-
Chemo Eve: #5
I was up early this morning for a blood draw. Only Josh was a little late and then right around the corner, there was a 5-car accident that had just happened. I was about 10 minutes late. But then I waited to get into the room, then another 5 minutes with ice to numb the port area (much better than the lidocaine). Then I have to check back in with the receptionist for the appointment with the oncologist. At this point, it’s probably 8:30/8:45. While I was sitting there, I got a VM from the oncologist’s nurse asking me to let them know if I was planning to come in…
-
Chemo Round 5
Five down, one to go! Easier said than done. Symptoms takes a couple days to really kick in. The first thing I notice is the dry mouth. It’s not bad right away because this is when I guzzle the most water. Water, the cure for everything cancer-related, keeps away the dry mouth and mouth sores. The other is fatigue. A lot because my legs are still swollen (I’ll start the water pills tomorrow AM). Next week will be the worst of it. I’ll need to do lots of resting. But for now, I feel good and am in good spirits! I had a fun time with my chemo buddy, another…
-
Merry Holidays
It’s most people’s FAVORITE time of year. Admittedly, I don’t like most holidays unless they are Halloween, so Christmas (grew up Roman Catholic) is a stressful holiday for me. My favorite part is not even getting gifts but finding the *perfect* one for everyone. (If you know, you know!) I love gift-finding! But my brain has been mush and it’s been harder than other years. (It’s also weird not celebrating with my parents this year.) Because I’m in that 7-10 day window, I’m staying home from the holiday festivities this year. I’m less excited about it than I thought I’d be. I’m getting a little squirrely being confined to the…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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,…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
