Here I am ~ finally . . .
Once again I must apologize to you, my wonderful friends, for my long absence! I have no excuse for not posting, I haven't been too sick, haven't been traveling without access to my computer, haven't been too busy, and, most definitely haven't forgotten about all of you!
I have been reading, knitting, spending time with my family, watching winter turn into spring and back to winter again, watching deer drink from our pond, listening to the birds sing when the days are good, ending the first course of chemo treatment and starting the second. And, I have been delighting in doing things that make my daughter, Jenn, laughingly call me a RPIA (for those of you who are uninitiated, that means Royal Pain In the A - - !) LOL
Let's get the medical stuff out of the way first. Last month I finished the first chemo protocol. I then had CT scans of the thorax (chest), head, abdomen and pelvis. The scan showed that the tumors have continued to shrink. Hooray! There are no new tumors! For a couple of weeks I just received one drug, Avastin, which is not technically a chemo drug although it is administered the same way. It's a targeted antibody which zeroes in on the tumors and cuts them off from healthy tissue, thereby cutting off their blood supply and, hopefully, killing them.
Last week I started the second protocol of drugs and am now receiving Navelbene and Gemzar once a week for two weeks and then a week off. These drugs are supposed to have fewer side effects and, therefore, not affect the quality of my life so adversely. That will still have to be proven to me. LOL They don't cause the awful bone pain I had with the first course but they do make me very tired and weak because they reduce the number of white cells and platelets. Today I only received 75% of the normal treatment because my platelets were so low. Hopefully, those will have time to rebound in time for my treatment on April 26th.
Dr. Mehrotra, my oncologist, gave me a choice of taking a little vacation from chemo or continuing on. I decided to keep going because the tumors are continuing to shrink and I didn't want to give them a chance to gain a stronghold again. The vacation would have been nice but I need to look at the "big picture".
My hair is growing back but one of the drugs I just started may cause it to fall out again. However, for the time being I have visible hair that seems about the color of what fell out originally. It feels so good to run my hand across my head and feel actual hair. It seems to grow longer and thicker every day. At first it was just little baby fuzz but now it's becoming quite noticeable.
I've had a few ailments as a result of the chemo drugs but nothing that hasn't been manageable. I did have two bouts with hives which no one can explain. I did some research and found that most hives come about for no detectable reason. Contrary to popular opinion, they are not necessarily an allergic reaction to something. I was quite surprised to learn that.
I've gained 14 pounds since my diagnosis and, if you remember, I wasn't pleased with my weight back then! So, you can imagine how I feel about it now. I now know how it feels to be a beached whale! One day when my stomach was especially large, I told Dave that I looked like the old, fat Elvis. That isn't a goal I to which I ever particularly aspired! My medical team keeps blaming the steroids I take with my treatments but that doesn't change the fact that I'm rotund! If I had a choice between being fat and being bald . . . I would definitely choose being bald. Being plagued with both of them is just way unfair!!
The only good thing about the extra weight is that the fat has filled in all the wrinkles on my face. At my last appointment, Dr. Mehrotra said something about me being in my 40's. I laughed thinking she was kidding. Actually, she was quite sincere and insisted upon checking my medical record before she believed I was 62. Wonder what will happen if the fat cells go away? Will my face fall into rows of wrinkles? That isn't a pretty picture. ; )
I don't know if I told you that I finally lost my eyebrows and eyelashes. Let me tell you that lashless eyes are very prone to getting foreign objects in them! I've been amazed at what a drastic difference in makes. So . . . don't take those eyelashes for granted! Of course, it doesn't take me long at all to get ready to go somewhere these days. Since I don't have to worry about makeup or doing my hair, I'm ready in a flash! I never have a bad hair day or, maybe, they're all bad hair days. LOL
One day I tried drawing eyebrows on and that was a total disaster. I did it with an eyebrow pencil and, not only couldn't I get them even, whenever I touched my forehead with my fingers, the pencil smeared. I was quite a sight and decided to go without brows from then on. It only adds to the alien persona I'm trying to perfect! : )
Well guys, I'm getting a little tired so the rest of our catch-up will have to wait until tomorrow. It's time for me to take a nap but I still have lots to tell you.
In the meantime, thanks for your calls, cards, emails and, especially your warm, healing thoughts and your prayers. You make my life especially full!
Until then . . . Count your blessings.
I have been reading, knitting, spending time with my family, watching winter turn into spring and back to winter again, watching deer drink from our pond, listening to the birds sing when the days are good, ending the first course of chemo treatment and starting the second. And, I have been delighting in doing things that make my daughter, Jenn, laughingly call me a RPIA (for those of you who are uninitiated, that means Royal Pain In the A - - !) LOL
Let's get the medical stuff out of the way first. Last month I finished the first chemo protocol. I then had CT scans of the thorax (chest), head, abdomen and pelvis. The scan showed that the tumors have continued to shrink. Hooray! There are no new tumors! For a couple of weeks I just received one drug, Avastin, which is not technically a chemo drug although it is administered the same way. It's a targeted antibody which zeroes in on the tumors and cuts them off from healthy tissue, thereby cutting off their blood supply and, hopefully, killing them.
Last week I started the second protocol of drugs and am now receiving Navelbene and Gemzar once a week for two weeks and then a week off. These drugs are supposed to have fewer side effects and, therefore, not affect the quality of my life so adversely. That will still have to be proven to me. LOL They don't cause the awful bone pain I had with the first course but they do make me very tired and weak because they reduce the number of white cells and platelets. Today I only received 75% of the normal treatment because my platelets were so low. Hopefully, those will have time to rebound in time for my treatment on April 26th.
Dr. Mehrotra, my oncologist, gave me a choice of taking a little vacation from chemo or continuing on. I decided to keep going because the tumors are continuing to shrink and I didn't want to give them a chance to gain a stronghold again. The vacation would have been nice but I need to look at the "big picture".
My hair is growing back but one of the drugs I just started may cause it to fall out again. However, for the time being I have visible hair that seems about the color of what fell out originally. It feels so good to run my hand across my head and feel actual hair. It seems to grow longer and thicker every day. At first it was just little baby fuzz but now it's becoming quite noticeable.
I've had a few ailments as a result of the chemo drugs but nothing that hasn't been manageable. I did have two bouts with hives which no one can explain. I did some research and found that most hives come about for no detectable reason. Contrary to popular opinion, they are not necessarily an allergic reaction to something. I was quite surprised to learn that.
I've gained 14 pounds since my diagnosis and, if you remember, I wasn't pleased with my weight back then! So, you can imagine how I feel about it now. I now know how it feels to be a beached whale! One day when my stomach was especially large, I told Dave that I looked like the old, fat Elvis. That isn't a goal I to which I ever particularly aspired! My medical team keeps blaming the steroids I take with my treatments but that doesn't change the fact that I'm rotund! If I had a choice between being fat and being bald . . . I would definitely choose being bald. Being plagued with both of them is just way unfair!!
The only good thing about the extra weight is that the fat has filled in all the wrinkles on my face. At my last appointment, Dr. Mehrotra said something about me being in my 40's. I laughed thinking she was kidding. Actually, she was quite sincere and insisted upon checking my medical record before she believed I was 62. Wonder what will happen if the fat cells go away? Will my face fall into rows of wrinkles? That isn't a pretty picture. ; )
I don't know if I told you that I finally lost my eyebrows and eyelashes. Let me tell you that lashless eyes are very prone to getting foreign objects in them! I've been amazed at what a drastic difference in makes. So . . . don't take those eyelashes for granted! Of course, it doesn't take me long at all to get ready to go somewhere these days. Since I don't have to worry about makeup or doing my hair, I'm ready in a flash! I never have a bad hair day or, maybe, they're all bad hair days. LOL
One day I tried drawing eyebrows on and that was a total disaster. I did it with an eyebrow pencil and, not only couldn't I get them even, whenever I touched my forehead with my fingers, the pencil smeared. I was quite a sight and decided to go without brows from then on. It only adds to the alien persona I'm trying to perfect! : )
Well guys, I'm getting a little tired so the rest of our catch-up will have to wait until tomorrow. It's time for me to take a nap but I still have lots to tell you.
In the meantime, thanks for your calls, cards, emails and, especially your warm, healing thoughts and your prayers. You make my life especially full!
Until then . . . Count your blessings.
posted by Linda @ 5:59 PM
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