Cycle 2 = DONE as my Future FIL says, I'm 1/7 done!!
It's Christmas day and we are spending our time at the in-laws in Central Virginia. Although I'm not feeling 100% it's great to be able to spend time with family and enjoy life.
So, Chemo last week. Well, for the most part it was fairly uneventful. I felt great everyday except Thursday when I was a bit queasy. Let's see, Monday my brother took me and then Cibrina came by later that afternoon. Tuesday was my dad's birthday and what a better way to spend a milestone birthday than with your daughter at chemo, right? Cibrina and Civanna came by for a visit as well.... Wednesday my future MIL drove up and took me. We also had a visit from my awesome sista, Stephanie. Thursday was a wedding party day, Cat took me in the morning then Hammel (Jen) came and brought me lunch and took me home. Friday my mom took the reigns. I was lucky that my Dr let me finish early on Friday so we could get home and I could nap before heading out to the mountain for the night.
Everyday was about the same. Come in, draw labs through my port, Mensa (protects my bladder and kidneys), nausea and steroid meds, then the first 2-hour drip of chemo (Ifosfamide), another Mensa, then second 2-hour drip of chemo (Etoposide), followed by the last Mensa. The whole time I received hydration for a total of about 3 liters a day, yes, 3 liters. I also drank water all day so I am always bloated/swollen. Needless to say I use the restroom, A LOT.
I haven't felt great these last two days, not nauseated, just not.... Me. And the drugs are definitely taking a toll on my hair, or lack thereof at this point. I've decided to just shave it off, kind of wish I had already done it but it's all hind sight at this point. I also had to buy an eyebrow pencil, since mine are thinning..... So funny because my eyebrows are so thick and dark to begin with.
After the long cycle of chemo, I have to receive a shot (neupogen) everyday for a week to boost my white blood cell count. The Dr is allowing me to have my shots administered at home over the weekend, instead of having to go into the office. So yesterday my mom administered the shot, no big deal, right? She's a Nurse Practitioner. Today, my lovely hubby-to-be administered the shot. I could tell he was so nervous, but he did a great job and it hurt only as much as it was supposed too. <3
I hope everyone has had a wonderful time with their families this holiday season. I know I feel totally blessed to have so many people by my side throughout this process, it's almost overwhelming how much support I have. I just have to say it feels pretty awesome.
Enjoy the rest if the day, and Happy New Year! Love you all!
2012, here we come....
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Lab Work
First day of labs was today. The nurse was so cute when I came in, she looked at me and said, "Wait, there's something different....." haha, it was my hair :o) I only have to go in for labs once after the short cycle, I have to go EVERYDAY (except weekends) after the long cycle.
So, what did my blood say? oh yes, that the chemo is working and that I am susceptible to EVERYTHING right now. White blood count, waaaaayyyyy down, red blood count, down, and platelets, down. No transfusion needed, yet, but it's inevitable (who wants to donate blood?). Perhaps a platelet transfusion as well at some point. Can I say it enough? Good times.
What does all this "low" stuff mean? Well, no grocery shopping (oh darn :o), no mall shopping (thank goodness for online shopping :o), no going into the office for work, wait... what??? That was my sanity!! I actually felt normal when I could go into work. Now, I must sit my happy rear at home and work in the comfort of my pj's. Instead of chatting with my co-workers, I get to chat with my dogs, who don't talk back but can be just as distracting :o) AND I get to wear a beautiful blue mask.... don't worry, I totally ROCK the blue mask, especially with my "sassy" hair cut!
Tomorrow is wig fitting day at the American Cancer Society. They give one free to all cancer patients who will lose their hair, how awesome is that?
Well, I won't be posting again until after I finish the next cycle, 5 days next week 6-7 hours a day. I'm going to feel awesome.... then it's Christmas! PRESENTS!! I've been pretty good this year, I think Santa will agree ;o)
Until next time everyone. Merry Christmas!
So, what did my blood say? oh yes, that the chemo is working and that I am susceptible to EVERYTHING right now. White blood count, waaaaayyyyy down, red blood count, down, and platelets, down. No transfusion needed, yet, but it's inevitable (who wants to donate blood?). Perhaps a platelet transfusion as well at some point. Can I say it enough? Good times.
What does all this "low" stuff mean? Well, no grocery shopping (oh darn :o), no mall shopping (thank goodness for online shopping :o), no going into the office for work, wait... what??? That was my sanity!! I actually felt normal when I could go into work. Now, I must sit my happy rear at home and work in the comfort of my pj's. Instead of chatting with my co-workers, I get to chat with my dogs, who don't talk back but can be just as distracting :o) AND I get to wear a beautiful blue mask.... don't worry, I totally ROCK the blue mask, especially with my "sassy" hair cut!
Tomorrow is wig fitting day at the American Cancer Society. They give one free to all cancer patients who will lose their hair, how awesome is that?
Well, I won't be posting again until after I finish the next cycle, 5 days next week 6-7 hours a day. I'm going to feel awesome.... then it's Christmas! PRESENTS!! I've been pretty good this year, I think Santa will agree ;o)
Until next time everyone. Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Cycle 1 COMPLETED!
I'm proud to say that I have completed Cycle 1 and only have 13 more to go!!! Can I get an AMEN??
It all started Monday morning when I went to Ffx hospital to have my medaport placed. The surgery only took about 45 mins, and I was "out in left field" the whole time. It was really strange being able to hear and partially open my eyes to what was going on. The Dr had numbed the area, so I couldn't feel anything, but I recall at one point I flinched and he said, "Did you feel that?" and then he told the nurse to up my medicine, haha! When I was finished, they brought me back to center and I waited for them to remove all of the lines and covers off of me then I moved myself from the table to the stretcher.
The rest of the day was fairly easy. Did some work on the computer, slept and tried not to mess with the access point on my chest. The part that hurt the most was the incision on my neck where they connected the tube to my vein. It's fine now, but for that first day, it was difficult to move my neck.
Tuesday was my first day of chemo. My stepmom, Becky, took me. It's great because she already has Tuesdays off of work so this was perfect. This day was LONG. We were there from 845 - 315. I brought my whole setup with me, laptop, notebooks, iPad (thanks boy), magazines, etc. The nurses started with hydration and mesna, the medicine to protect my bladder and kidneys from the chemo. I received this in three doses, three hours apart. Then they gave me a steroid and nausea meds, then the first round of chemo. It was covered in a green bag, which was kinda scary in itself. That dripped through me for 2 hours. Hydration continued throughout the day. The last two chemos for the day were pushes, which means the nurse just pushes them through my port IV instead of them dripping. One of them is red in color, which obviously would cause my urine to be red, cool stuff, huh? Anyways, after that and another round of mesna it was time to go home. I had gained two pounds of fluid and felt like a stuffed sausage :o(
The ride home was fine, I got home and took the dogs out, fed them, and then..... it hit me. NAUSEA, oh my goodness. I took one of my medicines, but not soon enough. I was out the rest of the night with nausea and an awful headache. I couldn't eat a thing; I laid there in the dark, in the fetal position. Luckily I was able to sleep fairly well, but oh man that was simply awful.
Today was different. I woke up to find that my access points had somehow come loose and bled under the covering to my access points. It freaked me out a little bit and didn't help the fact that I was still feeling sick this morning. My mom took me today, it was nice because she is a Nurse Practitioner, so when I freak out, she calms me down.... When I got to the Drs Office I told them about my night, the nurses told me what I should do from now on in order to combat the nausea and headaches. Today was simply hydration, one push of the red chemo and some anti-nausea meds because I was having such a difficult time. Today we were in at 945 and out at 1215. Phew. I came home and slept with the dogs for a few hours, got up and did some work, and slept again. I think that's also the key, sleep, sleep, sleep.
Tonight has not nearly been as bad. I've take the medicine as advised by the nurses and so far so good. I would not say I am 100% but I am at least 80% in the whole grand scheme of things. Yesterday I could not even look at a computer screen and today I just wrote this whole post. It's going to be a learning curve and I'm so glad so many of you are on board throughmy journey.
1 Cycle down, 13 more to go!!!
It all started Monday morning when I went to Ffx hospital to have my medaport placed. The surgery only took about 45 mins, and I was "out in left field" the whole time. It was really strange being able to hear and partially open my eyes to what was going on. The Dr had numbed the area, so I couldn't feel anything, but I recall at one point I flinched and he said, "Did you feel that?" and then he told the nurse to up my medicine, haha! When I was finished, they brought me back to center and I waited for them to remove all of the lines and covers off of me then I moved myself from the table to the stretcher.
The rest of the day was fairly easy. Did some work on the computer, slept and tried not to mess with the access point on my chest. The part that hurt the most was the incision on my neck where they connected the tube to my vein. It's fine now, but for that first day, it was difficult to move my neck.
Tuesday was my first day of chemo. My stepmom, Becky, took me. It's great because she already has Tuesdays off of work so this was perfect. This day was LONG. We were there from 845 - 315. I brought my whole setup with me, laptop, notebooks, iPad (thanks boy), magazines, etc. The nurses started with hydration and mesna, the medicine to protect my bladder and kidneys from the chemo. I received this in three doses, three hours apart. Then they gave me a steroid and nausea meds, then the first round of chemo. It was covered in a green bag, which was kinda scary in itself. That dripped through me for 2 hours. Hydration continued throughout the day. The last two chemos for the day were pushes, which means the nurse just pushes them through my port IV instead of them dripping. One of them is red in color, which obviously would cause my urine to be red, cool stuff, huh? Anyways, after that and another round of mesna it was time to go home. I had gained two pounds of fluid and felt like a stuffed sausage :o(
The ride home was fine, I got home and took the dogs out, fed them, and then..... it hit me. NAUSEA, oh my goodness. I took one of my medicines, but not soon enough. I was out the rest of the night with nausea and an awful headache. I couldn't eat a thing; I laid there in the dark, in the fetal position. Luckily I was able to sleep fairly well, but oh man that was simply awful.
Today was different. I woke up to find that my access points had somehow come loose and bled under the covering to my access points. It freaked me out a little bit and didn't help the fact that I was still feeling sick this morning. My mom took me today, it was nice because she is a Nurse Practitioner, so when I freak out, she calms me down.... When I got to the Drs Office I told them about my night, the nurses told me what I should do from now on in order to combat the nausea and headaches. Today was simply hydration, one push of the red chemo and some anti-nausea meds because I was having such a difficult time. Today we were in at 945 and out at 1215. Phew. I came home and slept with the dogs for a few hours, got up and did some work, and slept again. I think that's also the key, sleep, sleep, sleep.
Tonight has not nearly been as bad. I've take the medicine as advised by the nurses and so far so good. I would not say I am 100% but I am at least 80% in the whole grand scheme of things. Yesterday I could not even look at a computer screen and today I just wrote this whole post. It's going to be a learning curve and I'm so glad so many of you are on board throughmy journey.
1 Cycle down, 13 more to go!!!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
The Scans and the Chemo Schedule
Well, it's officially been just over one week since my diagnosis. I attended a Chemotherapy class this past Tuesday where the nurse taught us what we can expect from the drugs we will be given. It was informative and it gave me a greater sense of reality. Can we say overwhelming?
After the class, my awesome sister-in-law, Judy, took me over to the Life with Cancer house. She interned there for a year during graduate school. This place seriously blew me away. Everything there was free of charge, all of the exercise classes, counseling, all the arts classes, etc. They have a group for Young Adults with cancer that I'm probably going to join. They meet once a month at the 'House' and sometimes outside the House as well. So I'm excited about getting involved with all the House has to offer.
Yesterday I had two scans. One CT scan of my chest, and the other was a bone scan. I am happy to report that they both came back CLEAR!!!! NO SPREADING (mets)!!! SO EXCITED!!!
After the scans yesterday I had to get a flu shot. I typically don't get them since I tend to always get sick when I do, but because my immune system will be compromised, they suggested I get the shot. I also received my chemo schedule. Wow, this is going to be hard. Next Monday I will have my port placed. Tuesday I will start chemo. The first day is about 6-7 hours long. Wednesday will be my second day but will only be about 2 hours. Then on Thursday I have to get a shot to boost my white blood cells, which means another trip to the Drs. The following week, I only have to go in once for lab work. Dec 19-23 is my first full week of chemo. Seven hour days starting at 9am. I will have to get white blood cell boosting shots every day for a week after this and go in for lab work at least 2-3 times. Phew. We are hoping that since my mom is a Nurse Practitioner that the Dr and my insurance will clear her to give me the shots everyday so I don’t have to go to the office, but that hasn’t been finalized yet.
For those of you who don't know, I hate needles. I've obviously had to grow out of that fear since all of this has been going on, but I remember a scenario when I was prob 12 yrs old of the Dr trying to prick my finger to get just a small drop of blood. I totally panicked and fought back, over a small prick. If only I had known then what I know now, I would kill for a small prick vs. the countless number of blood draws and IVs I've been through so far. haha :o)
Today I had to go to the dentist. I found out during the chemo class that I wouldn't be able to continue my routine checkups because the risk for infection would be greater. Your mouth contains all kinds of bacteria and since my immune system will be compromised, they suggest you get the cleaning before or wait until you are finished. Well, I went for the former just to make sure there wasn't anything wrong before I started treatments. I had to pay out of pocket since I wasn't due for a cleaning until February and I've already gone twice this year, but it is worth it. I received a clean bill from the dentist as well!!! They also gave me a whole box of sample mouthwash that was suggested we get for dry mouth. I was more excited about receiving this for free than the fact that I got a clean bill of health!
So, just wanted to post my news about the scans to let everyone know their thoughts and prayers WORKED! I'm so thankful for all of you, for your support and for your words of encouragement.
Ok, now on to the Chemo. I'm ready!
After the class, my awesome sister-in-law, Judy, took me over to the Life with Cancer house. She interned there for a year during graduate school. This place seriously blew me away. Everything there was free of charge, all of the exercise classes, counseling, all the arts classes, etc. They have a group for Young Adults with cancer that I'm probably going to join. They meet once a month at the 'House' and sometimes outside the House as well. So I'm excited about getting involved with all the House has to offer.
Yesterday I had two scans. One CT scan of my chest, and the other was a bone scan. I am happy to report that they both came back CLEAR!!!! NO SPREADING (mets)!!! SO EXCITED!!!
After the scans yesterday I had to get a flu shot. I typically don't get them since I tend to always get sick when I do, but because my immune system will be compromised, they suggested I get the shot. I also received my chemo schedule. Wow, this is going to be hard. Next Monday I will have my port placed. Tuesday I will start chemo. The first day is about 6-7 hours long. Wednesday will be my second day but will only be about 2 hours. Then on Thursday I have to get a shot to boost my white blood cells, which means another trip to the Drs. The following week, I only have to go in once for lab work. Dec 19-23 is my first full week of chemo. Seven hour days starting at 9am. I will have to get white blood cell boosting shots every day for a week after this and go in for lab work at least 2-3 times. Phew. We are hoping that since my mom is a Nurse Practitioner that the Dr and my insurance will clear her to give me the shots everyday so I don’t have to go to the office, but that hasn’t been finalized yet.
For those of you who don't know, I hate needles. I've obviously had to grow out of that fear since all of this has been going on, but I remember a scenario when I was prob 12 yrs old of the Dr trying to prick my finger to get just a small drop of blood. I totally panicked and fought back, over a small prick. If only I had known then what I know now, I would kill for a small prick vs. the countless number of blood draws and IVs I've been through so far. haha :o)
Today I had to go to the dentist. I found out during the chemo class that I wouldn't be able to continue my routine checkups because the risk for infection would be greater. Your mouth contains all kinds of bacteria and since my immune system will be compromised, they suggest you get the cleaning before or wait until you are finished. Well, I went for the former just to make sure there wasn't anything wrong before I started treatments. I had to pay out of pocket since I wasn't due for a cleaning until February and I've already gone twice this year, but it is worth it. I received a clean bill from the dentist as well!!! They also gave me a whole box of sample mouthwash that was suggested we get for dry mouth. I was more excited about receiving this for free than the fact that I got a clean bill of health!
So, just wanted to post my news about the scans to let everyone know their thoughts and prayers WORKED! I'm so thankful for all of you, for your support and for your words of encouragement.
Ok, now on to the Chemo. I'm ready!
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