The nausea's starting to kick in. My appointment was only about two hours this morning since it's only the first part of the chemo. My platelets were 100, which is still pretty low. I only have one more round of the Adriamycin, but the other two parts should be easier on my blood counts (and hopefully the rest of me too). Dr. C checked the tumor and says it feels smaller and flatter and less defined. I asked him about my constantly running nose and he said that's from the chemo. That's the only new side effect I've been noticing, except for the rest of my stubble falling out.
I stopped by Walgreens after the hospital and found some SeaBands, which are dorky-looking wristbands that use pressure at special points on your wrists to help alleviate nausea. I'm desperate to avoid another week straight of feeling sick, so hopefully they'll work. I also stopped at McDonalds on the way home (bad idea, I know) and got a sweet tea. I could feel the taste get progressively worse over the 20-minute drive home. Water's back to its crappy taste too.
Another thing going to crap is my brain. I feel like I'm forgetting things all the time and it's SO hard to concentrate, especially when it tastes like there's a dirty sock in my mouth and my stomach hurts and I just want to sleep, sleep, sleep, and then sleep some more. I'll go out to the store and then forget what I came for, and of course I'll have left the list at home. I have a test in one class tomorrow, I just hope I can remember enough to pass it.
It's way easier to just clean and play with the dogs than to sit down and study or do homework. I got a nice little patio set for the backyard for $32, so the dogs and I can hang out outside (with the mosquitoes). And I bought a really cool pooper scooper, Our Pets Skoop-N-Pak, because there is NO way I'm picking up warm, squishy dog poop when I'm already this nauseous.
Some pictures of our babies can be found on this Facebook album.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Change of Plans
We went for round two of chemo today, but my platelets were only at 91. Dr. C said the one study shows that it's most effective to give the A/C chemo combination every 2 weeks, but that there were two other arms that it followed. One was just to do the combo every 3 weeks, though slightly less effective. And the other was to split the A and the C parts, and do them separately every 2 weeks, which is more effective than the three weeks schedule. So we're going to try that, since we kind of don't have many other options. I had my second round of (only) the Adriamycin today (along with anti-nausea meds and steroids). This'll just prolong my chemo, and estimated surgery date, but the side effects should decrease. I'm still starting to feel nauseous though, and my legs hurt, and I'm tired, and that really gross taste in my mouth is coming back. But other than that I'm fine. I'm going in tomorrow to get the single Neulasta shot instead of the 10 individual shots. And then we're going to hopefully do the 3rd round of the Adriamycin two weeks from now.
Updates from last week that I missed:
Updates from last week that I missed:
- We had an earthquake Tuesday. The house shook and scared the crap out of me, but there wasn't any serious damage.
- Hurricane Irene hit Saturday night/Sunday morning. The power went out around 2 AM and didn't come back on until today around 2 PM. It was terrible.
- The in-laws are visiting in two weeks and bringing Kyle's super fat dogs.
- I had a post-surgery follow-up with Dr. K Thursday. Everything looks fine, and I made appointments with radiation oncology to see if I need radiation after chemo and with their new in-house plastic surgeon, Dr. P, to find out about getting new boobs later.
- Kyle and I shaved each other's heads Thursday night. My hair started coming out in clumps Tuesday and was getting EVERYWHERE, so we kind of needed to do it. Walmart finally brought out winter hats though so I stocked up, because my head feels cold all the time now. But it's nice and round (thanks Mommy!), and I keep thinking of that episode of Roseanne where Jackie's rolling the baby to keep his head from getting a flat spot.
Monday, August 22, 2011
No Chemo Today
I was supposed to get round two of chemo today, but the doctor saw my lab results and said no chemo today. My platelets are 50, and she wants them at least 100 before doing more chemo. My hemoglobin dropped from 12 to 10.2, but my white count is good (6.2), so the shots worked.
She told me to come back next Monday and they'll check my blood again. They used to give people chemo every 3 weeks instead of every 2 weeks anyway, so she said not to worry about it.
Not much to do this week then, except start work for my classes.
She told me to come back next Monday and they'll check my blood again. They used to give people chemo every 3 weeks instead of every 2 weeks anyway, so she said not to worry about it.
Not much to do this week then, except start work for my classes.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
And Now I'm Hungry
I'm feeling much better. I was a little nauseous and tired yesterday, but we managed to go out shopping for new sheets, even though Kyle wanted to whine the whole time. I ended up buying the mattress on my wishlist Friday night, and it got here Saturday afternoon (thanks Amazon Prime!). We've only slept on it one night so far, but I can finally sleep on my side again without it hurting so I think it was worth it. It's much quieter than our other one too, which is good for when I get up to pee five times in the middle of the night.
The shots are going okay I guess, except for the nasty bruise Kyle left on my leg. My neck and shoulders still hurt from them. And my chest has been hurting since yesterday morning when I breathe in too deep. I'm going to call tomorrow and let them know (what were they going to tell me to do on the weekend besides go to the ER?). I've been checking my temperature and it's been normal, so that's good. I definitely want to switch to the one-time shot instead of 30 more, especially since I'm not having any bone pain. I'll ask about it during my next round.
My scars look like they're healing okay, the creepy twine stuff finally came off. I'll admit I've been slack on my arm stretches, but I make sure I stretch it out somewhat every day, and it's definitely improving since the surgery. Kyle pointed out the extra piece of skin in my armpit now though. Eww. But I think the feeling's starting to come back.
I'm glad the nausea's gone at least (for now), but now I have a different problem: It seems like I'm hungry all the time. Food's getting its normal taste back too. It's good to know the week between chemo might not be so bad after all. But it sucks that I have 3 more rounds of this crap, and then some.
The shots are going okay I guess, except for the nasty bruise Kyle left on my leg. My neck and shoulders still hurt from them. And my chest has been hurting since yesterday morning when I breathe in too deep. I'm going to call tomorrow and let them know (what were they going to tell me to do on the weekend besides go to the ER?). I've been checking my temperature and it's been normal, so that's good. I definitely want to switch to the one-time shot instead of 30 more, especially since I'm not having any bone pain. I'll ask about it during my next round.
My scars look like they're healing okay, the creepy twine stuff finally came off. I'll admit I've been slack on my arm stretches, but I make sure I stretch it out somewhat every day, and it's definitely improving since the surgery. Kyle pointed out the extra piece of skin in my armpit now though. Eww. But I think the feeling's starting to come back.
I'm glad the nausea's gone at least (for now), but now I have a different problem: It seems like I'm hungry all the time. Food's getting its normal taste back too. It's good to know the week between chemo might not be so bad after all. But it sucks that I have 3 more rounds of this crap, and then some.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Chemo is Kicking My Ass
I've spent most of the last two days sleeping... We went back to the hospital yesterday to get the shot situation straightened out. The nurse gave us a huge bag of syringes, an awesome reminder of just how many shots I have to look forward to. The pharmacy called yesterday too and let me know they had another 10 vials ready for me by mistake. We also went wig shopping, which is way harder than deciding on a regular haircut, since this is permanent, and a lot more expensive. I need to make sure I have all the insurance stuff in order first before I spend $450 on some nylon hair. Apparently I still need some "Certification of Medical Necessity" for Tricare to cover it, even though the doctor gave me a prescription for a wig, with the reason for needing one written on it. So I guess I'll ask at my next appointment.
The anti-nausea medication makes me dizzy and drowsy, but I'm hoping the nausea will start to get better. Everything still tastes like crap. The shots aren't giving me any bone pain, yet, thankfully, but my shoulder and back muscles are really sore. And I've been really shaky, which didn't start until after the first Neupogen shot yesterday.
I can't believe classes start in two weeks...
The anti-nausea medication makes me dizzy and drowsy, but I'm hoping the nausea will start to get better. Everything still tastes like crap. The shots aren't giving me any bone pain, yet, thankfully, but my shoulder and back muscles are really sore. And I've been really shaky, which didn't start until after the first Neupogen shot yesterday.
I can't believe classes start in two weeks...
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Day After Chemo: I'm Still Alive!
Today was aggravating. I've been feeling a little nauseous, my ears were ringing last night (Dr. C said it might be from the steroids , and most of the stuff I eat tastes like crap. I spent most of the morning calling Financial Aid at CofC trying not to yell at dumb people. Someone from Disability Services ended up walking my forms over to their office to make sure they had everything in order. I have to call back Financial Aid tomorrow since no one picked up when I tried to call back later. Dr. C called this morning too, to check up on me. He said if I haven't gotten sick and vomited already that I probably won't at all. Oh good.
Kyle and I went grocery shopping when he got off work, and that was exhausting. I did order some new glasses online really cheap though. Walmart wanted over $120 just to replace my lenses in old frames, but I used Goggles4u and got two pairs of glasses for $55 total. One pair's even tinted and both pairs have fancy coatings on the lenses. There are a bunch of coupons online too if anyone's looking for new glasses. Hopefully nothing will go wrong with them.
Kyle was supposed to give me my first Neupogen shot today, which we picked up from the pharmacy earlier. Unfortunately, I didn't think to check them there, so when I pulled them out at 9:00, it turns out we only have vials of medication. The nurse told us we'd be getting prefilled syringes, with safety caps. I called the doctor's office and gave the nurse my number to have the on-call doctor call me back. A few minutes later, I had a voicemail on my phone, but it hadn't rung at all. The doctor said he'd called about 3 or 4 times, and that if was urgent, patients usually pick up their phone. Uhhh.. Thanks T-Mobile for my in-home dead zone. Gotta get that taken care of. I called back the nurse and gave her Kyle's number. The doctor says I should be fine for tonight, but to call first thing in the morning to see about getting some syringes.
I also just added a wishlist to the blog if anyone noticed. I really want a brand-new memory foam mattress before my next surgery because the one we have now is murderous on my new wounds. Christmas would be good timing, hint hint.
Kyle and I went grocery shopping when he got off work, and that was exhausting. I did order some new glasses online really cheap though. Walmart wanted over $120 just to replace my lenses in old frames, but I used Goggles4u and got two pairs of glasses for $55 total. One pair's even tinted and both pairs have fancy coatings on the lenses. There are a bunch of coupons online too if anyone's looking for new glasses. Hopefully nothing will go wrong with them.
Kyle was supposed to give me my first Neupogen shot today, which we picked up from the pharmacy earlier. Unfortunately, I didn't think to check them there, so when I pulled them out at 9:00, it turns out we only have vials of medication. The nurse told us we'd be getting prefilled syringes, with safety caps. I called the doctor's office and gave the nurse my number to have the on-call doctor call me back. A few minutes later, I had a voicemail on my phone, but it hadn't rung at all. The doctor said he'd called about 3 or 4 times, and that if was urgent, patients usually pick up their phone. Uhhh.. Thanks T-Mobile for my in-home dead zone. Gotta get that taken care of. I called back the nurse and gave her Kyle's number. The doctor says I should be fine for tonight, but to call first thing in the morning to see about getting some syringes.
I also just added a wishlist to the blog if anyone noticed. I really want a brand-new memory foam mattress before my next surgery because the one we have now is murderous on my new wounds. Christmas would be good timing, hint hint.
Monday, August 8, 2011
First Chemo Session
We hit up the oncologist this morning for my first round of chemo. They hooked up my port and Kyle kept calling me a cyborg. The nurse pointed out that this one is a newer model and has the three raised spots so it's easy to find. It's right under the incision, but she was able to go around it. We chatted with Dr. C first. He said the bone scan was fine. I got a prescription for a wig, just to have one if I want it later. Arienne came up to visit last week and we went hat shopping, so I have a nice selection right now.
They took us to the chemo room and we waited around, reading Calvin & Hobbes comics on the awesome Nook Simple Touch ereader Kyle bought for me (already on Harry Potter book four!). They finally hooked me up to some anti-nausea medications and steroids. Then a flush, and then a second round of anti-nausea medications and another flush. A nurse brought out the A part of the A/C, Adriamycin, in 3 bright red syringes. She sat there and injected them slowly through my port. Another flush, and then she brought out the Cytoxan, which looked like normal saline. I got up to use the bathroom in the middle of this and my pee had a nice bright pink tinge from the Adriamycin. The Cytoxan took over an hour to administer, but didn't give me a headache, otherwise they'd have to spread it out over a longer period of time. Kyle and I kept busy chatting with the nurses getting my prescriptions organized and with the talkative woman next to us, whose hair was starting to come back in. She's on the same schedule as me so I'll see her again. On the other side, an older woman's IV popped out and she started gushing blood everywhere. Lovely.
Before that fiasco, the nurse was showing Kyle how to give me the Neupogen shots once a day for the next 10 days. It took many phone calls to make sure the pharmacy had them and all the information since they're a "high dollar drug," and I'm going to pick them up tomorrow. If the bone pain gets too bad, I'll stop them altogether and see how that goes. Otherwise, I'm hoping it'll be okay and I can switch to the single injection that releases the medicine over 10 days instead of running from Kyle trying to stab me every night (Hey, Mommy managed to give them just fine the last time, even after a couple of beers...).
The nurse finally undid my machinery and trimmed some of the twine-like stitches popping out and irritating me. Dr. C stopped by to check on people, saw the nurse snipping away at my chest, and took off. Apparently blood and needles creep him out, and he's an oncologist...
They let us leave after that (four hours later). I felt fine, except maybe a little nauseous from watching that poor woman bleed all over the floor, and heavy because they pumped so much crap in me. I came home and had to make some angry phone calls because the receptionist said I was out of visits for referrals, when I've only been 3 times and I had 6 allowed visits. I called the McGuire clinic, who told me the doctor has to call that in to Tricare. So I called the doctor's office who said they don't do that. She ended up putting it in and told me it'd probably be denied. So I called Tricare and told them I didn't really know what the heck I needed. As long as I still have visits (which I know I do), it should be fine, and since the doctor called it in, it should be approved. Tricare said doctors' offices just don't feel like doing it sometimes, but that it shouldn't be denied. It may be a pain in the ass to navigate Tricare, but I will admit once you get past that, they are awesome. I think I've paid $13 total for prescriptions just because I went to CVS instead of on base. So far, they've covered over $80,000 worth of treatment, and that was before chemo started. They did, however, deny the genetics counselor's request to test me for the P53 gene, but she's going to try to get Dr. C to order it instead.
I called up the school's financial aid department after that to make sure my scholarships are going to go through. Some idiot part-time student-worker basically laughed as he read off all my scholarships that I would lose if I'm not a full-time student, even if I applied for a reduced courseload. He finally transferred me to someone more important, but she wasn't very nice either. She said what he said was true, UNLESS I was approved through Disability Services and she received notification. Well duh, that's what I've been doing... I called back Disability Services and they hadn't sent my paperwork out yet, which explains everything. So I will check again tomorrow to make sure it's all in order. And it better be, because I don't have a spare $4,000 sitting around.
When I finally finished yelling at people over the phone, Kyle and I took a much needed nap on our comfy couch. I popped ANOTHER anti-nausea medication, Compazine, before our nap because I was definitely feeling bleh, and still am (even after THREE anti-nausea meds?). I did eat, and refilled my water bottle hoping to make the water taste better. Turns out it wasn't the chemo acting up, but just some really nasty hospital water. I'm still kind of nausea and drowsy, and my stomach hurts, but then I realized I recognized a familiar pain: menstrual cramps! Yea, it's about that time... That's all I need right now.
They took us to the chemo room and we waited around, reading Calvin & Hobbes comics on the awesome Nook Simple Touch ereader Kyle bought for me (already on Harry Potter book four!). They finally hooked me up to some anti-nausea medications and steroids. Then a flush, and then a second round of anti-nausea medications and another flush. A nurse brought out the A part of the A/C, Adriamycin, in 3 bright red syringes. She sat there and injected them slowly through my port. Another flush, and then she brought out the Cytoxan, which looked like normal saline. I got up to use the bathroom in the middle of this and my pee had a nice bright pink tinge from the Adriamycin. The Cytoxan took over an hour to administer, but didn't give me a headache, otherwise they'd have to spread it out over a longer period of time. Kyle and I kept busy chatting with the nurses getting my prescriptions organized and with the talkative woman next to us, whose hair was starting to come back in. She's on the same schedule as me so I'll see her again. On the other side, an older woman's IV popped out and she started gushing blood everywhere. Lovely.
Before that fiasco, the nurse was showing Kyle how to give me the Neupogen shots once a day for the next 10 days. It took many phone calls to make sure the pharmacy had them and all the information since they're a "high dollar drug," and I'm going to pick them up tomorrow. If the bone pain gets too bad, I'll stop them altogether and see how that goes. Otherwise, I'm hoping it'll be okay and I can switch to the single injection that releases the medicine over 10 days instead of running from Kyle trying to stab me every night (Hey, Mommy managed to give them just fine the last time, even after a couple of beers...).
The nurse finally undid my machinery and trimmed some of the twine-like stitches popping out and irritating me. Dr. C stopped by to check on people, saw the nurse snipping away at my chest, and took off. Apparently blood and needles creep him out, and he's an oncologist...
They let us leave after that (four hours later). I felt fine, except maybe a little nauseous from watching that poor woman bleed all over the floor, and heavy because they pumped so much crap in me. I came home and had to make some angry phone calls because the receptionist said I was out of visits for referrals, when I've only been 3 times and I had 6 allowed visits. I called the McGuire clinic, who told me the doctor has to call that in to Tricare. So I called the doctor's office who said they don't do that. She ended up putting it in and told me it'd probably be denied. So I called Tricare and told them I didn't really know what the heck I needed. As long as I still have visits (which I know I do), it should be fine, and since the doctor called it in, it should be approved. Tricare said doctors' offices just don't feel like doing it sometimes, but that it shouldn't be denied. It may be a pain in the ass to navigate Tricare, but I will admit once you get past that, they are awesome. I think I've paid $13 total for prescriptions just because I went to CVS instead of on base. So far, they've covered over $80,000 worth of treatment, and that was before chemo started. They did, however, deny the genetics counselor's request to test me for the P53 gene, but she's going to try to get Dr. C to order it instead.
I called up the school's financial aid department after that to make sure my scholarships are going to go through. Some idiot part-time student-worker basically laughed as he read off all my scholarships that I would lose if I'm not a full-time student, even if I applied for a reduced courseload. He finally transferred me to someone more important, but she wasn't very nice either. She said what he said was true, UNLESS I was approved through Disability Services and she received notification. Well duh, that's what I've been doing... I called back Disability Services and they hadn't sent my paperwork out yet, which explains everything. So I will check again tomorrow to make sure it's all in order. And it better be, because I don't have a spare $4,000 sitting around.
When I finally finished yelling at people over the phone, Kyle and I took a much needed nap on our comfy couch. I popped ANOTHER anti-nausea medication, Compazine, before our nap because I was definitely feeling bleh, and still am (even after THREE anti-nausea meds?). I did eat, and refilled my water bottle hoping to make the water taste better. Turns out it wasn't the chemo acting up, but just some really nasty hospital water. I'm still kind of nausea and drowsy, and my stomach hurts, but then I realized I recognized a familiar pain: menstrual cramps! Yea, it's about that time... That's all I need right now.
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