Happy Halloween!!!!

It's Halloween and I wish I felt better. I did go get the kids their Halloween costumes 2 weeks ago. Then on Sunday, we carved pumpkins. They turned out really good. I didn't do any other decorating other than the pumpkins this year. We are going trick or treating tonight, I'm not sure how long i will be able to go, but I will try for at least a little while. I will get some pictures of the kids in their costumes and try and post them in the next couple of days. Hopefully i will be feeling better by then.

In my last blog i wrote about the infusion hurting, which has never happened before. On Saturday i woke up and my right arm(the one they put the chemo in) from about 2 inches above my wrist to an inch above my elbow is purple and red and swollen. My arm was aching really bad. I dealt with the pain on saturday and sunday and by Monday i just couldn't take it anymore. So i called the Dr. and they decided it would be best to see me. The Dr. isn't sure if i have phlebitis or if chemo leaked out of my vein and into the tissue during infusion. She put me on antibiotics in case chemo leaked out of my vein, because that could cause an infection. She also put me on a steroid cream to reduce the swelling in the skin and tissue near the the surface of the skin. If i am not feeling better by tomorrow i will probably go back in. I can't do anything with this arm. I can't even brush my "buddy", and i am not one to walk around with bed head. It has taken me over an hour to type this having to rest after every couple of sentences. My arm seriously feels like it is going to fall off. I can't wait to feel better.

I will keep everyone up to date if i end up going back to the Dr. Happy Haunting!!!

Chemo Yesterday

So yesterday i had chemo and it was by far the worst treatment yet. I was a little early to my appointment so i went to the lab for a blood draw, so my blood counts would be done in time for my appointment. For some reason where she poked me it took 2 hours to stop bleeding. Then the only vein the nurse could find to give me chemo in is the one i had all the problems with in the beginning. The Dr. said not to use it anymore because the vein was restricted and my arm felt like it was going to fall off from the pain. We haven't used that arm at all for the last 5 or 6 treatments and my arm felt back to normal so we decided to try it out. Big Big Mistake. Everything she put through that IV made my arm hurt so bad. She had to slow up all the chemo and my treatment that usually takes 3 to 4 hours took 5 hours yesterday. Also she had to keep wrapping my arms in warm towels to ease the pain. So like every half hour she would bring me a new warm towel. At one point she was busy and accidently put the towel in the microwave for 2 minutes instead of 30 seconds and almost burned down the hospital. She brought the towel in to put it on my arm and when she was waving it in the air to cool it off a bit before putting it on me, I saw a brown burn spot and could smell something burning. She opened the towel more and on the next layer it was on fire almost. She threw it in the sink and turned the water on. We all had a good laugh at that and i made her let me inspect every towel after that to make sure she wasn't trying to burn me. The receptionist and people across the hall came in to find out if they needed to call the fire department. So at least there was one funny thing that happened in my bad chemo treatment. Then as if my day wasn't bad enough 0n the way home (i have an hour and half drive) my stomach started hurting and i started feeling not that great. I figured it was the chemo kicking in, boy was i wrong. Aunt Flow had come to visit. Icing on the cake. I woke up feeling pretty good today and i take my last Nuelasta shot tonight....Yeah.



We recently joined a bowling league, Joe, my dad, his best friend, and myself. I had a substitute bowler to bowl for me until i finished the chemo, but she dropped out after the first week. So i go and bowl when i can and i sit and be the cheerleader for my team when i can't. I actually bowled last night and we had a really good time. There we are bowling and i'm popping Zofran. It is something to keep my mind off of the cancer and something to get me out of the house. I will have to get some pictures of my team kicking butt. We are in second place right now out of 22 teams.



O.k. so the other day when i posted those pics of me in my new wigs i left the first wig i bought out. It was the one i ordered over the internet and i thought it was too dark. Most people that knew me before the cancer thing knew i have always had light hair. People who didn't know me before think it looks good. Well i will post it for you guys to be the judge.

O.K. News

So yesterday i went to get the results to last weeks PET Scan. It wasn't exactly what i wanted to hear. I guess there is still a small spot showing. So two more treatments and then at the end of November another PET Scan. The Dr. is going to have me not take the Nuelasta shot after my last chemo. He says that sometimes that shot has a funny effect to the PET Scan. So i will be keeping my fingers crossed that is why i still have activity showing. I see the Dr. on Dec. 4th to get the results to the next PET Scan. The news was a little discouraging because the Dr. had told me initially that 3 rounds of chemo would probably get rid of it, but as a precautionary measure we would do 6 rounds. So after 5 rounds i was expecting to hear that it was all gone. I knew that i would have to do this last round of chemo regardless to the results of the Scan, but if it was already gone and I was just doing the last round as a precautionary measure that would have been better than doing the last round and hoping it's enough to get rid of whats left.


Oh well on a different note, Thank You to Mary Jane who found a great wig shop in our area. They are very reasonably priced and even let you try the wigs on in the store. I took my good friend Jenny with me and we had a good time getting me 2 really great "buddies". Here is a picture of the 2 i just got.

So I woke up this morning and after months of getting balder i start to realize that i have a full head of baby hairs growing back in already. Yeah. I'm not sure if they will last through the next 2 chemo treatments. The more i looked at my hair i started to realize the few hairs (like 10) that i have left, look really bad. Almost like a bad Halloween wig. So i got out the scissors and started to give myself a haircut. Probably not the best idea, but i figured i couldn't make it look any worse than it already did. Then i decided to clean it up a bit and we shaved my head, so all the hair would be the same length. So if i do hang on to the new baby hairs that have grown in, then in several months i should look like a girl again. Until then i have scarves and wigs. Honestly it really does look better, and i never had to do the total bald thing, just very very very short. Here is a picture.

Well i have chemo tomorrow and then i will only have one left. This Friday is my last Nuelasta shot....Thank goodness for that. I will try and do a post over the next day or two before the shot kicks in to let everyone know how i am adjusting to the almost baldness.

Pet Scan Scheduled

Ok so yes i was missing in action a little longer than i thought i would be. Comcast and I had a little dispute and they sorta won for about a week. Anyways so much has happened.

First i have a Pet Scan scheduled for this Thursday October 18th. So i need every ones prayers and positive thoughts on Thursday. I get the results on Tuesday October 23rd. I am preparing myself for only good news, i feel really confident and good that this chapter is coming to an end.

The next thing is i finally got a wig. I had to order online and the color is much darker than i thought it would be. It is really cute and i am hoping to get some pictures uploaded tomorrow. I have been putting on some really dark eyebrows to match and people who don't know me have been wanting to know where i get my hair done. That is a question i wasn't prepared for the first time. My response now is: I do it myself, I'm not one for lies and the shock on peoples faces when you tell them it's a wig is unbearable. People who do know me have passed right by me not realizing it is me. I'm going to order another online and hopefully the next one is a tad lighter. I haven't shaved my head yet, i am worried that the wig will irritate my bald head so i am also ordering some caps to wear under the wig. I only have about 10 hairs left so i know it is time to let go. We have all had a good time, naming the wig "my buddy". That way when we are in public we can talk about it without everyone knowing what we are talking about. If it is crooked, then my buddy is all out of whack. If one of my ten hairs are trying to escape, then my buddy has a straggler. I can ask how does my buddy look today. It has been pretty funny.

Halloween is coming and I feel really bad but i have not been in the mood. No decorations at my house and i know i need to get costumes but i have had no spirit. I need to snap out of it before the costumes are totally picked over. Maybe by this weekend i will find some Halloween spirit somewhere.

Well i guess that is all i have for now. I will try and post a pic or two tomorrow.