1st check up since i was put in remission

So tomorrow is my first check up since i was put in Remission. Just a tad nervous, which i don't know why. Tomorrow i am going to have a blood test and a chat and check up with the Dr. Nothing ever showed up in my blood work any different before and i have felt pretty good. I think it just has something to do with these appointments get your brain going about "what if". Anyways i quit writing after i was put in remission and now i am back. I think the writing helped to keep me sane and i have felt a little insane lately so i am going to try and write more often. Well happy positive thoughts for tomorrow.

Oops....Guess i have been MIA

It's amazing that as soon as the chemo stops, i haven't. I have been so super busy. I have gone back to work, 20 hours a week. Starting slow for now and then after New Years i am going back 30 hours. Even though i am only working 20 hours with my commute it is 32. I feel like i haven't stopped going in the last week and a half between work and getting ready for Christmas. I am glad to be getting back to some normalcy, but i am still so tired and missing those naps i used to get. Everyday is getting better, a little more energy, a little more hair, and little more "me". My sense of humor is returning and i just all around feel better.

I still have so much to do to get ready for Christmas. Last weekend we did get the tree decorated and lights hung on the house. I need to take a picture so i can post it. Maybe tomorrow or Sunday i will get some pictures up. My Christmas tree doesn't have any presents under it, because i have not had the time or energy to start that yet. I really honestly haven't put a dent in my Christmas shopping yet. I feel bad, i have people that i need to get stuff in the mail to, so they get it before Christmas, but i am not sure that will happen. Their stuff may be a day or two late.

Joe and I went to my company Christmas Party this week and it was really nice. It was at Arden Hills Country Club in Sacramento. For those of you who haven't ever been there it is absolutely beautiful. It was alot of fun. We had an after party at the Midway in Ceres with some old friends.....Pam and Todd. I had a couple of drinks and it felt great to get out and enjoy myself again. I made sure to charge the battery in my camera so that i would actually get pictures (unlike Thanksgiving), and then i forgot my camera on the counter at home with my jewelry i planned on wearing that night. ChemoBrain.

I really need to do some more shopping and wrapping this weekend. I think i will put the kids to work helping me. In the past i haven't really let them do much wrapping or decorating because i was a bit of a perfectionist, but i have come to realize that their style is cute, their effort is priceless, and life is too short for perfect.

Tomorrow night is Sabrina's 30th Birthday Party and i am looking forward to getting together with that clan. It has been a long time since we have all hung out. I think i should go put my camera in my purse now, so i actually get pictures of this. LOL

Just call me Brandi "Remission" England

Yeah! I made it and now i am clean and clear. Just thought i would get on real quick and give the good news. I don't have to see the oncologist until March!!!!!! Merry Early Christmas to me. The best gift i got this year came a little early and it came from my Dr. A Clean Bill of Health. I am beyond excited and today is the first day of the rest of my healthy life.

Tomorrow is the big Day!

I go to the Dr. tomorrow for the results to last weeks PET Scan. I am really excited and a tad nervous. I have managed to stay really confident and super busy, because busy gives me less time to think, and when you are playing a waiting game thinking can be dangerous. I will be getting home super late tomorrow from the Dr. because i have a late afternoon appointment which will put me out of the Dr.'s office just in time for the rush hour traffic leaving Sacramento, but i will try and post at least the results tomorrow.

As for Thanksgiving it was really great! Dinner was awesome and spending time with my mom was so much fun. She was here for 3 days and we shopped all 3 days. On Wednesday we shopped for Thanksgiving. Then on Thursday K-Mart is the only store in the world open on Thanksgiving so we were there before the doors opened. Then on Friday we started at 4 am at Mervyn's first, getting there before the doors opened also. We got alot of really great deals and had a good time. We had to come home after 3 stores and take a little break before going out for more. My energy level is just not there yet. Also i know i promised pictures, but the chemo brain is here for good i think. I forgot to charge the battery in my camera, so this Thanksgiving we are going to have to go off memory to remember. Memory- something chemo has stripped me of and seems to be the one thing that may never return.

Speaking of returning though my hair is coming back. I am so excited, except it is going to be an all new me. It is coming in super dark. I have always had dirty blonde hair naturally, so dark hair is going to take some getting used to. It is also coming in curly, but only on the sides and in the back. The top seems to be coming in straight. Of course it is about 1/4 of an inch long so who knows what will happen as it gets longer. For now i am just happy it is coming in thick and even with no more bald spots.

Also i am starting to return to work. I never went completely out during chemo. I continued to work as many hours as i could, on most weeks that was between 8-15 hours. Last week i managed to work 20 and that is the plan for this week too. After this week i am hoping to step it up to 30 hours for a few weeks and hopefully by the end of the month be back full time. The commute makes it hard, i drive 3 to 4 hours a day on top of how many hours i work. So when i get back full time i have 60 hour work weeks between working and commuting. Last week my 20 hours was really 34 with the commute. I was so tired this last week i went straight to bed after work every night. Oh how i can't wait to get all my energy back.

Pet Scan #2 Scheduled

I have another Pet Scan scheduled for November 27th. Hopefully this scan will bring the results that i want to hear so bad. CANCER FREE!!!! I get the results on December 4th. So i have decided that i am feeling better (regardless to how my body feels) and i am going to enjoy this Thanksgiving more than i have enjoyed any other. No worries during this holiday only fun. I will not worry in between the scan and the results because i have even more confidence than i did last time that i will get the results i want. There is just no way that anything could be living inside me. Hair loss, appetite loss, memory loss, losing the use of my arms, the only thing i haven't lost is weight, just my luck. I know they say cancer is like the cockroach (the only thing that could live through a bomb), but not inside of me. I refuse, i am a strong believer of mind over matter, and my mind is set.

On a lighter note i am hoping to bowl tomorrow night, since i haven't been able to in several weeks. I don't want to injure this arm any worse than it already is, but i could us the fun. Even if my arm is not up to bowling i will at least go and be the team cheerleader.

Well i have lots to do to get ready for my mom coming and Thanksgiving. Hopefully she doesn't read this post or she will be calling me and telling me i better not do anything that is why she is coming. I have to work everyday (except the weekend) until she gets here so i need to get as much done today as possible. So if i don't post again until after Thanksgiving than everyone have a Super Great Awesome Thanksgiving!!

P.S. I will get some super cool pictures of Thanksgiving with Mom and post them after Thanksgiving.

Yesterday was my last chemo treatment....Yeah!!!

So yesterday i went to Day 15 round 6 chemo treatment. That is it, it is over. The treatment itself was by far the longest. The nurses were so afraid of me getting phlebitis in my other arm that they put the chemo in super slow. Usually my treatment takes about 3 1/2 hours. Yesterday i was there 8 hours. The treatment took 6 hours and it took 2 hours to decided if they were going to give me the treatment.

The reason they weren't sure on giving me the treatment is because i am sick again. I swear if it's not one thing it's another. The patch started kicking in and i was feeling better by Monday. Tuesday i went to work and it was a super long day for me, about 12 hours, between work and commute. Then i woke up Wednesday sick as can be. Sore throat, cough, runny nose, achy body and a fever. I do not know where i picked up this cold, nobody at my house has been sick. The fever had broke by Thursday morning, so they made me wear a mask all day so i wouldn't get anyone else sick and they had me in a room by myself most of the day. They finally decided to go ahead and do the last chemo treatment, the Dr. says he is sure it is a virus. As a precautionary measure he is going to have me take the Neulasta shot today though. Ugh!!! He is also going to have me start more antibiotics on Monday to make sure this chest cold doesn't turn into bronchitis or pneumonia.

I woke up this morning feeling alot better. My sore throat is almost gone, the fever and the achiness is gone. So hopefully i am almost over this cold. The last one hung around for 11 days. I'm super bummed about having to take that shot. I told the nurses the chemo wasn't half as bad as that shot is. Oh well it is the last one and then i never have to think about Nuelasta again.

Thanksgiving is in two weeks, i can't believe it is that close. I never really look forward to Thanksgiving Day that much, because i always do all the cooking and it is alot of work. I look forward to the day after Thanksgiving for all those sales. Yes, i am one of the crazy's that fight the crowds and get up at 4am to shop. This year i am looking forward to both. My mom is coming from Utah for Thanksgiving. She figured with Thanksgiving falling exactly 2 weeks after my last chemo treatment i might not be up to doing all the cooking on my own. So my mom will be doing most of the cooking, she thinks she is doing it all, but that is not my style. There is nothing better than mom's cooking. Also this year i will have a shopping buddy. Some years i have talked someone into going with me, but i never can manage to talk them into it again. Most people go once to see what it is all about, get their feel, and never go back. Last year i talked my husband into going with me. I can assure everyone that will never happen again.

Well i should be feeling better by Monday and i will try and post again to let everyone know how the LAST Nuelasta shot treated me.

Update on my arm

Just thought i would give everyone a quick update. The purpleness of my arm is getting better and the pain is getting worse. The Dr. has decided that it is definitely phlebitis. It originally was about an inch or two of the vein in my right arm near the elbow. It has now moved about two inches further up my arm. So now the vein is swollen about 4 inches and my whole arm is swollen. Initially it was just my elbow hurting and now the pain has traveled up to my shoulder and back. I went in again today to have the nurse look at it and just document the visible changes to my arm. They also put a pain patch on me. I guess it slowly releases the pain medicine for 3 days and then they told me to take darvacet for the break through pain as needed. They gave me a 30 day supply of the patches. Apparently the Dr. is afraid this may last longer than i was hoping. They say i may still be able to drive, work, and function on this patch. Hopefully that is the case. I am hoping this patch will make it possible for me to have a bit of normalness again. So i should no my Monday how this all works out.