I did chemo treatment #11 on Monday, March 12 - once again this time it was a shorter amount of time than normal. I got the pump off on Wednesday, March 14. Also on Wednesday they told me that I would have to do bloodwork on the19th - so there went missing out on that ONE day of not having bloodwork done. The word for this week was constipation - not a good word and not a word that I have been too familiar with. Starting the bowel movements back up after the chemo treatment has always started at a different time - usually by noon on Wednesday things had started moving again. Well this time things were moving, but not too fast, and very painfully. Carrie had picked up some colace for me and I had started back up on the miralax. I checked with my angel Nickole, Dr. B's medical assistant and she told me to double up on the miralax. Well the dam broke loose on Friday - so much so that I had to work from home so I could be close to the bathroom! Wednesday it also broke loose again during the afternoon, and then I was up early Thursday morning going to the bathroom - both times I took a small amount of immodium, which took care of the diarrhea. Now when I say diarrhea, it is not the same for me as what it is for most of you - for me the diarrhea means that the bowel movements are coming too close together! Nickole told me this process would be like a teeter totter - we would have to find the right balance to keep things normal. (Not too much miralax to get the diarrhea, but not too much immodium to slow it down too much!) So I am curious to see what happens after the next (and last) infusion!
One of the things that had been different with this chemo treatment than the ones before is that I had been running a temp at the end of the week of the infusion, but had not been running a fever on the second week. Another one of those weird side effects that has not been the same.
The GOTRA Spring Meeting was held on Sunday, March 18 - and I have to thank my friend Carol S. for helping me that day taking forms, etc. After the meeting, John went to Omaha, so Jeff and Brody and he and Uncle Richard could go fishing at Lake Cunningham. I went home to the couch, but I don't think it wore me out as much as the Fall Meeting did!
On the 19th I went and had my bloodwork done - and then I went and had my mammogram done. They did the normal shots and after the radiologist had looked at those she did three more shots - but after looking at those, the radiologist said everything looked fine. It was different trying to do the mammogram with the port in on the left side. I do believe that I had done my mammogram before I got the first port put in last March. From there I went to Big B's and got to talk to Sharon (one of the owners), who has had her own fight with both colon cancer and also lung cancer (metastasized from the colon cancer). It's always good to be able to sympathize with and encourage someone else going through this journey.
It's surprising how small of a kindness makes such a difference when you're fighting cancer - believe I can tell you that it does! That's why I appreciate everyone so much that has been praying for me, calling me, stopping by to see me and sending cards or emails or messages on Facebook - that truly has been what has kept me going through this long process! We are at thirteen months (as of March 15) of going through this journey now and even to me it seems like it has been forever.
My feet have still been bothering me, sometimes being tingly and sometimes feeling numb - John had asked Dr. H on the 12th if the peripheral neuropathy would go away - and of course Dr. H's response was that he hoped so, and hopefully that we had stopped the one chemo drug in time to do that.
On another note - some of the kids and a couple of adults from the senior high group at church decided to shave their heads to show their solidarity for Jay, who is battling Hodgkin's Lymphoma!
Also our friend Dan has finished up his six chemo treatments to fight Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
Our friend Brian has started on his regimen of chemo treatments, which sound alot like the regimen I have been on.
Now on to #12 - the FINAL treatment.
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