I did chemo treatment #7 on Monday, January 16 - then couldn't sleep worth a darn that night when I went to bed and was up at about 5:00 throwing up. Not my best night ever. So I slept in Tuesday morning. I even took one of my anti-nausea pills, but I'm sure that came up with everything else. This is the first time that I have gotten sick this close to the chemo treatment, and while wearing the pump. I got the pump off on Wednesday and then had to have a neupagen shot at Dr. H's office on Thursday and Friday, and at the hospital on Saturday and Sunday. KNOCK ON WOOD - no drastic side effects this time. I'll go in and have bloodwork done tomorrow and then they will see if I will have to do the last two shots or not. I'm hoping it's so high that I won't have to, but it got very high last time and then went down by the time the next chemo treatment rolled around. I'm wondering if I'll have to do the neupagen shots afer each treatment before I get done ??!!
This treatment really kicked my butt and I couldn't make it a whole day at work the whole rest of the week. Did take some naps after I came home on most of those days. Saturday I had to be at the hospital at 8:30 a.m. to get the shot - I got up feeling really good. Came home after the shot and got some things done - then had to go to Staples, then went to work for about four hours to work on next week's newsletter and also the W-2's & 1099's. Got a little housework done later in the afternoon and then Jeff and Jill and the boys came Saturday night - brought pizza for supper and we got to spend some quality time together. John was at the Swap Meet in Columbus all day and into the evening on Saturday doing his GOTRA promoter thing.
Sunday morning I had to be back out to the hospital at 8:30 a.m. for the shot - John took me out, then we went to church - Carrie met us there. Also got to catch up with friends Nelson & Shana, Tim & Odetta and Ron & Linda - and Pastor Jon, who had been gone all week to a continuing ed event. Was feeling pretty pooped after we got home so both of us spent the afternoon on the couch - me on the computer and John snoozing. Probably overdid yesterday. Hoping this week is better.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
All good news
Well I did the neupagen shots on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Went in for bloodwork on Monday, and the good news was that the numbers were so high that I didn't have to have a shot on Tuesday.
I finished up my last two Welchol tablets at noon on Monday, so I called my friend Nickole at Dr. B's office to see about getting a refill. I also needed to ask her about some rectal bleeding that I had been having. She thought that I needed to come to see Dr. B, so this morning John and I went to Omaha. * I have some irritation and also had a fissure (tear) which was causing the bleeding. Now the irritation and the fissure were probably caused by the diarrhea that I had been having. The diahrrhea that had been caused by either the neupagen shots or the anti-nausea tablets that I had taken - or probably a combination of both.
So the good news is that hopefully the irritation and the bleeding will take care of itself - and I also got the refill of the Welchol pills so that it can continue doing what it has been! (It especially is helpful during my chemo weeks so that I don't get constipated.)
I have an appointment with Dr. B set in February (which was set up after the post-op appointment) and we will see then if everything is all better.
* On another note - Carrie was going to work down 23rd Street when we were coming out of the McDonald's parking lot. She let us go in front of her and we got just past the stoplight on Clarkson when John's phone rang - Carrie's car had died. So we turned around and John helped her push the car into the closest parking lot. And then we took her to work. Guess that was good news too - we were just where we needed to be at the right time!! There are no coincidences.
I finished up my last two Welchol tablets at noon on Monday, so I called my friend Nickole at Dr. B's office to see about getting a refill. I also needed to ask her about some rectal bleeding that I had been having. She thought that I needed to come to see Dr. B, so this morning John and I went to Omaha. * I have some irritation and also had a fissure (tear) which was causing the bleeding. Now the irritation and the fissure were probably caused by the diarrhea that I had been having. The diahrrhea that had been caused by either the neupagen shots or the anti-nausea tablets that I had taken - or probably a combination of both.
So the good news is that hopefully the irritation and the bleeding will take care of itself - and I also got the refill of the Welchol pills so that it can continue doing what it has been! (It especially is helpful during my chemo weeks so that I don't get constipated.)
I have an appointment with Dr. B set in February (which was set up after the post-op appointment) and we will see then if everything is all better.
* On another note - Carrie was going to work down 23rd Street when we were coming out of the McDonald's parking lot. She let us go in front of her and we got just past the stoplight on Clarkson when John's phone rang - Carrie's car had died. So we turned around and John helped her push the car into the closest parking lot. And then we took her to work. Guess that was good news too - we were just where we needed to be at the right time!! There are no coincidences.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Chemo Treatment #6 - HALFWAY!
Did chemo treatment #6 on January 3 - and wore the pump until Thursday, January 5. #6 is halfway through - so I will be finished at 12 treatments (that will be in March 2012). (Dr. H's office was closed because of the holiday, so we were out of sync on the days - we are however back on to John's Monday & Tuesday off schedule!) Early Friday morning I had some nausea and vomiting - not sure what that was about, but did use one of my anti-nausea pills and that seemed to take care of it. On Friday morning I went into Dr. H's office to get a neupagen shot - it is to stimulate white blood cell count. Saturday morning we went to the hospital to get a shot. Had lots of trips to the bathroom today, not sure what that was about either. We were supposed to go help my greatnephew celebrate his third birthday today - but I decided that I better stay home and rest. Sunday morning I will go back to the hospital to get a shot and then on Monday and Tuesday I will get the shot at Dr. H's office - for a total of five shots. Hopefully this will circumvent any other problems with low blood count that would keep me from having a treatment. Monday I will go back in to do bloodwork. It was a crazy week at work - of course we are trying to get all the financial stuff rounded up so that we can close out the year and do Annual Reports - and then go on to W-2's & 1099's. This is always a crazy time of year. The boys went to the Monster Trucks on Friday night at the MAC - and I found myself dozing off throughout the night. John is on his sixth year as an Elder and changed committees this year - instead of being on Building & Property Committee, he is on Membership & Fellowship Committee - their first meeting is this coming Tuesday night. Carrie is being ordained as a Deacon Sunday at the 9:00 a.m. worship service - so I can't miss that! Because John is also ordained, when they do the "laying on of hands", he will be able to do that to Carrie for her ordination.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
After my trip to the ER on the 21st, I wasn't sure what the rest of the weekend would be like - Friday and Saturday were "catch up" days that I spent resting. By Sunday I was feeling pretty good, so we went to church (my first time back for a Sunday service since my October surgery) - and it went pretty well. Plus there was a special little guy that was baptized that morning, and we got to see Grandpa & Grandma and mom & dad and aunt and uncles! Came home and rested during the afternoon, while John made the soups for our Christmas get together that night. We went out to Carrie & Justin's about 4:00 and then opened up presents. This year the guys got an envelope and the girls got an envelope - from Jeff & Jill. The guys opened up their envelopes first to find tickets to the Monster Truck races! The girls opened up their envelopes to find tickets to Disney on Ice! Brody went and sat outside on the porch with his arms crossed, when he was asked what was going on, he said "This is just too much to take it all in". Guess he was overwhelmed. We all got lots of nice presents. Thanks to Carrie doing some shopping for me, John got a pretty new shirt. Luckily I had picked up cards and some stocking stuffers one day when I was out! John did all the rest of the shopping - not to mention the grocery shopping, the laundry, etc. etc. I can't tell you how much I appreciate him and how helpful he has been throughout this stressful year. Actually I appreciate ALL my family so much, as I certainly have needed lots of help.
Dr. B had talked with me about a prescription that would help even out the bowel movements, so initally I had tried some powder that you mixed with water to take three times a day before meals. That was going pretty well until the December 5 chemo treatment - by Wednesday I was afraid that I was going to throw everything up when I was drinking the last bit of the stuff. So I called the office to get the prescription for the pills (they had told me before that the pills were pretty pricey, but at that point I didn't care). Nickole had checked with the pharmacy to see what the copay was going to be - it was $46.92 - so John went and picked up the RX for me. I take two of the pills before each meal, and it is doing exactly what it is supposed to. I had a little trouble last week (diaper rash again), but I'm wondering if the antibiotic pill might be responsible for that.
Monday the 26th was our second day off for the holiday (I love when the days fall so we get a nice long weekend out of the deal!). Dr. H's office was closed on Monday too, so I went in Tuesday to get bloodwork done - things looked a whole lot better than they had the previous week. Dr. H wanted to do chemo treatment #6, but I told him that I would like to wait and build up some more strength, plus if we waited until next week that would be back to John's schedule of Monday & Tuesday off, so that he could be there. I was surprised that he didn't put up a fight to do the treatment, but he just said Ok. This was a busy week at work - Peggy had gone south, Dixie went to spend Christmas with her kids and grandkids and Shirley took the week off to spend time with her kids and grandkids. So Nancy and I held down the fort. I did get a lot of catch up stuff done, which should help with trying to do all of the stuff that has to be done in January - getting ready for Annual Reports and W'2's and 1099's and 941's which all have to be done before the end of January. It will be a long month, as it always is.
I have been feeling pretty good this week - the long days at work all week, plus Saturday I put away what little Christmas decorations that I'd gotten out. Cleaned the bathroom and did some laundry. On Sunday we went to church, and then Jeff came to town and brought Brody so that he could spend the night. We went to see Alvin & the Chipmunks - Chipwrecked and took Aunt Carrie and Uncle Justin with us. It was a funny movie - but then who doesn't like the chipmunks. Then we came home and played and colored, etc. Had pizza for supper (Brody's suggestion). After supper we played Left, Right, Center and Brody won! Played some more, then picked up toys and watched Cars 2 until Brody fell asleep (well, actually all of us fell asleep!). Monday morning (my New Year holiday) no one except for Grandpa was moving too quickly - and when we did get up, we were pretty much bums all day - stayed in our pj's! Brody helped me bring the snowmen down, so we got them out to decorate. Grandpa had gotten Brody a monster truck, so he spent most of the day playing with that and lots of cars. Dad came about 3:00 p.m. to take him back home. We had a great day! By the time 5:00 p.m. rolled around, Brody & Jeff had been gone for about an hour and 45 minutes, and I'd gotten in about an hour's nap.
Tomorrow will be back to the grind at work - with no holidays off until the Monday after Easter. I will also do chemo treatment #6 in the afternoon, and then wear the pump until Thursday (this is the halfway mark - I'll finish up in March 2012, barring any complications). When I get the pump off on Thursday I will have to get a shot everyday for five days (at Dr. H's office during the week, at the hospital over the weekend) - to help stimulate the white blood cell growth, so hopefully we won't have any more problems with low blood count. More about that after the fact!
I am praying that 2012 will be a much healthier year than 2011 has been! As you might imagine, I am anxious to have 2011 behind me, and will be pleased when all of the treatments are done.
Dr. B had talked with me about a prescription that would help even out the bowel movements, so initally I had tried some powder that you mixed with water to take three times a day before meals. That was going pretty well until the December 5 chemo treatment - by Wednesday I was afraid that I was going to throw everything up when I was drinking the last bit of the stuff. So I called the office to get the prescription for the pills (they had told me before that the pills were pretty pricey, but at that point I didn't care). Nickole had checked with the pharmacy to see what the copay was going to be - it was $46.92 - so John went and picked up the RX for me. I take two of the pills before each meal, and it is doing exactly what it is supposed to. I had a little trouble last week (diaper rash again), but I'm wondering if the antibiotic pill might be responsible for that.
Monday the 26th was our second day off for the holiday (I love when the days fall so we get a nice long weekend out of the deal!). Dr. H's office was closed on Monday too, so I went in Tuesday to get bloodwork done - things looked a whole lot better than they had the previous week. Dr. H wanted to do chemo treatment #6, but I told him that I would like to wait and build up some more strength, plus if we waited until next week that would be back to John's schedule of Monday & Tuesday off, so that he could be there. I was surprised that he didn't put up a fight to do the treatment, but he just said Ok. This was a busy week at work - Peggy had gone south, Dixie went to spend Christmas with her kids and grandkids and Shirley took the week off to spend time with her kids and grandkids. So Nancy and I held down the fort. I did get a lot of catch up stuff done, which should help with trying to do all of the stuff that has to be done in January - getting ready for Annual Reports and W'2's and 1099's and 941's which all have to be done before the end of January. It will be a long month, as it always is.
I have been feeling pretty good this week - the long days at work all week, plus Saturday I put away what little Christmas decorations that I'd gotten out. Cleaned the bathroom and did some laundry. On Sunday we went to church, and then Jeff came to town and brought Brody so that he could spend the night. We went to see Alvin & the Chipmunks - Chipwrecked and took Aunt Carrie and Uncle Justin with us. It was a funny movie - but then who doesn't like the chipmunks. Then we came home and played and colored, etc. Had pizza for supper (Brody's suggestion). After supper we played Left, Right, Center and Brody won! Played some more, then picked up toys and watched Cars 2 until Brody fell asleep (well, actually all of us fell asleep!). Monday morning (my New Year holiday) no one except for Grandpa was moving too quickly - and when we did get up, we were pretty much bums all day - stayed in our pj's! Brody helped me bring the snowmen down, so we got them out to decorate. Grandpa had gotten Brody a monster truck, so he spent most of the day playing with that and lots of cars. Dad came about 3:00 p.m. to take him back home. We had a great day! By the time 5:00 p.m. rolled around, Brody & Jeff had been gone for about an hour and 45 minutes, and I'd gotten in about an hour's nap.
Tomorrow will be back to the grind at work - with no holidays off until the Monday after Easter. I will also do chemo treatment #6 in the afternoon, and then wear the pump until Thursday (this is the halfway mark - I'll finish up in March 2012, barring any complications). When I get the pump off on Thursday I will have to get a shot everyday for five days (at Dr. H's office during the week, at the hospital over the weekend) - to help stimulate the white blood cell growth, so hopefully we won't have any more problems with low blood count. More about that after the fact!
I am praying that 2012 will be a much healthier year than 2011 has been! As you might imagine, I am anxious to have 2011 behind me, and will be pleased when all of the treatments are done.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)