Patient #1: Ringing the bell to end chemo
Today is the big day. Navy SEAL-like t-cells are "storming the beach" sometime in the afternoon. As Eddie Vedder said at the start of the Spectrum's last concert, "This is it."
Patient #1: Ringing the bell to end chemo
Today is the big day. Navy SEAL-like t-cells are “storming the beach” sometime in the afternoon. We don't have the exact time; apparently, I am on a need to know basis, and, well, I don’t need to know yet. Chemotherapy has knocked out my immune system, and I am physically ready to tackle the part of the trial that determines my treatment outcome and, basically, the remainder of my life. As Eddie Vedder said at the start of the Spectrum’s last concert, “This is it.”
The week of chemo was relatively event-free. Fatigue and a bit of appetite loss were the only real side effects. I completed inpatient chemo with only bloating as the worst effect– bathroom use was frequent, as 10 pounds of saline solution and Meznax IV water weight has to go somewhere.
For the rest of the week, daily trips to the infusion center at Moffitt supplied me with Fludarabine, a leukemia chemotherapy that will finish off the existing white blood cells. From there, it is TIL infusion Monday, and IL2 beginning Tuesday at 6am. By the weekend, I should be recovering while watching the Flyers and Pens drop the puck – thanks NHL for giving me hockey back and putting the Flyers on national TV Saturday and Sunday! Until then, I will be in and out of coherency, but am hoping to have updates during the IL2 and immediately afterwards.
As of Monday afternoon, I had a 0.16 k/uLWBC count, meaning I have near-zero white blood cells left. Keep your sick kids away from me for the next few days.
There is a bell at Moffitt’s infusion center that patients ring to signify completion of their full chemotherapy treatment. The ringing is usually accompanied by fellow patients, nurses, and support personnel cheering and clapping. Being a Sunday morning, there were only a handful of people in the center to hear Patient #1 ring the bell at the end my chemo, so my cheering section of one very happy wife provided all the applause.
Not having the recognition was OK, though. Ringing that bell meant the wait was over. It was time to finally – five months after the initial diagnosis – reach the core of my treatment. Insert your favorite sports/battle/challenge metaphor here; I’m going with Rocky and Apollo boxing alone at the end of Rocky III. No more surgeries, tests, X-rays, blood draws, needles, pills, conjecture, speculation, and crossing of fingers. Now it’s go time. The fourth quarter. Showtime. The final round. And I have never been more ready for something. It’s time to ring the bell, melanoma.
Ding… Ding…
That's awesome. Love to hear about people ringing the bell.— PhillySubsMac- Wish I could play Eye of the Tiger here...go get em TJ! Whoot Whoot!!!— DianaLFigueroa
- I'm rooting for you, TJ!!! If you get 15 minutes, check out this video. It's one of my favorite motivation speeches about success.
You too will succeed in beating this cancer, because you want to that bad!!! Good luck my friend!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTFnmsCnr6g— Big_Ben45 - I'm rooting for you too. I feel good about this...— PotteryPete
- Amazing things are being accomplished all the time!!!!!! Your recovery will be one of them!!!!!!!!!!— Lisa Dougherty
- Great attitude. Thanks for sharing.— Roger Podacter
- We are rooting for you!! All our love!— stephalbero
- Hey man! I just need you to know how much I am rooting and praying for you and your family! My problems seem to shrink to the size of an ant after checking in on you. It takes great courage to do what you are doing and most importantly how you are doing it. If you set out to change one persons life when u decided to share your journey consider the mission accomplished! Thank you my man!— Scarman66
- Keep it up, TJ! I did two rounds of ipi and found out yesterday that all scans are clear! Your SEAL image is much, much tougher than the visual I have been using (sorry Pac-Man) and I am stealing it. Good luck, brother.— BrendanB
- Melanoma won't know what hit it - praying for you TJ!— Kim Ruoff
- Good luck T.J. and keep your focus on the touchdownarea...— Hein
- Abington Memorial Hospital
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- American Medical Association
- Aria Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- Consumer Medication Safety site from ISMP
- Cooper University Hospital
- Crozer-Keystone Health System
- ECRI Institute
- Inquirer Health & Science
- Institute for Safe Medication Practices
- Jefferson Health System
- Kaiser Health News
- Kennedy Health System
- Lourdes Health System
- Medical Society of New Jersey
- Mercy Health System
- New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services
- New Jersey Hospital Association
- NPR.org Shots
- NYTimes.com: Well
- Penn Medicine
- Pennsylvania Department of Health
- Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council
- Pennsylvania Medical Society
- Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority
- St. Mary Medical Center
- Temple University Health System
- Tenet Healthcare
- The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty
- The Chester County Hospital
- The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Virtua
- WSJ.com Health
