I haven't updated this for a while because I wanted to go through two chemo sessions before I posted. My first session on FOLFOX had some side affects, nausea, cold sensitivity, the "quick step" and very tired. I was given two medications for nausea but didn't know I could take them both at the same time.
The cold sensitivity started the same day as the infusion, Monday. I couldn't even touch room temperature things and I couldn't drink anything that wasn't hot because it felt like shards of glass in my throat. This improved by the end of the week as did all the side affects.
The second session I had just last Monday. The nausea was worse but again that was my fault as I didn't know to use the second medication at the same time as the first. I know better for next time as it's much easier to treat nausea before it hits than after! Lesson learned! I've also stocked up on diet gingerale and soda crackers which also got me through a 10 month pregnancy years ago! (Yes I was horribly sick and overdue with my daughter)
With the second session I did have hot flashes and feeling faint, usually in the evening but once in the morning. I'll check with my doctor on the next chemo day and see what I can do about that.
Bring on the next Chemo cause I think I may be more prepared.....hopefully!
Although the side affects lasted a little longer this time and a little harder I am hoping I will be more prepared for the next one and be able to treat the side affects better. I've also named my port-a-cath Porticia. I have no idea why I chose that name but I did.
Because I have no immune system right now I am not able to see my precious granddaughter. She's two years old and calls me Buddy. We don't know why but that's the name she's always had for me. I think it's cute! We've always called me Gramma or Grammy around her but she insists that I am Buddy...so I am. She loves to visit Buddy and Grampy and we spoil her rotten....well as rotten as her Mommy will let us! ;)
It breaks my heart that I have to stay away from her for a while so my daughter suggested I download something called Skype so I can see and talk to her on the computer. I think it's a great idea so I'll be doing that today! Just think, for the next 5 months I will probably be known to BB (Beautiful Babygirl) as "Buddy The Talking Head"! LOL
I can just see her going to daycare telling them "The talking head read me a story!" "The talking head told me to eat my veggies!" "The talking head makes me laugh" LOL I can just see how confused the daycare people are going to be! It should be interesting and hilarious to see how this plays out!
I wish you all enough.
Monday, June 04, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
Name?
I got the Porta-cath put in yesterday. I thought I slept through the procedure but apparently I didn't. I was able to talk to them when I felt some pain and they gave me more meds but I don't remember a thing. Best way to go through a procedure I guess. It only took 1 1/2 hrs. I was out of the hospital by noon and travelled back home in time to feed my zoo. (Two cats and two dogs)
It was a little sore last night but nothing I can't handle. I've been through much worse! LOL Today it seems to be settling in to my life and not so sore.
So now that Porta-cath is part of my life and suppose to be my friend I might as well name it.
Hmmm...what name should it have? Maybe I should wait until after my first Chemo on Monday to see how it works and then name it.
Have a great weekend!
I wish you all enough!
It was a little sore last night but nothing I can't handle. I've been through much worse! LOL Today it seems to be settling in to my life and not so sore.
So now that Porta-cath is part of my life and suppose to be my friend I might as well name it.
Hmmm...what name should it have? Maybe I should wait until after my first Chemo on Monday to see how it works and then name it.
Have a great weekend!
I wish you all enough!
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
My new Friend?
I'm off to get the Port-a-Cath put into my chest tomorrow. I am apprehensive about the whole thing but it's something that has to be done. I might as well make friends with it as from what I've been told it will be with me for a long time!
It will be a long day for my husband with the early morning and all the travelling out of town. I guess in a way I'm the lucky one as I'll probably be sleeping for most of it...I hope! :) My children wanted to go too to be with me but there's really no need to as I'll be either in surgery or sleeping so I told them to stay home. My daughter isn't happy about it but we'll see if she listens to me. LOL I have to be there early but they said I should be able to leave around noon so I guess it only takes a few hours to do.
One step closer to being cancer free :)
I wish you all enough!
It will be a long day for my husband with the early morning and all the travelling out of town. I guess in a way I'm the lucky one as I'll probably be sleeping for most of it...I hope! :) My children wanted to go too to be with me but there's really no need to as I'll be either in surgery or sleeping so I told them to stay home. My daughter isn't happy about it but we'll see if she listens to me. LOL I have to be there early but they said I should be able to leave around noon so I guess it only takes a few hours to do.
One step closer to being cancer free :)
I wish you all enough!
Monday, May 07, 2012
Oncologist visit
The visit to Dr. S. my Oncologist had some good news and not so good news.
The good news is the CT scan of my chest, abdomen and pelvic was clear. They could see no cancer in the CT scan. The not so good news is that my CEA count is up a bit. It was 166 before surgery and after surgery it was 5.9. The last two tests showed it raised to 6.9 so there is cancer but they don't know where.
Dr. S. started talking about a new procedure called HIPEC that she felt I was a good candidate for because of my age. Because I was young (it was nice to hear that 51 was young!) they would like to consider me for this. She told me that they open my abdomen, heat up the chemo and pour it in and let it sit there for a while. She said that this is relatively new so there aren't many stats to show me how well it works compared to people who don't get this. She then received a call from the doctor that does the HIPEC and he suggested that I go on chemo for 6 months first, then get a PET scan and if the cancer hasn't spread into any other place but my abdomen then they will do the HIPEC surgery. I am glad they are starting the chemo first because I really feel we need to get on this as soon as possible instead of waiting for PET scans and info on HIPEC.
I go on Thursday to have a Porta Cath inserted in my chest and I start Chemo (Folfax or 5FU?) next Monday. I am not looking forward to the many side affects but I am looking forward to finally doing something about this cancer! It's been 8 weeks from surgery and I feel hitting it as soon as possible gives me a better chance.
I try to stay positive and I do believe I can beat cancer's ass but sometimes the anger creeps in. I am angry about being misdiagnosed for so many years! IBS is what they said was the problem and no matter how many times I went with complaints they just told me "you have IBS". There was no scans done nothing. If they had listened to me I wouldn't have stage 4 colon cancer! It would have been caught early and my chances of a long long life would have been so much better. Yes I know that that's the past and it's done and it's time to let it go and I know life and cancer isn't fair but sometimes...well I have to learn how to let that go.
If anyone reading this blog ever gets the diagnosis of IBS or has ANY of the signs of colon cancer please please DEMAND a colonoscopy and/or CT scan! Colon cancer, if caught early, is one of the easiest cancers to cure!
I wish you all enough!
The good news is the CT scan of my chest, abdomen and pelvic was clear. They could see no cancer in the CT scan. The not so good news is that my CEA count is up a bit. It was 166 before surgery and after surgery it was 5.9. The last two tests showed it raised to 6.9 so there is cancer but they don't know where.
Dr. S. started talking about a new procedure called HIPEC that she felt I was a good candidate for because of my age. Because I was young (it was nice to hear that 51 was young!) they would like to consider me for this. She told me that they open my abdomen, heat up the chemo and pour it in and let it sit there for a while. She said that this is relatively new so there aren't many stats to show me how well it works compared to people who don't get this. She then received a call from the doctor that does the HIPEC and he suggested that I go on chemo for 6 months first, then get a PET scan and if the cancer hasn't spread into any other place but my abdomen then they will do the HIPEC surgery. I am glad they are starting the chemo first because I really feel we need to get on this as soon as possible instead of waiting for PET scans and info on HIPEC.
I go on Thursday to have a Porta Cath inserted in my chest and I start Chemo (Folfax or 5FU?) next Monday. I am not looking forward to the many side affects but I am looking forward to finally doing something about this cancer! It's been 8 weeks from surgery and I feel hitting it as soon as possible gives me a better chance.
I try to stay positive and I do believe I can beat cancer's ass but sometimes the anger creeps in. I am angry about being misdiagnosed for so many years! IBS is what they said was the problem and no matter how many times I went with complaints they just told me "you have IBS". There was no scans done nothing. If they had listened to me I wouldn't have stage 4 colon cancer! It would have been caught early and my chances of a long long life would have been so much better. Yes I know that that's the past and it's done and it's time to let it go and I know life and cancer isn't fair but sometimes...well I have to learn how to let that go.
If anyone reading this blog ever gets the diagnosis of IBS or has ANY of the signs of colon cancer please please DEMAND a colonoscopy and/or CT scan! Colon cancer, if caught early, is one of the easiest cancers to cure!
I wish you all enough!
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Housework?!
I never thought, in a million years, that I would look forward to doing HOUSEWORK! Housework used to be something I had to do so others wouldn't think we were complete slobs. Everyone has to do housework but no one enjoys it. Cleaning the same things day in day out. Just getting the house clean and it's messy again. A continuous cycle with no end in sight. Monotonous. There were so many other things I wanted to do besides housework!
But now? I look forward to it! Yes I said it! I love doing my housework now! No I haven't gone off the deep end...well not quite yet anyway although I am teetering. Since the colon resection surgery I haven't been able to do too much. It's been a long and boring recuperation but now I can occupy my time doing light housework. It makes some of the time go by so fast and it's something I look forward to doing. There's still alot I can't do yet but I'll get there eventually. By my being able to do some light housework it sure takes a load off my wonderful, caring, loving husband. He's been running his business, my business, looking after me and doing all the cooking, cleaning and laundry as well as taking me to all my appointments. He's so tired and I worry about him so much. He has the stress of all that and the stress of his wife having cancer. I don't know how much more the poor man can take!
So I shuffle around the house looking for things I can do that will relieve some of his work load and stress. I know it's not much yet but soon I will be able to do all of it and get back to running my business.
I love that man more than I could ever say!
Have a great day! :)
But now? I look forward to it! Yes I said it! I love doing my housework now! No I haven't gone off the deep end...well not quite yet anyway although I am teetering. Since the colon resection surgery I haven't been able to do too much. It's been a long and boring recuperation but now I can occupy my time doing light housework. It makes some of the time go by so fast and it's something I look forward to doing. There's still alot I can't do yet but I'll get there eventually. By my being able to do some light housework it sure takes a load off my wonderful, caring, loving husband. He's been running his business, my business, looking after me and doing all the cooking, cleaning and laundry as well as taking me to all my appointments. He's so tired and I worry about him so much. He has the stress of all that and the stress of his wife having cancer. I don't know how much more the poor man can take!
So I shuffle around the house looking for things I can do that will relieve some of his work load and stress. I know it's not much yet but soon I will be able to do all of it and get back to running my business.
I love that man more than I could ever say!
Have a great day! :)
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Addicting!
I've spent way too many hours surfing some fantastic blogs today. This is more addicting than facebook games! I've added some wonderful blogs to my list so I can revisit them and I'm sure I'll find many more to add. I hope no one minds :)
I'm still trying to figure out all the blogging stuff. It took me an hour today just to add a site meter! I used to blog many years ago but so much has changed that I'm totally lost now. Hopefully I'll get the hang of this soon!
I'm off to make my life miserable (and waste more time) by trying to add more gadgets. :)
Have a great day!
I'm still trying to figure out all the blogging stuff. It took me an hour today just to add a site meter! I used to blog many years ago but so much has changed that I'm totally lost now. Hopefully I'll get the hang of this soon!
I'm off to make my life miserable (and waste more time) by trying to add more gadgets. :)
Have a great day!
Monday, April 30, 2012
My Journey so Far
I decided to keep a journal to help me get through this horrible disease. I hope I will be able to hear from others that are in the same boat as I am and help others so they can catch this earlier and not have to go through this.
I was going to write about all the medical mistakes that led me to where I am but that's water under the bridge now and I refuse to dwell on it. My fight is the here and now with Colon Cancer not what did or didn't happen to get me here.
I am a 51 year old mother and grandmother and I was diagnosed as Colon Cancer Stage 4. I had surgery to removed the right side of my colon, my belly button (yes I have no belly button!) the Omentum and 13 lymph nodes 7 weeks ago yesterday. A 5 cm cancer tumour was found blocking my colon, a 2-3cm tumor was found on the inside of my belly button, 1 out of 13 lymph nodes had cancer in them and the Omentum had cancer in it.
I went to see an Oncologist, Dr. S, and she told me that the pathology report showed I had Stage 4 colon cancer and it was the primary cancer. There had been some doubt until then that the colon cancer could have been a secondary cancer and that the primary was someplace else. She said she didn't have all the information that she wanted yet and wanted a blood test for the colon cancer markers in my blood. They had gone from 166 before surgery to 5.9 after surgery. I had thought this was good but she didn't. She said it could mean I still have more cancer inside. If the count doesn't go down I may have to get a PET scan. She ordered a CT scan on my chest, abdomen and pelvis to be done at my hometown hospital. What she told me next terrified and confused me.
She said
IF the surgeon got all the cancer out then I would have Chemo and I have a 30% cure rate and a 70% chance the cancer will come back someplace else.
IF the surgeon didn't get all the cancer during surgery and it's operable then I will travel out of province to have it removed then chemo.
IF the surgeon didn't get it all and it's inoperable then I will go on pallitive care.
I was understandably upset and thank God my husband and daughter were with me because they quickly explained that this is what they tell anyone with cancer when they don't know the specifics yet. I was scared and they comforted me and after I thought more on it they were right, it isn't specific to my case yet. Statistics show that some people do survive this and it might as well be me!
I went for a follow-up appointment with my surgeon, Dr. P., and he seemed very pleased with the CEA going from 166 to 5.9 and extremely pleased at how the surgery went. He's pretty positive he removed all the cancer during the surgery and he has a very positive outlook on my case. He spoke to the oncologist and told her that he felt he removed it all too. It sure was a change from the Oncologist! So for now I am going with what Dr. P. says because that has everything to do with MY specific case at this time!
I have another appointment with Dr. S. the Oncologist on Friday. I am hoping I will get information about my case and a treatment plan. If not, I think I will be shopping for a new Oncologist!
I was going to write about all the medical mistakes that led me to where I am but that's water under the bridge now and I refuse to dwell on it. My fight is the here and now with Colon Cancer not what did or didn't happen to get me here.
I am a 51 year old mother and grandmother and I was diagnosed as Colon Cancer Stage 4. I had surgery to removed the right side of my colon, my belly button (yes I have no belly button!) the Omentum and 13 lymph nodes 7 weeks ago yesterday. A 5 cm cancer tumour was found blocking my colon, a 2-3cm tumor was found on the inside of my belly button, 1 out of 13 lymph nodes had cancer in them and the Omentum had cancer in it.
I went to see an Oncologist, Dr. S, and she told me that the pathology report showed I had Stage 4 colon cancer and it was the primary cancer. There had been some doubt until then that the colon cancer could have been a secondary cancer and that the primary was someplace else. She said she didn't have all the information that she wanted yet and wanted a blood test for the colon cancer markers in my blood. They had gone from 166 before surgery to 5.9 after surgery. I had thought this was good but she didn't. She said it could mean I still have more cancer inside. If the count doesn't go down I may have to get a PET scan. She ordered a CT scan on my chest, abdomen and pelvis to be done at my hometown hospital. What she told me next terrified and confused me.
She said
IF the surgeon got all the cancer out then I would have Chemo and I have a 30% cure rate and a 70% chance the cancer will come back someplace else.
IF the surgeon didn't get all the cancer during surgery and it's operable then I will travel out of province to have it removed then chemo.
IF the surgeon didn't get it all and it's inoperable then I will go on pallitive care.
I was understandably upset and thank God my husband and daughter were with me because they quickly explained that this is what they tell anyone with cancer when they don't know the specifics yet. I was scared and they comforted me and after I thought more on it they were right, it isn't specific to my case yet. Statistics show that some people do survive this and it might as well be me!
I went for a follow-up appointment with my surgeon, Dr. P., and he seemed very pleased with the CEA going from 166 to 5.9 and extremely pleased at how the surgery went. He's pretty positive he removed all the cancer during the surgery and he has a very positive outlook on my case. He spoke to the oncologist and told her that he felt he removed it all too. It sure was a change from the Oncologist! So for now I am going with what Dr. P. says because that has everything to do with MY specific case at this time!
I have another appointment with Dr. S. the Oncologist on Friday. I am hoping I will get information about my case and a treatment plan. If not, I think I will be shopping for a new Oncologist!
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