Gus and I went to Bozeman last Thursday, January 22nd, for the CT scan.  They did blood work at the same time so we should have the results on the CA 19-9 this Monday or Tuesday.  We are anxious to see what that number is.  The last pancreatic tumor marker blood test was done two months ago.

 

We did learn something we had not known concerning the chemo.  We are to be very careful and not touch the oral chemotherapy tablets when Gus takes them.  That is something we would not have thought of.  The likelihood of hair loss is increased this time, so we all might see Gus without a beard for the first time since October 1972.   For many of us, including myself, this will be a first.   

 

Bozeman had not ordered the oral chemotherapy tablets so Gus is not starting chemo this Tuesday, the 27th as planned earlier.  I had checked with the oncologist twice to make sure they had the different chemos that Gus will start using.  Yes, they had what we needed.   They even called us to get everything scheduled.  Well, that was not accurate.   They do not keep the oral tablets on hand.  Those have to be ordered and take at least a week to arrive.  The oral chemotherapy will be mailed directly to us.

 

The oral tablets have been ordered (we think) and if they arrive in Sheridan within the week, then Gus will start Saturday morning, January 31st, with his first pill.  He takes this chemo tablet twice a day for 14 days.  On the 4th day and 11th day of the oral tablet, then we go to Bozeman and have the two IV forms of chemo.  They do not administer the IV's at the same time, so he will have one chemo infused slowly followed by the second one.  They will be observing Gus closely to see how he handles all these chemos in his body at the same time.  If there is a reaction, then they will slow the infusion down even more.  After 14 days of treatment, Gus gets one week with no treatment.  The only thing he will have to do on his off-week is blood work.  They will keep a very close watch on the blood counts.  Then the process starts over again.  Two weeks of treatment, one week of rest.  This is considered one cycle of treatment and he is scheduled for 6 cycles, which will take him into the middle of April. 

 

Neither Gus nor myself has any desire to start chemo again, so we are not half as upset with Bozeman's lack of details as we were when they neglected to send the test results to Seattle in December.  We are half tempted to tell them to take their time.