The best part...."no evidence of metastatic disease' YAY!!!!
Thursday, January 28, 2016
PET CT
This is a test I've been anxiously awaiting. Kind of like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Has this spread to other areas? Will they find more hotspots? Because this one involves being put in a small confined tube for an extended amount of time, and they need all your muscles to be completely relaxed they recommended that I take a tranquilizer. So when I got there they got the IV in, gave me a couple pills and then moved me to a dark quiet room where they wanted me to try and sleep for an hour. Then they came and woke my up and we moved to the other room where I crawled up onto a tray and was slid into the oven!
The best part...."no evidence of metastatic disease' YAY!!!!
The best part...."no evidence of metastatic disease' YAY!!!!
Thursday, January 21, 2016
ovaries...who needs em?
Apparently not me! Because my type of tumors are over 90% estrogen receptor positive, that means they are being fed and fueled mainly by the estrogen my body is producing. So we need to cut off their fuel supply. Combine that with the fact that because the BRCA2 gene also puts me at high risk for ovarian cancer they highly recommend that I do a complete hysterectomy and remove all my parts. So take the boobs, take the uterus, take the ovaries....Might be changing my name to Bruce Jenner..oh excuse me, Caitlyn Jenner. Definitely feel like women just lacking all the parts:)
It had been a couple of years since I had a full physical so they wanted me to have that done before starting chemo. If they were not happy with the way the ovaries looked they would remove them before starting chemo. If they looked ok...we would do the chemo first and tackle that part after.
So I went and had my physical done and then had an ultrasound done of my ovaries. They did find a fairly decent sized cyst on my right ovary but are comfortable enough with the way it looks that they want to go ahead and do the chemo and radiation first and then when that is all done we will tackle the hysterectomy.
It had been a couple of years since I had a full physical so they wanted me to have that done before starting chemo. If they were not happy with the way the ovaries looked they would remove them before starting chemo. If they looked ok...we would do the chemo first and tackle that part after.
So I went and had my physical done and then had an ultrasound done of my ovaries. They did find a fairly decent sized cyst on my right ovary but are comfortable enough with the way it looks that they want to go ahead and do the chemo and radiation first and then when that is all done we will tackle the hysterectomy.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
It's a hair affair....
Losing your hair. It's pretty common knowledge that bald heads and cancer seem to go hand in hand. I really haven't been overly concerned about this aspect of it. For starters I kind of figured that I could lose 75% of my hair and still be just fine. I would just look like most other people! Unfortunately a little education on the matter blew that theory out the window. Obviously I'm no medical expert, but at this point it's my understanding that cancer occurs when cells divide rapidly and are not being repaired properly and basically mutate. So the job of chemotherapy is to attack rapidly dividing cells. Finger nails, toe nails, tissues in your mouth, and hair follicles are all considered rapidly dividing cells that end up being innocent victims of your chemo treatments. That's why its fairly common to lose some nails, have mouth sores and lose your hair. Apparently, the faster your hair grows and the thicker your hair is, that means those cells are dividing more rapidly than your average persons hair follicles. So when chemo enters the system and is looking for those rapidly dividing cells.....the thicker your hair is, the faster your hair grows, the quicker it's going to fall out. Again, I'm no medical expert so please don't quote me on this but this is information I've been told and have read in the process of all the research I've done. So I'm kind of assuming I'm going to be bald for a while! A piece of advice I've been given from several people is to cut the long hair off before it starts falling out. For hygenic purposes it's much easier not to have big long clumps of laying around but more importantly, for psychological reasons. To go from really long thick hair to being bald is a pretty big jump so many recommend that you take some baby steps and have some fun with some short hairstyles first.
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| All the girls in this house have long thick hair! I wish I had a picture of Ashley Brandi Kendra and myself! |
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| Those bushy looking squirrel tales on the cupboard are ponytails she cut off. There is a place where you can bring your hair in and they will make you a wig out of your own hair! But I really didn't feel like it was worth the hassle and money that would take! So I told her to just ship them off to whatever wig making company they felt was reputable.
The idea of making such a drastic change was a little intimidating at first but shoot, once you've chopped off your boobs chopping off you hair really doesn't seem like all that big of deal. Plus I figured worse case scenario...if I really hated it, it's probably all going to fall out in a couple weeks anyway!!
Turns out, I love it! Its super easy!! Get up and run my fingers through it in the morning and I'm pretty much done. Will definitely make it so much easier. With my limited arm movement it's been pretty tough being able to get my hair done decently so there's been a lot of days where I've been a hot mess! Kind of wishing now that I would have done this earlier so I could enjoy it longer:)
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Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Port Installation
I was more than ready to get the port put in since my veins are becoming so uncooperative. Its a simple outpatient procedure, they knock you out for about an hour...you recover for a couple hours and then get to go home. I assumed it would be a walk in the park. It really wasn't so bad that first day. But the next day....I kind of got hit by a reality check. I'm sorry but there's really no other way to say it than that port hurt like a SOB!
I was so happy to have full function back on my left side and was feeling quite proud of myself for being -according to the PT- ahead of schedule. Well guess where the port went it? yep...left side. And my body doesn't want it in there. Apparently though this will only last for a couple of days and while it may always be somewhat uncomfortable it will supposedly quit stabbing me every time I swallow or talk or move. Ok....enough whining and complaining! It will be well worth it to save the veins in my arms and hands and stop feeling like a pin cushion!
A port is a small plastic device that they implanted right below the collar bone. From what I can tell it measures about 1 1/2 inches. Out of the plastic device is a tube that feeds directly into the jugular vein in my neck. The plastic device has a magnetic center in it that needles will automatically connect with when blood draws or injections are needed. So in the long run...it will be a very good thing! But for today....it sucks:/
I was so happy to have full function back on my left side and was feeling quite proud of myself for being -according to the PT- ahead of schedule. Well guess where the port went it? yep...left side. And my body doesn't want it in there. Apparently though this will only last for a couple of days and while it may always be somewhat uncomfortable it will supposedly quit stabbing me every time I swallow or talk or move. Ok....enough whining and complaining! It will be well worth it to save the veins in my arms and hands and stop feeling like a pin cushion!
A port is a small plastic device that they implanted right below the collar bone. From what I can tell it measures about 1 1/2 inches. Out of the plastic device is a tube that feeds directly into the jugular vein in my neck. The plastic device has a magnetic center in it that needles will automatically connect with when blood draws or injections are needed. So in the long run...it will be a very good thing! But for today....it sucks:/
While they were in there they re cleaned and re packed the right incision. It does seem to be making progress and we will go back in next week so he can check that out again. Onward and upward!
One more thing crossed off the list:)
Well, life has just been continuing to march on along! Loved having Ashley home for 3 weeks, she headed back to school yesterday:) Bob was home for 3 weeks as well which was very strange but really nice! We spent a rare Christmas at home instead of traveling over the mountains, and while we definitely missed being with our families we still had a pretty wonderful Christmas! I ended up with a staph infection in one of my insicions which hasn't really been a barrel of laughs, and that has delayed forward progress some but we do seem to be getting on top of that now.
I had surgery this morning to have a port installed, my veins seem to have started to rebel a little these past couple weeks so I'm kind of excited to have the port in so we can stop the hide and seek game with my veins:) if the infection continues to clear up well, the goal is to be able to start chemo by the 29th of January. The first 2 months we will be doing chemo every other week, after that we will be doing weekly chemo treatments for 12 additional weeks. When that's all done we'll tackle 33 doses of radiation. So while that may seem daunting when you lay it all out there, we're really trying to remember that this is not all that our world is, its just PART of our life right now...and our 'normal' life still continues. The kids still have 4h and ffa and basketball games and fairs, there's still work to do and errands to run and friends to enjoy! While it's doubtful that I may be able to return to work anytime real soon, Ill try to focus on getting some more of my own schooling done on my good days and just lay low on the bad days. Through it all we continue to be overwhelmed and incredibly grateful for God's amazing blessings! Everyone should have the opportunity at some point in thier lives to experience the incredible amount of love and support that our family has been blessed with over this past month! It is truly life altering!
Xoxox
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