Text and photos are a work in progress.
Below, in italics, is what was posted on the wall at the Nov. 17, 2023, Celebrate Crushing Cancer contra dance held at the Greenwood recreation center. Additional information, including photos, are in the works to be posted “soon”.
“CCC” DAY
Shave chest, take Prednisone [daily/5 days] and apply Lidocaine and Prilocaine Cream over skin at medi-port
Check-in means answering the same questions three times on insurance coverage, travel, medical history, current
medical, etc electronically for PORT/VAD FLUSH/ACCESS, MD FOLLOW UP, and HEAVY INFUSION
PORT/VAD FLUSH/ACCESS means check in with a nurse to flush the medi-port with saline to draw a bit of red to
verify the port is working and then take three samples of blood for test before seeing the doc or representative like a NP.
MD FOLLOW UP WITH CHEMO with ANDREW M ROMANO means waiting for the results of the blood test for a medical person to review to see if there is any change(s) before starting the infusion
HEAVY INFUSION means 6 – 8 continuous hours of having the needle stuck in the medi-port to feed the various liquids by programmed metering equipment hung on the IV roll-around tree or manually into the line depending on the chemical. R-CHOP is the specific chemo for my lymphoma. All total inject about 2 liters of liquid over 6 – 9 hrs, thru my medi-port. There are 4 pre-medications, 1 biotherapy, 3 chemotherapy, and 1 post-medication. In-between are at various times saline solutions.
PRE-MEDICATIONS
DiphenhydrAMINE (Benadryl)
Palonosetron (Aloxi)
Acetaminophen (Tylenol) oral
Fosaprepitant (Emend)
BIOTHERPY
riTUXimab-pvvr (Ruxience)
CHEMOTHERAPY
DOXOrubicin (Adriamycin).
vinCRIStine (Oncovin)
cycloPHOSphamide
POST-MEDICATIONS
Pegfilgrastim (Neulasta)
THE BELOW IS AN UPDATE
2024, December, 10, I got my one year scan and the results of blood work and scan:
Here is cut and pasted from my oncologist’s message:
“Everything looks fantastic today no concerns. PSA remains very stable at 0.03. CT scan shows no signs of cancer. You’re in remission! Keep up the great work and keep dancing!”
2024-12-27 I’m at Contradancers Delight Holiday near Morgantown, WV. Dancing to get a “fix” of good/great medicine by dancing with energy. Resting in the afternoon I’m reading FB posts on the Cancer Survivors and Supporters page dealing with individuals’ neuropathy from the chemo. I tell Cynthia about it and she says “I have seen it”. I had a pretty significant cry because I am SO fortunate that I never had any significant amount of it. Could this be a part of dance before, during, and after my chemo treatments?