Chemo Treatment #4

Well, I did chemo treatment #4 on Monday, November 21.  It was a little out of sync though, as Dr. H was on vacation this week, and everybody was moved to the morning - plus there were nurse practicioners there to meet with us.  So we went in at 9:00 a.m. and they finally hooked me up for the infusion at 10:45 a.m. - so it was 1:30 p.m. before we were on our way home.  Picked up some lunch at the drive thru and came home.  By that time I was wiped, so I spent the afternoon on the couch, and did some snoozing.  I was so out of sync with doing the treatment in the morning that I even forgot to put the Emla cream on - so they had to spray me with the stuff that "freezes" the skin so you don't feel the poke.  Wore the pump until Wednesday morning when I went in to get it taken off. 
By Wednesday afternoon I was pretty sure that I was plugged up - so I contacted Dr. B's medical assistant and she suggeted that I take some Miralax to help offset it.  It was either the chemo causing the constipation OR maybe I had gone a little overboard with putting fiber back into my diet OR it could have been a combination of both.  Woke up Thursday morning early having to run to the bathroom - then that slowed down.  I took my Miralax - and it started to kick in about 7:00 p.m. that evening - but not in a good way.  After having diarrhea for awhile things seemed to calm down.  Of course during the time I was in the bathroom sitting on the pot - I also had to grab the garbage can to get sick in.  That was not much fun, but it didn't last very long.  I was also glad that we weren't getting together for Thanksgiving until Saturday - that gave me a chance to rest up!
We did get together on Saturday for our Thanksgiving - the kids did all the work and I basically just showed up.  It was a great low key evening and I am very thankful for the time we get to spend together.  Plus I got to have some time with my two favorite little guys too!
Have to go in for bloodwork on Monday, November 28 - the white blood cell count and hemoglobin were down on the 21st, but not enough that they didn't do the treatement.  I'll be curious to see what they are this week!  Also have to call my friend Nickole, Dr. B's medical assistant - to see what I should continue doing, and what Dr. B suggests.
My appetite slowed down like it normally does after the chemo treatment (back to eating a lot of yogurt) and I have slowed down on the fresh vegetables and high fiber stuff - hopefully that will help.
Hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving - this year I feel like I have so many things to be thankful for - and I have learned that we should never take ANYTHING for granted - be thankful for EVERYTHING!

Appt with Dr. B

Had my follow up appointment with Dr. B on Wednesday, November 16 - she felt that I was coming along even better than she had expected.  Dr. B told me that I would see her now every three months for 18 months.  It's such a pleasure to see her and her staff, that will not be a problem at all!  I also turned the corner this week on the bathroom thing! 

Have had no more bouts of diarrhea type trips - which is kind of what I had had since I'd been home.  Sometimes it would fall in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening or overnight.  Also had some what I would call "leakage" type stools - after that I ended up with some diaper rash (now I know why babies cry!) - but got some cream and got rid of it right away.  (I feel like some of this was because I had taken some immodium to slow down the process {once on the night we had our pictures taken and once on the day that I did chemo treatment #3} and it did slow it down, but maybe gave me some other side effects too.)  BTW - being able to poop is NOT overrated.  Listen to someone who's been there - the ileostomy bag makes you kind of lazy, as you can empty it basically at your convenience.  When you're running to the bathroom every 10 or 15 minutes it becomes not so much fun.  And I feel like I see a light at the end of the tunnel for the "Depends".

I have gone back to work and can last almost a full day.  Dr. B told me that I wouldn't regain my strength back entirely as long as I was still doing the chemo treatments.  And I have some good days and some bad days - which is to be expected.

I've also gotten used to seeing myself with straight hair - or on the days that I use the curling brush on it, a little bit of curl.  Dropped by to see my hair dresser the other day and she is going to trim my hair and also trim the bangs on my wig.

Had a scary experience when they did the blood draw before chemo treatment #3 - the nurse irrigated the port, then drew back and didn't like what she saw, so she kept drawing back but wasn't getting anything (blood is supposed to come back into the syringe).  Anyway she asked me to raise my left arm which I did - but still no luck.  So she had me get up on the examining table and lay down and then asked me to raise my left arm again - well this time she could get the blood that she needed for the bloodwork they do - to check on white blood cell count, etc.  Thought maybe there had been a problem with "placement" on the port - like it might have moved a little or something.

Guess that's about all for now - am looking forward to getting chemo treatment #4 over and done with on November 21 . . . and then I am looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my family and having a long weekend!  Hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Chemo Treatment #3

Well I had chemo treatment #3 today!  And I have my little buddy (pump) with me until Wednesday.
We'll see how it goes this time.  The next treatment will be done on November 21.

As I had said before, we had the 16th Annual GOTRA Banquet on Saturday, November 5.  Thanks to Carrie & Justin & John for helping set up on Friday night.  I had cooked two pork loins on Thursday and two pork loins on Friday.  When Jim & Nancy Mills got to town Saturday, they helped Carrie finish getting things ready.  I went out about 5:00 - made it through all of the banqet presentations, and then went home about 9:30, as I could tell I was fading fast.  Thanks to John, Carrie & Justin, Jim & Nancy Mills, Carol Stohlmann, Carol Aldrich and Richard & Donna Ferguson for helping put things away and doing the clean-up.  It was a great night - we ended the 16th season on a high note - and are ready to start our 17th season in 2012.

Hello All!

Just wanted to let you all know that things are coming along after the reversal surgery.  My body is remembering what it is supposed to be doing, instead of what it did from June 20 to October 10!  And 99% of the time it works just fine.  That other 1% is usually at night when I am sleeping.  It has been a long process to gain back any strength yet though I'm afraid.  I've had several bouts with running to the bathroom every 15 minutes - those have not been so fun - and they have moved from the mornings to the afternoons to the evenings to overnight.  Running to the bathroom is much easier in the waking hours!
We got not only individual pictures taken last night for our church's pictorial directory, but also got a family pic taken!  And I lasted through all of it!  I must say the pics of everyone else were GREAT - mine, not so much!
Saturday is the GOTRA Banquet and I'm hoping to last through all of it too.  We'll see how that goes. 
At this point I am still planning to start back up with the chemo on November 7 - I think things are working well enough that I can sit through the two hours and 15 minutes!  Figure the faster we get started back up, the sooner we will get done.