Thursday, February 16, 2012

Chemo Treatment #9

Well I did chemo treatment #9 on Monday, February 13, and got the pump off on Wednesday, February 15.  One year ago on February 15 - was when I had my colonoscopy and they found the tumor.  This year has been a real roller coaster ride!  Because of the problems that I was having with my feet, Dr. H did not do the one chemo drug this time - oxaliplatin.  He didn't want the damage to my feet to get any worse - he believes that it was causing some peripheral neuropathy.  This also cut the infusion time down by about an hour too.  This chemo was what caused the sensitivity to cold in my fingers, and also gave me a weird feeling in my throat if I drank something cold.  It was also easier this time to get the bowels working again - the chemo has a tendency to constipate me a little.  I am not going to have to do the oxaliplatin the rest of the time.  Knock on wood - no side effects this time.  Dr. H did prescribe another anti nausea pill if I needed it - hopefully I won't.  I got a neupogen shot today at Dr. H's office and will also get one on Friday and Saturday at the hospital.  This has been a busy week at work - we did staff planning on Tuesday, February 14 - after eating our pancakes, etc. from the all you can eat pancake feed that the Mariners put on - we went through the calendar from March through December to come up with a master calendar.  After work on Tuesday we took Brody & Brant's valentine presents down to them - Brody got a John Deere excavator and Brant got a  John Deere dump truck.   They were having fun playing with them, and it was fun watching them!  Also had to do paychecks this week and the BELL will be mailed out tomorrow.  Plus catching up on vouchering and writing checks.  I have been tired, but made it through ok - have come home and taken a little nap a couple of days this week.  When I come home for lunch, I usually rest before I go back to work.
Had a great weekend - even though it was very cold out!  I needed to fill my prescription for my Welchol, so Jeff ran me to the pharmacy so I could pick it up.  John went to a Swap Meet Auction in Hastings, Nebraska on Saturday to do some promoting for GOTRA.  Pat & Denise came to town on Saturday night and we went to Brass Wok for supper.  Sunday I stayed inside and hibernated - actually I worked on the computer all day!  I have always been on the cold blooded side, but it seems that since I've been doing the chemo I am always cold - so usually you can find me curled up on the couch with my blankie!  John got me a heated blanket for Christmas, and I have been using that too.  Seems like I have been having trouble with running a fever the week after the chemo treatment, so I have to be careful about keeping too warm with the blankets - and keep an eye on my temp.  And I do appreciate my heated mattress pad on the bed - so that things are warm when I go to bed at night too.
Guess that's about all for now - three more treatments to go and I am anxious to be done!
Hope you all got to spend Valentines Day with your honey (s)!  I got the most beautiful pair of black hills gold earrings from John - not for Valentine's Day, but for being 3/4 of the way done with my chemo!  He really spoils me.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Chemo treatment #8

I did chemo treatment #8 on Monday, January 30 and got the pump off on Wednesday, February 1. 
This is a very busy time at work - we had the Annual Meeting on Sunday, January 30 - and ran the Annual Reports for that meeting on Friday, January 28.  Then next it was on to printing the W-2's & 1099's and W3 and 1096 and W3N - then end of the month paychecks.  I felt very good on Monday and Tuesday, which was a big help to get all of this done that has to be done by certain deadlines. 
On Wednesday however, I came home early as I wasn't feeling good.  Did a little snoozing on the couch in the afternoon, but then before John came home from work I got sick.  And then I was sick again in the middle of the night - will talk to Dr. H about that on my next appt, as he said he could give me something else for the nausea.  I also had been having some tingling in my toes - kind of like the tingling in my hands to cold when I have the pump on.  Dr. H told me that was from the infusion chemo, and if it continued that he could cut back a little on that chemo.  Knock on wood - so far this time it hasn't been nearly as bad.  Thursday and Friday I had to go out and get a neupagen shot - on Saturday I had to go to the hospital to get the shot.  Luckily John was home so he could take me - if it would have been just me, I would have cancelled.  The streets were very slick and the visibility was very low!  I bet we probably had five inches of snow when we went out there at 8:00 a.m.  Picked up some oatmeal and breakfast burritos on the way home.  When we got home John started some chili - and boy does it smell good!  Then he went out and did a little plowing with the tractor.  I had brought home some paperwork to go through and I got that all done.  Just started the dishwasher and John thinks it's time to try out the chili (it's delicious by the way!).  Will work on some laundry now.  Maybe in between loads I can work on my office to organize the GOTRA stuff so I can start getting ready for income tax. 
I'm feeling really good at this end of the week, which is different than the last couple of treatments - it's taken me into the second week to get any energy back.  I have four more treatments to go and will finish up the last week of March.  Needless to say I am anxious to get this all over and done with.  Then I guess we'll see where we go from there.  I certainly want to thank everyone for their good wishes - and am always very aware of the people that are praying for me through this journey - I couldn't do what I need to do without all the support from my friends and my family.  Love you all!