Good news:
1) I am climbing out of my rut! This past weekend, Trevor and I cleaned, cleaned, cleaned and were super productive. It really helped my mood.
2) I had treatment #10 out of 12 today! 83% DONE! Two more to go!
Showing posts with label NERD FACE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NERD FACE. Show all posts
06 November 2008
28 August 2008
Dreaming of peacoats & scarves...
I was told about this website called Polyvore and I have become absolutely addicted. You can browse through pages of clothing or interiors and put together an outfit or room! It's SO much fun for me since I enjoy doing that stuff already, although now I have an unlimited wardrobe to work with! It's a great marketing ploy on their part, although let's just say money hasn't really been going to my clothing lately. The whole concept of a "shopping spree" isn't in my vocabulary these days.
Anyway, the least I can do is dream, and because autumn appears to be upon us (what with the arrival of rain and cloudy skies - which, as a "true" Seattleite, I surprisingly like quite a bit), I am signing off with my 2008 dream fall wardrobe.
P.S. Treatment #5 was this morning. I came home and slept the rest of the day and now we're off to the grocery store. I hope this weekend treats me as well as the last post-treatment weekend!
15 August 2008
HOT and ALONE but HAPPY
Chemo #4 was a success yesterday! Mira and Kaston came to visit, and when my mom came to pick me up, Hunter came, too! So many fun visitors!
I finally got to see Dr. Chen, my oncologist, too! The last time I had seen him was when we did my bone marrow biopsy on May 28th! I had just been seeing his main nurse because he was never available, but I get to see him next time, which is nice.
He also gave me great news, or at least clarified what he had said before. I thought I was going to be getting 12 treatments, then a few more treatements instead of chemo. But apparently, I'm getting 12 treatments total! 8 treatments, then 4 more instead of radiation! SO HAPPY! So, if all goes as planned, and none of my treatments are pushed back, I'll have my last treatment on December 4th! Maybe I'll be declared in remission by 2009!
I have a CT scan scheduled for August 28th, the day before chemo #5, to see how the cancer is reacting. Dr. Chen poked around my collarbone area and didn't really find anything! The lymph nodes have shrunk so much already that he couldn't even feel them! I still have to receive all 12 treatments, but it's nice to know that it's working, especially because my hair is still sticking around! I know there's no correlation between the success of the treatment and hair falling out, but when your hair isn't coming out in clumps like everyone said it would, it makes you wonder. There's still a chance I could go bald, but most people have buzzed their heads by this point because so much is falling out. But mine just doesn't want to go! I wash and blow dry my hair every morning, treating it like normal, and it's still on my head. Maybe it helped that I chopped it all off. Besides, I needed a style change, haha.
Dr. Chen also finally showed me my first CT/PET scans because I told him I had never seen them. OMG SO COOL. I can't even quite describe it, but he could spin the picture of my body in 3D, and he showed me the PET, which was as if my body were sliced like a loaf of bread, then he would show me each slice and the layers of the cancer. The CT scan was black and white, and the really dark black blobs were the parts of my body that had taken up the glucose (a fluid you have to drink before the scan - DISGUSTING). At first it looked like there was cancer EVERYWHERE, but he explained to me that the cancer isn't the only thing to take up the glucose. The heart, bladder, kidneys, baby fat strips on your shoulders to your chest, and other portions also take up the sugar. He made sure to point out what was actually cancer and what wasn't. The PET scan showed these black portions as glowing red patches instead. Also super cool.
The building at work today is like a big brick oven. There's no air conditioning so I've opened all the windows in all of the offices I have access to. I'm the only one here today, so it's also really quiet and I don't have much to do. I really shouldn't complain, but it makes the day go by quite a bit slower than when I have lots of tasks to get done. Oh well, I should enjoy it while I feel good.
I finally got to see Dr. Chen, my oncologist, too! The last time I had seen him was when we did my bone marrow biopsy on May 28th! I had just been seeing his main nurse because he was never available, but I get to see him next time, which is nice.
He also gave me great news, or at least clarified what he had said before. I thought I was going to be getting 12 treatments, then a few more treatements instead of chemo. But apparently, I'm getting 12 treatments total! 8 treatments, then 4 more instead of radiation! SO HAPPY! So, if all goes as planned, and none of my treatments are pushed back, I'll have my last treatment on December 4th! Maybe I'll be declared in remission by 2009!
I have a CT scan scheduled for August 28th, the day before chemo #5, to see how the cancer is reacting. Dr. Chen poked around my collarbone area and didn't really find anything! The lymph nodes have shrunk so much already that he couldn't even feel them! I still have to receive all 12 treatments, but it's nice to know that it's working, especially because my hair is still sticking around! I know there's no correlation between the success of the treatment and hair falling out, but when your hair isn't coming out in clumps like everyone said it would, it makes you wonder. There's still a chance I could go bald, but most people have buzzed their heads by this point because so much is falling out. But mine just doesn't want to go! I wash and blow dry my hair every morning, treating it like normal, and it's still on my head. Maybe it helped that I chopped it all off. Besides, I needed a style change, haha.
Dr. Chen also finally showed me my first CT/PET scans because I told him I had never seen them. OMG SO COOL. I can't even quite describe it, but he could spin the picture of my body in 3D, and he showed me the PET, which was as if my body were sliced like a loaf of bread, then he would show me each slice and the layers of the cancer. The CT scan was black and white, and the really dark black blobs were the parts of my body that had taken up the glucose (a fluid you have to drink before the scan - DISGUSTING). At first it looked like there was cancer EVERYWHERE, but he explained to me that the cancer isn't the only thing to take up the glucose. The heart, bladder, kidneys, baby fat strips on your shoulders to your chest, and other portions also take up the sugar. He made sure to point out what was actually cancer and what wasn't. The PET scan showed these black portions as glowing red patches instead. Also super cool.
The building at work today is like a big brick oven. There's no air conditioning so I've opened all the windows in all of the offices I have access to. I'm the only one here today, so it's also really quiet and I don't have much to do. I really shouldn't complain, but it makes the day go by quite a bit slower than when I have lots of tasks to get done. Oh well, I should enjoy it while I feel good.
12 August 2008
The ABC's of Chemo
I saw this on Jenne's blog awhile ago, so now that I'm in the throes of chemotherapy, I thought I would make my own. Here is a list of all the different chemicals and medicines going into my body these days. Sadly, I'll probably be adding to this list as treatments progress.
A - Adriamycin (chemo drug)
B - Bleomycin (chemo drug), Biotene (for mouth sores)
C - Chemotherapy (in general)
D - Dacarbazine (chemo drug), Dexamethasone (for nausea)
E -
F -
G - Gabapentin (for hot flashes)
H - Heparin (to keep the port from clotting)
I -
J -
K -
L - Lupron (to preserve my ovaries), Lorazepam (for anxiety/to help me sleep), Lidocaine (to numb the port when it's accessed)
M -
N -
O - Omeprazole (for heartburn)
P - Prochlorperazin (for further nausea if the Dex doesn't work)
Q -
R -
S - Saline flushes (to clean the port's catheter of chemicals)
T - Tylenol (for EVERYTHING else)
U -
V - Vinblastin (chemo drug)
W -
X -
Y -
Z -
There are fifteen on the list as of now. Let's see where I'm at in a couple months. Hopefully not too many more! Oh, and this doesn't even count the fertility hormones I was on before the egg retrieval. Let's just say, I am "le tired."
A - Adriamycin (chemo drug)
B - Bleomycin (chemo drug), Biotene (for mouth sores)
C - Chemotherapy (in general)
D - Dacarbazine (chemo drug), Dexamethasone (for nausea)
E -
F -
G - Gabapentin (for hot flashes)
H - Heparin (to keep the port from clotting)
I -
J -
K -
L - Lupron (to preserve my ovaries), Lorazepam (for anxiety/to help me sleep), Lidocaine (to numb the port when it's accessed)
M -
N -
O - Omeprazole (for heartburn)
P - Prochlorperazin (for further nausea if the Dex doesn't work)
Q -
R -
S - Saline flushes (to clean the port's catheter of chemicals)
T - Tylenol (for EVERYTHING else)
U -
V - Vinblastin (chemo drug)
W -
X -
Y -
Z -
There are fifteen on the list as of now. Let's see where I'm at in a couple months. Hopefully not too many more! Oh, and this doesn't even count the fertility hormones I was on before the egg retrieval. Let's just say, I am "le tired."
28 April 2008
Catsanfonts
Last night while walking back from The Motley, I saw one of the many campus cats that inevitably appear every spring. I was so tempted to pick it up and smother my face with it despite its probable rabidity (rabidness? rabidacity?).
ALSO: I had a nice long stint of geek-ness last night, downloading AWESOME fonts and getting SO excited. So nerdalicious.
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