Eating Muffins in an Agitated Manner

Home again

Posted by jukkahoo

As it says.

Feeling very bad the whole day. Gagging, feeling sick, tasting the bile and everything that's been churning in my stomach (mostly yesterday's pizza, I'd guess from the taste of it). Eating lots of Temesta, fairly effective tummypill with the additional side-effect of drowsiness. Slept a lot.

The stiches being removed in 13th day have left one heck of a scar! It's still slightly open in places, so that it oozes ever so slightly of reddish... blood? I shouldn't raise my left arm above the shoulder level, but I woke up last night couple of time while doing so. Should I tape/band my laft arm to my side? The underarm feells... wrong and there's a very stupid looking "bag" at the end of the scar on my backside. And the scab itches, quel surprise. These things always itch. I hope I won't scratch it broken in my sleep.

So, chemo No. 5. I talked with Dr. James (the Fifth) and after she offered a CT-scan after the sixth chemo, I opted for one before it, since it has actually been a good while since the last one. James looked at her papers and realised that the patient was actually right, so I'm having one next week, just before I'll receive my sixth chemo. There will most probably be a 7th chemo, but anything after that is purely speculative.

You see (and this is very good news indeedy!) my tumor was dead. As a dodo. Chemo (and or radiation, but highly unlikely) had done the damage, whilst unable to dimish the lump it had nonetheless managed to kill all the bad cancer cells. Or so says the pathologist. Now we have to find out how the darkened spots in my lungs have been taking all this (as previously told, not too good, so fingers crossed!).

And then we have to find out whether the evildoers have stayed put or... moved to somewhere else altogether. See, this is the problem with bloodcancers, they may just move, leaving no follow-up address. But all in all, this looks like a glorious day for our Team and a day of loss and mourn for the opposition. Yet still... the WAR continues!

Continuing

Posted by jukkahoo

So I'm heading back to Meilahti for more chemo. I was there today (for a very brief moment) and Tuomo (the Third) "hmmmm'd" and finally said that it looks "very good". I then looked at the mirror and recommended stronger lenses.

This is both good and sad. It's good and proper to continue treatment as soon as possible, since them little buggers are multiplying inside as we speak(!) and chemojuices will (hopefully) make their life a miserable experience. Then again, the very same liquids will make me feel like shit for many a days, but hey, you can't have both Health and Good Feeling at the same time.

I read the latest issue of Syöpä - Cancer today and dispite long and boring topics about smoking (which I don't do, to both of you not knowing me and my habits), there was a nice, honest article about this lady who had had breast cancer - and survived. She pretty much summed up all my experiences so far, all the fears and anxieties, treatments and the following nausea ("consider it like having a 5-6 -day bad hangover and you're supposed to eat a lot of food-stuff at the same time"). A good one.

I guess I'll be staying at the hospital 'til Thursday Noon and then I'll be back home: hopefully not throwing up.

Mainos: Kaikki kynnelle kykenevät ja vähän muutkin, suunnatkaa askeleenne ensi perjantaina Klubikellariin ihmettelemään ja ihailemaan verratonta Suomi-Westerniä "Kalliovuorten Prinssi", pääosissa Petri Hiltunen, Vesa Lehtimäki ja Matti Tanska. Ällistykää verevistä erikois-ehvekteistä! Lumoutukaa kauniista maisemista! Stupendoitukaa häikäisevästä artikulaatiosta ja veret seisauttavista näyttelijäsuorituksista! Mukana myös jukkahoo ja musiikki!

More less

Posted by jukkahoo

My drain was removed yesterday. The nurse in question told that it would hurt a bit and did it ever! Well, as the Americans say, yeah! And then there was some showering of bodily fluids, heh heh...

The under armpit feels funny. As the operation did some minor changes there, I'm not surprised. It's bumpy. Almost... lumpy. No nonononononoooooooh!

The scar is quite a sight, it runs from my back to my left nipple.

I don't have much to report really. I 'aven't talked with Syöpäpoli yet, but I think I'll have contact them tomorrow Thursday. I've been mostly staying up late and slept even later. It's all part of the treatment, you know. Plenty of rest and no stress, nor work, sweating, lifting or sport. No sauna either, and no rubbing of the wound/scar.

Sitten haluaisin huomauttaa, että kauden parasta tv-viihdettä tulee maanantaisin, ensiksi MTV3:lta puoli yhdeksältä illalla vanhoja Spede-show -koosteita (paitsi että kohta ollaan jo aivan liian tuoreissa osissa) ja sitten SUbTV:lta puolenyön paikkeilla Martti Servo ja Yösydän chat. Jos olette koskaan kuulleet kuinka Martti tulkitsee Doorsia, te ette ole eläneet turhaan. Taannoinen Roadhouse Blues on ehkä hienoin koskaan kuulemani cover-versio! Muutenkin Martti puhelee mukavia/pehmoisia.

Huomenna meille tulee astianpesukone, mutta siitä saa Sari puhua enemmän kunhan ehtii.

I'm less

Posted by jukkahoo

Home. Don't you just love to be at home? Isn't home just the grandest place on this planet? Is there possibly anything as wonderful as home? Don't tell me. I don't care, really. I'm at home!!!

And I'm less. A kilo and Then Some (as Bruce Cornelius Willis might say). 1030 grams! That's a big lump (much appreciate the sentiments - as well as the mentioning on heffalumps: "Mutta minähän olen Nasu!") and I shouldn't forget them pints of blood they bled from me during the three hour operation. They did give me some back in the following night (that or/and drugs, Snufkin ought to know), when I was half delirious with the bloodloss and the weird concoction that tubes away from the side of my chest. The tube is reddish/yellow and they want me to have it until Tuesday. I have tubes, metallic devices and strange wounds and scras all over my body. I look like a very bad costume of a borg: "Prepare to be assillymated!"

My side hurts. I can't raise my left arm above my chin. Well... actually I'm not suppose to do that, but I can raise it a bit more, but not that much and it takes quite a while to lower it back down, since some muscle tissues and whatnots don't really appreciate the motion. Hem.

My Plastic Surgeon Man was a bit worried that he might have broken a nerve whilst surgeoning. He visited me at the hospital and made me do silly moves with my arms ("Eh, this hurts?", "Good, it should.") and finally was satisfied that he hadn't done anything wronk, since my left... scapula/shoulder blade (?) didn't do funny things when I straightened my arms in front of me. Since I too considered that to be a Good Thing, we were both relieved. Then I realised I could have sued a Plastic Surgeon for malpractice for gazillions of dollars! But only in America, the Land of the Law-Suit...

The skin (in question) feels weird. It's very soft, relatively fleshy and quite numb. Until I do something really drastic like stand up or move my left arm or try to turn in bed. Shudder the thought... And then there's the dreen (?) ie. the tube/container from my side. I have now accidentally pulled it a few times and let me tell you, it ain't no picnic (hrm, how could it even possibly be a picnic, since it it essentially plastic and mainly tube...?).

It hurts. My roommate managed somehow to wriggle his dreen (while sitting down) around his knee and when he got up, the fleshy part nearly came off. He almost fainted. Good thing the dreen in his case was attached to his head so no vital parts were in danger. Heh, a bit of "dreen" humour there. We dreen-people horse around like that. It must be all those fluids that are seeping out of our bodies. (I have no idea what I'm writing here, must be the drugs, more info available from Snufkin.)

I have to go back to Töölö in Tuesday, so that the blasted dreen gets separated, but I have no idea when I should report back to Ward 7 and Dr. James. I'm having the Monday off (I might even close my cellphone!), but I guess I have to go to Meilahti or call them to see how things will continue. I'm expecting both chemo and radiation, but not too soon (hopefully!). The stiches come off at 13th and Dr. JeeJee (the sixth) said it ought to take about 3-4 weeks for the scar to heal. I'm guessing they will start the chemo a bit earlier but not too early, since if I start reatching with these stiches, I'm gonna fall to pieces. (Snufkin!!!)

If you're ever given these purple antibiotics, just say no. They might be good for you but boy does your mouth taste weird! It isn't necessarily a bad taste (I'm certain you, My Dear Reader(s), are as sick as me with my continuous tales of my mouth tasting like raw sewage after chemo/drugs/etc) but it would be nice to be able to actually taste the food/drinks I eat!

I have a new headgear (courtesy of Family Nieminen). It looks like some German enterpre... entropoo... entrop... salesman has come up with a neat idea What to do with all those extra sleaves that shirt factories get when they cut off the sleaves of a shirt and turn it into a T-shirt. Use it as a H.A.D. (Multifunctional Lifestyle Headwear!) I mean hat/headgear. Versatile stuff. I'm still wearing the pirate-look one I made eight hours ago. I don't know whether I can turn it into a balaclava -  oops! sorry, I meant Sturmhaube or a Saharatuch! I think I can turn it into a Mütze or a Stirnband!

Sometimes Less is More and sometimes...

Busy, busy, busy

Posted by Sari

Jukka's recovery from the operation is going quite well, and he is very glad to be rid of the lump. It weighed over one kilogram, said the JeeJee lookalike surgeon. Jukka might even get home tomorrow or day after tomorrow if they can take the drain out. The wards at Töölö hospital where he is now are larger and the nurses are more busy than at the cancer clinic where he gets his chemo, so he would not mind at all being released early.

I have to admit that this possibility has once again play havoc on my schedule. I had counted on a full week of nursing-free time to do all sorts of domestic chores and other jobs I should have done a month ago. Telescoping the time table lead to very busy Saturday: I have rearranged kitchen to facilitate the new dishwasher (I love my parents, I really do...), done huge amounts of laundry and sorted through all papers in my "pending" tray. Meanwhile my sister was pressed to vacuming and floor-washing duty while our friend Omppu was sorting socks. Now tomorrow I just have to dust the surfaces, do some more laundry, write some book reviews for Tähtivaeltaja, some other reviews for a publisher, and finish three overview-articles on SF-authors for a book and I can start concentrating on my PhD. Yeah, right...

Lump gone!

Posted by Sari

Just a quick note to tell you all that Jukka has had his surgery (I again almost wrote "her surgery", I just hate these gender-specific third person singular personal pronouns....), and everything went well. They did not even have to take a skingraft from his back, which should make the recovery easier. I went to see him in the afternoon and he was still pretty croggy from the anesthesia, but otherwise seemed okay. 

I myself am going to try to relax by reading Tom Arden, watching the second season West Wing DVD's and sleeping in my own bed for the first time in two weeks.

Sairaalassa on toki tylsää joten jos jollakulla on viikonloppuna vapaata niin piipahtakaa piristämässä herraHoota. Hänet löytää Töölön sairaalan viidennestä kerroksesta osastolta 503, huoneesta 2. Vierailuajat olivat muistaakseni 12-18.

Jack the Knife

Posted by jukkahoo

I learned today that I'll be going under the knife next week.

I was at the hospital today (and bloody well waited for almost two hours for the plastic surgeon to finally come!) and the future looks very sharp indeedy. This Jeejee Hakala -lookalike (I helloed him, as one does, before realising that this here was ablout two inches taller than Mr. Hakala) looked at my tumor, cleaned the infliction, said "ummhh" and hummm..." and then announced that this here tratment is going nowhere and that I have to be operated soon. 

Which is almost poetic, since an operation was the first treatment I was told I'd be having when everything was only just starting. I am slightly worried, since there really isn't that many options and treatments after surgery. Only more chemo and radiation (and look where all this took me!).

The problem at the moment is, that the tumor isn't "melting away" ie. getting any smaller. Apparently it is pretty solid dead cell-block, with some nasty cancer cells in the middle having a ball with no care in the world, since the chemojuices aren't getting thru the dead layer of cells. Continuing chemo/radiation serves no real purpose at the moment. So, surgery.

I'll be going back to the hospital in Wednesday to get some MabThera, but I guess they won't put any chemo's inside since the surgery is coming soonishly. And I need all the red and white cells I have to get through this next ordeal.

Doctor James has been very helpful (and funny too) and her continuing precence has helped a great deal with all of this. She is very professional and at the same time very open and there. She even asked today how my panel (on fantasy before and after Tolkien) at the Book Fair went.

It went fine. Some even called it really good. Toni said it was better than his panel on New Space Opera. I got to make few points, name names and generally be entertaining/ed (and people came to ma after the panela sking for names and writing them down!). So there! I had a lovely time at the Fair, even if I stayed there for only few hours in Sunday. I got to meet people (some that I haven't seen since this all begun) and have a wee chat with most of them. I miss mafia's...

I don't really know how all of this will continue, but needless to say, either I or my lovely Missus will keep you informed thru the approproate chunnels ie. this here weblog.

It is that time of year again

Posted by Sari

Jukka tells me there has been grumbling on the other side of the Gulf of Botnia about the lack of posts in a more widely understood language than Finnish. My excuse is that Figure Skating season has started. Few weeks back my sister  Merja and I spent the whole weekend at Finlandia Trophy, and now my online hours are mainly spent endlessly refreshing IceCalc's results page in the middle of the night trying to find out what is happening at the GP circuit. Yes I know there is a slight wiff of fanaticism in the air here. I am not even going to start talking about the collection of about 200 hours of skating on video dating back to 1989. But as long as long we are on the subject, if Susanna and especially Hanna are reading this blog, let me tell you that Plushenko's new LP is apparently called "A Tribute to Vaslav Nijinsky". Should be interesting...

Sorry? Jukka who? Oh yeah, him. Well, he had a bit of a set-back last week. The radiation therapy burned his skin and an infection set in. Dr. James (the fifth)  thinks that the radiation was just the final straw and that the infection might have been "bubbling under" for some time. Anyway, both the chemo and the radiation therapy had to be temporarily discontinued until the infection will have cleared (has cleared? Will clear? My language sense has absolutely no idea which is the correct tense). This means he has to go to hospital every day to have the thing checked and I have been playing a nurse equiped with latex gloves  (get your mind out of the gutter!) and cleaning and bandaging the burn two or three times a day. Jukka thinks the burn is the grossest thing he has ever seen. I disagree. I think mr. Creosote from Monty Python's Meaning of Life is way grosser.

Boil in the Bagman

Posted by jukkahoo

Näinhän tässä sitten pääsi käymään, että sädehoito onnistui yli odotusten. Kainalo kärähti oikein kunnolla ja siiihen kasvoi sellainen vesikello etten ole aikaisemmin nähnytkään. Sellainen Domino-keksin muotoinen kauttaaltaan. Se perhana sitten poksahti eilen ja tällä hetkellä se näyttää e-r-i-t-t-ä-i-n härskiltä.

Sairaalassa Tuomo (kolmas) sitä hieman leikkeli (poisti nekroottisen kuoren!) ja mätää ja mönjää vaan pursui pois. Erittäin epämiellyttävän graafista med aroma.

Nyt on sitten edessä paiseen kylvettämistä ja puhtaitten sidetarpeitten vaihtamista a la rouva Polvinen (nuor.), jota mätä ei häiritse tippaakaan. Sari puhdistelee ja tunkee aineita oikeisiin paikkoihin ihan tyytyväisenä.

Tämä kuitenkin merkkaa sitä, että minä en mene sisään torstaina, ja tuskinpa edes vielä perjantainakaan. Se elää ken näkee tai jotain muuta latteaa. Ja ei, en minä silti aio sinne mafiaan ilmestyä huomenna.

Viime viikonloppuna oli eri hauskaa, kun ihmisiä kävi vierasilla ihan kunnolla. Jan ja Satu toivat kaksinpelejä meidän perheelle lainaksi ja Pelimies sekä Ylin Johto viihdyttivät potilasta loppu-lauantain. Kiitokset siitä. Sunnuntaina sitten Veriveli SariPee2:n kanssa kävivät kaappaamassa Ipan Tallinnanlaivalta. Turha reissu, sillä ei sitä virolaista makkaraa tullut silti. Suklaatia tosin lähes kilo, kiitos siitä. Erityisen ilahduttavaa oli kuitenkin Kultaisen ystävämme paluu "kotiin".

Yksi monista lahjoista (kiitoksia vaan niistä mustista naisten alushousuista, oli meinaan melkoinen selittäminen rouvalle...) oli herra Pajusen ihan omin käsin kansitettu DVD, jossa niin allekirjoittanut kuin lahjoittaja ja pari muuta mystistä olentoa (erityisesti MikeP) tekee itsestään naurunalaisia. Vai olisiko oikeampi muoto sanoa että he "naurattavat katsojia"?

Joka tapauksessa, olin jo täysin ehtinyt unhoittaa kuinka nöyryyttävän "hauska" seremoniamestari olinkaan Xenan ja Suuren Cthulhun Kosmisessa Kohtaamisessa. Ah ja voih! Ensi kerralla ("miten niin ensi kerralla!!!") käsikirjoitus.

Kiitoksia vaan muuten kaikille ihmisille ohjeista ja neuvoista joita on sadellut viimeisimmän kriisin aikana. Muutamaa on kokeiltu ja oiviksi havaittu. Olo on muutenkin hyvä ja jos tuo kainalo ei niin rasittaisi ja häiritsisi elämistä, niin tekisin vaikka mitä. Rau.

Sari on mennyt aivan sekaisin Blake's 7:stä ja katselee jaksoja aivan villinä. DVD:t on kuulemma seuraava ostos...

Posted by jukkahoo

Kävin tässä aamulla taas sairaalassa otattamassa verikokeita ja tikit poijes. Jostain syystä osa tikeistä jäi paikoilleen(?), vaikka haavat näyttäisivät ihan sulketuneilta. Kävikö vahinko? Luultavasti.

Isompi juttu oli kuitenkin se, että viikonlopun aikana tuumori kävi ärsyyntymään ja kas kummaa, kehitti sellaisen vesikellon, joka on aikas iso ja arka. Peruin viikon sädehoidot ja sain antibiootteja ja rasvasiteitä laitettavaksi kasvaimen päälle. Ilkeän näköinen ja kuten palanut iho (sillä siitähän tästä on kyse) yleensäkin, sitä kutittaa aivan saakelisti!

Viikonloppu oli muuten leppoisa ja mukava; vieraita kävi paljon ja kaukaa. Se on hauskaa. Enemmänkin saa käydä.

Nyt väsyttää. Kirjoitan myöhemmin lisää.