton said...

Good job dino. BTW. I've got a chainsaw for sale if you are interested. Only used on ice sculptures. Love you bud. sean

Unknown said...

Atta baby Dino. Good to hear from you. Now, I have to know... does the hospital have ESPN and were you able to stay abreast of the Brett Favre Global Crisis?

Unknown said...

Hang in there Dino. Glad to hear that chemo has started, it will do the trick for sure and knock that cancer out of your body!!!!!

We are thinking good thoughts and praying for your recovery.

Mr. and Mrs. Nev (Dennis and Linda)

Andi Love said...

Ahhhh. The voice of Dino. What a blessing. You will be a hot bald guy.
Love you my friend.
Andi

Unknown said...

Good to have you back! How are those bionic bowels working out, by they way?

houston said...

Dick with an electric steno pad, I love the visual...
Welcome back Dino!

Monica Martin said...

so fabulous to read your words, sweets. missed you! te mando un besote enorme!! siempre pensando en ti....

liz said...

While it was great to hear about you, I'm much happier hearing from you. Your words make me smile.
Remember when I used to call you at work and I'd innocently ask, "What time are you getting off?" and you'd always respond, "I already did."
I hope these words make you smile! love, liz

Jason & Catherine said...

Hi Dino,
Great to hear from you - glad the chemo has started & you're in more comfortable surroundings.
lots of love, Jason & Catherine xxx

Looney said...

It's so good to hear from you, Dino. We got a little something to bring up for you sometime soon. We may just send it up with your mom or somesuch. We love you, bro.

Mathew said...

Its really fantastic to read your voice. We can wait a while for the bad jokes, off-color innuendo, and obscure references. Those will be plentiful again soon enough

Unknown said...

Dino, thanks for taking the effort to pop by and say hi. While i don't think you owe it to us (you are going through enough as it is), it certainly is good to hear from you. Hope the chemo sets a laser to the offending cells and gets you further down the road to recovery.

Priscilla said...

Hey D- man....I love the "Dick-tation"...WONDERFUL to hear from you, we knew you had it in you!! HOORAY!! We're thrilled your first day of chemo went so well, we hope any more "bumps" will be minimal! So glad you're back at A-Bates. Our thoughts and prayers are always with you - we love you so much!!! Take good care and kick some ass - let's get this thing out for good. Thank you so much for everything, Dick - we are so grateful for any and all updates! Much Love, Priscilla and Dave

broad_haven said...

Dino! So great to hear 'your voice' though your father's fingertips. Hang in there buddy. I think about you daily.

I'm hoping you were able to catch the phenomenal Olympics Opening Ceremony today -- what a splash of color and fireworks!

John Elmore

Gina said...

Cuz, I love hearing from you. Glad to hear the the chemo has started. You are in my prayers. I love you.

Unknown said...

YAY! Dino's back! Woo-hoo! Now that's the Dino that I know! ;)

Glad to hear that your moving on to your next phase of treatment...FINALLY!

Love you and thinking of you every day,
Marj

LynnAJ said...

good on ya, Dino!
we are sending you lots of love, energy and healing vibes from Kenwood and taking you to burning man with us - to pray at the temple for your speedy recovery. check out our photos from the last 2 years of burnin' in the desert ---whenever you have time to wade through all the pages of our adventures...www.johnsonpower.org.
love, Lynn and the Coremeister
xxxxxxxxxxxx

Anonymous said...

Hey Dino,

Looking forward to the Raiders this season...

Oh wait, no I'm not. I hope they show some other games up there.

Rich Harden sends his love and 13K in 5.1 IP (or so)

-Steve

Billy Ramirez said...

What's the update, Bass Man? Just thinkin' about my bro and bottom end. Take care.

//BR

Jenee said...

ll it's about dang time! (kidding -- I'll give you a little bit of break on this one). So glad you're moving forward to kick this thing's ass just like the USA did to France! (ok, barely, but we still nailed it!)

Hope the Olympics are keeping you occupied, and the fact that you're not crushing it as part of our beach volleyball teams isn't bringing you down. D-man, you just didn't get the height, it's ok, we can't have it all. :)

BIG HUGS from this side of the bridge.

-JC