Today was the last full day of testing, and I got another clean bill of health. It looks like we are definitely on for the research project that the VA is doing. I am going to be 1 of 200 individuals trying these new experimental drugs to treat my two remaining illnesses. It seems that if the treatments are successful, there may be no trace of either disease left in my body when we are finished.
Today was the eye exam and apparently I too have 20/15 vision which is better than normal. There seems to be no ocular or macular degeneration in my eyes at all and all she could find was that I needed reading glasses. The final phase of this poking and prodding will be in the next week or so where once again I have to brave the I-4 corridor and head back to Orlando and have a liver biopsy done. Once complete I should be totally enrolled in the research program and can begin the treatments and getting paid for doing the study.
I am looking forward to this, they tell me that there are less side effects with these 2 new drugs and that I should be finished with the treatment in as early as 26 weeks. Though I will be followed by the principal investigator and the team for up too 2 full years. Now, if they had done this the first time I got sick with cancer, I might not have suffered from the radiation damage that the initial rounds of chemo and radiation did to my body.
Most of the problems I am having now in my 40's are a direct result of the treatments that were used in the 90's and the lack of follow up by the doctor's and surgeons. Here we are 20 years down the road and oops we forgot to tell you that radiation might have damaged your liver, spleen, pancrease, stomach, small and large intestines. I hope you can forgive us this little error. The answer is NO I can't forgive that little error because it has had a great big, no huge input into my life, one that I personally would have chosen to live with out.
No one said having a colostomy was going to be a walk in the park. Hell, if they could have warned me that having a colostomy could have been an option back then, I am sure I would have told them no thank you and continued suffering the way that I was. However, I wasn't given the option, I went in for a routine exploratory surgery and woke up with part of my intestines sticking out the wall of my abdomen and it has been that way ever since. Life hasn't been easy and I have just now started to come to grips with all that has happened to my body over the years, but I can honestly say that I am still alive and that I am pretty damn healthy finally after all of these operations, and treatments that I have come through over the years.
The worst part of all of it was when they told me that I would have to keep the ostomy for the rest of my life, that was something that I wasn't prepared to hear and I am still not sure that I am 100 percent comfortable with the idea that I will have to endure this till my dying days. At least I finally found someone that doesn't seem to mind it all that much and it makes dealing with it that much easier.
Anyhow I thought you guys might be interested in what is going on in my life today. I am getting rested to head out to Atlanta this evening I have to go up there for court. I am hoping that the answer is going to be positive in my direction.
As always my hopes and dreams are with you,
Uncle B
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