I got this note from my Doctor last night-----"The blood cells are OK and the liver tests are also fine."
Today Thursday 30 October 2008
I started cycle six today. Saw the DR today, we talked about how well Chemo seems to be working for me. The lymph nodes appear to have gone down more, so that they are harder for him to find. Somehow or another I lucked out today and got one of the **Private** room again, so Mack and Roxanne sat and visited with me for the whole time I was receiving treatment which I tolerated. I swear when they hung the Paclitaxel (Taxol®), I could taste it----yuck!! I had one episode during my treatment, where my right hand started to swell (hand with the IV in it),get cold and was also was painful on the outer under side of the wrist. Mack got the Nurse to look at it and she gave me a hot pack to rest my arm on and told me to elevate the hand more than the elbow. That seemed to help some. Now that I’m home the swelling has gone down, hand is back to normal size again, with minimal bruising.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
CYCLE FIVE Day Twenty-Two NO Treatment Week
Nothing much to report this week since it’s my rest week. Keep-er and I are continuing with our morning walks around the neighbourhood ---as long as the weather holds out. The good/bad news this week is my counts are down.
WBC **3.4** (normal 4.0 – 10.5)
ANC **1.14** (normal 1.80 - 8.30)
That means that we are getting the a good response to the Chemo treatments, but also means that I have to be careful of where I go as my immune system is currently compromised.
My brother and sister from out of town have been in town this week going thru our parent’s estate stuff and dividing it up among the four of us. We came across this photo of me as an infant of about 6 months of age. Seems like my hair style then is much the same as now
Blast from the past!!
the more things change the more the stay the same!!
WBC **3.4** (normal 4.0 – 10.5)
ANC **1.14** (normal 1.80 - 8.30)
That means that we are getting the a good response to the Chemo treatments, but also means that I have to be careful of where I go as my immune system is currently compromised.
My brother and sister from out of town have been in town this week going thru our parent’s estate stuff and dividing it up among the four of us. We came across this photo of me as an infant of about 6 months of age. Seems like my hair style then is much the same as now
Blast from the past!!
the more things change the more the stay the same!!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
CYCLE FIVE Day Fifteen Treatment Week Three
I tolerate the treatment well. No problems. I am Surviving!!
All blood work is within the *normal* range this is good yeah!!!!
No Pizza and a movie night, G’kid sick with sniffles, and the Beagle rescue group has a brand new litter of 6 puppies on the ground that they are having to help mom care for.
Keep-er and I are back walking at least once a day now as the days are getting shorter and wetter, so like summer we are doing more, and more mall walking.
I saw my surgeon this week and she said “so why did the Oncologist send you here? And just WHERE is this tumor supposed to *normally reside*?” giggle She couldn't find the primary one in the breast---the ones in the lymph nodes are still palpable, however she feels we might be able to treat them without surgery.since I'm getting such good results with Chemo, she wants me to continue with the Chemo regime then come back and see her in middle of January and we'll talk again. So it looking like I may NOT need surgery after all.
All blood work is within the *normal* range this is good yeah!!!!
No Pizza and a movie night, G’kid sick with sniffles, and the Beagle rescue group has a brand new litter of 6 puppies on the ground that they are having to help mom care for.
Keep-er and I are back walking at least once a day now as the days are getting shorter and wetter, so like summer we are doing more, and more mall walking.
I saw my surgeon this week and she said “so why did the Oncologist send you here? And just WHERE is this tumor supposed to *normally reside*?” giggle She couldn't find the primary one in the breast---the ones in the lymph nodes are still palpable, however she feels we might be able to treat them without surgery.since I'm getting such good results with Chemo, she wants me to continue with the Chemo regime then come back and see her in middle of January and we'll talk again. So it looking like I may NOT need surgery after all.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
CYCLE FIVE Day Eight Treatment Week Two
So I think we scared Sarah away from the exam room after last weeks visit with the Doctor. This week she stayed out in the *family* room the coward . Well TS (research nurse) was sick to day so I saw DS the other research nurse (she’s not as informative as TS is)
today's IV site, As the back of my hand from last week is still purple and green.
The good news that a week OFF of Potassium is it still within normal limits.
My sinus infection seems to be somewhat better. I’m not running as “high” a low grade fever as I was.
Keep-er and I still have not gotten back into the routine of walking----the rains have come so that means that I need to do the mall again. ONE day we’ll get back there.
My friends at Cascade Beagle Rescue got me a *new* wig. I put it on and was leaning against the door frame and Sarah says "that's not a good place to go to sleep G'ma" as she snapped my picture. **grin**
today's IV site, As the back of my hand from last week is still purple and green.
The good news that a week OFF of Potassium is it still within normal limits.
My sinus infection seems to be somewhat better. I’m not running as “high” a low grade fever as I was.
Keep-er and I still have not gotten back into the routine of walking----the rains have come so that means that I need to do the mall again. ONE day we’ll get back there.
My friends at Cascade Beagle Rescue got me a *new* wig. I put it on and was leaning against the door frame and Sarah says "that's not a good place to go to sleep G'ma" as she snapped my picture. **grin**
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Cycle FIVE Day One Treatment Week One
Today while at the Doctor’s it was pick on the “teenage kid” Poor Sarah……she was sitting on the bed* when the DR came in and I said she’s the patient today---He started in with how he hoped she never was and that she could make sure by eating right (no hamburgers, French fries, taco bell etc) exercising, getting plenty of sleep, not drinking pop (it leaches calcium out of young women’s bones) then we introduced him to the phenomium of young girls cleaning their rooms in the middle of the night cause they can’t sleep----as far ash he knows his daughter never did that.
I have been fighting a sinus infection all week, with a low grade fever, so Keep-er and I have NOT been walking lately. This past week I had both a CT scan and a Bone scan done to see how things are progressing. I saw the research nurse called on Wednesday of last week and she had gotten permission to tell me that the CT Scan was looking good. When I called her about the Bone scan the radiologist hadn’t done ALL the assignment and done a comparison study with the previous ones to see if things were progressing the way we hoped they would be, so I have to wait till next week to get the results from the DR
WBC 4.4 (normal 4.0 – 10.5)
ANC 2.20 (1.80 - 8.30)
HGB 14.0 (12.0-16.0)
HCT 41.2 (34.5 - 45.0)
PLT 348 (140- 375)
Potassium 3.8 (normal 3.5-5.1)
As seen above (no red or stared items) all lab values are with in their normal ranges. The CT Scan shows **Slight interval reduction in size of the target lesion #1** The Bone Scan show ***abnormalities on the right side of L3 and in a focus on the left iliac crest have not changed significantly on the bone scan, and there is NO evidence of any new abnormality. *** the Chemo is working YEAH TEAM!!!!! Tonight is Pizza and a Movie night. Tonight’s movie is *God said Ha!!* Julia Sweeney tells the viewers the monologue about the hard time in her life when her brother fought with cancer and she was also diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Comic, actress, and Saturday Night Live alumni Julia Sweeney had just moved to a cozy little bungalow in Los Angeles. Her life was buzzing along quite nicely, thank you very much, and she was planning days of writing, evenings of dinner parties and smart conversations, and nights of quiet solitude. "That's when God said 'Ha!'" confesses Sweeney in her monologue-cum-one woman Broadway show and for the next 80 minutes she shares the intimate experiences of an emotionally turbulent year in her life. Her brother is diagnosed with cancer and takes up residence in her bedroom, her parents move down from Washington and into the guest room, and the adult Sweeney is suddenly reliving her childhood in a bizarre nuclear family flashback. The magic of God Said Ha! lies in her loving lampoon of the details surrounding an inherently tragic situation: learning to deal with the foibles of her parents all over again, sneaking a boyfriend into her ridiculously crowded house like an embarrassed teenager, turning her brother's chemotherapy visits into giggly family outings. Sweeney is in total command of the stage, more like a host giving a cockeyed tour of her life than a monologist, and her easy manner and relaxed tone puts the audience at ease. It's a brave, funny, and irresistibly involving film, like the reflective confession of a dear friend sharing intimate details of her life with a mischievous grin. Tragedy has never been so respectfully hilarious. --Sean Axmaker
All in all I would say its been an OK week
~~Jann
I have been fighting a sinus infection all week, with a low grade fever, so Keep-er and I have NOT been walking lately. This past week I had both a CT scan and a Bone scan done to see how things are progressing. I saw the research nurse called on Wednesday of last week and she had gotten permission to tell me that the CT Scan was looking good. When I called her about the Bone scan the radiologist hadn’t done ALL the assignment and done a comparison study with the previous ones to see if things were progressing the way we hoped they would be, so I have to wait till next week to get the results from the DR
WBC 4.4 (normal 4.0 – 10.5)
ANC 2.20 (1.80 - 8.30)
HGB 14.0 (12.0-16.0)
HCT 41.2 (34.5 - 45.0)
PLT 348 (140- 375)
Potassium 3.8 (normal 3.5-5.1)
As seen above (no red or stared items) all lab values are with in their normal ranges. The CT Scan shows **Slight interval reduction in size of the target lesion #1** The Bone Scan show ***abnormalities on the right side of L3 and in a focus on the left iliac crest have not changed significantly on the bone scan, and there is NO evidence of any new abnormality. *** the Chemo is working YEAH TEAM!!!!! Tonight is Pizza and a Movie night. Tonight’s movie is *God said Ha!!* Julia Sweeney tells the viewers the monologue about the hard time in her life when her brother fought with cancer and she was also diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Comic, actress, and Saturday Night Live alumni Julia Sweeney had just moved to a cozy little bungalow in Los Angeles. Her life was buzzing along quite nicely, thank you very much, and she was planning days of writing, evenings of dinner parties and smart conversations, and nights of quiet solitude. "That's when God said 'Ha!'" confesses Sweeney in her monologue-cum-one woman Broadway show and for the next 80 minutes she shares the intimate experiences of an emotionally turbulent year in her life. Her brother is diagnosed with cancer and takes up residence in her bedroom, her parents move down from Washington and into the guest room, and the adult Sweeney is suddenly reliving her childhood in a bizarre nuclear family flashback. The magic of God Said Ha! lies in her loving lampoon of the details surrounding an inherently tragic situation: learning to deal with the foibles of her parents all over again, sneaking a boyfriend into her ridiculously crowded house like an embarrassed teenager, turning her brother's chemotherapy visits into giggly family outings. Sweeney is in total command of the stage, more like a host giving a cockeyed tour of her life than a monologist, and her easy manner and relaxed tone puts the audience at ease. It's a brave, funny, and irresistibly involving film, like the reflective confession of a dear friend sharing intimate details of her life with a mischievous grin. Tragedy has never been so respectfully hilarious. --Sean Axmaker
All in all I would say its been an OK week
~~Jann
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