Brief updates (chemotherapy, swelling and more)

 Last week, I announced that I had pancreatic cancer with tumors in other areas in my digestive system. 

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2025/04/pancreatic-cancer-and-tumors-in-my-liver.html

1.) Based on blood tests, it was decided to start chemotherapy last week. For now, there will be a 2 week time gap between each session. .

The known side effects of chemotherapy include diarrhea, vomiting and loss of hair.  There was some of the diarrhea and vomiting, but not much. Today, so far nothing. No loss of hair yet. 

2. )Even before the chemotherapy, I experienced swelling on my legs. They found blood clots. Right now, still heavy swelling on my legs. But now, my swelling has spread to my private area. I'd rather not describe it here, but seeing it on oneself can be very demoralizing.

3.) Filled out the Advanced Health Care Directive form and the green POLST form. Basically saying it's more importan for me to reduce suffering than to prolong life to the point where living longer wouldn't stop the suffering. The green POLST form (for which I posted a copy on my home fridge basically states that if I have no pulse or no breath, do not resuscitate me. Also, please no feeding tubes. Let me die as peacefully as possible.  

4.)  As I mentioned in a 12/27/2024 blog post

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2024/12/continuing-on-my-recent-health-issues.html

I'm coming face-to-face with mortality.  With my significant weight loss and the look on my eyes, it feels like life could be coming to an end soon.  It feels a mix of sadness and peace when I think about it. 

Now, some of you are reacting "don't talk like that, you got some more living to do".  

and this

But at the same time, we are not eternal beings. We have a life that begins and ends. (I'll leave the debate on reincarnation to the spiritual experts) 

And with my declining health condition, I got to be realistic and

•  acknowledge that I can't live forever. 
•  acknowledge that death could possibly be near and it's better to be at peace with it than to pretend life is an eternal party that never ends

That's still one of the realest things that I have ever written!

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 Video speech "Diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer"

 

https://youtu.be/k4l3kgh5LrA

"Diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer"

pancreatic cancer and tumors in my liver

I don't have much time to explain as I'll have to go the hospital soon. so much things going on in digestive health the last few months and they finally found the cause.

Not sure how treatments will go or how much time I have left. it all changes day by day.

Health journey of March 2025

Surgery

This surgery was to connect my stomach to a different part of the small intestine.

The current opening to the small intestine is too narrow for food to go down normally. Because of that, I'm more likely to vomit (or feel like vomiting).

To do this, the surgeons have to cut open my abdomen.

Luckily, I was put to sleep during this procedure.

The surgery was initially scheduled for 03/10/2025 but was delayed to the following day (03/11/2025) due to the multiple patients needing their own surgery.

Obviously, one of the most painful part of getting up after the surgery is dealing with the pain of the incision of the abdomen. Can't do a sit up.

But the most irritating part is the tube they put in the throat before the surgery and was to remain there after the surgery. The tube was to clear out the contents of the stomach.  Having it in remain in my throat made it hard to talk and was just irritating.  I was so happy when they FINALLY decided to take it out.

The throat tube held by nurse after it was removed.

I was reliant on IV for my nutrients for most of the time at the hospital. They then decided to have me on a liquid diet. However, I got diarrhea attacks that came without warning and needed help to clean myself afterwards. So the doctors had me switch to a low-fiber diet to ease my digestive system's post-surgery transition.

I also had to rely on a walker to walk around, and had physical therapists come by to check on how well I could move around.

When I was finally discharged from the hospital (03/18/2025), I still needed my walker to move around. This lasted for the following 2 weeks.

Post-surgery recovery at parent's home

The mattress in my apartment was low on the ground and would've been difficult to get up from, especially I just had surgery in the abdominal area.

So I had to stay in my parent's home (which had a spare bed with a bed frame under it) for the following 2 weeks.

It was nice to get home-cooked meals from them. It was also time to re-introduce ourselves to each other being that it's been decades since I've lived with them.

That being said, once a new bed-frame was installed my mattress in my apartment and now that my ability to walk around unassisted has increased, I was happy to move back to my apartment again.

Reduced vomiting and reduced appetite

Good news is that so far, I onlyv vomited twice since the surgery. Compare to multiple times nearly daily the last few months.

The bad news is that I have still have a reduced appetite. I can hardly finish everything on my plate. My parents want me to eat more, but my stomach could only take in so much. The days of big eating are over. 

Swelling and blood clots

While I was still in my parent's home for recovery, I noticed swelling in my right arm and right foot. I went to the urgent care doctors who suggested getting an ultra-sound for possible blood clots. Blood clots were found and now I have to take blood thinning medication. The bad news is that medication I'm currently taking requires injections and I'm not a big fan of getting poked by needles.  Depending on future blood tests showing improvement, I could eventually be transitioned to taking blood thinning pills instead. 

Physical therapy

Because of the incision of the abdomen and also because I relied on a walker when released from the hospital, I needed physical therapy.

The physical therapist showed me how to roll in & out bed safely being that I can't do a sit up.

They suggested some exercises to reduce the swelling.

They also kept track of my progress in mobility.

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Being that it's now April, I have more health news to share, but I'll save it for a future blog post.

coming soon: surgery

 This coming Monday, I'm scheduled to have surgery on my digestive system. The plan is connect my stomach to a different part of the small intestine.

The current opening to the small intestine is too narrow for food to go down normally. Because of that, I'm more likely to vomit (or feel like vomiting).

If all goes well, my vomiting should be reduced and my appetite should increase.

Recovery time varies, so I can't tell you how long I'll be in the hospital, or when I'll be ready to blog about the surgery itself.

Pray for me and wish me luck! 

Health issues of February 2025

 The month of February started with the usual bouts of nausea that I've been experiencing the last few months. 

Then on February 6th, a big meatball sized stool came out after a few days of not pooping. I felt another that was about to come out, but it didn't.  For days. Yes, another round of constipation.

I had to spend Super Bowl Sunday still dealing with the constipation, though I was able to watch the entire halftime show uninterrupted.

On February 12, I had a previously scheduled appointment for a pre-surgery consultation. The planned surgery (which isn't yet scheduled) deals with my digestive system. While there, I mentioned my current constipation, and the doctor suggested one of those over-the-counter enemas or suppositories. I bought a box of suppositories.

I tried it first time on the day I bought it.

Then I tried it again the following day (02/13/2025) circa 5pm. About an hour later, I could feel the pieces of the stuck poop down going down into the toilet. And more wet stools. So now, constipation had turned into a diarrhea that lasted throughout the night. No pause until the following day. And even then, I had occasional diarrhea to the point where I took Imodium AD to finally end it all. 

So from that point on, I took Miralax (a powder stool softener) daily to ensure smooth, daily (or almost daily stools) along with some high-fiber whole-grain food. 

No constipation for the rest of the month.

There has also been reduced vomiting. But I'm not ready to declare victory, because everytime I feel like declaring victory, it all comes back. 

But I do feel an increased energy now that I'm able to take a walk around the block. Not ready for long-distance walks yet. Baby steps.  Can't rush the process/

For March, I have another pre-surgery consultation session. I'll let you know how that goes when the time is right

Defund Elon Musk

 President Donald Dump has hired Elon Musk to find parts of the government's budget to cut spending! 

Some of those proposed cuts includes spending to help poor people in foreign countries (is USAID), and it won't take long before those cuts come to Medicaid and SNAP! 

But Elon Musk makes TONS of money off the government via contracts with his companies (ie SpaceX, Tesla, etc). 

Instead of cutting off money to help the poor, why not cut off money that benefits Elon Musk!

IF the Democrats had REAL courage, they would propose a bill to END ALL subsidies/contracts/etc to companies owned by Elon Musk!

In other words,  a Defund Elon Musk Act (DEMA)! 

It's time for bold action and show Elon Musk that somebody is not afraid to stand up to him! 

DEFUND ELON MUSK

Health issues of January 2025

 I know, it's been a while since I last wrote a blog post.

Again, it's my health issues related to my digestive system that got in the way!

Here are my previous blog posts documenting my recent health issues 

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2024/10/my-experience-with-jaundice-and.html

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2024/10/coming-home-from-hospital-and-road-to.html

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2024/11/more-health-drama-in-late-october.html 

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2024/11/nausea-drama-for-early-november.html

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2024/11/wish-me-luck-this-black-friday.html

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2024/12/continuing-on-my-recent-health-issues.html

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2024/12/final-2024-blog-post-health-updates-etc.html 

This month actually started on a relatively good note. The amount of vomiting has decreased and it felt like I was ready for the road to recovery.

However, on 01/09/2025, a new problem came up - constipation.

I never experienced constipation before so it was a new experience for me.

On the evening of 01/09/2025, I was like "poop is going to come out, finally, since it's been days since the last one."

The problem was the poop refused to come out. It kept feeling like it's about to come out, but it didn't.

I was basically on the toilet for the most of the next few days waiting for it to come out. Meanwhile, wet stools went around the stuck poop to come out.

I called the doctors and they suggested Metamucil and Miralax. My dad bought it for me.

For a few days, I was wondering "when will it work". Then on night going from 01/11 to 01/12, I decided to just lie down and attempt to sleep. Only like 2 hours later, I noticed I pooped my pants. I went to the toilet, and noticed that the stuck poop was no longer there. It melted and came out wet.

The next day, my dad brought adult pull-ups. I definitely was going to need that. Because the next few days was all wet stools coming out.  It was getting to the point where I was like "when is that going to end?"

But on 01/17/2025, it got even worse. It was no longer just wet stools coming out, it was blood. 

Time for the the emergency room. I went there and got evaluated. One doctor thought all the bleeding was from the sores near my anal area.

But then I took a dump. It was obviously more than just sores from the anal area. There was poop that looked like meatballs. And blood clots coming out. Then it happened again.

At that point, it was obvious I was going to have to stay at the hospital over night.  Later that night , more meatball-looking poop and blood came out.

The next day (01/18/2025) it was relatively calm, and the doctors had me drink GoLytely, a laxative drink meant to clean out the colon before the doctors could do a colonoscopy. Also that day (or night), the nurse did an enema where she noticed more stuck poop in there.

Well, the next morning (01/19/2025), those stuck poop pieces came out looking like meatballs.  And for the rest of the day, I had to drink more GoLytely.

By the next day (01/20/2025), my bodily waste was clear enough for the doctors to do a colonoscopy. By then, the bleeding & the stuck poop was gone. But the doctors noticed where in the colon the bleeding was coming from. 

On 01/21/2025, I was ready for discharge from the hospital. Because of all the stuck poop and recent constipation, the doctors prescribed for me to take stool softeners daily.

However, the stool softeners worked too well. On 01/24/2025, I had a diarrhea incident that came without warning. From that point on, no more stool softeners.

I did poop again on 01/29/2025 and the next following days with no incident. Just regular good old poop.

When it comes to diet, I am eating a bit more, adding more protein and fiber to my diet. 

However, I can't eat the same like before. Just the other day, I ate the canned beef ravioli. Big mistake. I totally forgot how acidic the pasta sauce was, which triggered vomiting. 

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Also, these days, I still get tired more easily, requiring an afternoon nap in addition to nightly sleep.

It will take time to recover all the strength, stamina and energy I lost the last few months. How much time still remains a mystery.