November 4, 2009

• Countdown to surgery time

  Posted by Stephanie 9:55am from the house

  Wow. It’s November already. Time flies when you’re having fun….only, I wouldn’t really call it fun, I’d just call it existing. There hasn’t been a ton going on, but let’s have a little recap.

  I’m finished with the last round of pre-surgery chemo. Woohoo! The second half of this round was a little tougher than previous ones have been. I actually had quite a bit of nausea that started during the Day 8 infusion and lasted for the next couple of days. There was the Neulasta achiness, of course, though it came a day later than it should’ve since I managed to forget to go for my Neulasta injection on Day 9. Just totally forgot. Thankfully, mom texted me to ask how it went, and that’s when I realized I hadn’t gone. First thing the next morning, my sad and sorry forgetful behind was at Dr. Romer’s office for that shot. No harm done. Later that weekend I did experience something that hadn’t happened in awhile–tachycardia and shortness of breath. Those two things used to be a common occurrence when I was on Ifosfamide, but it’s been about a year since I’ve had to deal with them. I had almost forgotten how much those side effects can interfere with everyday life. Sammy and I went to the mall to get some autumn-y candles, and I couldn’t stand in place for more than two minutes or take more than a couple of steps without needing to sit down and rest. Lame. I figured my hemoglobin was low–that’s what used to cause this problem in the past–but last Monday’s bloodwork showed my hemoglobin to be fine. 8.6, which is low, but not low for me. So, I’m guessing the tachycardia and shortness of breath were just part of the chemo side effects. I wondered why those things (plus the nausea) were happening now, when they haven’t up to this point–Sammy thinks it’s the accumulation of the chemo causing things to get a little nastier. Certainly makes sense to me–the more of any particular chemo agent I have and the longer I go through it, the more it builds up in my system and causes problems. The same should be true for my platelets, yet somehow I managed to avoid transfusions every round. This time they were as low as 18, but bounced back beautifully. Go platelets!

  So now that I’ve finished the last chemo cycle, the next step is surgery. Hard to believe that my seven weeks at home are almost up, but there’s no denying it now–Sammy and I fly down to Houston early this coming Sunday morning. I’ve got tests and scans on Monday and Tuesday, plus I’ll see Dr. Benjamin, Dr. Lenihan (my cardiologist), Dr. Swisher (my cardio thoracic surgeon), plus the anesthesia team. I’ll outline all that’s going on in more detail later in the week. My mom will fly down Monday to join Sammy and I, and then my sister and Sammy’s mom will be coming down sometime on Tuesday. My surgery was initially scheduled for next Wednesday, November 11th, but I got a call on Monday morning informing me that my surgery had to be pushed back because Dr. Swisher, who is the head of the department, had a department-related activity come up that was unavoidable. So, surgery is now Thursday, November 12th–mark your calendars!!

  Not surprisingly, I’m anxious about surgery, though by now this is starting to sadly feel routine. I won’t know exactly what the surgical plan of attack is until I meet with Dr. Swisher next Tuesday. I’m hoping they can do a wedge resection for the lung nodule, and just take a small segment, but it depends on exactly where the nodule sits in my upper lobe, and if it’s easy to get to. Then there’s the rib–the spot inside my rib isn’t terribly large, but they’re probably going to take the whole rib anyway, so that I don’t just have a chunk of bone missing with nothing to replace it. But, like I said, I won’t know anything for sure until right before surgery, which is frustrating–I don’t like being in the dark about stuff like this!

  On the upside, Sammy and I are both looking forward to being back in Houston for a little while. I’ve only been gone seven weeks, yet it feels like an eternity–I can’t imagine how Sammy feels, since he hasn’t been down there since July. We’re going to get together with Joe and Sarah, and despite the busy schedule at the hospital, the whole gang coming down will have time to do some fun stuff and eat good food before surgery. And, it’ll still be nice and warm down there. It’s been great to be home for some crisp, fall weather, but now that the colorful leaves have dulled and started to fall off the trees, southwest Ohio is starting to get that bare, desolate look of winter. Ick.

  Okay, so aside from all the medical stuff, things are okay. I’m cramming in as much time with friends and family as I can this week, while still trying to find time to continue the housework and work on gathering up stuff for the trip. Sammy and I would love the house to be nice and neat and clean when we leave, so that when he gets back (and I follow a couple of weeks later), there’s not a mountain of stuff to be done. I’m so thankful that this chemo combination leaves me with enough energy to be somewhat active. I’m certainly not running a marathon, but I’m also not stuck on the couch all day every day. I’ve been able to do walking workout videos almost everyday, which has certainly helped to strengthen me for surgery. It hasn’t helped me lose weight like I had hoped, but on chemo your metabolism is so screwed up that I could eat nothing but celery and run 10 miles a day and it wouldn’t change anything. Frustrating. Anyway, it’s been nice to have some semblance of normal (though my normal is WAY different than most people’s!). I still feel a lot of the time like I’m sitting on the sidelines watching life go by. There’s still a lot I can’t do physically, and of course a ton of things I’m missing out on. I can’t work, Sammy and I can’t make big plans for the future, since I never know when I’ll be getting chemo, how I’ll be feeling or if I’ll be in Texas or Ohio…..I can’t even do simple things sometimes like play outside with Austin, our nephew. He turned 1 the weekend I was feeling rough from chemo, and I had to sit on the front porch at the in-laws most of the time and watch Sammy roll around on the ground, play with and chase him, since I couldn’t. Being tired of all of this, and wanting my life back is not a new feeling–we are, after all, going on four years of dealing with this, but it just never goes away. I keep praying that this time will be the last time, and that soon I will be well and whole, once and for all.

  Time to get moving and be productive. This pile of laundry isn’t going to wash itself. Be back on later this week and, of course, all throughout the surgical adventure next week. Take care.

  –Steph

  • 11:03 am
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