Pets, sweets and walks.

Tomorrow morning is my PET scan. (I tried to post another picture of it, but it was messing up the blog. If you want to see what it looks like, click here.) This will determine how many more chemo treatments I'll have. There are a lot of rules I have to follow to prepare for the test. One is no sugar or caffeine for 24 hours prior. During the summer when I had this done, it wasn't as hard to refrain. I did go to a wedding that day and wasn't allowed to eat cake, but other than that, I was okay. Oh...wait...there was the little matter of no coffee at that time. Okay...so maybe I wasn't okay after all. The point I'm trying to make, though, is that working and not eating sweets is much harder. When you work at a school, there are always a lot of sweets. Today there was chocolate cake for lunch, cupcakes in the lounge for a birthday, a baby shower after work...with cake. All of which I declined politely. There was even someone handing out homemade pralines in the halls! Thanks, Kathi. Sheesh...what a day for fasting. More rules to follow are drink lots of water, no strenuous activity or exercise and relax! Speaking of relaxing...

I came home early from work yesterday. I tried to get away the day before, but one of my kids wouldn't have it. So, I left yesterday and crashed. I'm not sure I've been this tired before. I didn't feel like I could even function. After all the other chemo treatments, I've had at least 3 days or so to rest, with one of them being Labor Day weekend. I didn't have that this time and I think it finally caught up with me. I slept for hours. Woke up to eat then slept until this morning. Was much, MUCH better today!!! My "skin" pain is gone, too. Yea!

On another note, most of my extended family live in Colorado. Tonight is their "Light the Night" walk. All of them are participating on my behalf. Light the Night benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. I've been talking to my cousin, Shelley, and just got off the phone with my aunt Marsha. They had a blast! There was free food from a variety of restaurants (Applebee's, Chipotle, Chicago's Best Pizza, etc.) as well as ice cream, chips, etc. They all got their faces painted with my name in purple. AND there were live bands. Go here to find one near you: lightthenight.org I'm in the process of getting a team set up for here on October 19th. Details to follow soon...

Well...I guess that's it for now. I'll write about how it goes tomorrow. Last time I was stuck in a room reading men's health magazines. What could be more fun? Wish me luck...

Short, but not-so-sweet.

Well...the side effects have all crept back up again. I ended up having some nausea on Saturday night. Lots o' insomnia. And for yesterday and today, I should just repost the blog "Ouch". Unfortunately, the weird skin-nerve-muscle pain is back. The whole "wearing clothes thing" is sort of a problem again, but my principal did confirm yesterday that there really is nothing in the dress code that says we have to wear clothes. And what a great science lesson! :)

Anyhow...this is just a quick update...on my way to work. Will update later...

Chemo treatment #4

I'M HALF WAY DONE!!!!! Yea!!!!

Yesterday was my fourth chemo treatment. That puts me at the halfway mark. All the specifics are the same as the other three. I had Nurse Katie again and all the drugs were the same. My vitals were good: temp: 98.6, BP: 126/89. There are 3 other drugs at the very end I don't think I've ever written about. All 3 are used to flush the mediport and reduce the risk of infection. One of those medicines is Heparin. Heparin is a blood thinner, or anticoagulant, used to prevent blood clots in your port catheter line. This is also the drug that Dennis Quaid's twins almost overdosed on. Not sure what the other 2 are, but I'll find out next time. All I know is they feel very cold while going through the port.

Speaking of, I'm not sure I ever really mentioned that about the chemo meds. They're below my body temperature. That's why I always get so cold during chemo. I didn't during this one, however. I was pretty comfortable. I slept again. So soundly that Matt had to shake my leg. I was breathing...um...loudly. :)

So far, the side effects have been minimum. No nausea or stomach cramps, but the dreaded insomnia is creeping back. It was after 3 this morning by the time I went to bed. I figure I can sleep all day if I want, so I'm not too concerned about it right now. And what a perfect day to stay in bed!!! These are my favorite types of days. I do plan on baking something today. I owe my brother something special. Apparently the cookies I sent the other day weren't enough. Yes, my only sibling whom I love, Mom told me. You're so busted...

That's all for now. I'll update later. :)

Radiation, schmadiation.

Today was my appointment with the radiation oncologist. We were taken back to a room where I was asked a million questions...about my health history, how I found my cancer, etc. I didn't know much about radiation except what I read in my book from the other day. Here's what I found out:

Cancer can be treated three ways: chemo, radiation or a combination of both. There's an increase in the chance of cancer coming back by doing just chemo or just radiation. Also, the side effects of each are worse because treatment is usually longer. By doing a combination of the two, there's a decrease in side effects and a decrease in the chance of the cancer coming back. My radiation will be external. The machine looks like this:


Each appointment will last about an hour. The actual radiation time is 1-5 minutes. The other 55-59 minutes will be spent getting me perfectly situated so the radiation hits in exactly the same place every time. Speaking of...

Up until this point, I was told radiation would only be done on my neck. Not so. It'll also be done on the middle part of my chest. More specifically, it'll target my windpipe where the cancer had spread. Now, in order for the same spot to be targeted every time, my skin will be marked with colored ink or tattooed with tiny dots.

I listed the majority of the side effects in the last blog. I will have 20 days of treatment, 5 days a week with Saturday and Sunday used for "rest time". Treatment will start 2-3 weeks after my last chemo.

I did ask about my chances of radiation causing a second cancer later in life. This was my main concern. According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer survivors have a 14 percent higher risk of developing a new primary malignancy compared with the general population. Basically that means my genetic makeup will make that more likely to happen because I already have cancer. Great. My doctor today confirmed that. For more information on second cancers, go here: http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/benchmarks-vol7-issue1/page1 This will fill you in on radiation-related solid cancers and radiation-related leukemias.

Tomorrow is my next chemo. This will complete my 2nd cycle. Yea!!! I'll post about that later.

Thanks and goodnight.

Can't catch a break.

My weekend was pretty much normal. Matt and I met my brother, Bryan, and sister-in-law, Melony, at Fuzzy's Tacos in Fort Worth on Saturday. Best. Tacos. Ever. I promised I'd do this: Fuzzy's FTW! Now on to other news...

I had another check up today with my oncologist. I seem to be pretty healthy...I mean, despite the whole I've-got-cancer-thing. My vitals were good: temp: 98.8, BP: 128/82, pulse: 104. Each time you go in for a check up, they give you a "side effects" sheet to fill out. It lists all the possible side effects and you circle "yes" or "no". Then they take your blood...not out of the port this time, but from the arm. Another nurse calls you back and you give her the side effects sheet. After giving it the once over, she asks questions about the yes's and any other information that might be pertinent. One of the first questions she asks me is, "How's your appetite?" You know how I answered her?? My stomach growled. Yeah...on cue. Couldn't of planned that any better. Of course we laughed and I turned about 5 shades of red. A mere "Oh, fine" was all I could muster up after that.

After the nurse, we get taken back to another room to wait for my oncologist. My blood work is so good that she reduced my Neupogen shots down to 7 instead of 8, making the last one for this time last night. Yea! She checked all my lymphnodes...all of them seem fine.

Next we met with my radiation oncologist's nurse. She gave me a whole book called "Radiation Therapy and You". This lists the different types of radiation and all the side effects. Wow. I thought chemo was overwhelming. I didn't think there was going to be much to radiation. I was totally off. The side effects are similar, if not worse. Unfortunately, since it's concentrated on my neck, most of my side effects will be mouth and throat related. Translation: I'll have trouble eating for the couple of weeks of radiation. This, in addition to my body working overtime to heal the radiation spot, will most likely lead to weight loss. Apparently your body works so hard to heal that spot, that you're supposed to eat high calorie, high protein foods to keep your weight stable. I've been living off of Instant Breakfast on most days after chemo...guess I'll have to get another supply. I know they have to list all the side effects and there's only a slight possibility of getting them. But, with chemo, I've experienced almost all of them on and off. Maybe not at the same time. Sometimes worse than others, but they've all been hanging around and making appearances. Fatigue is a side effect of radiation, too. I'm meeting with the doctor later this week so I'm sure I'll get more information from him.

We have an official date for my next PET scan: 9-19. I'll find out from there whether the cancer is gone or still there and how many more chemo treatments I'll have. I have my next chemo this Friday, completing 2 whole cycles!

Now I'm beat. Learning new information, in this case about radiation, always makes for an emotional day. I'm worn out and my body is telling me to eat cookies. :) Must listen to body...

Thanks and goodnight! :)

TGI(non-chemo)F

What a week! My pain from the other day finally went away. I took a Vicodin on Wednesday night (Vicodin, for the win!...as my brother would say) and was at least able to sleep. The pain subsided the next day and went completely away last night. The only pain I'm experiencing now is from the shots. Mainly my stomach because that's where they're given. I haven't noticed much bone pain with this round. Only 4 more shots.

I have a doctor's appointment on Monday and my next chemo on Friday. After this treatment, that will complete 2 whole cycles. I can't believe it's already been that long. My first week of chemo seemed to drag on forever. I never thought I'd reach the week anniversary. Now it's been over a month since my first treatment. A PET scan will be scheduled next and that will determine how much longer on the chemo.

I did go get my mediport checked out and the doctor said it looked fine. She thinks it's still just healing. I told her about the pain I was experiencing and she's the one who recommended the Vicodin. Doctor's orders!

That's all for now. I'm still having headaches and typing in the dark doesn't seem to be the cure for that.

Thanks and goodnight!

Ouch.

Not to sound whiny, but OUCH. I hurt. :( It's hard to describe the pain, exactly. My skin is very sensitive to touch and hurts, but I don't think it's actually my skin. I'm sure it's more my muscle or bone or nerves or whatever else is in there. It's so sensitive, though, that even clothes hurt. I mean...I'm wearing them, but that could cause a problem tomorrow. :)

This is the first side effect of this kind for this treatment. I still have headaches on and off...couldn't sleep much last night. But I haven't noticed any of the mouth and tooth sensitivity that came with the first 2 treatments. We started the shots last night and that could be where the pain is coming from, though it's ALL OVER and not just in the rapidly-producing-bone-marrow-places. Other than that, it's been okay. Still tired, as usual. I sound like a broken record when it comes to that. I do have to go see the doctor tomorrow because the incision to my mediport is red and swollen. We'll see what happens with that.

Now I have a funny story that I meant to write about Saturday. On Friday, Matt and I were waiting in the waiting room before chemo. Texas Oncology has a lot of brochures and whatnot about cancer there...obviously. Matt decides to pick one called "Take the Eating Smart Quiz". Basically it rates you on how much oil and fat, dairy, snacks, etc you eat. We both took it, scores next to each other. We turn to the back to find out how we rate. That's when I notice I could've forfeited the whole quiz. We scored "Not Bad". The next step is to review the Dietary Guidelines. These are the dietary guidelines to REDUCE THE RISK OF CANCER. Ha! Still strikes me as funny. If you don't know me, that may seem harsh and uncalled for, but so are all of my other cancer comments. Just ask my friends and family...I've gotten a lot of "Don't say that!" lately. I asked my mom one day if she was paying for my dinner because she thought I was dying. She didn't laugh. She does now, though, and even makes comments herself. I was so proud! I'm obviously kidding and I'm not dying. I have to make jokes about it, though. If not... This is something that will suck you down with it if you take it too serious.

Anyhow...I'm starving now and must go eat. I'm supposed to "listen to my body", according to former patients. And it's telling me I'm in desperate need of food.

Thanks and goodnight!