Thank God for Spring and Summer!
It's been a long time since I've updated huh? I guess I was deep into my winter blues and had a little writers block. I've had some fun and also had some setbacks over the last few months, but I'm still here fighting like crazy!
December was an amazing month. I spent a week in Anna Maria Island, Florida with my very best friends. We took a private boat tour to some islands, watched the Christmas parade, walked a million miles on the beaches, but most of all laughed with and loved each other! Christmas was amazing with my family. We celebrated at my son's house and he learned the ancient family secret of making noodles from my mom. We played games and just had an amazing time. I was feeling great and trucking right along on my chemo pills. The trips and gatherings with my friends and family are what keep me motivated and gives me the will to keep fighting!
Then the new year came in like a lion and hit me with the gut punch I knew was coming. I was just hoping and praying for a little more time. My tumor marker had continued to rise and was now to a point where my oncologist felt like it was time to start back on chemo. It seemed like the cancer was returning microscopically. It was decided to attack the little cells before the big cells attacked me.
February 1st - Back to the chemo room and the routine I had pretty much gotten used to two years before. Six hours in the chemo chair and then I wear a 48 hour pump home with chemo. This first round back went well and after about 5 days I was feeling "okay" again. On my bounce back week, we celebrated my son's 30th birthday at CC's. I'm still in disbelief that he can really be 30 years old. Time flies so fast these days! I got to watch the Chiefs win the SuperBowl with a bunch of my friends I hadn't seen in forever! That was a fun day!! I went out to the "Burg" and saw a favorite band play and also celebrated my best friend Auggie Doggie's 5th birthday with a big cookie and some toys.
February 15 - Chemo #2. No go. My white count and neutrophils were tanked. At this point, we agreed to change my chemo rounds to every 3rd week instead of every other week, in hopes that it will still bring my numbers down and give me a little more quality of life. I am definitely ALL IN for two good weeks instead of one as long as the chemo does the job!
February 22nd - Chemo #3. My numbers were still questionable and barely made it in the chair, but thank goodness I did! And then the shit show began with my last bag of chemo called oxaliplatin. I started turning red, which means an allergic reaction to the medicine was occurring. The amazing nurses at MCA got the reaction reversed and consulted my oncologist on how to proceed. This particular chemo is known to be the one that really does a number on BRCA related cancers, so it is very important that I somehow can continue to receive this one. It was then that I learned a new word to add to my ever growing cancer treatment dictionary - desensitization. This would be the fun new procedure we would try at my next chemo session in 3 weeks. I bounced back again from this round and had dinner with my besties and watched the Moberly Greyhounds win their Region 16 championship game in Jeff City with my daddy. National Championship tournament bound. It reminded me of the good ole days when the Hounds would make it to Hutch and our parents took us out of school so we could go and watch them play. The best time was when I was in high school. There was a whole group of avid followers of the team and most of them had kids our age, so we were the "special" ones who got to get out of school to go watch basketball and, of course, sneak out of our hotel rooms to go party with the team. You know who you are - LOL That was a fun year in Hutch!
March 14 - Chemo #4. Desensitization. This adds another day to my already long chemo week. On day one, desensitization day, I arrived at 8:00 in the morning, got my labs drawn, saw the oncologist, and then off to the chemo room for a VERY long ass day. Desensitization is where they drip a bag of chemo which would normally take two hours to complete, over 6-8 hours instead. The chemo is set to drip at an extremely slow speed in hopes that my body will not have an allergic reaction to it. And although this made for a very long day, it worked thank God! The next day I headed back for day number two and got my other bags of chemo, then home with the 48 hour pump. On Friday, I woke up feeling like I could not move a muscle. I was due back at the clinic for the pump removal and fluids, but really didn't think I would make it. I pulled myself up out of bed and got dressed and drove to the clinic. Slept most of the two hours of fluid intake and drove back home when it was over. I sunk into my bed and drifted off into a fitful 24 hours of sleep and feeling like I was going to croak! Thankfully by Monday I was finally feeling alive again, just in time to get back to work. This was by far one of the roughest chemo sessions in my 5 year fight I have experienced. I'm not sure if it was the extra added day or the fact that my mom wasn't here to take care of me. But I do know that I will not go at this alone again if she is not able to be here. Miss Independence needs to learn how to ask for help!
Which brings me to tomorrow. Chemo #5. Same schedule as the last one. I would be lying if I said I wasn't dreading it terribly! But the alternative is not an option, so suck it up buttercup and into hell week I shall go like a warrior, fighting all the way! I am so very thankful for the weekend, as I was able to keep busy and keep my heart full. I got to see my nephew's band concert on Saturday, have dinner with my family, and visit my 99 1/2 year old grandpa, who is still as sharp as ever. Again, why couldn't I have gotten those genes?? #FUBRCA2! And yesterday was nothing short of amazing. The weather was perfection and my new Jeep club gathered and paraded past a new breast cancer fighter's house who belongs to the Jeep club. We brought flowers and gifts to her as we drove by. This made my heart so full and happy. How supported she has to feel! We then went over to Logboat to socialize a little, even Auggie Doggie got to come along and got to enjoy lots of lovin. 💕
So I'm back in the thick of it and as always, asking for tons of prayers for the chemo to once again kill the cancer cells and help to get me back to a place of being able to add some years onto to this crazy, beautiful, awful, fabulous life of mine!
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