SPRING BREAK - GREAT WEEK

It's been spring break (1 week off from my job at the elementary school) and it's been 21 days since my first treatment. I've had a lot of energy this week and in fact, played golf 3 times. It was great to get out into the course and just think about "hitting the ball, finding it, then hitting it again". No talk about illness, therapy, cancer, etc. etc. Tried to bowl, but experienced some pain from the initial surgery. I guess I use more muscles bowling than in golf. (LOL) The nurse practitioner said to wait another month before trying again.

Was supposed to have my second treatment today, but it was postponed until next Friday, April 1st. That means, I should have another great week ahead of me.

Got the results from my PET/CT scan and they did not find any activity to show cancer cells...which is also great news. They will order another PET/CT scan after the 6th and last round of chemo to see if all remains the same.

Started losing my hair this week (bummer). It is coming out in strands in my hand and in my brush. They told me it might not fall out...but would thin out. Not sure what's going to happen after my 2nd treatment. But I have some scarfs and hats ready to go.

My First Ride in an Ambulance

By 11 am on Thursday, I felt dehydrated, tightness in the chest, shortness of breath and faint. I called the doctor's office and they said to call 911. I woke up my husband and then proceeded to call 911 to give them my symptoms.

The rescue squad came quickly. They came into the house to assess my condition. After some initial tests, they brought me into the back of their truck to do more tests. EKG, Blood sugar analysis, Nitro Spray, Blood work....initially all looked OK, but they wanted to take me to the hospital for more testing. Just to make sure I wasn't having a Heart Attack.

The ER was packed, but I was immediately placed in a room. More EKGS, blood work, Angio CT Scan...and 11 hours later I finally was transferred to a patient room in the Cardiac Wing.

They placed a telemetry monitor on me to keep track of my heart during the night.

The Oncologist visited me the next morning and after reviewing all the results of the various tests, felt that my heart was fine. I may have a reaction from the chemo (5 days later) that affected my eshophogaus and my ability to have the food slide down like normally. He prescribed Carafate (chalky, pink liquid) to drink 1 hour before each meal which will coat the esophogaus and stomach so they may heal any lesions that have formed. He also prescribed Previcid, but my insurance won't pay for it. Will have to pursue this with BCBS on Monday.

I was discharged from the hospital on Friday morning with good news..my heart is ok. The Oncologist did say that my white count had dropped (which was to be expected), so I received a Lukin shot before leaving the hospital. Basically, I need to stay away from sick people and crowds.

ChemoTherapy - Session # 1

My husband, Steve and I met with the Oncolologist on March 2nd. The drug of choice for this particular cancer will be CarboPlatin and Taxotere. Also, I will be given an anti-nausea drip before the other drugs in order to control nausea. GREAT!

There will be 6 treatments - one every 21 days. We begin on Friday, March 4th. The doctor feels that implanting a "port" will not be necessary. That is good news. I guess my veins are good enough for the chemo to travel through my system.

The first treatment went well, up until 45 minutes left in the session. One of the nurses decided to increase the drip...maybe she wanted to go home early...I don't know. About 3-4 minutes later, I felt like my ears were on fire and ready to fall off. My husband said my face was red - like a bad sunburn. I immediately called for help and they rushed in an oxygen tank and gave me Benadryl. I guess I had a reaction to the increase of the drip. The Benadryl helped quickly.
The entire session took around 4 hours.

The weekend went OK..no nausea. Only side effect was a rash that appeared on my face (cheeks)...sort of like a flush. So, all in all, that wasn't too bad, right?

On Monday, had a PET/CT Scan scheduled in order to see if there are any cancer cells still floating around. Don't have the results yet.

Went back to work on Tuesday, March 8th. Worked all day Tuesday and Wednesday, but was EXHAUSTED on Wednesday afternoon. Almost fell asleep on the interstate during the drive home.

Also, on Wednesday after lunch I had a dull ache in my chest area near my esophogaus. Felt like the lunch I had eaten was "stuck". This feeling persisted all evening and the following morning. On Thursday, I called in to say I couldn't go into work cause I was a little dizzy and just felt "badly".

Just when you think it can't get any worse...