Next up -- Chemo 2

Back to Seattle on Monday for my Chemo 2 hospital stay which will begin on 4/3, Wednesday. Seattle warrior women Pat Shanahan and Lin (Gale) Burgess will again be helping me stay organized and are a huge emotional support. Andy Burgess, of Howling Dog Trail fame, gave me a buzz cut yesterday thus reducing the shedding substantially. An egghead, just in time for Easter!

We're so grateful to our friends and family for the support. In awe, really, of many unexpected kindnesses.

Chemo One - 3/12/13 to 3/17/13

This was the first of four to six treatments. I will be at the University of Washington Medical Center for each of them since the treatment requires a six-day hospital stay. Two drugs are used (doxorubicin and ifosfamide): one is infused around the clock for three days, the other once a day for four hours each time. The side effects are substantial, so the hospital stay is required to help mitigate those.

This is the standard beginning chemo treatment for Leimyosarcoma and choosing it will make it possible for me to qualify for clinical trials should I need additional treatment.

In early February 2013 I was diagnosed with Uterine Leimyosarcoma. Of the sarcomas, which as a group are rare, Leimyosarcoma is rare. And of Leiomyosarcomas, Uterine Leimyosarcoma is rare. Super.

I have always been inspired by the ancient Greek myth about Ariadne, princess of Knossos, Theseus and the Minotaur. She gave Theseus a spool of thread before he entered the Minotaur's labyrinth. He unspooled it on the way in and followed the thread to escape. Her solution to the problem was both elegant and unexpected. She out-maneuvered the beast.

This blog chronicles my battle with this disease. And, I hope, of how I out-maneuvered my personal beast.