May 20, 2012
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Cycle 2, come and gone!
Posted by Stephanie 10pm CST from the apartment
Well, again I was shocked to look at the date of my last post and realize it was 19 days ago. Man, I have NOT been good about this whole ‘posting often’ thing. I’d love to say that it’s because I’ve been so busy, but this time, that’s not the truth. I’ve just had a case of ‘not doing much thanks to chemo but laying around’ for at least a week or so here.
So, anyway, let’s back up to the first weekend in May, which is what I was gearing up for in my last post. That was the weekend that the rest of my Synergy leadership team was flying in for us to participate in the culminating weekend of our 3-month journey together. It was supposed to be done in NYC, but when we learned I wouldn’t be able to travel there for the event, the group rallied quickly and made plans to travel down here instead. Pretty incredible, right? Well, it’s an understatement to say that they’re pretty incredible people! In total, there were 15 people who traveled from New York, Ohio, Montana and California to converge in Houston for the weekend, and what a weekend it was. Thought-provoking, empowering, emotional, and designed to propel us forward to do great things with our lives. I left there with so many ideas and goals, and more importantly, a set of friends that I know I will have forever. Amazing.
On Sunday the 6th, the day the workshop ended, I admitted to the hospital for chemo round number two. It was evening by the time my room was ready, and after getting the admission paperwork done and all the fluids and pre-medications out of the way, it was into the wee hours of Monday morning before my chemo infusion started. It was another fairly short stay in the hospital (I discharged on Wednesday afternoon), and thankfully it was also fairly quiet. I, of course, felt crummy once the chemo was in my system. Fatigue, not much of an appetite, nausea—but I didn’t vomit, so I consider it a success. I did wind up needing a couple units of blood when my hemoglobin tanked. Given that it wasn’t that high to begin with this round, I can’t say I’m surprised. My friends Meredith and Nicole (who were down for the leadership weekend) also stayed several extra days to keep me company in the hospital, along with Sammy who was in for nearly a week himself. Having them all around kept me sane and helped to pass the time quickly.
Meredith, Nicole, and Sammy headed home on Wednesday, the day I left the hospital (mom had returned the evening before), and I got settled back into the apartment. My counts starting dropping quickly, and within three days I was neutropenic (super low white count) and in need of my first platelet transfusion. Over the course of the last week, my immune system continued to bottom out, with my white count stagnant at 0.3 for several days, my hemoglobin dropping a few tenths of a point at a time, and my platelets predictably falling, and falling…..and falling. I had another platelet transfusion last Wednesday for a boost, and finally, starting two days ago, my platelet descent really slowed down, came to a standstill, and today, went up a whopping one, from 15 to 16.
My hemoglobin remains insanely low at 7.6 (normal range starts at 14), and it’s been dropping a tenth of a point at a time. I’m hoping it turns around and heads up (like my white count did several days ago—it’s rockin’) so that I can stop feeling so fatigued from the lack of oxygen in my blood!
As for side effects since I left the hospital, this second round has been drastically different than the first. In my first round, I suffered from pounding headaches almost daily, a fever that hovered from 99-101 for days, and teeth, gum and throat pain that was bad enough to keep me up at night. This time? I’ve had some nausea (and a little vomiting), but only one or two headaches, my temperature never got above 99.5, and almost no teeth, gum and throat issues. What could possibly explain this? While I can’t say for sure, I’m betting it is largely due to the nutrition and alternative treatments I’ve been doing. It’s the only thing that’s been different. The fact that I now have a vitamix blender and am drinking three whole fruit and vegetable smoothies from scratch (with a specially ordered powder supplement, Cellect, that’s supposed to fill in nutritional gaps and set all my cells back to their base, healthy status), eating super clean and completely fresh, and doing the cottage cheese/flaxseed combination twice a day (known as the Budwig protocol), is, I believe, the reason why I haven’t suffered as much this time around. Now, let’s pray that it’s making a difference in healing my body of this cancer, and in combination with the chemotherapy, shrinking those tumors!
Aside from all the medical updates, there hasn’t been much going on. I’ve been trapped in the apartment (except for my daily bloodwork trips to the hospital) until just a few days ago, but we have yet to really do much outside the apartment since I’ve been pretty fatigued. I’ve been reading a lot, and napping, but haven’t spent much time on the computer (hence the lack of posting). Oh, and last night we ordered pizza and wings. I’ve been so diligent about following my nutrition plan for weeks now, so I thought a little splurge was deserved. Today, it’s right back to the grind!
It’s been my plan since we learned of my recurrence at the beginning of April to get home for a visit after the second round and before my restaging scans on May 29th. With my recent bloodwork results, I had actually hoped that both my platelets and hemoglobin would’ve dropped enough to warrant a transfusion. That way I could’ve gotten a nice bump that would’ve A) helped me feel better, and B) gotten me a couple of days of cushion to travel home. Unfortunately, it didn’t work that way, with everything creeping up, down or staying stagnant. Our goal is to leave tomorrow and start the two-day drive home (my platelets are too low to fly), but it all depends on tomorrow’s lab results. If my hemoglobin stays put or starts to rise, AND my platelets also continue to trend up for a second day in a row, we’ll be set. If either number falls, I’ll have to stay put for a transfusion tomorrow, and that’ll postpone things by a day. I want to get home ASAP, because I’ll only have a few days before we’ll have to turn around and drive back. I have a feeling that my time at home, no matter how long, will be jam packed!
I guess that’s about it for the time being. Right here, right now, I’m making the commitment to post more often, especially since I’ve had people concerned for my safety with all the time in between updates. Have a great night and a good start to the week! xoxo
-Steph
