So, the two treatments in the first round of chemo are officially done! Only five more cycles (ten treatments) left to go, then a month off, then a month of radiation five days a week, then presumably done, done, done.
This time around was a little rougher than the first time around, but I guess that's to be expected. My white blood cell count was super low, so I had to get a shot to boost white blood cell production. I also have to be super careful about the foods I eat and stuff like that. Erin and Kim came and kept me company at chemo this time around, which was much appreciated!
Also, the hair-cutting and dying and wig buying is now officially chronicled on facebook (have you vorn vigs? ahhahaha that's never gonna get old, Emma [E.]!). Too many Emmas. Henceforth, Emma W is Emma and Emma E is Thingy. I am very grateful for the influx of notecards and well-wishes and trinkets that are coming in from people everywhere. Thanks guys! I was especially happy to get a note card from my fellow Pathfinders 08 and a super cool photo frame from Emma.
Alright, time for me to head to bed. The Ativan is kicking in!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Update!
So last Thursday I had a sort of follow-up appointment with my primary oncologist, just to go over how the first week after chemo went, and what we can do differently this week. I got some OK news and some not so OK news. The OK news is that I am officially Stage II-A-X. The "II" means all cancer is either above or below the diaphragm (above in my case) and it hasn't spread to any other systems, which is a good thing. The "A" means that I have no secondary symptoms, which is also good. The "X", however, means that mine is classified as "bulky," meaning that at least one of the masses is at least 10 cm long. In my case, there are three that are "bulky": the one in my neck that made me go to the doctor in the first place, one in the upper mediastinum and one in the mid-mediastinum. Studies on how the "bulky" designation affect overall survival rates vary; some suggest that it doesn't impact the five year survival rate (which is between 85 and 95% for stage 2 non bulky, a very very good survival rate!), and some suggest it lowers it by 5-10%. Most importantly, it means I will probably have to get another month or two of chemo, and will almost certainly have to get radiation therapy which makes me unhappy :(
In other news, I have a new haircut! It's short, and kind of alarming to me sometimes, but I am told it looks decent. I'm going in on Thursday for Round #1, Treatment #2 of chemo, so we'll see if that affects my hair status at all!
In other news, I have a new haircut! It's short, and kind of alarming to me sometimes, but I am told it looks decent. I'm going in on Thursday for Round #1, Treatment #2 of chemo, so we'll see if that affects my hair status at all!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Feeling OK...
The side effects have been very manageable today. I'm not feeling great, or even good, or even OK, really, but I'm not feeling particularly BAD, either. Just kind of "bleh." I'm quite tired, and food tastes/smells/looks really weird or really gross, but I'm keeping it down, with some effort! Water has tasted like chalk all day long. The anti-nausea pills work, but they make me dizzy. The dizziness has been the worst part, but it only really hits when my eyes are closed, strangely enough. Last night I had a really hard time going to sleep because of the dizziness.
Next week will be the first full week of classes I'll have gone to in about three weeks. It will be kind of good, but kind of lame at the same time. Sigh.
Next week will be the first full week of classes I'll have gone to in about three weeks. It will be kind of good, but kind of lame at the same time. Sigh.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
First day of chemo
I had the first day of chemo today, and I am on the ABVD regimen, as expected. Each of the four medications has a different set of side effects associated with it, but basically the "A" is the big hair loss one, so the hair-loss is a go. Apparently it can take anywhere from a few days to a few months for it to come out, but average is about two weeks after the first treatment. The plan right now: Dye it sometime next week (Thursday evening, Kim Dave and Erin?) and chop it off next weekend, in a series of progressively more and more interesting haircuts. If I can get the insurance company to pay for it, the wig is a go, but I expect many days I'll be too lazy to use it. Besides, head scarves come in lots of interesting colors, and I have made a promise to Greg that I'll buy a neon green one.
Right now, I am basically feeling just kind of generally punky. I've definitely felt better in my life, but I've also felt much worse, so I guess it's not too bad! I am quite dizzy and light headed, and I don't think I could even begin to focus on homework right now. I am queasy and the thought of food is really really really unappealing, but I think I could keep food down, if I absolutely had to. So, I guess that's good. I also am really tired but also jittery. I experienced this weird feeling of vertigo earlier, where when my eyes were closed and I was on my back in bed, I felt like I was kind of bobbing up and down in place, and my arms and legs and head were not connected to anything, and that my arms and legs were shrinking and my head was expanding. Weirdest feeling in the world! Tomorrow is supposed to be worse, in terms of nausea and whatnot, so I have a bunch of meds on hand, if I need them.
Also, a note for my friends who I will be seeing regularly: I am supposed to encourage each of you to WASH YOUR HANDS all the time, and use anti-bacterial hand sanitizer if I'm going to hang around you, because after treatment (especially 6-8 days after) I will be super, super, super vulnerable to sicknesses and I'd really rather not be hospitalized for something stupid like a cold. So, if I nag you to wash your hands, don't take it personally!
In other news, they haven't yet staged it, but they are almost 100% certain it isn't Stage III or IV, which means I will almost certainly not have to do radiation therapy, hurrah!
I also wanted to say thanks for all of the notes, cards, emails, etc that I've gotten from you all. I've started a collection, and it cheers me up every day. A particularly enthusiastic "thank you" goes out to ALISON, who I am assuming was the one responsible for the card from the WU EPSc department, and ANNE, who gave me something diverting and not too cerebral to read. I liked the long paragraph from Jill and the single line from Ray on the EPSc card... so typical, it made me smile. Aww, I miss the EPSc department. Thanks, guys!
Hope you are all well... to my non-Boise friends, what have you all been up to? Haven't talked to some of you in awhile.
Right now, I am basically feeling just kind of generally punky. I've definitely felt better in my life, but I've also felt much worse, so I guess it's not too bad! I am quite dizzy and light headed, and I don't think I could even begin to focus on homework right now. I am queasy and the thought of food is really really really unappealing, but I think I could keep food down, if I absolutely had to. So, I guess that's good. I also am really tired but also jittery. I experienced this weird feeling of vertigo earlier, where when my eyes were closed and I was on my back in bed, I felt like I was kind of bobbing up and down in place, and my arms and legs and head were not connected to anything, and that my arms and legs were shrinking and my head was expanding. Weirdest feeling in the world! Tomorrow is supposed to be worse, in terms of nausea and whatnot, so I have a bunch of meds on hand, if I need them.
Also, a note for my friends who I will be seeing regularly: I am supposed to encourage each of you to WASH YOUR HANDS all the time, and use anti-bacterial hand sanitizer if I'm going to hang around you, because after treatment (especially 6-8 days after) I will be super, super, super vulnerable to sicknesses and I'd really rather not be hospitalized for something stupid like a cold. So, if I nag you to wash your hands, don't take it personally!
In other news, they haven't yet staged it, but they are almost 100% certain it isn't Stage III or IV, which means I will almost certainly not have to do radiation therapy, hurrah!
I also wanted to say thanks for all of the notes, cards, emails, etc that I've gotten from you all. I've started a collection, and it cheers me up every day. A particularly enthusiastic "thank you" goes out to ALISON, who I am assuming was the one responsible for the card from the WU EPSc department, and ANNE, who gave me something diverting and not too cerebral to read. I liked the long paragraph from Jill and the single line from Ray on the EPSc card... so typical, it made me smile. Aww, I miss the EPSc department. Thanks, guys!
Hope you are all well... to my non-Boise friends, what have you all been up to? Haven't talked to some of you in awhile.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Tests, scans, preliminary appointments: DONE!
Great news! I am all done with my CT scans, PET scans, three biopsies, surgery to put in the port, heart scan, pulmonary function test... everything! From here on out it's just the routine appointments, if everything goes according to plan :-D
So yesterday I had the biggest of my appointments: the surgery to take a small amount of tissue for a third biopsy, and the operation to put in the port-a-cath. I guess the port will be good since yesterday I went through the whole poke-the-arm-three-times-before-we-find-a-vein thing again. I don't know what it is about my arms, I just have bad veins, I guess. Or really deep veins. Or something. Maybe I am a robot. Apparently it is routine to give all female patients of a certain age a pregnancy test at the hospital as well. I was in the pre-op room laying in a bed for like 45 minutes before the operation. Just before leaving the pre-op room, they gave me a really mild sedative... not anywhere near enough to put me to sleep, just enough to calm me down. I was told that the general anasthesia would be administered in the OR, and that they'd talk me through it, so I assume I was awake for the administering of that, but I have no recollection of even making it to the OR. The last thing I remember was being wheeled in my bed from the pre-op room to the OR, and kind of enjoying it. I am disappointed because I wanted to see the OR. So either I fainted on my way there (which seems unlikely) or those drugs they give you are so powerful you get amnesia for the past ten minutes. So, the next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room. Getting dressed was difficult, because they had cut into my right lymph node, and the port was put into the upper left part of my chest, so moving my left arm is difficult. I was super super super thirsty, too. And whatever they gave me as an anasthesia made my throat hurt. Other than some fairly acute soreness on the left, however, I'm feeling OK. Not great, but OK.
This morning I had a pulmonary function test, which was basically me blowing into a tube. They have you breathe normally, and then you inhale really large amounts of air, then you pant into the tube, then they have you inhale some carbon monoxide. Good news: I have normal lungs.
OK, off for a nap! The pain killers I have are opiates so they make me feel weird. Urgh. Vote in my poll on the right!
So yesterday I had the biggest of my appointments: the surgery to take a small amount of tissue for a third biopsy, and the operation to put in the port-a-cath. I guess the port will be good since yesterday I went through the whole poke-the-arm-three-times-before-we-find-a-vein thing again. I don't know what it is about my arms, I just have bad veins, I guess. Or really deep veins. Or something. Maybe I am a robot. Apparently it is routine to give all female patients of a certain age a pregnancy test at the hospital as well. I was in the pre-op room laying in a bed for like 45 minutes before the operation. Just before leaving the pre-op room, they gave me a really mild sedative... not anywhere near enough to put me to sleep, just enough to calm me down. I was told that the general anasthesia would be administered in the OR, and that they'd talk me through it, so I assume I was awake for the administering of that, but I have no recollection of even making it to the OR. The last thing I remember was being wheeled in my bed from the pre-op room to the OR, and kind of enjoying it. I am disappointed because I wanted to see the OR. So either I fainted on my way there (which seems unlikely) or those drugs they give you are so powerful you get amnesia for the past ten minutes. So, the next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room. Getting dressed was difficult, because they had cut into my right lymph node, and the port was put into the upper left part of my chest, so moving my left arm is difficult. I was super super super thirsty, too. And whatever they gave me as an anasthesia made my throat hurt. Other than some fairly acute soreness on the left, however, I'm feeling OK. Not great, but OK.
This morning I had a pulmonary function test, which was basically me blowing into a tube. They have you breathe normally, and then you inhale really large amounts of air, then you pant into the tube, then they have you inhale some carbon monoxide. Good news: I have normal lungs.
OK, off for a nap! The pain killers I have are opiates so they make me feel weird. Urgh. Vote in my poll on the right!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Bone marrow!
I had the bone marrow biopsy Friday morning, and it wasn't quite as horrible as expected, thank goodness. The worst part by far was preparing for it. The nurse had a really difficult time finding my veins. She went in through the underside of my forearm, instead of in the crook of the elbow. Going in through the forearm hurts worse than the crook of the elbow! She went in twice before calling someone else to do it. I guess this is why having the port-a-cath will be good.
I got a fairly high dose of morphine to calm me down, and a shot in my hip to numb the skin. Of course, they can't really numb the bone, so not much could be done there! After numbing the skin, they make a small incision in the skin down to the bone, because the needle they use is fairly thick. They then used something that was like a cross between an apple corer and a corkscrew to drill about an inch and a half into my pelvis (it took about 90 seconds of pushing). Let me tell you, feeling something grind through your bone is a very weird sensation, and not at all pleasant. Strangely enough, it sends a really really sharp pain shooting up and down your leg. LUCKILY, they got enough material the first time they went in. Apparently, they often have to drill two or three times to get enough material. They showed the bit of bone marrow to me, and it was a little over an inch long and maybe one or two millimeters thick. Not much material for so much fuss!
The morphine left me feeling really dizzy and out of it. I had to lay down, completely horizontally, for about fifteen minutes, and then sit in a semi-reclined position for another fifteen, before I could stand, and even then I had to move really slowly because the room was spinning. Mom drove me home and I collapsed onto the couch and slept for about five hours. I missed the quiz I was supposed to make up that afternoon, since I'd missed it on Wednesday for the heart scan and CT scan. I feel bad, because I've missed like four consecutive classes for Digital Signals Processing, and I'm missing on Monday, because Monday I'm going in for another biopsy and to have the port-a-cath put in, which is basically a full day at the hospital. Luckily, I don't have to stay over night! It'll just be an outpatient procedure, but I am going to be asleep for it. Unfortunately, my classes on Tuesday are going to be really hard to make up, because it's labs and stuff, so I'm going to make every effort to be in bright and early at 7:30 Tuesday morning for my first class.... and unfortunately, there till 9:30 PM for my last lab. Grar.
After that, I'm NEARLY done with my many appointments. I have a short appointment for a pulmonary functions test, and then chemo starts up Thursday :( I'll be there from 10:30-5, so anyone who is in town Thursday afternoon and isn't working is more than welcome to come sit with me and distract me... they welcome and encourage visitors (KIM, this means YOU).
I got a fairly high dose of morphine to calm me down, and a shot in my hip to numb the skin. Of course, they can't really numb the bone, so not much could be done there! After numbing the skin, they make a small incision in the skin down to the bone, because the needle they use is fairly thick. They then used something that was like a cross between an apple corer and a corkscrew to drill about an inch and a half into my pelvis (it took about 90 seconds of pushing). Let me tell you, feeling something grind through your bone is a very weird sensation, and not at all pleasant. Strangely enough, it sends a really really sharp pain shooting up and down your leg. LUCKILY, they got enough material the first time they went in. Apparently, they often have to drill two or three times to get enough material. They showed the bit of bone marrow to me, and it was a little over an inch long and maybe one or two millimeters thick. Not much material for so much fuss!
The morphine left me feeling really dizzy and out of it. I had to lay down, completely horizontally, for about fifteen minutes, and then sit in a semi-reclined position for another fifteen, before I could stand, and even then I had to move really slowly because the room was spinning. Mom drove me home and I collapsed onto the couch and slept for about five hours. I missed the quiz I was supposed to make up that afternoon, since I'd missed it on Wednesday for the heart scan and CT scan. I feel bad, because I've missed like four consecutive classes for Digital Signals Processing, and I'm missing on Monday, because Monday I'm going in for another biopsy and to have the port-a-cath put in, which is basically a full day at the hospital. Luckily, I don't have to stay over night! It'll just be an outpatient procedure, but I am going to be asleep for it. Unfortunately, my classes on Tuesday are going to be really hard to make up, because it's labs and stuff, so I'm going to make every effort to be in bright and early at 7:30 Tuesday morning for my first class.... and unfortunately, there till 9:30 PM for my last lab. Grar.
After that, I'm NEARLY done with my many appointments. I have a short appointment for a pulmonary functions test, and then chemo starts up Thursday :( I'll be there from 10:30-5, so anyone who is in town Thursday afternoon and isn't working is more than welcome to come sit with me and distract me... they welcome and encourage visitors (KIM, this means YOU).
Thursday, September 25, 2008
More tests...
So far this week I have had so many doctors' appointments, it isn't even funny... :(
Wednesday I had a heart scan and a full body CT. I am glad they did them in the same appointment because that allowed me to minimize the needle pokes I got. Apparently I have hard-to-find veins. They just gave me an IV so I didn't have to get poked more than twice while I was there. Heart scans, for the record, are quite boring. I was just laying there and nothing was moving or beeping or whirring or anything. I think the machine was broken or something. However, the 30 minutes of boredom for the heart scan PALE in comparison to the 2 hours of boredom that was the PET scan this morning...
First of all, it was at 7 AM out in freaking MERIDIAN, which meant we left at 6:30 AM. They gave me a bunch of shots, including one shot of radioactive sugar. I then had to sit, alone, in the dark for an hour. Then I was wrapped up really tight in a blanket, with my arms at my sides, like a mummy (or a nutcase in a straightjacket!). Then I was put onto a very narrow table and shoved into a small tube and left there for 55 minutes, and not allowed to move for the entirety of that. I kind of snoozed while I was in there, because what else was there to do? If I twitched much I would have fallen right off the table, four feet down to the tile floor, and with my arms all bound up at my sides, that would have hurt a bit. Next time I get a PET scan, I'm bringing my iPod so I can have something to distract me for the hour of waiting for the dye to spread, though there's nothing I can do about the 55 minutes in the tube.
Tomorrow morning, I go in for the bone marrow biopsy. I am not looking forward to this, because many people say it hurts like hell. On the other hand, a lot of people say it only hurts a bit more than a shot. So I guess we'll see. Apparently some people react badly to the anaesthesia so I have to have mom drive me there and back. Hopefully I'll be back on my feet by 1:30, because I have to take a quiz then! Digital Signal Processing, bleh.
Monday I go in for the biopsy on the right swelling and having the portacath put in. I actually get to be asleep for this one so it'll be an all day procedure (I check in at 10 AM, and will be discharged around 4 or 5). Fun, fun. Presumably I'll be on my feet again in time for my 7:40 AM class the next day. Bah.
In other news, I saw the cinecast of the final Rent performance on Broadway, and it was fantastic, except I was continuously distracted by the actor who plays Roger because he had really freaky pale blue eyes, with creepy eyeliner, and then in the last scene when he's singing his not-so-great song, he's wearing a horrible purple shirt. I think that scene just isn't meant to be put onto film, because it was creepy in the movie, and it was stupid in the cinecast. Other than THAT, though, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Wednesday I had a heart scan and a full body CT. I am glad they did them in the same appointment because that allowed me to minimize the needle pokes I got. Apparently I have hard-to-find veins. They just gave me an IV so I didn't have to get poked more than twice while I was there. Heart scans, for the record, are quite boring. I was just laying there and nothing was moving or beeping or whirring or anything. I think the machine was broken or something. However, the 30 minutes of boredom for the heart scan PALE in comparison to the 2 hours of boredom that was the PET scan this morning...
First of all, it was at 7 AM out in freaking MERIDIAN, which meant we left at 6:30 AM. They gave me a bunch of shots, including one shot of radioactive sugar. I then had to sit, alone, in the dark for an hour. Then I was wrapped up really tight in a blanket, with my arms at my sides, like a mummy (or a nutcase in a straightjacket!). Then I was put onto a very narrow table and shoved into a small tube and left there for 55 minutes, and not allowed to move for the entirety of that. I kind of snoozed while I was in there, because what else was there to do? If I twitched much I would have fallen right off the table, four feet down to the tile floor, and with my arms all bound up at my sides, that would have hurt a bit. Next time I get a PET scan, I'm bringing my iPod so I can have something to distract me for the hour of waiting for the dye to spread, though there's nothing I can do about the 55 minutes in the tube.
Tomorrow morning, I go in for the bone marrow biopsy. I am not looking forward to this, because many people say it hurts like hell. On the other hand, a lot of people say it only hurts a bit more than a shot. So I guess we'll see. Apparently some people react badly to the anaesthesia so I have to have mom drive me there and back. Hopefully I'll be back on my feet by 1:30, because I have to take a quiz then! Digital Signal Processing, bleh.
Monday I go in for the biopsy on the right swelling and having the portacath put in. I actually get to be asleep for this one so it'll be an all day procedure (I check in at 10 AM, and will be discharged around 4 or 5). Fun, fun. Presumably I'll be on my feet again in time for my 7:40 AM class the next day. Bah.
In other news, I saw the cinecast of the final Rent performance on Broadway, and it was fantastic, except I was continuously distracted by the actor who plays Roger because he had really freaky pale blue eyes, with creepy eyeliner, and then in the last scene when he's singing his not-so-great song, he's wearing a horrible purple shirt. I think that scene just isn't meant to be put onto film, because it was creepy in the movie, and it was stupid in the cinecast. Other than THAT, though, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
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