I had my 3rd treatment yesterday. I was pretty sick at the appointment, but they gave me a Ativan and all was well. =) I actually felt pretty good after that.
The only real news I have is that my next PET Scan is scheduled for May 23rd. If all goes well and the cancer has left the building I will begin radiation. If things don't look good I will start another round of Chemo. This sure is a wild ride. I'll keep you posted.
Family
April 2013
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
2nd Chemo
Oh what fun. I need to back up just a few days or more. My last post I was telling you that I had a total of 8 infusions. Well the good news is I have a total of 4 infusions. So after today I only have 2 more. May 10th will be my last one. If all things go well. Fingers crossed. At my Chemo infusion today everything went pretty well. The D in my ABVD burned again, so they do what they call a side car or cart and dilute it so it relieves the burn. It makes it feel much better. My sweet husband went with me and behaved pretty well. I only punched him a dozen or so times. He thinks he's funny and sometimes he is. =) He was very sweet today and bought me a pretty pink pearl necklace. I can't wait to wear it. (I'm currently putting vitamin e on my war wound)
Before I have my infusions they do labs and check my blood count. I forgot to make sure I was hydrated and for the first time in my life I had to be poked twice. Ouch! It wasn't fun and I'll never do that again. They almost didn't do chemo. I'm not a Dr so I don't know exactly what it means, but my white blood count was 8.43 on March 22 and today it was 1.79. For some reason or another they just went ahead and did it. Thank goodness, I want to finish this wild ride.
Yesterday I met with the Radiology Oncologist. That was just a informative visit. They told me that they will zap both parts. One on my neck and one in the chest area. They will zap me in the front and from behind. They will also be making a little mesh mask at our next appointment. It helps me keep my head in place. I'll get to bring it home so I'll post a pick when I can. It's very weird looking. It kind of reminded me of something from a super hero movie. So as for now that is where I am. Thanks again for all the love and support. Thank you for all the service and food. Love ya!
Before I have my infusions they do labs and check my blood count. I forgot to make sure I was hydrated and for the first time in my life I had to be poked twice. Ouch! It wasn't fun and I'll never do that again. They almost didn't do chemo. I'm not a Dr so I don't know exactly what it means, but my white blood count was 8.43 on March 22 and today it was 1.79. For some reason or another they just went ahead and did it. Thank goodness, I want to finish this wild ride.
Yesterday I met with the Radiology Oncologist. That was just a informative visit. They told me that they will zap both parts. One on my neck and one in the chest area. They will zap me in the front and from behind. They will also be making a little mesh mask at our next appointment. It helps me keep my head in place. I'll get to bring it home so I'll post a pick when I can. It's very weird looking. It kind of reminded me of something from a super hero movie. So as for now that is where I am. Thanks again for all the love and support. Thank you for all the service and food. Love ya!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Well That Sucks!!!
So I was just looking in this fabulous Cancer binder that I got from my Oncologist and I was going over my Chemo schedule and noticed this little notation at the bottom of each of my chemo days. It said "Chemotherapy 1A and Chemotherapy 2B" and so on. It was all a blur to me at the Doctors, but today it hit me. I have 7 more infusions. I will have my last Chemo treatment on July 5th and then three weeks of radiation. Well that means I will miss my two family reunions. Normally that would be OK to some, but I've really been looking forward to it. Since I can't go my family will have to come see me. =)
So how am I feeling after my first Chemo treatment? Like Crud. I feel nauseated and tired. I feel like someone beat me up. My bones ache. I have terrible body aches. So basically it stinks! Well here's to seven more. =)
So how am I feeling after my first Chemo treatment? Like Crud. I feel nauseated and tired. I feel like someone beat me up. My bones ache. I have terrible body aches. So basically it stinks! Well here's to seven more. =)
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Complete Diagnois and Chemo
So yesterday was a really long day, that is why I'm just getting to this now. I first met with my Oncologist at 9:20. Side note: Why do they make the appointment for 9:20, tell me to be there at 9:10 and then don't call me in until 9:30? I don't get it. Anyway so the Fellow Oncologist that I'm seeing came in and went over my results of the PET scan. 
This is the photo of my scan. In the upper right hand side, (my left) you see some glowing round spots. Those are my cancerous lymph nodes. Below that, in my chest, I have a light glow that is more cancer. The little glow in my chest puts me at a diagnosis of Hodgkin's Lymphoma Stage II a. That is pretty good. I honestly thought I would be stage I, but I'm ok with two. They are going to both get the crud kicked out of them. I'll beat it. So with that being said we talked treatment. They have been running test in Germany on patients with Chemo and they were giving them different doses at different times and a bunch of other mumbo jumbo that I didn't pick up on cause' I was out of my mind, but anyway these test that they have ran is allowing me to have a shorter treatment period. Yippee. I will have 2 months of chemo. My treatments are every two weeks. After Chemo I will have 3 weeks of radiation. That is 5 days a week, Monday through Friday. And then we will be on the road to remission. Yay!!!
After that appointment I had to have a pulmonary function test done. I had to walk through the maze of the hospital and make my way to the U. That test was interesting. It reminded me of the machine in Monsters Inc. when they try to suck the screams out of Mike. That test was great. :) After that we went to grab a very quick lunch and for you locals, if you haven't tried the Corner Bakery you should. It's my new favorite place. The Club Panini was awesome. Their mini cookies are great too. OK now I'm hungry. ;) After lunch I drove back up to Huntsman to start Chemo. Now I have been told that I have lovely veins. They never have a problem giving me an IV. Now this time the put it on my wrist and that hurt like H**l. I will never let them do that again. I couldn't move my hand with out it hurting. I actually bawled my eyes out with she did it too. It couldn't have had anything to do with my emotions. So When we finally started the meds it wasn't too bad. They have to push one med in and that took forever. They call it Big Red, or the Red Devil. It's the one that makes you lose your hair. It also makes you pee Red. Go Utes Baby!!! =) We are big Ute fans in our house. On my last drug of the day I had complications. It burned. They used saline to dilute it and it was all better. After my chemo I was suppose to have a echo that I didn't get done in time for so we get to do that another day. All said and done I didn't pull in to my driveway till 6:00 and that was in time to get the family ready for the Blue and Gold Banquet. It was a long, long night. Thank you for all of you who are following you. I love your support. Remember violet/purple is the color to support Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Love you all
This is the photo of my scan. In the upper right hand side, (my left) you see some glowing round spots. Those are my cancerous lymph nodes. Below that, in my chest, I have a light glow that is more cancer. The little glow in my chest puts me at a diagnosis of Hodgkin's Lymphoma Stage II a. That is pretty good. I honestly thought I would be stage I, but I'm ok with two. They are going to both get the crud kicked out of them. I'll beat it. So with that being said we talked treatment. They have been running test in Germany on patients with Chemo and they were giving them different doses at different times and a bunch of other mumbo jumbo that I didn't pick up on cause' I was out of my mind, but anyway these test that they have ran is allowing me to have a shorter treatment period. Yippee. I will have 2 months of chemo. My treatments are every two weeks. After Chemo I will have 3 weeks of radiation. That is 5 days a week, Monday through Friday. And then we will be on the road to remission. Yay!!!
After that appointment I had to have a pulmonary function test done. I had to walk through the maze of the hospital and make my way to the U. That test was interesting. It reminded me of the machine in Monsters Inc. when they try to suck the screams out of Mike. That test was great. :) After that we went to grab a very quick lunch and for you locals, if you haven't tried the Corner Bakery you should. It's my new favorite place. The Club Panini was awesome. Their mini cookies are great too. OK now I'm hungry. ;) After lunch I drove back up to Huntsman to start Chemo. Now I have been told that I have lovely veins. They never have a problem giving me an IV. Now this time the put it on my wrist and that hurt like H**l. I will never let them do that again. I couldn't move my hand with out it hurting. I actually bawled my eyes out with she did it too. It couldn't have had anything to do with my emotions. So When we finally started the meds it wasn't too bad. They have to push one med in and that took forever. They call it Big Red, or the Red Devil. It's the one that makes you lose your hair. It also makes you pee Red. Go Utes Baby!!! =) We are big Ute fans in our house. On my last drug of the day I had complications. It burned. They used saline to dilute it and it was all better. After my chemo I was suppose to have a echo that I didn't get done in time for so we get to do that another day. All said and done I didn't pull in to my driveway till 6:00 and that was in time to get the family ready for the Blue and Gold Banquet. It was a long, long night. Thank you for all of you who are following you. I love your support. Remember violet/purple is the color to support Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Love you all
New Hairdo
Ok, I've been keeping the kids informed about everything going on. We have been talking to them and getting their feelings on everything and what we found out was that Nolan was afraid for me to lose my hair. Apparently Mommy won't look as hot as Daddy does bald. Well I thought about it and I've been reading things on Chemo and a lot of people have said that it makes it easier to cut your hair before you lose it. So well that is what I did. My mom and four year old daughter decided to do it with me. My daughter and I also put in purple extensions for fun. Violet is the color for Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
Before:
I love my mom for going with me, but I am so proud that my 4 year old daughter wanted to do it too. She first said she would go bald, but I told her no. Then she said she wanted Ellen Degeneres' hair, but we settled on the bob. I think it suits her better.
After:
Before:
I love my mom for going with me, but I am so proud that my 4 year old daughter wanted to do it too. She first said she would go bald, but I told her no. Then she said she wanted Ellen Degeneres' hair, but we settled on the bob. I think it suits her better.
After:
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Finally!!!
So here I was on my way to my PET scan. I received a phone call from one of my Oncologist. He actually had a diagnosis for me. I have Classical Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Yay! OK, that really sucks, but it's also awesome. Yes I have Cancer, but I have a curable Cancer. How cool is that. I don't have my treatments all mapped out yet, but it will be a wild ride. I have a clinic appointment on Tuesday morning. I'll find out more info about my diagnosis. Then I start my chemo at 1:00 pm. That will be 5 hours. Yuck. 5 hours? Well I guess that is 5 hours away from dishes and laundry right?
So about my PET scan, they forgot to call me and give me some information about it. It's a good thing I have friends who have gone through this. I needed to fast. Luckily I did that. =) When I got there they put me into a room and told me to relax. They gave me a IV and pushed the glucose in. She then instructed me to relax and do nothing for an hour and half. I couldn't read, write, or play on my phone. Yes I had to turn my phone off for like 2 hours today. It was horrible. They didn't want me using my brain. I know this is shocking, but that was actually harder than I thought. I just took a nap. =) A very uncomfortable one at that. So after that they took about 20-30 mins of pictures and then I went home. Fun day right? Ok till next time.
So about my PET scan, they forgot to call me and give me some information about it. It's a good thing I have friends who have gone through this. I needed to fast. Luckily I did that. =) When I got there they put me into a room and told me to relax. They gave me a IV and pushed the glucose in. She then instructed me to relax and do nothing for an hour and half. I couldn't read, write, or play on my phone. Yes I had to turn my phone off for like 2 hours today. It was horrible. They didn't want me using my brain. I know this is shocking, but that was actually harder than I thought. I just took a nap. =) A very uncomfortable one at that. So after that they took about 20-30 mins of pictures and then I went home. Fun day right? Ok till next time.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
@#$%&*!
Ok so there really isn't a word for my title. It's more of a grumble. My Biopsy results were not back so we don't have a lot of info. So why did they make this appointment so soon? I guess it was to make me feel uncomfortable and to feel me up. I got my second breast exam since I found the lump. This is not fun to do. I also had my groin lymph nodes checked out. I'm not sure what would have been better, a man or woman. This time it was a man. I really hate going to the doctors. They are still calling it lymphoma and this time they actually mentioned Non-Hodgkins. The Oncologist said it looks like it could be Hodgkins or Non-Hodgkins, but if it is Non-Hodgkins it's the curable kind. Ok how come they can tell me that much, but they can't give me a definite diagnosis? AAAHHHHH!!!! I HATE WAITING!!!!! OK with all that being said, if everything goes well with insurance I have my PET scan on Thursday at 8:15. What is a PET scan you ask? Good question. PET scan: Positron emission tomography scan. A procedure in which a small amount of radioactive glucose (sugar) is injected in to a vein, and a scanner is used to make detailed, computerized pictures of areas inside the body where the glucose is used. Because cancer cells often use more glucose than normal cells, the pictures can be used to find cancer cells in the body.
I also start my chemo on Tuesday. They are waiting for the biopsy results to determine what time and what meds. I'm frustrated that I don't have a definitive diagnosis, but I'm told I should be happy that all the possible dianosis' are curable. Sure that is good news, but couldn't they have said "wow we screwed up, you don't have lymphoma, it looks like the Easter Bunny hid a egg in you neck." OK that's not possible, but it would be cool right? A yummy Cadbury Egg. =)
So I'm mad, frustrated, sad, emotional, and scared. I'm told that I will lose my hair and that seems to be what the kids are afraid of, so I'm going to cut it. I'm getting the Ellen haircut. Maybe this weekend. Anyone wanna join me? I'll cry. Last month I decided to let my hair grow out. Oh well it will grow back. It's a good thing I look good with short hair. So that is my rant for the the day. Don't worry I'll be back FYE. =)
I also start my chemo on Tuesday. They are waiting for the biopsy results to determine what time and what meds. I'm frustrated that I don't have a definitive diagnosis, but I'm told I should be happy that all the possible dianosis' are curable. Sure that is good news, but couldn't they have said "wow we screwed up, you don't have lymphoma, it looks like the Easter Bunny hid a egg in you neck." OK that's not possible, but it would be cool right? A yummy Cadbury Egg. =)
So I'm mad, frustrated, sad, emotional, and scared. I'm told that I will lose my hair and that seems to be what the kids are afraid of, so I'm going to cut it. I'm getting the Ellen haircut. Maybe this weekend. Anyone wanna join me? I'll cry. Last month I decided to let my hair grow out. Oh well it will grow back. It's a good thing I look good with short hair. So that is my rant for the the day. Don't worry I'll be back FYE. =)
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