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Chemo Postponement
Dammit! I knew it was going to happen. It’s a bummer but I sorta planned on this happening anyway, so it’s not too upsetting. Hopefully, resting another week will increase that platelet count so I can get chemo next week. The retest will happen next Wednesday, so that’ll be the go/no-go for final treatment. They also scheduled me for an echo on the same day I’m supposed to get the infusion. This moves my surgery date, of course. I was able to talk to the doctor’s nurse and reschedule it for February 23rd. A whole month away…this gives us wiggle room in case chemo is rescheduled again. It was that…
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Chemo is a go
Never have I been so excited to get chemo! ???? I must have some kind of cold because those platelets really shot up (I went from 47 to 253 – I needed anything over 75). I do have a watery nose but it hasn’t been anything that’s annoying me. (OK, maybe a little bit.) When I went in to get bloodwork done, I noticed the COVID notice had gone from one visitor allowed to NONE. So my friend is unable to go with me for the infusion, which is a real bummer. But, thanks to technology, we can livestream and watch shows. She’s a fellow analog nerd, so we’ll be…
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Done with Chemo
It’s over! It was over two weeks ago. But, there are the side effects. However, they’ve been minimal. In fact, this is the best cycle I’ve had! Must have been that extra week of rest. Feeling better meant less time napping! More time working or trying to connect with friends (as we watch true crime documentaries). Still took it easy, make sure to lay down when I needed to. But it was a lot less time this round. Managed to turn another year older. It was only 4 days after the infusion, so I was surprised when I felt good enough to eat cake! I’ve even indulged in some coffee,…
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Echo
On Tuesday, I had an echocardiogram. Had one before chemo started for a baseline since the chemo drugs I was on can impair heart function. Got the results back pretty quickly, and if Google told me right, everything looks normal! Excellent news. That same morning, my very busy oncologist called me to talk to me – I got nervous at first. She called because I don’t need to have any more infusions until surgery. They’re waiting to see if I’ve had a complete response to the chemo, and from there, there are two drug paths I could go on. So if there’s still cancer, they’d swap out on drug for…
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Surgery Countdown
Wish I could say I’m in a better frame of mind, but I am stressing about things I shouldn’t have to be stressing about. Things don’t stop just because you have cancer, apparently. I wish they would, at least until the bulk of treatment is done. I don’t have capacity for more worries. Paired with the looming body changes next week, I’ve been frazzled. The pain I can handle but the significance of losing body parts I’ve had for 37 years…I don’t know how to handle that or even prepare for it. Maybe it’ll be a non-issue. Who knows. Sometimes feelings whack you where it hurts. The other worry is…
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Rehab
My palliative care doc (yes, I have one!) referred me to a local rehab center, Courage Kenney (it’s a well-known name around here). I hadn’t thought about rehab of any kind, to be honest. Didn’t know I would need it! But, taking that much tissue from my chest results in a tightening of the skin that can impact arm function. And this is beyond the lymphedema that you can get from the removal of lymph nodes. I learned a lot of great things during the appointment and actually feel better prepared for surgery AND radiation. The rehab doc said that I had been originally referred to rehab because I still…
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Pre-Surgery Day 1
Lindsay arrived Saturday night. The girls were SO excited. We grabbed some dinner that night on the way home from the airport. We woke up late Sunday morning. I spent time packing everything for surgery while the kids drew photos for Auntie Lindsay, and we watched a movie together before heading down to Rochester. I ended up getting lost several times so we took a detour to where an old murder happened! (Linds and I are true crime junkies.) We ordered in delicious Italian food upon arriving to the hotel and ate way too much. We were up kinda early for the study ultrasounds. They have four ultrasound machines they…
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Pre-Surgery Day 2 & a Pre-Surgery Farewell
Today was somewhat more leisurely. Linds had a call at 9, but we slept in till 8ish. She completed her call and then we were off to my first appointment of the day: a COVID test! Unfortunately, the COVID test was NOT like the last one – I had two swabs, one in each nostril. The nurse always feels bad to make you cry, but it’s kind of comical when you consider you’re breasts are getting cut off the next day. I laugh. After the COVID test, we popped over to my surgeon consultation. The surgeon had gone to another building, so we got to spend some time with the…
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Surgery
Linds and I were up early for. 7:30 check-in time. I was probably the most nervous this morning. Things were getting real. We arrived at an admissions desk and checked in. Mayo has a slick intake system – they sent us up to the fifth floor and I already had a room assigned. We arrived in the room, which split with another patient, but we didn’t see them (they had it timed where our surgeries were opposite). The nurse asked about medications and all that good stuff. At this point, things are a little blurry. They put me in a purple gown (my favorite color!) and I got my IV…
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Post-Surgery Update
I think I’m recovering pretty nicely. The worst part about surgery is the damn ITCHING. Itching around the drain area. Itching from the corset/binder I have to wear. Itching from the dry skin you get during Minnesota winters made worse from chemo. Taking oxycodone probably doesn’t help but I’m taking it less often than I thought. The lidocaine injections they gave me in my chest have helped dull the pain significantly. The weird part is now those lidocaine injections are becoming less numb and more tingly and that makes for more itching, of course. Still, not a ton of pain. Mostly discomfort from being bound and limited arm range of…
