Dear Colleagues,
I hope that you had a great July 4th celebration yesterday! I am writing to give you a brief update of my health status.
My last chemo program ended near April end. Since side effects increase with cycle number, the last cycle was tough and kept me in bed for several days. We returned to West
Lafayette in mid-May and the oncologists’ plan was that I’d go on an oral chemo drug, similar to the one I was on from July 1, 2016 to the end of October, 2017. Insurance declined this plan, however, for two reasons – cost (~$16K/month!) and the fact that
it was an experimental plan, I’d have been the first person with pancreatic cancer to try this drug. Soon thereafter, I had a tough time for one month from mid-May to mid-June; in retrospect I had "chemo brain" - see Google for details. It was scary, I couldn't
think at all, lost all analytical ability. I became seriously anxious/depressed. On meds, all is back to normal now - thank God!
Because the cancer marker was going up with no chemo drug, Karen & I returned to Scottsdale, AZ on June 9 for plan B, yet another chemo program. I had the first chemo shot
on June 14; the first cycle involves tests after 2 weeks – they were fine. The next chemo shot will be on July 12, when the next cancer marker will be taken. After giving a few days for side effects (if any), we’ll return to West Lafayette on
July 17. We’ll return to AZ after about 3 weeks, for the 2-month CT scans and tests, take chemo #3 here, then return to West Lafayette once again for start of the Fall semester.
Since June 20, all traces of "chemo brain" have gone away. I’ve been working well, having the usual Skype meetings with the research group, and have sent out 2 manuscripts
for publication – always a sign of normalcy for us!
I thank you for your continued prayers and messages of good wishes – they mean a lot and keep my spirits up.
With best wishes,
Arvind
Arvind Varma
R. Games Slayter Distinguished Professor
Charles D. Davidson School of Chemical Engineering
Purdue University
Editor, Cambridge Series in Chemical Engineering
Tel: 765-494-8484; Fax: 765-494-0805; Email:
avarma@purdue.edu
https://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE/People/ptProfile?id=11068