Tommy Update

Time for another update. I completed my third round of chemo last Tuesday. My body is responding well to the treatments so far. I get chemo every other Tuesday (next one will be St Patty;s Day). After my sixth session they will do a CT scan to check on things. The hope is that the tumor will have shrunk and there won’t be any spread of the cancer from where it was.

Chemotherapy has come a long way over the years. We love to rip on pharmaceutical companies, but they also do some amazing things. My mom got chemo a decade ago and it overwhelmed her. She had no energy. She had little appetite. Hair loss was an issue, which is obviously something a woman in her 70’s didn’t want to have to go through. Compared to that, I’m pretty lucky.

Chemo has one major side effect on me. I have extreme cold sensitivity in my fingers, toes and throat. If I open the refrigerator to pull out a dish or condiment, I have to wear a glove or use something like that. If not I get a tingling sensation. It isn’t dangerous medically, but you it isn’t a good feeling. The bigger issue is that I can’t drink anything colder than room temp. And even that can be tricky. I’m told drinking something cold would feel like broken glass going down my throat. I only drink things I’m complete sure of. I do not want to go through that feeling.

My energy level is pretty good. I’m functional. I can go to the grocery store or take out the trash. I do wear down easily. My sleeping has improved. The other night I slept from 11pm to 5am straight and felt like I won the lottery.

I can’t wait to get healthy. I’m dying for a cherry Icee, but it will be several more months before that happens. I’m currently sipping on lukewarm water. Not fun, but it gets the job done. I have lost a bunch of weight. I was at 264 pounds back in mid-October (when I thought the Eagles offense was my biggest problem). I am now down to 230. That’s the lowest I’ve been in more than 30 years. Don’t expect Jennifer Garner to drop her Capital One card and start chasing after me, but it is good to be in better shape. The cancer diet does work. I just don’t recommend it.

While having cancer is obviously is a major ordeal, I consider myself pretty lucky. The nurses and doctors treating me have been great. We hear a lot of negativity about the healthcare system, but it has worked well for me so far. The insurance company has been good to deal with. My company has been good to me and that obviously is a big help in a situation such as this. My friends and family have been incredibly supportive. Eagles fans and IB readers have been awesome with your support. That really means a lot to me. Thank you all very much.

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I figured I would update everyone on how things are going. I met with my surgeon and oncologist last week to finalize a treatment plan.

The oncologist told me I will need 6 months of chemotherapy and then will have surgery after that. This caught me by surprise. It was unlike any of the plans we had discussed up to that point. He explained that they see this as cureable. The goal is to wipe out the cancer and to make sure that it doesn’t come back. That was exactly what I wanted to hear.

The fear with cancer is that it will be “cured” but then come back in a year or two. I’ve seen this first hand with friends and family. If the doctor thinks 6 months of chemo and then surgery is the best way to kill it and keep it gone, sign me up. I know chemo won’t be easy. Watching the Eagles offense this year might have been good preparation.

We discussed the side effects. They aren’t as bad as things were a decade ago, but this will be a challenging time. There will be peaks and valleys. Everyone’s body responds differently. So far my body has responded well to all the procedures so I’m choosing to be optimistic.

I got a port put in a few days ago. I’m scheduled to start chemo on Tuesday. The sooner we get started, the sooner we finish.

Thank you for all the kind words and support over the past couple of weeks. That really means a lot. One of the keys in a situation like this is to have a good mindset and to be as positive as possible. You all are a big help with that. A shiny new offensive coordinator and good offseason from the Eagles would also help.

I will be writing on a regular basis, as chemo permits. There are a total of 12 treatments, one every other week. The doctor said I should have enough energy to be pretty functional. That’s certainly my goal.

As for now, I’m doing well. I’m not in any pain. My biggest issue is sleep. I’d trade a first round pick for 8 hours of straight sleep. I’m getting 5 to 6 hours per night, but it isn’t great sleep. I’m trying to get into a good routine. Things have been better the past few days so hopefully that will continue.

My friends and family have done a great job of taking care of me. As crazy as it may sound for someone with cancer to say, I’m a lucky man.

I’d love to say more, but it is Saturday night and I’ve got big plans. I’m going to take a stool softener and sip on some ice water.

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ORIGINAL UPDATE

It is January and the Eagles are in the playoffs, with a legitimate shot to challenge for back-to-back Super Bowls. So why the heck is IgglesBlitz not getting updated with stories?

I was diagnosed with colon cancer last Saturday.

Yeah, that sentence was as tough to type as it was for you to read. The good news is that the doctors (and there are so, so many doctors) think we have a good plan for how to handle this. We’re not all gloom and doom. This isn’t a 3rd & 26 draw play to Will Shipley.

I’ll backtrack to get you caught up on things. I started having stomach issues the weekend before Christmas. Severe constipation is not what I had in mind for a Christmas gift. A simple lump of coal would have sufficed. The issues continued the next week and I finally went to the ER to get it checked out. They did an X-ray and then told me they thought a CT scan was needed. Then the head ER doc spoke to me and dropped the bomb. “Mr. Lawlor, we think you have cancer.”

I’ve never had a serious medical issue in my life. I’ve been blessed with remarkably good health. That changed a week ago with the diagnosis. I went from a guy with no medical history to having just about every procedure you can imagine in 48 hours. It was like they crammed an entire season of House into two days of my life.

I was able to watch part of the Eagles game last Sunday. I was about to get a colonoscopy and the last thing I saw before going under was Jalyx Hunt picking off Josh Johnson. I assumed the Eagles then went on to win 42-7. The first thing I wanted to know when I came out of the procedure was the Eagles score. Didn’t quite go as I’d hoped. The Eagles game, that is. My procedure was great.

I’m now home. I’m not in any pain. I can eat and, thanks to the stint they put in my colon, I can now poop once again. The medical staff has been excellent. I’m in good hands. My friends and family are taking good care of me. I’ll be having surgery at the end of the month to remove the mass from my colon. I’ve got some tests to do before they will know the full extent of things. Once they have all the facts they are going to personalize the treatment as much as possible.

It was funny talking to the doctors and trying to get them to give us a firm answer. It felt like when reporters ask Nick Sirianni what went wrong and he says he needs to study the tape. The docs don’t want to firmly commit to anything until they get every answer from every test. I understand where they are coming from. Just made for some odd discussions.

I’m handling the whole thing pretty well, believe it or not. Worrying isn’t going to help me get better. Nor feeling sorry for myself. I’m doing whatever the doctors tell me and putting myself in the hands of the experts. My sister asked one of them if there was anything I needed to really avoid eating. He said “Raw vegetables.” I almost fell out of my hospital bed when he said that. You mean I can eat spaghetti but not raw carrots? Okay. Done and done. My stomach needs soft foods that are easy to digest. Raw vegetables are off the table for a couple of months.

Now that I am home and trying to get back to some kind of normalcy, I will start writing again. It has helped just to type this up.

Someone let Jalen Hurts and the gang know that an extended playoff run would be greatly appreciated. I’ll be spending a lot of time in and out of the hospital for the next several weeks. It sure would be nice to be able to think about the Eagles as I’m getting poked and prodded from top to bottom.

I will try to post as much as possible, especially if we have winning football to talk about. My apologies for disappearing on you the last couple of weeks. Hopefully that is all in the past and you’ll be stuck with me for a long time to come.

Go Eagles!

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