Gemzar is in!

Gemzar is the chemo I am taking right now and my first does is. It wasn't bad at all. It took about 30 min to get it all in and then of course they gave me steroids, no secret on how much I hate them- my face is already swollen- maybe it's not even possible- but I can tell! The real news is about my toe. I know that it seems like such a small deal compared to everything, but it sucks 100 times worse than chemo! My nail had to be removed and because I waited so long to go back to the doctor I had less than 24 hrs between nail removal and chemo. Chemo destroys cells, all cells, and that's good for cancer, but bad for healing and growing things like hair and nails- especially infected toe nails! The doctor gave me antibiotics because my toe was so infected-again because I waited so long, and those are making me feel worse than the chemo. So, I am happy with the chemo and other than some leg and hip aches the first night along with some heat flashes- which I can't blame all on the chemo- I haven't had any side effects. I was a little tired. Too tired to update my wedding RSVP's- one of my all time favorite things to do lately, so you know I was really tired! I was also too tired to blog, another one of my fav things to do. But I wanted to get an update on here so people know things are going well! But I could have been extra tired because I visited with my future in-laws and played with little Tony today too! Playing with little Tony can make anyone tired!!!

Chemo

Tomorrow is the big day! I start chemo to shrink the tumors in my lungs so I can breathe better. I hope they respond quickly and that the side effects are minimal. But it looks like this chemo is easier than the others I have been on so that, a good sign! I'll let you know how it goes.

New Plan

I met with my oncologists today and we have a new plan. Since there isn't fluid in my lungs, I now understand why they know that, we need a new way to make me breathe easier.... I like breathing and want to be able to breathe again. Technically I can breathe now, however I easily am out of breath. Walking and talking at the same time is almost impossible. So, the new plan is chemo. Chemo will shrink the tumors making room for my lungs to expand all the way. My right lung is blocked by tumors and there is no room for it to fully inflate. The chemo they are giving me has less side effects than the other chemos I have been on (YEAH!!!) including no hair loss! I did get my wigs out of there box in the closet yesterday because I kind of knew they would be wanting to do chemo and they all look great and are still in pretty good condition, the long one is my favorite and it is probably in the worst condition, but still wearable. I would probably get one more bob length one without the perma tease for volume like the others have. Sorry, I got off topic, anyway, I have the wigs just in case back on their mannequin head to take shape if in case I do need them. But it looks good that I will only have thinner hair, not a problem for me! Other than thinning hair the side effects are flu like symptoms and fatigue, anemic type problems and I am prone to that already. I suspect that I will tired and I can handle that. The nausea is treated with side effect medications, just like last time. We are just waiting for insurance approval to start the first round. Once I go through the first round I will know what days I will feel bad and can plan the big events in my life to land on good days! I am so happy there is something to make my breathing easier! After the chemo destroys the tumors that are in my chest wall making it difficult to breathe, then I will switch to a shot that helps control the estrogen made my adrenal and pituitary glands to keep the tumors from coming back. The good news is that my tumor markers are even less this week than 2 weeks ago and that my levels really responded to the removal of my ovaries. The last bit of good news and probably the biggest thing to be happy about is that no organs have any activity and the activity that appeared to be on the spine hasn't changed!

So Frustrated

The new lung doctor doesn't think there is fluid around my lungs. I still think that there is, last time it took forever for them to find it because it doesn't show up on any scans. He canceled my fluid drain tomorrow and even had my oncologist saying that it is the tumor activity that is causing the shortness of breath. Maybe it is, but the only thing that showed fluid last time was an ultrasound. I also don't like the way his nurse handled things today and he was supposed to call me and never did. More than anything I expect to be treated with respect and feel that I was not treated that way today. Plus I am really sad that if he is right and there is no fluid, tumors will be much more difficult to remove than fluid especially since they are not operable.
Tony surprised me with a dozen red roses and gummy bears! Mmmmm I love gummy bears soooo much!!!! And my PET scan results were so good and my tumor markers were good too and all of that is much better than some stupid doctor and his rude nurse!

PET Scan Results and Tumor Markers

I got the PET Scan results today and there is not a lot of new growth, that is good. Also, my tumor markers have dropped since I had my ovaries out, that's even better news! Happy Valentine's Day to me!!

No news yet

My doctor's office called and the preliminary results of my PET scan came in but the Dr didn't have time to read it before we went home. Hopefully he will be able to call me with some information tomorrow. I should get my lungs drained on Wednesday so I won't be able to come in and see him that day and preferably not the following days either....So my favorite option is for me to talk with him tomorrow. I don't always get what I want even though I push for it a lot! I will post as soon as know anything :)

PET Scan Today

Yep it's PET scan day. It's not a difficult scan at all but I guess an outside agency is now doing them instead of Kaweah so I am not really sure if there will be changes. So far I had a low card diet yesterday and a fast starting at 9:15 today with extra water at 11:00 AM. Not too bad. I like the fasts that you can drink liquids on much better than the "nothing to eat or drink after midnight" fasts I have to do before surgeries. Those are the worst! SO, the last PET scan I had was in September to determine where the cancer was. It came back showing that the chest wall was covered in little clusters of cancer cells.  We thought that it might be in the lung but it turned out to only be in the chest wall, possibly some lymph nodes, and a vertebrae and ribs. I can feel it in my back, ribs, and my whole right side. The pain comes from a much larger area than a few months ago. I remember just thinking I had a knot in my back I needed to have massaged out. Then it came to the front and I thought it was gallbladder. I could point with a finger where the pain was. Not I use my entire hand to show the area and even have to move it around to cover the entire area.

Today we are looking to compare the growth, look for new activity and to see if we can find anything treatable. Part of me hopes for something treatable, part of me hopes it's still too small to see very well! I should have results next week and will come back to share as soon as I can.

Other than that I'm having a pretty good week! Yesterday was a lunch date and J.Crew day! It's like a holiday without the traffic! Today our cake topper should be arriving! I'm having so much fun!!!

I hope everyone is having a great day!