Hello Everybody,I had my scan on the 16th. Very uneventful. The wait was 3.5 hours due to emergency and hospital patient bumps...excruciating staring at the powder blue walls of the hospital as there was not a magazine to be found in the whole wing until they came by and distributed some about 20 min before my scan...they were new and had some good gossip in them-- Jon and Kate might separate!...but I digress...The actual scan only took 5 minutes. I have to make an appt. next week with my doc to get the results - will post again when I have a date and time.Other than that, not a lot going on in the household - I had a very low key birthday obviously...lots of cards and well wishes, thank you! Hayden is enjoying his summer - he is outside a lot more with walks with his Grandma to the pond to see the baby ducks and goslings and playing outside with Pete; chalking the driveway and playing mini-basketball. His daycare even had a day-trip to Bronte Park the other week that he really enjoyed. Pete has 99.9% finished putting in a deck off of the kitchen (quite beautiful) and he put out the patio furniture including a nice lounge chair for me to get in to. I was out there a couple of days last week but it was soooo chilly I was cocooned in blankets and did not last long. The weather definitely seems to be getting nicer so I plan to enjoy some resting time out there in the weeks to come (with LOTS of sunscreen to protect my head of course!).Take care everyone!Carey
Hello Everyone,Just a quick update: My CT Scan has been booked for next Tuesday June 16th at noon. This is my 1st scan post-SCT. Fingers are crossed...My best to all-Carey
Hello Everyone!
So, how many people does it take to save one life?
It can be many, or, it can be just one person…the right person – the perfect match.
For people in car crashes or... falling out of trees or... involved in a police type scenario, your savior may be a singular person. For people with severe medical conditions such as a cancer, it usually takes a team but even in the cancer world you are sometimes waiting for that ONE HERO.
For me, my life was definitely a team effort. If not for the multiple persons who donated their blood and platelets, I could have died. That is a fact. If not for the people who gave to cancer research in order for auto stem cell transplants to exist, I could have died. That too is a fact. Thank you to whatever higher power there is that those people walk amongst us with a giving spirit. (And I recognize that the giving spirit does not just apply to ‘my causes’ but heck, those are the ones I am appreciating just for today).
Just before I had to leave work I sent out an email to some persons at my employer and in my personal life…aside for the ‘see you soon’ parts I wanted to send out a brief message about that giving spirit. Below are some extracts from my original email:
‘…Please consider giving blood. …Through this ordeal, I may require one if not several transfusions due to low counts – I probably will not receive ‘your’ blood specifically but there are thousands just like me out there who could benefit from this selfless act. …Please listen for local blood drives in your community and consider making a donation…or call 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283).
Second, consider being a Hero. My stem cell and bone marrow transplant is autologous. …Others whose auto transplants have failed or simply were not candidates for auto transplants must wait and hope for matching donor stem cells. There is a national registry for Stem Cell/Bone Marrow donors. It is located at www.blood.ca or http://www.onematch.ca/. It is a…simple process on the …donors part and if someday you are a match – you will save a life. …Please consider this gift. The web-links <in bold blue font>, offers great information for you. Imagine that – saving a life. There is nothing more heroic.’
Robin Rocca (http://www.myspace.com/helprobinrocca) is a 28 year man from New Brunswick who has come to Ontario asking for just one person to save his life. That is all he needs – that one person. He has a blood cancer that is a cousin of what I had – leukemia. His cancer is aggressive and his family is not a match for him…neither is anyone in the Stem Cell Donor bank at http://www.onematch.ca/ either…yet.
As Robin explains:
‘OneMatch is a program through the Canadian Blood Services. And they do unrelated donor testing,” he explains. “You can sign up online at onematch.ca, and request to be a donor. And then what they will do is a swab kit in the mail. You basically swab the inside of your cheek to get a couple of cells and then from there they can get your [genetic] typing and they put you in the registry.”
If a person’s genetic typing matches up with someone who needs a donor, they can volunteer to donate their stem cells. The procedure is easy, and the stem cells are drawn from the blood and not the bone marrow. “What happens is I basically get infused with your blood,” Rocca continued. “They don’t have to go in and poke your bone marrow, or poke your bone and pull out stuff. They can actually pull it straight from your blood.”
For those interested in learning how to help patients like Robin Rocca can visit http://www.onematch.ca/ to learn about eligibility for the program and register online.’
The current data bank for Robin, plus approximately 750 other Canadians, does not currently contain their match – they are waiting for their match to register and become a donor to save their life. (If you are ineligible to be a donor or for whatever reason choose not, please consider giving blood and platelets the next time the opportunity arises).
Just think about it and click the sites to see if this is the type of gift you may consider giving. No obligation. P.S. Already some family members + friends have let it be known to me that they made them self part of the One Match list – thank you.
On another note/update – I am tired and continue to sleep and sleep and rest and rest but it is all good and I know I am healing and am happy that my turn of events has put my in the position of ‘survivor’.
With ongoing gratitude,
Carey
Hello Again everyone!
Time for me to get this blog up to date isn’t it? I left off on my last entry getting discharged from Henderson…yeah! Or so I thought…
The Week-end:
Unfortunately, my week-end home was pretty awful. My stomach/intestines were not functioning properly so I could not retain any fluids. This was supposed to be my ‘free pass’ week-end where I would feel pretty good before all the chemo side effects from the week prior kicked in full force. Nope. I spent the week-end extremely nauseous, extremely dizzy and in bed the whole time.
Some may recall that after my ‘free pass’ week-end the expectation was to go to the hospital every day for blood tests, counts and infusions if necessary. There was an 85% chance that by the Wednesday I would be re-admitted to hospital. I wanted to be part of that 15% who made it past that date but in fact by that Monday my body had had enough.
As I got ready to go in for my tests that Monday the 20th April, I blacked out in the shower and came to on the tile. Luckily I had not been able to shower standing for a while so I had only slipped from my shower chair to the floor but still… I blacked out a couple more times getting ready and by the time I did get to the hospital I was on my knees in the elevator so not to fall over. It was my arch nemesis again that ‘done me in’ – dehydration (blasted!&##!).
The back Nine:
So, bingo-bango after only a measly 2 days at home I was re-admitted, hooked up to the IV again and pumped with fluids 24/7 and antibiotics via IV every 8 hrs. The other chemo side effects eventually kicked in and after a couple of days I was also receiving my anti-nausea meds by IV on a regular basis and had a butterfly needle inserted in my upper arm for direct morphine injections due to throat sores. The good news is the throat pain only lasted about three days, it really could have been much, much worse, but after those 3 days I didn’t need another shot of morphine.
I did have to get several blood (3-4?) and platelet (2) transfusions while in. The platelets were an adventure. I had crazy (and admittedly scary) side effects. I got a rash and welts on my face and torso and then the whole left side of my face down to my shoulder paralyzed. I could not feel anything in my face as though I had been shot up with extreme doses of novacaine. Once identified as a reaction they immediately IV’d me a nice large bag of ‘Benadryl’ and eventually all the face numbness and welts subsided. The next transfusion they gave me the ‘Benadryl’ prior to the platelets.
Home:
After several days my blood counts started go up and after nine days I was safe enough to come home and did so on April 28th. I came home with a pretty bad cough so on oral anti-biotics for about a week and a half. This eventually evolved into a pretty good cold but has since morphed back in to a tolerable cough. My doctor basically said my body for the next while will take longer than usual to fight back. Perfectly understandable.
So, where am I now? Not physically I mean but status-wise. I am on a really dull roller coaster. By that I mean very few highs energy wise… I roll along the track at a pretty slow pace and quickly go down a swift hill into deep fatigue. My first weeks home were about 70-90% sleep. Last week I was doing pretty well and my sleep during the day was more like a couple hours at most and mainly lots of resting but this week already I am sleeping about 3-5 hours a day and still getting a full nights sleep too so my little coaster has been out of gas this week for some reason.
I am doing really well from my transplant doctors perspective and my care has been transferred back to my regular cancer doctor here in Oakville so that is amazing medical progress and I am so pleased. My Oakville Hematologist will soon book my CT scan and that will confirm that my treatments were a success – he will monitor me regularly again for the next 5 years.
Okay then. That is the medical update. Pretty dry stuff. I have lots of bits and pieces and funny stuff to relay but this entry is already several miles long and my brain is about to turn off…so, until next time…
Thank you to everyone for your most awesome support-
Carey
Hello Everyone!
It has been a while, hasn't it? Over a month since I last posted but my focus, fingers and energy level have not been aligned until now to write an update.
So, where to begin? Well, I actually did end up spending just shy of three weeks at the Henderson Hospital, since then I have been home recovering but let’s break it down into ‘segments’ shall I? -->
The 1st Seven:
I entered Henderson on the 9th April and after a quick baseline chest x-ray was immediately hooked up to the IV for fluids to get me all plumped up for the next week worth of chemo. Once hooked up, the fluid part of the IV ran 24/7 for the next 3 weeks (save for 2 days) except when the chemo meds were running so I basically was attached via two lines to an IV pole for 3wks – amazing what you get used to…it sort of reminds me of when you go skiing; you know, at the end of the day when you take your ski boots off you feel as though you are floating above the ground. That was what it was like when unhooked finally from the IV, free floating! It’s amazing what you get used to until it is gone. But, I digress. The next 6 days I had chemo. The chemo meds were only an hour or two each day but beforehand was the nausea and steroids, both by IV which took an hour or so and then nausea meds again after which were another hour and again at 8pm and midnight each day so all told the infusions were about 4-5.5 hours a day. The rest of the time I spent just hooked up to the fluids, getting my temperature+blood pressure+heart rate monitored every 4 hours until midnight and daily blood draws each morning at 4:30am, and; napping, watching TV, flipping through magazines or (best of all) with some fantastic visitors. Daily my MIL brought Hayden in for a visit and it was an instant mood lifter for me. His visits were not too long (he is 4 and hospitals are not that stimulating) but I got my Hayden fix and he got his mommy fix and it was wonderful. By day 5, which was the Monday, I had my head shaved. It was time. My nurses were letting me know that I has leaving hair bunnies all through my floor as it floated away from my head and me, my bedclothes, my sheets and my floor were covered in my shedding so ‘Off with her head!’. Results = a really chubby Demi Moore in GI Jane but at least I don’t have really funny ears or large dents in my head…
Day Eight and Nine:
Re-infusion Day. The day I received my stem cells back. My re-birthday on April 16th (Happy real birthday Claudia) The process consisted of me lying in my bed with a nurse monitoring my vitals after every infusion on one side and the transplant coordinator giving me lemon lozenges and cold compresses on the other. Another ‘freeze team’ of three thawed my cells one bag at a time (eight I think?) and then drew them into big fat syringes. They would then give the syringe to the doctor who pumped each through my pherisis very s-l-o-w-l-y. Lather, rinse, repeat eight more times and in about an hour it was all said and done. No major side effects due to the nice nausea meds and Ativan (stress reducer) given before hand. It went really, really well.
The next day my blood counts were low due to the chemo finally kicking in with them so I had a couple of bags of blood transfusion and was discharged home that afternoon.
Okay, definitely more to come – my 2nd round in the hospital and my weeks so far at home- but for now consider this my 1st installment about all that…I am tired and need a little lay down now for a while. I will write more soon to get this all completely up to date.
For now let me say I am recovering and slowly but surely am on my way to better days
With such happiness and hope,
Carey
(Sung to the tune 'Leavin on a Jet Plane' known to some by John Denver others by Peter, Paul and Mary and still others by Chantal Kreviazuk)
All my bags are packed
-for week-long chemo!
I'm standin here and I'm ready to go
I have to finish up so to cancer I can say good-bye!
This is the last stretch;
Its almost done
The nurses are waitin
I'll so be reborn!
Already I'm so excited I could fly!
So wish for me and pray for me
Think kindly each day for me
Hold happy thoughts as through treatment I do go!
Cause I've hitched my wagon to the chemo train
Back to real life I will soon be again
Oh friends I'm ready to go!
Cause the 16th will be my re-birthday
and oh! what a happy day-
I've beat this thing and I will tell it sooo!
Ohhh-
I've beat this thing and I will tell it so!
(My apologies to John Denver et al)Here I go; 10 days in hospital - I will have no access to a computer and may be in for up to 3 weeks...thanks to everyone for all your support. Here I go for the long haul but I have so many people raising me up I am forever grateful...
Take care everyone...Carey
Hi Everyone,Okay, remember the woman from last week with the outrageous 79 count of...something. Well, that something was her White Blood Cell count. Hers was incredibly high, the nurses said they would be happy with any count over 2, well my WBC came in at 37.4. Totally respectable -and actually a safer count apparently than the 79. The 79 gives you 'sticky, gummy blood', okay guess I do not need that...So, that number, the 37.4, does not make me a superstar but here is what does:I think I explained this in an earlier entry but to refresh; when you go to have your stem cells harvested you need 2 million minimum stem cells harvested to go through with the BEAM and re-birthday. Also, you need a minimum of 5 million cells to not have to go back for a 2nd day of harvest - -well, I came up with 7 MILLION stem cells on my first day! Yeah for me! I am soo happy with the news; most other steps are, well, steps to get through, this one had a goal and I SMASHED it --yee-haw!Now, technically the body does what the body does and I had nothing mentally or willfully to do with this gianormous number of cells (I even asked the nurses on harvest day if there was anything I could do to squeeze out more cells and they told me if there was they would be telling everyone [yeah, I suppose]) --there isn't any BUT at the end of this statement. Okay, a little one...'the body does what the body does... but I am happy about it nonetheless.Now, on to the BEAM. I am admitted on April the 9th and start my chemo, BEAM regime, on the 10th. Apparently the effects of all this chemo is delayed about 1 week so I will be a little tired/nauseated in the hospital but only slightly so - my biggest hurdle in fact may be boredom so if you are in the Hamilton area (no, Northern Ireland and NB is not what I consider 'in the area') and feel like a 15 min drop by I will be in Henderson on F3...as I said to a friend via email - just ask for the grumpy bald chick...Speaking of bald, still has not happened as of yet though I am shedding like a Labrador retriever, I am told any day now but there is still mucho-mundo hair on this noggin...Asta de leugo (sorry any Spanish readers on the spelling -correct me at will!)Take care and warm regards,Care
Hello Everyone,Well, it has been sort of a non-eventful week. I had my 12 hr chemo day on Monday and it went very well. I was in a room with Pete and a Nurse and one other patient and her friend. This patient is one week ahead of me and thus was harvesting her stem cells that day so it was interesting be in the room with her, speak to her about her experience and also watch the machine at work. She was a very calm lady working away on a quilt with her friend and the impression I had was that the stem cell process was not taxing. The big machine that does the actual harvest reminds me of a Slurpie machine at the 7-11 - mainly because of the bags of different 'flavours' being displayed at the top: platelets = sprite, red blood= raspberry and stem cells = 5-alive (how fitting huh!?!)Now I was told by her and her nurses that she had an absolutely amazing blood count of 79. This number seemed to impress everyone quite alot though at the time I did not have the heart to ask 79...what? But apparently that is the number for me to beat next week! (The nurses said that as long as I had a 2 they would be happy...)We were also told during my 12 hr day that my CT scan showed really favourable results in my cancer/chemo to date; 'dramatic reductions' is what my transplant co-ordinator stated. The ideal would have been 'no evidence remaining of disease' but I will take this good news and run with it...Other than that, the neupogen shots have started and so far Pete has not received any wallop to the head so that means he is doing a fine job giving me the shots. No bone pain yet - a little nauseous but I have great meds for that.I'm looking forward to a nice week-end - good health and beautiful weather - what a nice mix!Take care everyone and all the best,Carey
Hello to all!I have been ported! That's is the common lingo for the apherisis catheter apparently - 'the port'. If you want to be part of the cool crowd in oncology, you have to have a port! :)The procedure was really a non-event. (Tylenol 3's on Wednesday and Thursday took care of most discomfort issues) I was there @ the hospital at 7:15 am and home by 1pm but the actual surgery was really no more than a 1/2 hr - the beforehand time was getting an IV and getting set-up on the table and post-surgery was just to monitor for a while to make certain I didn't fall over when I did get up. Not due to sedation as I was awake through the whole thing (because they need you to hold your breath a couple times when they put the tube in the artery) but due to the versed they gave me. For those not in the know, versed is a nice little stress relaxing agent that makes all your worries go away - you feel very 'zen' as it flows through your veins and for a little while afterwards too. I was told not to sign any legal documents for 48 hrs as I would not be considered 'of sound mind'. The original benchmark was pretty low on that to begin with (haha) but I took their advice and chose not to sign over Hayden to the gypsies who rang my doorbell later that night...Signing off for now - my very best to everyone - With lots of love:Carey
Hello Everyone!Happy St. Patricks Day!Well, I have had a really great week! My last chemo was over a week and a 1/2 ago and I am feeling really good! Every afternoon I hit a bit of a mini-wall and could definitely nap and my nights are definitely earlier than even my 4 yr old but other than that it has been such an uplifting week!Pete and I were able to take Hayden to the Ontario Science Centre 1 afternoon and on Sunday Hayden & I (Pete was working) were taxied to Brighton by my Mom and Dad to finally see my brothers new house and then to my Aunt and Uncles house for a nice family dinner.Yesterday I had my bloodwork done and all counts are great to proceed with getting my Pherisis Catheter placed tomorrow. I am nervous but also excited because this means no more IV and blood needle pokes!!! Since every attempt to insert an IV or draw blood from me results in two or more tries before success, I have become a human pin cushion and this catheter now means all blood draws and my next round of chemo's as well as the stem cell harvest and return will all be through the pherisis - no more needles!!! I have to learn how to flush it out daily and then go weekly to the VON for dressing changes. The alternative is to have home care come daily to flush it out but then I am bound by their schedule, this way I do not have to wait for anyone.So, catheter placement tomorrow and then the big 12 hr chemo on the 23rd (Happy Bday KRB), 10 days of neupogen and then the stem cell part which has been moved forward by 1 week. I get my stem cells harvested the 2nd and maybe if more needed on the 3rd as well - I then am admitted to hospital on April 9th and if all goes well get my cells back on the 16th. Thanks to so many here and afar; family across the ocean in Ireland, across Canada in NB, all around me here is SW Ontario, Oakville, and of course such great friends with their encouragement - you have all made such a beautiful difference in lifting my spirits.My best to everyone-Carey
I have written this post now about a 400 times in my head this past week and mainly at about 3 or 4 am as I lie with sleep eluding me. My in-my-head version has been at times sheer ‘brilliance’ and more often probably quite manic as I deliver to myself version after version…
Please consider this post ‘personal’ in nature, speaking more to my emotions than to the cadence of appointments, etc. so if unappealing, please, similar to a train wreck – look away, move on to my next entry when its time comes…
Firstly, just in keeping with timeframes, my chemo #4 was completed on Thursday and now on to the biggie on the 23rd – the 12 hour infusion day with baldness to follow 14-16 days later. So far my hair has held up well – the 1st 4 chemo’s really were no match for the old forest growth on my head!
Back to the topic at hand, this week I Weebled. Big Time. And well over, lilting to the left I’d say… I hope you are familiar with the Fisher Price toy – it is what I am referring to here on a variety of levels. Superficially, I am now the non-plastic version of a Weeble-Wobble, these 5 weeks and most especially Dex steroids have taken their toll and through the swelling, puffing and manic compulsive eating that these steroids plummet your psyche into I am remarkably similar to the old school toy. I am hoping this look is somewhat endearing to more than the playschool crowd, doubtful.
Really, more importantly, I became an emotional weeble (on sale! Just in time for Easter!). It started through chemo #3 with the steroids building in my system. Just a few days after that chemo when I usually sleep-sleep-sleep, it was gone. Replaced with this small flashlight like feeling behind my eyelids – a sort of 2nd pulse that wouldn’t go away and left sleep by the wayside – even when I am sleeping I still feel ½ awake -a stream of consciousness still beating through my head. By Mon/Tues, I felt as though I was measuring sleep in moments rather than hours and on Wednesday I did not sleep at all, day or night, going into my chemo, the end of my oral steroids but a full bag of IV steroids on that Thursday. -Many, many hours to think. So, so tired but the pulse did not abate. My Doc offered sleeping pills on the Thursday but I declined for some manic reason opting irrationally to not put even more chemicals into me (seriously, dumb) and to let the ‘roids’ wear off naturally. Emotionally, I fell to a very low place.
The point of this posting – I tipped, Wobbled, and allowed myself to indulge a lot of feelings that I had be holding at arms length – and here is what I learned:
(1) It is OK to let yourself out of the box. I am proud that so many people think I have a great attitude about all this, or that I am brave (I am not), etc. This week I got scared. Scared of what I was going through, still to go through, and some long weeks ahead. I also got angry – at this cancer, at myself for not being in a better state to handle it, at my lost time and altered future plans and at some people around me for not crawling into my head and understanding all this. Lastly, I got lonely and sad – I insolated and therefore isolated myself from the people I am closest too and feeling wise that is a very lonely place. By wanting to be ‘tough’, I had weakened my own foundation but as I state on my profile, ‘I have my moments’ – I will allow myself those more often, they are cleansing.
(2) It is OK to mourn. No, I am not dying, I will survive this without a shadow of a doubt but I can mourn what could have been. Pete and I were soooo planning a far better path than what cancer has set this year on and as much as I have banked away some hope for that future my life has been altered and a new path set. Boo-hoo. Lots of peoples lives change on a dime and I am no different I do get that but beforehand I tried to portray an ‘oh well, we adapt’ attitude. That is true but everyone should be allowed to say, ‘I’m disappointed it didn’t all work out’
(3) The great mystery solved! – WHY Weebles Wobble but don’t fall down! The answer is of course, like the toy, elementary; a strong rounded base. Tsk-tsk! I am not just speaking literally of my bottom! I speak of my most true, solid foundation; my family, my friends, my ‘structural support’.
With gratitude and a more even keel,
Carey
Hello Everyone-
Just a quick update- My bloodcounts were good on Wednesday so my chemo went ahead Thursday. My next chemo will be next Thursday the 5th. Some dates for next procedures have changed but I'll update those when I have more energy and my 'official' letter with dates from the hospital.
One new additional date is a CT Scan on March 11th to see if the four chemo's have put me into remission to read me for the SCT...fingers crossed everyone!
I am not certain why the are doing the scan after the 4th and not the 5th chemo but that question arose after my last meeting with my Dr's so I'll ask them the rationale next Thursday.
That is it for now.
Thanks for your support and with warmest regards-
Carey
Hello Everyone!It has been quite a week - one I will wish never to repeat. I feel rather epic this week so I will begin with "Whence last you joined me here at the blog' I was shaky but on the 'upswing' so to speak after re-hydrating. Late on the Wednesday however I started to develop a cough and by Thursday we were calling in to my med team as I was maintaining a fever of 101 and anything over 100 in my new world is a no-no.So, I was prescribed an antibiotic and began that immediately. On the Friday I went into the hospital for more fluids but was still running a fever that steadily increased into Valentines day - another call into the med team on Saturday and a 2nd antibiotic was prescribed to take in tandem with the 1st one. Should have been overkill right? Nuh-uh. By Saturday evening instead of a great dining experience @ my brother-in-laws (Happy Birthday Mike - I bet Pete forgot to call you on Wednesday, huh?), I was running a fever over 104 through the night and alternating between drenching the sheets and freezing to death. As much fluid as I was trying to get into me, the fever was taking it away at a far more rapid pace. I was awake for most of the night with the cough and difficulty breathing and by the time Pete's alarm went off at 6am I was so on fire I asked Pete to draw me a cool bath and I crawled in to the bathroom to get in the tub with some tylenol. The bath and the tylonel worked to cool me down for a few hours but by early afternoon my fever was back up again to 103 and my breathing was laboured so with Pete working my Mom and Aunt took me to emergency that Sunday afternoon.The moment @ emergency reception that I told them that I was pre-stem cell transplant, they took a tact and care protocol with me that I can say would rival any top class care facility in this country or the U.S. Now, granted, there was 'no room at the Inn' so I spent three days on an emergency stretcher in their resuscitation room (isolated) instead of a hospital room but other that, I can only praise the doctors and nurses (other than 1, who I shall refrain of speaking of) for their skill, compassion and true caring for me. As I just said above, I was bad off enough to be kept in until Tuesday, I was badly dehydrated as well as riddled with some infection so they IV'd me immediately and pumped 5 bags of fluid into me back-to-back-to-back (etc.) plus IV's of antibiotics every 8 hrs plus continued fluids. I was discharged Tuesday afternoon and placed on new doses of the same antibiotics as pre-hospitalization, just higher doses, until next week.So, what does this mean chemo treatment wise? Well, I saw Dr. Fraser and Carol yesterday @ Juravinski and they are slightly delaying my next chemo. I will go for blood tests again next Wednesday and if my counts have rebounded and my chest is clear (cough/wheezing gone) then we will proceed with chemo on that Thursday. Otherwise they will cancel and defer me to the following week, which will bump everything by about a week in the calendar but c'est la vie.Must say, despite the actual DAY of valentines being a total write-off (Pete and I aren't super mushy about that stuff anyways - you know us) I have to say it was a great week to see once again how much I am loved. Beautiful cards with thoughtful messages, roses from Pete, sweet cards/drawing from my son, - love was all around me.Today, I was at a followup appt with one of the hospital doctors @ his office and in walked one of the nurses from the hospital with her son. Her name is Sheila and she hugged me in that waiting room and genuinely cared -what a great capacity for caring from a total stranger, amazing. Her son may be going through some medical problems so as you are so kind to say a prayer or think a good thought for me -please think of her and her son as well. She is the type of lady who deserves some good karma.Thank you all for reading and supporting and Happy Valentines Week-Carey
Hello everyone!
I'm going to cut to the chase on this one - I had round two yesterday and can now check my 1st cycle off (round 1+2 = 1 cycle)!
My Sunday and Monday were pretty low. When I went in to the hospital for my blood counts on Monday I was quite dehydrated, shaky, faint and nauseous - which was all my own fault for not keeping up on my fluid intake. No excuses, it was just hard to drink when I was feeling bad so I didn't. Anyone reading this who will soon be on this journey - drink your fluids!!!
My Dr. ordered an extra IV bag (of fluids) for me for Tuesday after the chemo and I forced drank and drank until then despite myself and by after my chemo was feeling much better. I still have to go for another fluid infusion on Friday but have been ordered to drink-drink-drink or else they will make me get home-care to come in daily to IV fluids - and I don't want that.
Well, this is the day after the Cisplatin (The "P") and I got up and had some toast but now am feeling a little shaky so am going to sign off after this next paragraph and rest (Almost all I do now).
I just wanted to add a blog mention to my Mom Pat and mother in law Claudia. They have been cooking for Pete and I now since the 1st chemo and have taken care of our every need. Even more than our culinary needs - Hayden is so wrapped in their love, he is doing just great. Thank you.
Keep well everyone, take care,
Carey
Hello my blog followers (hehehe!)!
Just over these past few days I have come to realize how many people are checking out this blog for updates and I thank you all for your interest and support!
Treatment #1 was Tuesday and it was a long day. We had to get to the hospital by 8am so it was any early day but we were prepared with our bags full of (for me) magazines, books, writing diary, i-pod and granola bars and (for Pete) various snacks and all his study material for his captain's test coming in late spring (Go Pete go!).
As I said, Tuesday was long. Juravinski is a beautiful updated cancer facility but its partnered hospital hit its prime a couple decades ago a least - ambiance is not a consideration BUT the nurses were friendly, efficient and the room was not filled so Pete was able to sit with me the whole day. The only 2 nasty bits were, as usual, they could not find a decent vein in me so they blasted a few more in my hands (I am dreadfully curious about what they will do this Tuesday!) and one of the chemo drugs (The "G") was particularly 'spicy' so it burned going in for most of the time but again the nurses were compassionate and wrapped my arm in a warm and heavy blanket to relieve some of the sensation.
We finished up before 5pm but after getting enough pharmaceuticals to make a junkie proud over @ Juravinski were weren't home until after 6.
That night I was okay - able to eat a nice dinner and then...CRASSSSSHHHHH! Between the nausea, anti-nausea meds, kidney protection drugs, pain meds, steroids, etc. I have been in a blur until yesterday. On Saturday I was feeling tired but able to get a good decent shower and out of the house for an afternoon visit to the in-laws (Happy bday Derek!). It was good to get out for those hours as I had not even been down the stairs since Tuesday and my walls were closing in on me.
Today is Sunday the 8th and I am feeling okay. The weather looks fantastic so we are even going to try and get a walk around the block - something short to see how it goes. It's hard to describe yesterday and today. I am not sleepy anymore -just so very tired and distracted mentally - like I have chemo-ADD or something. My thoughts are fragmented a bit...it could be the steroids. My doc did mention they could effect your thoughts rolling around in your head (as in flickering from one to the next at lightening speed or zoning into my own dimension!! :) ).
Monday is my bloodtests and Dr.'s appt. to determine if my bloodcounts are high enough to get my next treatment. I will know if this coming Tuesday in 'a go' then.
Listen, to everyone, I have received so many kind emails and words of support and it is really helping me rally through this! Thanks - thank you.
Now, to get my lazy bum away from this computer and get dressed for that walk!
All the best to you all -merci.
Carey
