Chemo #5 + PET Scan Date

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update. It’s now been a week since I’ve gotten out of the hospital, and I’m feeling better. Not fully back to 100%, but better than I was feeling a week ago!

CHEMO #5

I got out of the hospital on a Monday and we powered through with Chemo #5 on the Wednesday. I was nervous going into the treatment, since previously I had not responded well to treatment when I had medical issues preceding chemo.

These fears were not entirely unfounded, as this chemo treatment has been more of a struggle than several of the previous ones have been. Each day I have struggled with mild nausea, stomach pain, and a general tired feeling. But nothing has been so overwhelming that it’s stopped me from going about doing things as I normally would – still working during the days, keeping a somewhat normal sleep schedule.

New side effect… My eyebrows are starting to thin and become patchy. It’s tough to tell what state the hair on my head is in because I keep it trimmed so short… but I can definitely tell that my eyebrows are thinning – especially my left eyebrow. Luis says it looks trendy – but no. 😉

PET SCAN

We had thought that we would be scheduling my next PET Scan to follow my next treatment on Tuesday, March 21. That treatment is the second and final treatment of my third cycle, and they had told us that the PET Scan would come after the third cycle. But what they apparently actually meant by that was that the scan will be scheduled after the full conclusion of the third cycle – and the test won’t actually take place until after the start of my 4^th cycle!

It’s pretty disappointing, because we’re anxious to get a real update on how the cancer killing is going. It’s nice to have been able to observe my tumors shrinking in real time, from what I can see and feel along my neck and shoulders, but I really am anxious to get a scan that hopefully says I am cancer free or damn close to it. It’s not a huge delay, but it’s still over 3 weeks away now when we had been expected something in about a week’s time.

So, to recap, we’re looking at a PET Scan around the week of April 3. And after that, we hope to know a lot more about how treatment is going and what treatment lies ahead.

BLOOD TESTS

Dr. Stevens’ is on vacation so his RN, Dale, is in charge in his absence. She scheduled a blood test this morning just to check on my levels. This has not been done before and honestly I don’t know what triggered the need for such a checkup – but we went and the results were excellent.

My White Blood Cells have been hovering in the 2-3 range, when “Normal” ranges from 4-8. When I went into the hospital, my WBCs plummeted into the 1’s. But today, they were a 4.6! Well into the “Normal” range for a fully healthy person! Plus, my Neutropenas – which has gone as low as 0.1 (when a normal range is over 2) were above 3! Excellent results all around.

NEXT CHEMO (#6)

My next treatment will be on the 21^st as I move back to a Tuesday schedule. My nurse, Delonia, doesn’t work every day but she works every Tuesday. We really like Delonia and she enjoys spending time with us, so it works!

We love just about everyone at the Norton Cancer Institute. Today, I went to Kentucky Derby & Sports Memorabilia on Dixie Highway and purchased a case of Derby Glasses. My friend Krista set me up with the owner, Steve Witt, and he gave me a great discount. I’m going to fill the glasses with some Easter candy and bring them up for the nursing staff next week as a thank you for taking such good care of us.

BATH BOMBS

My relaxation method of choice recently has been taking baths. I’ve found that is often settles my stomach and makes me less barfy. I’ve not ever really been into taking baths, but recently I have found them to be very calming.

I bought some ‘bath bombs’ off Amazon, and I really like them! They’re good smelling and add a little something extra.

BRITISH BAKING CHALLENGE

Luis and I have started watching the British Baking Challenge on Netflix. It was tough to talk me into watching a competitive bake off show, but I’m really into it! The drama is intense! I’d like to say it makes me want to start baking – but really, it just makes me want to eat baked goods that other people bake! I bet my Uncle Jerry would be really into this show if he had Netflix.

Anyways, Luis had watched the first season without me. But we’ve completed Season 2 and started Season 3 last night.