June 11, 2011
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I’m baaaaack!
Posted by Stephanie 9:30am CST from the apartment, Houston, TX
Okay, so it’s been a long time. A really long time. I know, I know, I’m sorry. Believe it or not, I’ve been so busy in the last few weeks (like, coming home at the end of the day and collapsing kind of busy) that I just haven’t had a block of a couple of hours to sit down and do a post. Well, that, and I went through a bit of a ‘bummed-out, don’t really feel like I can stay positive and say happy things’ kind of spell. Anyway, let’s get caught up.
My last post left off with me still waiting to start chemo round number four. After four postponements, we were finally able to get that round started with lucky try #5 on April 30th. That whole round went exactly as the ones before it–few side effects and no real issues. The hospital did have a shortage of sodium acetate (the additive that goes into my fluid bag to help regulate my C02 level), so I had to start taking oral sodium bicarbonate partway through the round to compensate. I already take that supplement in between rounds, but Dr. B had always wanted to control it via I.V. fluids during the round so that the oral dosage wouldn’t get out of control. Thanks to the shortage, my oral dosage had to be upped to 56 soda bicarb pills a day. 56!!
So anyway, right at the end of round number four I was scheduled for scans/restaging. I had a chest CT and my normal battery of bloodwork and a chest x-ray before seeing Dr. Park, who was taking on Dr. Benjamin’s patients that day. Dr. Park had to get caught up on my case history (and a weird one it is), so it took awhile before she actually came into the exam room. Right away we got great news–the scans showed significant shrinkage in both the lung nodule (“almost nonexistent” were the words used for that one) and the lymph node. I filled her in on the multiple postponements and excessive length of time between the last two rounds so that we could have a real discussion about what to do next. After all, this checkup was supposed to be the time where the ‘surgery vs. more chemo’ decision was to be made. I had hoped that Dr. Benjamin (still out on recovery from his own surgery) might have been consulted over this since it was such a pivotal point in treatment, but it turns out they’re not contacting him except in emergency situations, so it was up to Dr. Park and Kathy, my P.A. to make the call. Dr. Park expressed her concern over the length of time between rounds (double the usual amount) but ultimately decided that since the chemo was working so well, we needed to try for another couple of rounds before thinking about surgery. I know that had been Dr. B’s thoughts as well the last time I saw him, but I wasn’t sure if the fact that my immune system was taking such a beating would change things.
I wasn’t quite sure how to feel when mom and I left that appointment. On one hand, I’m beyond thrilled that the scans show such great response. On the other, I really wish we could just get on with things. Two more rounds of chemo at six weeks per round (ugh) means three more months. That’s ALL summer on chemo! I guess I shouldn’t complain–the situation certainly could be way worse.
Mom and I hopped in the car as soon as my extra days of I.V. fluids were finished and drove home around the 20th of May. That two-day drive isn’t a ton of fun (as you can imagine), but it was certainly the cheaper and more flexible of our travel options. I was so excited to spend just over two weeks at home (certainly beats the last trip of 2 1/2 days), but wow, was it a whirlwind the entire time! If I wasn’t out visiting friends or family, I was at the house trying my hardest to help Sammy tackle some of the chores and projects that needed to be done. I for sure pushed myself beyond my limit and was completely worn out by the end of every day, but wow, was it nice to be home! Just for those couple of weeks, we can almost pretend like things are normal–it’s just long enough to get back into the swing of a routine, and then BOOM, it’s time to leave again.
I did have bloodwork done three times a week while I was home in order to monitor my counts. Had they come back up to where I could start another round early, I had instructions to head back to Houston. Otherwise, I could stay until our pre-agreed upon return date of June 9th. As I expected, my platelets and ANC (absolute neutrophil count–the part of my white count they use to determine when I’ve recovered) bottomed out, started to come up, and then leveled off and stayed stagnant for more than a week. It wasn’t until Sammy and I had driven back to Houston and saw yet another doctor this past Thursday that my counts finally bounced back. Woot. Since the hospital had an opening in the schedule that very evening, I got started with chemo round number five two days ago, and we’re on our way!
So excited that Sammy is able to come down with me for a little while. Now that he’s done with school, he’s got the time to relax and chill in Houston. We’ve got plans to visit with friends, Sammy’s gonna play a little golf, and we’ve even got a day trip today planned to Galveston. Once he has to leave in 10 days or so, Ang will come stay with me for the rest of the round, and then since there’s such a long period of time needed between rounds to recover, we’ll probably come home again. For the time being, mom is staying at home in Ohio to be with grandpa and get in some time at work.
Okay, so that’s the super short, Reader’s Digest, in-a-nutshell version of the past six weeks. I promise it won’t be so long next time til one of us posts. Hope everyone has a great weekend (it’s gonna be HOT here!). Adios for now.
-Steph
