So, I had to have blood drawn on Tuesday. This is a nadir test, not nadis as I said last week. It is nothing more than a normal routine blood test. It was done because of the terminated chemo treatment, the new treatment and the fact that my levels would not be checked soon enough. It is still two weeks away. So, safety factor I'd say. The worst part of the test was we had to wait for the results. Appointment was at 12:30 and we got done at 2:30. I faired pretty well, my potassium level is much better now up into the range where it belongs. My glucose is a little high but we all agree it is the peanut butter cookies I am eating. Some medicines have to be taken with food. When I take my pills at 10:00 at night I take a quarter of a cookie....goes to show you how much sugar there is an a peanut butter cookie. My cancer marker actually went up from 47 to 61 but they explained they expected that because of the terminated treatment. They expect it to go down next time.
For those at OneShield that I got to see on Monday I just went you to know it was great to see you, wish I could have visited longer and seen more people. All in good time though, I'll be back!!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
1st treatment with second new medicine
Things went smoothly today...the treatment is usually uneventful. My potassium level went down, no explaination so they gave me another liter of potassium today. I have to go in again next week for 'nadis' and will update again after that.
This new treatment takes 1/2 hour but with all the prep work we are there for at least 2 1/2 hours. I was told this new medicine will cause more fatigue than the last one but not as much as the first one. I'll take it....the last one was not so bad.
Yesterday (Monday) I had to have blood drawn (love my port!!!) and when we came out we discovered someone stole one of the M&M Red Sox decal off my car. How sad.
OK, that's all for now.
This new treatment takes 1/2 hour but with all the prep work we are there for at least 2 1/2 hours. I was told this new medicine will cause more fatigue than the last one but not as much as the first one. I'll take it....the last one was not so bad.
Yesterday (Monday) I had to have blood drawn (love my port!!!) and when we came out we discovered someone stole one of the M&M Red Sox decal off my car. How sad.
OK, that's all for now.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
It's been awhile and I've received emails from people asking when I am going to update my blog again. First, I apologize for the delay.
The chemo treatments make me very fatigued and they are cumulative so the more time that goes by the less energy I have hence making it difficult to sit and update the blog.
I've managed to read emails that you have sent but have not been able to respond, don't take it personal! I have even turned down phone calls because I did not have the energy to speak.
OK, so, as noted in an earlier entry I dehydrate very quickly so we set up an in home infusion. (Excellent benefit). A nurse comes to my home when I call and puts the needle in my port. Jim, my husband, does the rest. We can leave the needle in for up to five days before it must be removed. Any time I have the needle in we can infuse fluids. This has worked very well as it restores my energy and hydration level. This was set up after the first chemo treatment.
The days after the 2nd and 3rd treatments were very much like the days after the first treatment, lots of fatigue, dehydration/rehydration.
I went for a CT Scan on June 16. Funny story, we were a day late. I insisted every piece of paperwork I had said June 16, the card, the letter in the mail, the date on my calendar...when I got home I checked and lo and behold everything said June
15 including the calendar. I actually wrote 'June 15, 2010' on June 16. So, they moved the appointment in their books up to the 16th and did the CT scan. Interesting how when you make an appointment it can be three weeks or longer but I was able to have it done the next day. Anyway.....
On June 22 I met with Dr Rooney and he asked me how I was feeling...there was really no change in how I felt. He said well, the scan came back showing no change. He looked up and obviously realize we were disappointed with this information because he immediately said this is good news. It's not the best news, the best news would be the tumor is shrinking. The next best news is no change..it means there are no new growths and no growth in the existing ones. It is also an indication that something needs to change. In this case it is the medication. So, he ordered the change and I went off to get the first treatment of this new medication, Taxotere (feel free to look it up).
The first treatment was great, the reaction/response was NOTHING like the first round of chemo. While I had fatigue it was no where near the level of the first round of treatment. I was tired and spent a lot of time in bed but I was able to get up and move around, my appetite was better as well. And of course along with the good it seems there has to be bad. I introduced vomiting to my almost daily routine. The good news/bad news is I was not able to drink water, most of my issue was all water. The body can only hold so much. Towards the end of the 3 week cycle (Wednesday the 7th to Monday the 12th) vomiting was a daily routine and sometimes twice a day. When I went for my blood work we talked about this and the nurse asked me if the nausea pill wasn't working. I forgot I had one...the Dr had given me a new one to try which I did (I am pretty sure I mentioned this, it is the third cousin of marijuana), go ahead laugh and I took ONE and that was the end of that. I hadn't been taking the other pill because up until this time I had no issues with vomiting so I forgot I had it. (To help you understand last night before I went to bed I took all my pills, there were eleven of them, I have to do this twice a day plus every four hours on the pain medication I have more than 11 pills to take daily but that is an example of my night pills)
So this brings us to today. I had my second chemo treatment with the new medicine.
My weight did not change in spite of all the vomiting I've done. My potassium level did not change because of all the vomiting I've done.
My cancer markers showed a great improvement. I am not going to pretend I understand it all but the blood work they do each time I go compares all the levels and I think determines the cancer marker. Down is the way we want to go. Two trips ago it was at 97 this trip it was at 47 so that was a huge improvement. To me that means the new medicine is working.
Last week my nurse explained that this medicine has a history of an allergic reaction. She said it could be shortness of breath, hot flash, lower back pain and several others. She said it's usually the lower back pain or the hot flash and it typically occurs during the second treatment. She was right. I had an allergic reaction, lower back pain. They start the medicine off at a slow drip and gradually move it up. Today they started it at 50 (whatever the unit of measure is) and 20 minutes or so moved it up to 70. Instant back pain and intense, worse than my back labor. She immediately stopped the medication and I was amazed that within 5 seconds I swear there were five people in the room with me including the Dr. They eventually gave me some pain medication (it was all said and done in ten minutes or so). The pain was completely resolved in about 15 minutes.
As a result I could not have my treatment today. They have scheduled a new appointment for next week with a new medicine, similar to this one. We will see how it goes.
SIDE NOTE: The brain scan came back as no change. I have not had a chance to discuss the course of action for this with the Dr. I keep meaning to but so many things come up during the appointment I keep forgetting.
I believe that is everything for now.
Thanks everyone for caring about and following up on me.
The chemo treatments make me very fatigued and they are cumulative so the more time that goes by the less energy I have hence making it difficult to sit and update the blog.
I've managed to read emails that you have sent but have not been able to respond, don't take it personal! I have even turned down phone calls because I did not have the energy to speak.
OK, so, as noted in an earlier entry I dehydrate very quickly so we set up an in home infusion. (Excellent benefit). A nurse comes to my home when I call and puts the needle in my port. Jim, my husband, does the rest. We can leave the needle in for up to five days before it must be removed. Any time I have the needle in we can infuse fluids. This has worked very well as it restores my energy and hydration level. This was set up after the first chemo treatment.
The days after the 2nd and 3rd treatments were very much like the days after the first treatment, lots of fatigue, dehydration/rehydration.
I went for a CT Scan on June 16. Funny story, we were a day late. I insisted every piece of paperwork I had said June 16, the card, the letter in the mail, the date on my calendar...when I got home I checked and lo and behold everything said June
15 including the calendar. I actually wrote 'June 15, 2010' on June 16. So, they moved the appointment in their books up to the 16th and did the CT scan. Interesting how when you make an appointment it can be three weeks or longer but I was able to have it done the next day. Anyway.....
On June 22 I met with Dr Rooney and he asked me how I was feeling...there was really no change in how I felt. He said well, the scan came back showing no change. He looked up and obviously realize we were disappointed with this information because he immediately said this is good news. It's not the best news, the best news would be the tumor is shrinking. The next best news is no change..it means there are no new growths and no growth in the existing ones. It is also an indication that something needs to change. In this case it is the medication. So, he ordered the change and I went off to get the first treatment of this new medication, Taxotere (feel free to look it up).
The first treatment was great, the reaction/response was NOTHING like the first round of chemo. While I had fatigue it was no where near the level of the first round of treatment. I was tired and spent a lot of time in bed but I was able to get up and move around, my appetite was better as well. And of course along with the good it seems there has to be bad. I introduced vomiting to my almost daily routine. The good news/bad news is I was not able to drink water, most of my issue was all water. The body can only hold so much. Towards the end of the 3 week cycle (Wednesday the 7th to Monday the 12th) vomiting was a daily routine and sometimes twice a day. When I went for my blood work we talked about this and the nurse asked me if the nausea pill wasn't working. I forgot I had one...the Dr had given me a new one to try which I did (I am pretty sure I mentioned this, it is the third cousin of marijuana), go ahead laugh and I took ONE and that was the end of that. I hadn't been taking the other pill because up until this time I had no issues with vomiting so I forgot I had it. (To help you understand last night before I went to bed I took all my pills, there were eleven of them, I have to do this twice a day plus every four hours on the pain medication I have more than 11 pills to take daily but that is an example of my night pills)
So this brings us to today. I had my second chemo treatment with the new medicine.
My weight did not change in spite of all the vomiting I've done. My potassium level did not change because of all the vomiting I've done.
My cancer markers showed a great improvement. I am not going to pretend I understand it all but the blood work they do each time I go compares all the levels and I think determines the cancer marker. Down is the way we want to go. Two trips ago it was at 97 this trip it was at 47 so that was a huge improvement. To me that means the new medicine is working.
Last week my nurse explained that this medicine has a history of an allergic reaction. She said it could be shortness of breath, hot flash, lower back pain and several others. She said it's usually the lower back pain or the hot flash and it typically occurs during the second treatment. She was right. I had an allergic reaction, lower back pain. They start the medicine off at a slow drip and gradually move it up. Today they started it at 50 (whatever the unit of measure is) and 20 minutes or so moved it up to 70. Instant back pain and intense, worse than my back labor. She immediately stopped the medication and I was amazed that within 5 seconds I swear there were five people in the room with me including the Dr. They eventually gave me some pain medication (it was all said and done in ten minutes or so). The pain was completely resolved in about 15 minutes.
As a result I could not have my treatment today. They have scheduled a new appointment for next week with a new medicine, similar to this one. We will see how it goes.
SIDE NOTE: The brain scan came back as no change. I have not had a chance to discuss the course of action for this with the Dr. I keep meaning to but so many things come up during the appointment I keep forgetting.
I believe that is everything for now.
Thanks everyone for caring about and following up on me.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)