Chemo #3 – Round 3

Since this was the first time using my Port I really didn’t know what to expect. They still have to poke the needle in your skin but instead they are actually poking it through the skin into the Port. The nurse says it feels like a bee sting. Because it was my first time they gave me three different numbing medicines to numb the skin around my port. The different ways they numbed my skin was an ice pack, numbing spray and a needle like the dentist. Next time I can have all of these again or different variations to make it more comfortable. I think I will just go for the numbing spray next time. The Port was much easier than them trying to find a vein like the previous times. Its like they are plugging in and pressing play. It was really easy and with no pain at all. Rupert was very cooperative.

Every time the day of Chemo they have me take a Benadryl and two Tylenol for the Bleomycin drug they give me. Those are the only pills I have to take that day. On day 2 and 3 after Chemo I have to take a pill called Zofran, which is for nausea 3 times a day. The day after Chemo I have to take my Immune booster shot called Neulasta. Before I take the shot and the following day I have to take a Benadryl, Zyrtec, and 2 Tylenol because the Neulasta can make you’re bones ache. This is because it is producing more of your good cells through your bone marrow. I can inject this shot myself at the house. Giving your self a shot is not very easy. I would be the worst drug addict if I had to do this everyday. I grab a piece of my belly fat and just before I push the needle in I count to three and then push it in my belly. The needle goes in so smoothly just like butter so you really don’t feel a thing. But watching the liquid go in as you push the needle is a weird feeling.

My Port Rupert and I

I had the Mediport installed in my chest this past Monday. They put me to sleep for the procedure, which was only about 20 minutes, but we were at the hospital for 5 hours. My upper left part of my chest was very soar afterwards and I can barely move that part of my body. They had made two incisions and closed them with staples. One was on my left part of my chest where the Mediport was inserted under the skin and the other was near my collarbone where they attached it to a vein. From now on I will be getting my Chemo treatments through this Mediport. In the long run it should be easier to do this rather than trying to find a vein in my arm every time. After I am cured I can have it removed. It feels weird that I have this in my chest. It kind of feels like I’m from the future and they inserted some kind of tracking device under my skin. So, this whole week I have been lying on my back trying not to aggravate it too much.

I have named my Mediport Rupert because he will help me get through this and Rupert seems like a nice name. Please Rupert be nice to me! I will use the Mediport for the first time tomorrow and I will let everyone know how that goes. I’m ready for Round 3!

My New Doo..

You can’t even imagine how much I appreciate everyone who came down for the Shave Party. My cousin Derek brought over his clippers and he was the barber for the evening. He did an awesome job. I have to give special thanks to all the members of my family who actually shaved their head for me! It was truly an amazing experience.

I’m still trying to get used to my new hairdo. I don’t feel like me. I can still pull my hair out so I know it will all fall out eventually. But I am much cooler and it’s one less thing to do in the morning. Of all the tests and procedures I have been going through lately shaving my head was really kiddy stuff.

Above:

My favorite Mother-in-law

Below:

Mike, Grandpa Joe, Derek, Ken Dog,

George, Jerry, Randy, Manny, Tom

Not Shown: Uncle Larry, Bryan, Daniel, Ivan G., Jason L., Anthony A.

Losing My Hair

This past week has been very tiresome. My bones have been aching so I have been taking more naps and trying to take it easy. As expected last Saturday I started to lose my hair it began to really thin out a lot. I can pull out clumps of it very easy. Even if I just brush my hair with my hand a bunch of it comes out. I didn’t think it would come out this fast or easy.

I kind of have mixed feelings about shaving my head. I mean it shouldn’t be a big deal. If you think about it a lot of people have shaved heads and its only hair. I think it’s just the fact that the reason why I’m shaving my head is not because I want to or it’s the cool thing to do. Its almost like the reality that I am going through Chemotherapy is finally hitting me.

I know it will grow back soon enough and maybe I’ll get the nerve to finally grow a handlebar mustache that I always wanted (ha!). So, this Saturday we will be getting together at my sisters house to shave my head. A few people I know have also expressed interest to shave their head as well, which I think is damn cool. So, if you are in the area feel free to stop by. (No don’t worry; you’re not obligated to shave your head!)

Chemo #2 – Round 2

This chemo treatment went almost like the first one except this time the nurse had trouble finding a good vein. As two different nursed tried digging in my arm trying to find a vein I began to feel faint. They finally found a vein and I didn’t faint. It wasn’t a good feeling. After that experience they had suggested that I install a port in my chest. A few of the patients had this port and they all seem to really like it. I may look into it and see what I need to do to have one. I will let you all know when I do.

Other than that the treatment went well. The Doc finally gave us the results of all the tests that I had done. They are putting me at a Stage IIB. The staging is to determine how far along the cancer has spread. The definition of the stage they gave me is below.

Stage II. In this stage, the cancer is in two different lymph nodes, but is limited to a section of the body either above or below the diaphragm.

The letter B indicates that you may have significant signs and symptoms, such as a persistent fever greater than 100 F with no other known cause, unintended weight loss of more than 10 percent of your body weight or severe night sweats.

To be specific I have a swollen lymph node on the side of my neck and one in the middle of my chest. The letter “B” represents the itching and night sweats I have from time to time. We are very happy with this stage and I believe we had caught this fairly early. It did not spread to any other organ and it did not spread to my bone marrow. All my blood work is fine and my lungs are perfectly normal. We will continue with the planned treatment, which will be every other Thursday twice a month for six months. So, since I already did two treatments that gives me ten more to go and five more months!! Awesome!

When I came home yesterday I felt tired and slept for a couple hours. The best sleep I had in a long time.

So This Is June

Dear all of Keep Your Cool’s sweet readers, This is Lorraine and I wanted to write to you to thank you for all your support. I know we are not even halfway through this but we cannot go on without stopping to thank you all for being readers, supporters, and caring listeners. We want to thank you for the phone calls, the emails, the baskets, the flowers and the dinners. Jason and I could not have kept going on everyday, to work and to events without all of this support. June was a difficult month to swallow. It was difficult just as well for us to say hello to sunny July, as we had so many plans for this summer, you know how much we love to camp, hike and the infamous beach party we had been talking about all winter.

Our bon fire smores were not the only thing that had to be postponed. Jason and I had planned on expanding our family next year. I know, we had been saying that since we got married almost four years ago, “next year, next year”. I think we just said that to buzz “the question” off. But after some discussion, better footing in our careers and the closer it seemed we had become to purchasing our first home, we had finally decided to make room in our lives for another. Then came the news and we soon found out that after treatment Jason could become sterile. We were recommended to California Cryobank by the oncologist and with the encouragement of both our moms and the financial help of an organization called Fertile Hope, a foundation through Lance Armstrong, we were able to put our plans away until “next year”. The question, “so when are you guys having kids?” seems no harm, but when you have gone through the process of banking and looked into Artificial Insemination costs and success statistics, that question seems to weigh on my heart.

During the month of June we were both running on a few hours of sleep during the day. We would wake up almost every hour with nightmares and Jason with aches, pains and the symptoms of his cancer. The nightmares were the scariest. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and praying. Praying for strength, praying for Jason, praying that nobody would break into our home and that the weird noises outside would quiet down. For Jason the nightmares would wake him and he felt the need to wake me up and tell me about every single one of them. I would pray for him and hold him tight. For the aches and pains, well my heart only hurt for him there was nothing I could do. I remember one night just recently, his vein where they injected the chemo was throbbing. He could not sleep. Of course, he says “baby, are you awake?” and of course I am awake. We got up and we sat at the kitchen table at three in the morning. We knew we had to get dressed for work in a few hours, but we just sat. And stared. He held his arm. I held my head. Luckily the pain in his vein has almost gone away. And for the nightmares, well I think our anxiety and shock over this whole news is slowly diffusing. But every now and then he still wakes me and says scratch my neck, rub my back, scratch my chest and with one eye catching my sleep and the other eye on him, I do it.

I love this man with all my heart.

XOXO

Lorraine

My Next Treatment...

My next treatment will be this Thursday on July 9^th. Then it will be every other Thursday after that for the next six months. We should also know which stage I’m at with this. If you didn’t know the tests I had to take were lymph node biopsy, blood work, PET scan, bone marrow biopsy, lung test, and x-rays.

This last week I have been feeling all right. I would catch myself laying down after I get home from work and passing out for a couple hours. Usually my shoulders and muscles have been feeling soar and once in a while I’ll feel a little dizzy by the end of the day. My left arm where they had put the Chemo in has been hurting. Almost like it was smashed in a car door. But I started drinking a ton of water and the pain began to go away. It was like my arm was telling me to drink more water. So, lately I been drinking like a fish and my arm pain has just about gone away. I had told the Doctors about the pain and they said it is a side affect of one of the drugs they used. I guess its some really strong stuff. Since I have been feeling not as bad I would sometimes forget that I have cancer. I would start doing more things around the house and almost get excited. Then all of a sudden my body will remind to slow down.

I will let everyone know how my next treatment went and until then stay cool. Literally!

But I did manage to wear a bow tie this weekend! So i guess i wasn't feeling that bad...