The last
couple of weeks have been pretty good to me. I'm feeling better and
better each day, and I've started occupational therapy to help find/relieve the
back pain. It's been good for me - I'm feeling stronger because of it,
but I'm also using muscles that I haven't used in a while, so I'm sore a bit,
kind of like when you work out and can't sit down on the toilet two days later.
:)
I am definitely feeling better and stronger each day. It's such a good thing for me, emotionally. I've been able to do very normal things, like clean the house and cook my family dinner....it's really the little things in life that make all the difference.
Today was rife with anxiety. They pulled blood for routine tests (CBC, etc.), and they were also checking my CEA. All of the other results came through except the CEA - and, I wasn't happy about it. I couldn't eat lunch, I couldn't stop snapping at the kid, and I wasn't a pleasant person to be around. Someone mentioned that maybe the reason the results weren't showing up on the on-line tool was that they needed to be looked over by the care team before they came to me; that didn't ease my concerns *at all*. It made them worse.
Until I found out that my CEA is down by almost half. From 10.1 to 5.4.
I am so. damn. HAPPY!!!! This is working - after one chemo treatment, my CEA is down by almost half. That is outstanding!
We did find out that my white blood counts are low again, so I ended up having a Neupogen shot today. Not a big deal - I don't look forward to having the bone pain, but I have to have it to be able to have chemo tomorrow. So, I'll deal with it. And, my nurse today, Steve, told me it was okay to take the Claritin and Advil (every 6-8 hours). So far - very little pain! Woot!!! (An aside - I hope that doesn't mean the damn shot isn't working....there's a worry I didn't need to think about!)
Anyways, the plan is to do chemo tomorrow, assuming all is well. The question is whether I will continue on the Xeloda, or try the 5-FU pump again. Dr. K. is concerned that the Xeloda is what's causing the drop in my white cell count, and thinks that moving to the 5-FU might be the way around that. He's doing some research and thinking on it, and I'm going to try to see what I can find out about it, and we'll make a decision tomorrow. I don't like the idea of being on the pump again, but if it means I won't have to have the Naupogen shot anymore, I'm game to talk about it.
Hey - I'll do what I can do be here as long as I can.
I'll let you all know how things go tomorrow. I've got a game plan for tacking the fact that I didn't eat/drink on day three. I've written out all of the things I can eat or drink during those first days, and instructions on what needs to happen to make sure I'm getting enough in my body. Poor Levi looked at me with a deer-in-the-headlights look when I started talking about it, so it's neatly written in a list on the counter.
Note to all survivors/caregivers - it's okay to say "There's no way I'll remember this/that.....please, let's write it down!"
And, with that, I'm off to have dinner with my family. :) So normal, so welcome, so perfect!
I am definitely feeling better and stronger each day. It's such a good thing for me, emotionally. I've been able to do very normal things, like clean the house and cook my family dinner....it's really the little things in life that make all the difference.
Today was rife with anxiety. They pulled blood for routine tests (CBC, etc.), and they were also checking my CEA. All of the other results came through except the CEA - and, I wasn't happy about it. I couldn't eat lunch, I couldn't stop snapping at the kid, and I wasn't a pleasant person to be around. Someone mentioned that maybe the reason the results weren't showing up on the on-line tool was that they needed to be looked over by the care team before they came to me; that didn't ease my concerns *at all*. It made them worse.
Until I found out that my CEA is down by almost half. From 10.1 to 5.4.
I am so. damn. HAPPY!!!! This is working - after one chemo treatment, my CEA is down by almost half. That is outstanding!
We did find out that my white blood counts are low again, so I ended up having a Neupogen shot today. Not a big deal - I don't look forward to having the bone pain, but I have to have it to be able to have chemo tomorrow. So, I'll deal with it. And, my nurse today, Steve, told me it was okay to take the Claritin and Advil (every 6-8 hours). So far - very little pain! Woot!!! (An aside - I hope that doesn't mean the damn shot isn't working....there's a worry I didn't need to think about!)
Anyways, the plan is to do chemo tomorrow, assuming all is well. The question is whether I will continue on the Xeloda, or try the 5-FU pump again. Dr. K. is concerned that the Xeloda is what's causing the drop in my white cell count, and thinks that moving to the 5-FU might be the way around that. He's doing some research and thinking on it, and I'm going to try to see what I can find out about it, and we'll make a decision tomorrow. I don't like the idea of being on the pump again, but if it means I won't have to have the Naupogen shot anymore, I'm game to talk about it.
Hey - I'll do what I can do be here as long as I can.
I'll let you all know how things go tomorrow. I've got a game plan for tacking the fact that I didn't eat/drink on day three. I've written out all of the things I can eat or drink during those first days, and instructions on what needs to happen to make sure I'm getting enough in my body. Poor Levi looked at me with a deer-in-the-headlights look when I started talking about it, so it's neatly written in a list on the counter.
Note to all survivors/caregivers - it's okay to say "There's no way I'll remember this/that.....please, let's write it down!"
And, with that, I'm off to have dinner with my family. :) So normal, so welcome, so perfect!
Comments:
Joan
Bardee said...
glad
to hear. hugs!
June
13, 2013 at 11:18 PM
AWESOME!!!
June
16, 2013 at 9:54 AM
