Some interesting things I've learned about IL-2

We're (finally) in a regular room as of about 4 hours ago. Thus, I'm only hooked up to the IV pole. In ICU, I was hooked up to the IV pole, plus the blood oxygen sensor, plus the blood pressure cuff that automatically checked my BP every hour or so, plus the vast array of heart rate & respiration rate sensors. So, comparatively speaking, um, w00t! *smile*

Among the numerous side effects of IL-2 is the fact that the patient/victim gains a tremendous amount of weight due to fluid retention. So, grab hold of your "are you kidding me" sensor...I gained 25 pounds from Tuesday a.m. through Thurs a.m. (everybody now: "Great Googlymoogly!!") And my weight loss is right at average for IL-2 folks. Now, while your circuits are overloaded, check this out...when I leave here Monday (probably) I will have lost most of it back. Remarkable, to my simple mind...Luckily for me, I was pretty slim when I started...wait...no I wasn't...*sigh*

Next thing I learned: how one loses it back. There are these 2 wonder drugs: dopamine and lasix. I started on Dopamine yesterday, and dropped 8 pounds. Then this morning, I added lasix. Let me tell you, amigos...*ponders how to say it*...lasix works! Very, very well. Sparing a few details, I'll be dadburn close to fighting weight by Monday morning! (note carefully: lasix throws off fluids only; thus, it would absolutely NOT be a good way to boost one's personal weight loss plan. Be aware than I have 3 other bags hanging on the IV pole just to deal with the lasix effects. Just so you know...besides, lasix requires very regular and immediate access to sanitary facilities, let's just say)

Here's a sad thing: IL-2 seriously messes with one's skin. I made a tactical error yesterday and shaved with an electric razor (I'm normally a regular razor guy). Thus, now I look like I shaved with a rather dull fishing knife without cleaning it off first. In addition, I look like a combo of a very serious acne case and the survivor of a close-at-hand nuclear reactor accident. (Every teenager's nightmare: overweight, body functions barely under control, and very severe acne...yeah... And since I recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of my 20-19th birthday, it's been a very long time since I was a teenager...)

Lisa learned quite a bit about the sanitary care of my PICC line port. Several hours of class, hands-on demos by the nurse, the whole bit. Only to discover this morning that Dr. Homsi prefers to remove them when his IL-2 patients go home. Removing the PICC & then getting a new one upon return greatly reduces the risk of infection. I'm all for that! Lisa sez she's not the slightest bit insulted, as she was not completely eager to demonstrate her newfound medical knowledge. So, should any of you have a PICC line that needs a sanitary dressing change, Lisa can prolly help, as long as you ask in the next couple of days before that bit of useless knowledge dissipates into the nothingness of "don't need to know that any more..."

Schedule change: turns out, I have 2 weeks off at home, and then back for round 2. Then a week or 2 after that, back here for CT scans. The all-important CT scans. Your prayers are most welcome about those.

Very cool thing: the nurse practitioner said that patients with melanoma confined to the lungs specifically tend to respond better to IL-2. Thus, please pray that mine stays so confined!

Jim & Lisa have been absolute champs, which surprises nobody who knows either of them. Their champ-like character has been tested since we discovered how very effective lasix is...Seriously, though, they've been great! As you pray, please thank God for them. And btw, the mission trip Jim was to take with his wife to Ecuador left this morning. Please remember them...and him! He has not hesitated nor been resentful. Thanks, bro!

Your prayers have been absolutely indispensable this week. I can never repay you, but He to Whom you prayed can. And He will, in this life or in the next.

With much love and gratitude,
Mike

p.s. - I trust you're aware that the time of departure for my dear friend Jason Weathers' appears to be at hand. After being told that there is no brain activity, they have made the amazingly difficult decision to allow Jason to enter eternity. (as I write, this has not occured yet) I have been grieving very hard this morning, and my grief is but a sample of that his wife Stephanie, their children Anna Lea, Jon Brent, and Ally, his parents, his brother, his inlaws are experiencing. At the great risk of diminishing the moment, I just watched The Last Samurai, and thought of the ending scene this morning after reading Brad's post about Jason. A great Samurai warrior has been killed in battle, alongside an American soldier. A few days later, the emperor who was fond of the Samurai says to the American: "Tell me how he died." The American says with no hesitation, "I will tell you how he lived." Jason lived very, very well. This passage could have been written about him:
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ….Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I Peter 2:5-8, 10-11