A Game of Feet, Not Inches

Ouch

Unsolicited feet pics coming in hot:

That’s all you get. I hate feet. I don’t understand the foot fetish people but as I have quoted before “Be Curious, Not Judgmental.” Though I will not be curious either.

Anyways I digress- we are in the foot pain stage of treatment. “But Joe, how can metastatic kidney cancer that has only progressed upwards affect your feet?” Yyou ask, hanging on every word I clearly type. Well thank you for asking. It’s not so much the cancer but rather Cabo- again not the Mexican destination of Cabo San Lucas but rather Cabozantinib (spelled it right on the first try). It’s been a fun week dealing with this new side effect. Some info- this is a common side effect many on Cabo deal with. It can also affect your hands in a similar fashion. People have reported blisters and raw or peeling skin or worse. I am lucky to say I have none of that- just certain pain points on my feet that feel slightly calloused and fun to walk on.

Remedies I am trying:

• Lotion- tons of lotion.

• Lidocaine- helps for 5 minutes.

• Twice a day foot soaks with ice cold water and epsom salt.

• Double socks, great for summer.

• Memory foam slippers.

• Awaiting the “life changing” Oofos to arrive.

• Walking really slow and delicately like this:

  

Just call me Annie Lennox.

Let’s move on to the hands why don’t we:

My hands luckily are not as bad as my feet. They are becoming more sensitive as of late. Doing dishes or washing my hands in hot water was never an issue but now it feels like I’m holding a hot coal.

There’s also sensitivity when opening things or gripping things with any sort of pressure. Basically I’m this guy:

The one side effect that is not that bad and at times helps in a sense? Neuropathy! Now neuropathy can be painful and really hinder individuals however mine manifests itself in tingling and numbness every now and then in my hands and feet. While walking can be weird the hand thing really just feels tingly and odd.

Other than that the side effect express (band name, called it) is chugging along as expected. More nausea and fatigue creeping in by the day. Mental fog is a fun one. I often find myself walking somewhere and stopping to ask myself “what was I doing?” I’m lucky to have technology and lists when I need to rely on it. I have a medicine break coming up in about 2-3 weeks that should help again to “reset” some of these.

I did have my third infusion last week. All went well as usual. My bloodwork did show my thyroid being done so I started another pill to assist with that. Another medicine my dad and I have in common- step it up siblings. My first scan since starting treatment is on July 3rd. I figured I’d do one of the most American things I could for the Fourth of July- incur a costly expense for basic healthcare.

Mentally I’m doing okay and that’s good, honestly. People often ask how I am doing and lately I have been saying “okay, and I’m okay with that.” Obviously this isn’t my Barbie Dream Experience but it’s manageable and I keep telling myself that. I sit at a computer for a remote job. Honestly I have the best work situation for this experience. Not to say I don’t need time off here and there to just rest but I can’t imagine going in person or doing any type of physical labor with my hands and/or on my feet right now. I mean if I forget something upstairs and no one is up there it might as well be gone- it belongs to the second floor now.

That’s all for now. Have a great day.

Joe