Sunday, February 21, 2010

Sunday, February 21, 2010

It doesn't make me nauseous to think of posting to my blog anymore, so I'll post some news.  I've been back at school teaching 3 hours a day since Tuesday the 16th, and will continue the same Monday through Wednesday of this week.  I'm feeling pretty good today, although my abdomen hurts when I take a deep breath.  Last week I felt the same but had (left) shoulder pains, my heart hurt and I just felt miserable.  Friday I spoke with Nurse Shelly at Dr. Chohan's office and she told me that my body really took a hit with the chemo embolization procedure and that my pains mean the chemo is killing the tumors in my liver.  She told me to take my pain pills (which I do at night since they knock me out), and to take 2 Naproxen in the morning and 2 in the evening, and to take 2 Pepcid in the morning and 2 in the evening.  Those things really help the discomfort, but I still have a low energy level. 

Danny and I went to a Chinese buffet last night and the food actually had flavor!  I ate 2 plates full plus a cookie for dessert!  Today I've nibbled all day long...not necessarily healthy food, but food with flavor, so maybe there IS a light at the end of the tunnel.

Thursday I report to Baptist Hospital at 7:00 a.m. and am scheduled at 12:30 for my second chemo embolization.  (Hopefully I'll go in on time!!)  This time I'm not so excited about it and am actually dreading it because I dread the recovery process.  Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised...I AM better prepared this time...I have lesson plans ready through Friday, March 12.

Thank you to all of you following my blog, sending cards, calling to check on me and praying for me!!  I feel very loved and cared for.  Until the next time, "The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention."  Duguet  (I have lots of good intentions, and fortunately for me, you do good deeds!)

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Thursday, February 4, 2010

I have survived the first round of chemoembolization!  There was nothing about it that was fun or enjoyable and I truly thought I was dying.  During my flat-on-my-back six-to-eight hour recovery afterward, I told Danny I thought we had made a mistake going through the process.  Here's how that day went:

Danny and I arrived at Baptist Medical Center at our scheduled 7:00 a.m. and hung out until 10:00 a.m. when I was taken to a temporary room to wait for my procedure.  The caregiver assigned to me about blew up my left arm taking my blood pressure...literally.  It became more and more painful as the cuff continued to pump up and up, and I finally jerked the cuff off when my arm turned nearly black.  She finally got a different piece of equipment, and things went much better after that.  Next came the IV...fortunately, my nurse didn't have a big ego and when I explained to her my difficulty with having IV's inserted, she turned me over to Daniel Smith, who was absolutely wonderful.

My procedure was scheduled for 1:00 p.m., but the holding room was absolutely packed and it was well after 5:00 before I was taken in.  At that point I had a panic attack, and fortunately the drugs got me through it.  There was some issue with the left lobe of my liver (Danny explained it to me, but I can't remember  what he said) so it took about twice as long as the radiologist anticipated.  Hopefully that's why my recovery has been so tough, and the next 2 rounds won't be as bad.

I had an appointment with Dr. Chohan on Feb. 3 and she seemed to think things were progressing normally.  She thought I would be able to return to work on Monday the 8th, which didn't happen.  I was still having nausea and daily chills and fever.  A week later, I called Dr. Lee's office and described my symptoms and he thought I should give it a couple more days.  Forty-five minutes later, he called me (after having conferred with his partner) and wanted me to go to Baptist for a CT scan to make sure the tumors hadn't abcessed.  I wasn't supposed to drive in case they had to drain the tumors, so I was in a pickle...Danny was out by Enid and Jess was going to be the only person at work that day, so fortunately cousin Kyle was available to take me.  Since they were going to work me in, I insisted he didn't need to stay with me because Danny would be there in a couple of hours.  I have never been worked in so quickly in my life!  Plus, (fortunately) I had no abcesses, so I was good to go a good hour before Danny would be there to get me.  So, Danny called Kyle who graciously came back to pick me up.  (Thank you so very much!!)

Dr. Lee gave me a prescription for Naproxen to nip the daily chills and fever in the bud, which did the trick.  I decided to bite the bullet and go to school for 2 hours on Friday, Feb. 12, which went OK except for the fact that I was totally exhausted by the time those 2 hours were over.  Monday the 15th was staff development, so I went in for 3 hours to work on grading.  That went a little better.  On Tuesday, I went in for 4th, 5th and 6th hours, which wasn't a good idea.  By the time I went in, my energy level had dropped and it was a struggle to make it through.  So, for the rest of the week, I will be working 2nd, 3rd and 4th hours, and I think that will be better.

Thursday the 11th, I went to Dr. Chohan's office to get my 2nd Sandostatin injection.  Since the embolization, I haven't had any flushing, so I'm really excited for that.  My biggest issue is that my heart hurts, and I take Pepcid twice a day.  Food still has little flavor for the most part, and the thought of some foods, drinks, smells and activities make me nauseous.  It's really weird.

My next procedure will be on Thursday, February 25, report time 7:00 a.m., procedure at 1:00.  Yeah, right!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Today is World Marriage Day, so all married couples were called up to the altar at church to renew our vows.  Wow!  It was awesome and touching, and I had tears streaming down my cheeks the entire time.  "Til death do us part" has an entirely different meaning than it had 23 years ago!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Today is my 2-month milestone.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

I survived the chemoembolization process, but it really got me down a lot worse than I had anticipated.  (I'll post those details later.)  I went home the day after the process and was miserable.  I felt like I had a sunburn, my mouth was grainy, I was nauseous, and food had absolutely no flavor.  Dr. Chohan called in a prescription for my grainy mouth, which has cleared up, and food is gradually beginning to have flavor, and if not flavor, then a sensation such as salty or sweet.

I had an appointment on Feb. 3 with Dr. Chohan, and learned I had a fever of 101.  She said it's the tumors dying in my liver, and that I'm responding exactly as I should.  Round 2 will be in early March, and the process will repeat itself.  I had planned to go back to school yesterday, but the fever is a daily pattern, beginning at 3:00 p.m. with chills which turn into a fever 3 hours later and it disappears by morning.  I haven't been in touch with Dr. Lee's office (the radiologist who performed the chemoembolization), so I think it's time to give him a call just to make sure everything is OK. 

I appreciate all the thoughts, prayers, phone calls and cards!  I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many caring friends and family and students and co-workers.  Please keep me in your prayers...my goal is to get up and around and back to school SOON so I can build up my strength and hopefully rebound a little better from the next procedure.