News from Carlos - 2nd day chemo

(see below for english)

Segundo dia da quimio e as coisas complicaram um pouco. Tive uma noite horrivel com febre e nausea. Febre eh algo que nao pode acontecer de forrna alguma, pois significa que tem infeccao em algum lugar.

Decidimos ir ao hospital antes da hora marcada e fui direto para cama p/hidratacao e depois tentar achar o foco de infeccao. Estava tao mal que nem percebi a quimio que aplicaram durante a manha .Passei o dia inteiro em funcao disso, tive que passar por um pequeno procedimento cirurgico porque suspeitavam que vinha do outro cateter, o que no final nao se confirmou. Por isso ficarei internado essa noite para que possam me monitorar durante a madrugada e se certificarem se eh ou nao uma infeccao. Tomara que nao seja nada serio, a quimio segue amanha.
Enfim, um dia muito duro, que me mostra como serao dificeis esses meses que tenho pela frente.

Beijos
Carlos

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Second day of chemo and things got a little bit complicated. I had a terrible night with fever and nausea. Fever shouldn't appear in any way, because that means that there is an infection somewhere.

We decided to go to the hospital before the scheduled time and I went directly to hydration. Then they tried to find where the infection comes from. I was so bad that I didn't event realize chemo was being injected since the morning. I spent the day like this, I had to have a little surgery because they though it was due to the other catheter, but it wasn't confirmed. Tonight I will stay at the hospital so they cfan check on me in the early morning e be sure there is no infection. I hope this is nothing serious, chemo will continue tomorrow.

It was a really tough day, which shows me how difficult will be the next months.

News from Carlos - 1st day Chemo

(see below for english)

Finalmente comecou o a quimio. Eh engracado estar novamente passando por isso. Ultima vez que fiz em dezembro, fiquei tao mal e enjoado de tudo isso que dizia a mim mesmo que nunca faria de novo. Eh dificil descrever o estado que a gente fica, e nao ha palavras que o descrevam de forma fiel. Chamar de enjoo e fraqueza, eh muito pouco, somente quem passou por isso entende.

Os ultimos meses no Brasil e Hong Kong me fizeram muito bem para apreciar a vida e querer muito enfrentar qualquer sacrificio. Aproveitei ao maximo, fiz tudo o que pude e isso me deu forcas para estar aqui. Passaria por tudo novamente, quantas vezes for necessario, para ter mais desses momentos.

Espero que no futuro encontrem a cura definitiva dessa doenca, e se possivel formas de evitar esse sofrimento. O incrivel eh que ha 15 anos nao existia tratamento para esse tipo de cancer, entao nesse sentido tenho sorte, tenho boa chance de cura.

Nesse exato momento em que escrevo - sim trouxe o computador pro hospital- a enfermeira comeca a infusao de Etopocide e depois Carboplatine. Eu sempre brinco que devem ter descoberto a quimio em alguma tecnica de tortura. Eh um envenenamento controlado, que leva o individuo ao seu limite. Eu ja passei por isso duas vezes, agora com altas doses passarei dos limites que meu corpo se recuperaria, me arriscando a sequelas e somente sendo possivel a recuperacao pelo transplante. Sensacao estranha, ate hoje de manha estava bem. A partir de agora, lentamente e conscientemente, a cada gota meu paladar comecara a mudar, nausea sera uma constante por dias, feridas aparecerao e aquela fadiga incessavel fara com que consiga apenas sair da cama para o sofa, e vice versa. Isso eh a cura, e sorte a minha que tenho amigos e familia para tornar isto uma possibilidade real.

Beijo
Carlos

PS: Gente queria agradecer todas as mensagens de apoio que tenho recebido pelo blog e email. Fica meu agradecimento registrado aqui, essas mensagens e demonstracoes de carinho sao muito importantes pra nos.Fico feliz em ver gente escrevendo de longe e tambem pessoas proximas. Obrigado e espero que esse movimento nao pare aqui, que juntos possamos extende-lo para ajudar outras pessoas que vivem este mesmo desafio.

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Finally, chemo started. It is funny to be going through all this again. Last time I did in December, I was so bad and so nauseous that I said to myself that I will never ever do it again. It is difficult to describe how it physically feels, there is no word to describe it with fidelity. Call it nausea and weakness woould be too small, only those who have been through this can understand.

Last months in Brazil and Hong Kong helped me a lot to appreciate life and to want to face this sacrifice again so much. I enjoyed a lot, I did everything I could and this gave me strengths to be here now. I would go through this again, as many times that are needed, to live more moments like these.
I hope that in the future, they will find a definitive cure for his disease, and if possible some way to avoid this suffering. The amazing thing is that 15 years ago, they didn't even have a treatment for this kind of cancer I have. So considering this, I am lucky, and I have good chance of healing.

In this exact moment I am writing to you -yes, I brought my computer to the hospital- the nurse is starting to inject Etopocide, and then Carboplatine. I always have fun saying that chemo was first discovered for torture. It is a controlled poisoning, which takes the body to the edge. I have been through this twice already, and now with the high dose chemo, I will pass the limit so my body won't recover, risking trauma and recovery made possible only with transplant. Awkward sensation, until this morning I was feeling OK. And starting now, slowly and consciously, every drop will make my palate start to feel different, nausea will be constant for days, injuries will appear, and this extreme tiredness which will only allow me go out of my bed to go to the sofa, and vice versa. This is the cure, and I am lucky to have friends and family to make this possible.

PS: I would like to thank you for all the support messages I received on the blog and by email. These messages and demonstration of affection are very important for us. I am so happy to see people writing from so far, ad closest friends too. Thank you, and I hope this action won't stop here, that together we could extend it to help people who live this same challenge.

Brazilian Party in Hong Kong - Save the date

Dear Friends,

On June 5th, we will have a Beach Party in Hong Kong to raise funds for Carlos. Save the date and bring your friends. We count on your participation !

SAMBA BEACH PARTY for Carlos

Venue: SOUTH BAY BEACH CLUB
Date: Friday 5th June 2009
Time: Starting at 8pm
Price: HK$ 380, including finger food and 2 welcome drinks (HK$450 at the door)
No credit card accepted, please bring cash. Beer HK$35, cocktails and wine HK$50.

Flyer and contact details for tickets coming soon !

1st event in Brazil - 1o evento no Brasil

ALMOÇO SOLIDÁRIO - SAVE CARLOS SALES
Estaremos nos reunindo em um almoço no Outback, em Porto Alegre, para ajudarmos nosso querido amigo.

Data: 27 de Maio (quarta-feira)

Horário: das 12hs às 15hs

Valor: R$ 100,00 (valor será totalmente revertido para o tratamento do Carlos)

Obs: Cardápio com opcao de 5 pratos, com bebidas não alcóolicas incluidas, exclusivo para os amigos do Carlos e simpatizantes da causa.

Para comprar ingressos ou obter maiores informações sobre o almoço, favor contatar:

Alessandra Ellwanger cel (51) 8113-5908 alessandra_ellwanger@yahoo.com

Marcelo Zanotto cel (51) 9676-5445 mzanotto@hotmail.com

Contamos com a colaboração de todos para que o Carlos vença esta batalha!

Stem Cells Harvest - Day 2

Hoje o dia passou lento, foram 8 horas na cama coletando as celulas. O Chico esteve la me fazendo companhia e tentando entender o processo com os medicos e enfermeiras. Como a contagem das celulas nao foi suficiente (resultado das quimios anteriores), terei que repetir esse procedimento ate atingir o numero necessario, o que esperamos seja amanha pra logo comecar a quimio na quinta. Entao estamos um pouco atrasados, mas dentro das probabilidades que estavam previstas. Amanha mais um dia no hospital, tomara que tudo saia bem e passarmos para o proximo passo.

Beijos

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Today the day was really long, 8 hours collecting cells. Chico went there to make me company and try to understand the whole process with doctors and nurses. As the quantity of cells collected wasn't enough (due to previous chemo), I will have to repeat this again and again until we complete the amount of cells needed, which we hope will be done by tomorrow so we can start chemo on Thursday. We are a little bit late on the schedule, but this is still part of the probabilities that we could expect. So tomorrow will be one more day at the hospital, I hope everything will be fine so we can move on to the next step.

Catheter placement/Stem Cell Harvest

Hoje foi o primeiro dia da coleta das celulas. Nao eh nada simples como os medicos explicavam antes do tratamento, acho que eh justamente para nao assustar antes da hora. Eh demorado, cansativo e dolorido. Devo ter assinado uns 10 documentos de consentimento, assumindo os riscos de cada passo e cada operacao. Cheguei super cedo no hospital, as 7:30 e tudo correu em ponto. Pessoal do hospital eh super organizado, cada departamento confere meus dados e repete todo o protocolo sobre o passado medico, alergias etc. Chega a ser chato ter que repetir tantas vezes, mas prefiro assim que me mandem operar algo por engano… tipo aquelas historias de operarem a pessoa errada…

Comecando tiraram amostras de sangue, picadas de desjejum pra variar um pouco. Depois me encaminharam ao andar onde fazem o procedimento para colocacao do cateter, o qual vai ficar pendurado durante todo o tratamento. Mais picadas, aquela conversa com enfermeiras soh para preencher o silencio (where are you from, etc etc) e me levaram p/sala. Nao era uma sala comum, tinha varios aparelhos de raio X para encontrarem a veia exata. Pedi que me colocassem p/dormir, porque como sou muito “macho”, nao queria ver nada... Entao me deram o que chamo de “pina colada”, e no terceiro “shot” ja estava sonhando… No melhor do sonho, a enfermeira me acorda, me trazendo p/realidade que me esperava.

Me levaram novamente pro quarto onde fica a maquina, onde todo meu sangue passaria pelo cateter recem instalado pra essa maquina, centrifugado e separado. Basicamente esse processo levou 5 horas, as quais passei dormindo pela medicacao que tinha tomado pra dor, so acordando para comer. Alias, comida de hospital eh igual em todo lugar, bem ruinzinha…Coitadinha a Bele ficou la do meu lado o dia inteiro, e Joyce e Chico ficaram com a Julia.

Enfim, saiu tudo conforme planejado, estou com bastante dor no local do cateter, o que deve melhorar em alguns dias. Amanha repito todo o processo de novo para coletar mais celulas e quarta comeca a quimio.

Beijo a todos.

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Today was the first day of collecting cells. This is not as simple as the doctors explained before the treatment, I guess not to scare before time. It is long, tiring ad painful. I had to sign about 10 documents of consent, assuming all the risks of the process. I arrived early at the hospital, at 7:30, and everything happened as scheduled. They are very organized, each department check their information and repeat the protocol about medical history, allergies, etc. It feels annoying to have to repeat everything all over again, but it is better like this, at least there won't be ay mistake... like the stories we hear about operations on the wrong person.

They started by taking blood samples, with empty stomach as usual. Then they led me to the floor where they proceed on the placement of the catheter, which will stay there for the whole time of the treatment. More shots, more chat with nurses just to fill silence (where are you from? etc etc) and they took me to the room. It was not just a simple room, there were many X-ray machines to find the right vein. I asked them to put me to sleep, because as I am very "macho", I didn't want to see anything... They gave me what I call "pina colada", and at the 3rd shot, I was dreaming... The nurse woke me up at the best part of the dream, bringing me back to reality.

They took me back to the room, where my blood, through the recently placed catheter, went trough the machine, and cells were separated. Basically this process took 5 hours. I mostly slept because of the medication I had for pain, ad woke up few times just to have something to eat. Hospital food is the same anywhere, really bad... Poor Cibele, she stayed by my side the whole day, Joyce and Chico stayed with Julia.

Well, everything went as planned, I feel pretty much pain where the catheter is, but it should get better in the next few days. Tomorrow I will do the exact same thing, and on Wednesday I will start the chemo.

Paypal now available

Paypal agora esta disponivel no blog, para que possam facilmente mandar suas doacoes para "Save Carlos Sales fundraising". O link esta no menu a direita.
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Paypal is now available on this blog, so you can easily send your donation to "Save Carlos Sales fundraising". Please find the link at the top of the right hand side menu.