Instead of cleaning and preparing for tomorrow over the last couple days, I chose to postpone until this evening. So now it's after 10 p.m. and I'm waiting on my laundry to finish and I still need to vacuum ;) Must have a clean house to come home to!
I check back into Mercy at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Chemo will probably start around 1 or 2 and on July 4th it will end. I am so thankful this is the last round... SO exciting. I'm depending on all of you for prayers and good thoughts. Let's think extra positive and make this the easiest round yet! Deal?!
Today is Tate Thomas' 2nd birthday! I went with Brenna to have his 2-year old pictures taken and then the 3 of us had a yummy lunch. It was a beautiful day and I could not have spent it in a better way. I was also able to swing by work and say hello to everyone :) That's always a good thing!
So Round 4, here I come! I'll be in touch again post chemo...
Wishing you all a safe and happy 4th!!! Love, Reba
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Let's wrap this up with a BANG!
I met with Dr. Xavier yesterday morning. I was so honored to be her first patient in the new Cancer Center! Everything was brand spanking new and shiney :) She is such an amazing doctor and an even more amazing person... I just know she is going to do great things in her new space.
Dr. X confirmed my FINAL chemo will be July 1. It will end on July 4!!! How appropriate ;) If I get a room on the side of the hospital I usually do, I should be able to see some fireworks from downtown and from Sea World!!! That will be really fun. Watching the fireworks, I will be sending lot's of love and thanks to all of you for your support through all of this.
The last chemo will be followed by a radiation consult on July 14. It will most likely happen... a mere safeguard and at this point I'd much rather be safe than sorry! It's a one-time treatment with very little effect on me (nothing like chemo) so why not?!
After chemo and radiation, I will start having body scans at 6 week intervals, moving out to 3 month intervals. At the one year mark it will be 6 month intervals. WHEN I make it to the two year mark "clean" I will be deemed "cured". *BIG SIGH* Dr. X summarized my cancer to her new intern yesterday... "if it doesn't kill you in the first couple weeks, you can be cured".
This last round of chemo was a tough one. I'm bouncing back just a bit slower than previously but I'm bouncing back ;) X is going to replicate my 2nd chemo this time round. #2 was the most agreeable with me so I'm feeling very optimistic. Even if it is challenging, the fact that it is the final one makes it bearable!
Lots of shout outs this week... to all my "end of June/beginning of July birthday" buddies, have a happy! You know who you are ;) Most importantly, happy birthday to Tate! I can't believe my little Grandson is already two... time truly does fly. I love you little man.
The best birthday present this year is the fact that I'm here for this birthday! YaY me!!!!
xo Reba
Dr. X confirmed my FINAL chemo will be July 1. It will end on July 4!!! How appropriate ;) If I get a room on the side of the hospital I usually do, I should be able to see some fireworks from downtown and from Sea World!!! That will be really fun. Watching the fireworks, I will be sending lot's of love and thanks to all of you for your support through all of this.
The last chemo will be followed by a radiation consult on July 14. It will most likely happen... a mere safeguard and at this point I'd much rather be safe than sorry! It's a one-time treatment with very little effect on me (nothing like chemo) so why not?!
After chemo and radiation, I will start having body scans at 6 week intervals, moving out to 3 month intervals. At the one year mark it will be 6 month intervals. WHEN I make it to the two year mark "clean" I will be deemed "cured". *BIG SIGH* Dr. X summarized my cancer to her new intern yesterday... "if it doesn't kill you in the first couple weeks, you can be cured".
This last round of chemo was a tough one. I'm bouncing back just a bit slower than previously but I'm bouncing back ;) X is going to replicate my 2nd chemo this time round. #2 was the most agreeable with me so I'm feeling very optimistic. Even if it is challenging, the fact that it is the final one makes it bearable!
Lots of shout outs this week... to all my "end of June/beginning of July birthday" buddies, have a happy! You know who you are ;) Most importantly, happy birthday to Tate! I can't believe my little Grandson is already two... time truly does fly. I love you little man.
The best birthday present this year is the fact that I'm here for this birthday! YaY me!!!!
xo Reba
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Home again!
Ok so Round 3 wasn't quite as smooth as the previous one but I'm happy to say I'm home, for the second time, and am feeling immensely better :)
It started off okay. I went in with high spirits and all was progressing nicely. One day while walking laps I got on the scale in the hallway... you see I'm obsessed with scales now because I'm so thin and it's such a treat to see those low numbers ;) Hey you gotta find the perks where you can in this journey! So I pop on the scale and up comes a big red blinking 141. What?! Wait a minute... that's my old weight! Scale must be off. So I shuffle off to the other side of the floor and climb on that scale. Same number! Yikes, better let my nurse know about this. Turns out I had indeed gained about 23 pounds in fluids. Dr. X wanted to be sure my kidneys stayed good and flushed so she really had the fluids pumping. A lasix pill and lots of trips to ladies room put me back at my current weight of about 118 :) A couple people have told me I looked a bit like a cherry tomato in the face with all that fluid. Ha ha ha!
Friday night. I'm feeling pretty good and am anxious to get home and settle in and eat my own food. Hospital food is just yucky for some reason... I was eating just fine but really wanted to be home. I usually stay until Saturday morning but X agreed I could go. Off I went and being home felt great. I slept so good Friday night and woke up feeling pretty decent Saturday. Didn't think to take my anti-nausea medicine and the next thing I knew I was s-i-c-k. Hit me like a ton of bricks. Every time I barely moved I was violently ill. I should have called X right away but for some reason I thought it would pass. It didn't. When Louisa came by in the afternoon, she took one look at me, called X right away and off to the hospital we went.
Thank goodness the lovely nurse, Annette, was still in the Out-patient Infusion Room at the hospital so I didn't have to endure the whole ER admit nightmare. Annette started IVs of fluids and anti-nauseas. I had to be readmitted and spent 2 more nights in. I'm pretty sure these were the toughest days yet for me. Turns out my blood sugar had really dropped as well so I had zero energy. Just standing up was difficult. But as amazing as our bodies are, I have bounced back once again, with the help of some sugar water and sterioids. I came home yesterday and feel remarkably good again. I'm taking my anti-nauseas ;)
Right now the plan is to have my fianl round the beginning of July. X says she's thinking of ending with a big bang...?! kind of scary but she knows best! She has apologized profusely for this round making me so ill and has a gameplan in mind for next time to avoid this from happening again. I told her we both were over confident with Round 2 having gone so well. She also mentioned I will be seeing a Oncology Radiologist for an evaluation after my final round. The source tumor was a very slow growing tumor vs. the crazy fast growing offshoot one. Chemotherapy works best on fast growing tumors. They Tumor Board regulary reviews my case and they feel it may be advantageous to to some follow-up radiation. Nothing set in stone yet, just an evaluation when all is said and done. X promised the radiation, while it can have it's own side effects, does not generally produce nasuea ;) Fair enough!
Well peeps, this is a long blog and I'm getting a little pooped. I can not believe it's already the middle of June. Wow. Big shout out to Tate Thomas Oakely who will be turning 2 in 2 weeks (June 30)! Happy Birthday my sweet Grandson. Love you so much!!!
Love you all as well!!! xoxo Reba
It started off okay. I went in with high spirits and all was progressing nicely. One day while walking laps I got on the scale in the hallway... you see I'm obsessed with scales now because I'm so thin and it's such a treat to see those low numbers ;) Hey you gotta find the perks where you can in this journey! So I pop on the scale and up comes a big red blinking 141. What?! Wait a minute... that's my old weight! Scale must be off. So I shuffle off to the other side of the floor and climb on that scale. Same number! Yikes, better let my nurse know about this. Turns out I had indeed gained about 23 pounds in fluids. Dr. X wanted to be sure my kidneys stayed good and flushed so she really had the fluids pumping. A lasix pill and lots of trips to ladies room put me back at my current weight of about 118 :) A couple people have told me I looked a bit like a cherry tomato in the face with all that fluid. Ha ha ha!
Friday night. I'm feeling pretty good and am anxious to get home and settle in and eat my own food. Hospital food is just yucky for some reason... I was eating just fine but really wanted to be home. I usually stay until Saturday morning but X agreed I could go. Off I went and being home felt great. I slept so good Friday night and woke up feeling pretty decent Saturday. Didn't think to take my anti-nausea medicine and the next thing I knew I was s-i-c-k. Hit me like a ton of bricks. Every time I barely moved I was violently ill. I should have called X right away but for some reason I thought it would pass. It didn't. When Louisa came by in the afternoon, she took one look at me, called X right away and off to the hospital we went.
Thank goodness the lovely nurse, Annette, was still in the Out-patient Infusion Room at the hospital so I didn't have to endure the whole ER admit nightmare. Annette started IVs of fluids and anti-nauseas. I had to be readmitted and spent 2 more nights in. I'm pretty sure these were the toughest days yet for me. Turns out my blood sugar had really dropped as well so I had zero energy. Just standing up was difficult. But as amazing as our bodies are, I have bounced back once again, with the help of some sugar water and sterioids. I came home yesterday and feel remarkably good again. I'm taking my anti-nauseas ;)
Right now the plan is to have my fianl round the beginning of July. X says she's thinking of ending with a big bang...?! kind of scary but she knows best! She has apologized profusely for this round making me so ill and has a gameplan in mind for next time to avoid this from happening again. I told her we both were over confident with Round 2 having gone so well. She also mentioned I will be seeing a Oncology Radiologist for an evaluation after my final round. The source tumor was a very slow growing tumor vs. the crazy fast growing offshoot one. Chemotherapy works best on fast growing tumors. They Tumor Board regulary reviews my case and they feel it may be advantageous to to some follow-up radiation. Nothing set in stone yet, just an evaluation when all is said and done. X promised the radiation, while it can have it's own side effects, does not generally produce nasuea ;) Fair enough!
Well peeps, this is a long blog and I'm getting a little pooped. I can not believe it's already the middle of June. Wow. Big shout out to Tate Thomas Oakely who will be turning 2 in 2 weeks (June 30)! Happy Birthday my sweet Grandson. Love you so much!!!
Love you all as well!!! xoxo Reba
Monday, June 7, 2010
What a great week!
This has been a fabulous last several days! I'm feeling really good and am all ready to check back into Chateau Mercy tomorrow a.m. for Round 3 of 4. :)
After my little side visit to the hospital on Thursday for the blood transfusion, I'm happy to say I had a really nice weekend. Friday I had lunch with my sweet friend, Marianne. I also visited work and got to catch up with everyone. At work I also spent some time chatting with a dear new friend, Mary, who is also a cancer survivor. She reached out to me early in my diagnosis with support so I wanted to say hello in person and thank her! Saturday I met Brenna and Tate Thomas at the mall. We did a little shopping and had lunch together. Yesterday we had a picnic and spent the afternoon at Lake Poway. It was a really special family day :)
Today I've been very busy running errands, stocking up on groceries, getting a pedicure and cleaning, laundry, etc. Basically getting everything ready around the house for when I get home from this round, probably Saturday morning. I'm getting better and better at this ;)
Today's shout out is for my dear friend, Madelyn. She suffered a stroke on Thursday and is in the hospital. I visited her today and she looks good. I managed to make her laugh so that's a good sign :) She's young, healthy and strong and I know she will make a speedy recovery. Please include her in your prayers, meditations and good thoughts! Thank you.
Much love to all. I'll write again soon. xo Reba
After my little side visit to the hospital on Thursday for the blood transfusion, I'm happy to say I had a really nice weekend. Friday I had lunch with my sweet friend, Marianne. I also visited work and got to catch up with everyone. At work I also spent some time chatting with a dear new friend, Mary, who is also a cancer survivor. She reached out to me early in my diagnosis with support so I wanted to say hello in person and thank her! Saturday I met Brenna and Tate Thomas at the mall. We did a little shopping and had lunch together. Yesterday we had a picnic and spent the afternoon at Lake Poway. It was a really special family day :)
Today I've been very busy running errands, stocking up on groceries, getting a pedicure and cleaning, laundry, etc. Basically getting everything ready around the house for when I get home from this round, probably Saturday morning. I'm getting better and better at this ;)
Today's shout out is for my dear friend, Madelyn. She suffered a stroke on Thursday and is in the hospital. I visited her today and she looks good. I managed to make her laugh so that's a good sign :) She's young, healthy and strong and I know she will make a speedy recovery. Please include her in your prayers, meditations and good thoughts! Thank you.
Much love to all. I'll write again soon. xo Reba
Friday, June 4, 2010
Round 3... Bring it!!!
Hello Everybody!
Last time I blogged with an update I was 48 hours home from the hospital. I'm now 13 days home and finally feeling really good :) Of course we know what that means, back to the hospital I go! Tuesday I'll be checking in for Round 3 of in-patient chemo.
I actually had a short, 5-hour hospital stay yesterday... I had a check up appt with Dr. X yesterday morning. It was routine and I was off to run errands and enjoy my day. Well, a couple hours later my phone rings and it's Dr. X saying I needed to go the the hospital right away! What?! My bloodwork came back and showed I was critically anemic. I spent the evening being transfused with 2 pints of blood, plus a shot in the arm to stimulate red blood cell growth. I felt okay yesterday but today my color is awesome. I'm now nice and rosey cheeked with pretty pink lips. I didn't realize how pale I was yesterday!
The time spent in the out-patient infusion center last night was enriching. I learned alot listening to and observing the nurses and the other chemo patients. We all shared stories of our side effects, complications and insights... the nurses shared stories about how funny we can be as patients ;) This fight can be a complicated and trying one that's for sure, but interacting with them all was a really positive experience. It was interesting to be in a room with people who truly understand and have experienced firsthand the same things I am experiencing.
Recovery from this latest round was different from the first one. The first round was very hard hitting and intense with more side effects. This round wasn't as extreme and the recovery reflected that. While the chemo definitely takes it's toll on a body, I found out yesterday, it's the Nuplasta shot they give me the day after chemo ends that gives me the bone aching and the flu'ish symptoms. The shot stimulates white blood cell production. This time around the nurse suggested I take some Claritin and some Tylenol and those should help with the discomfort. Happily there was no throwing up this treatment or recovery! I was pleasantly surprised by this. I'm crossing my fingers that's the case again.
The current plan is that this third chemo round will be followed by a fourth, and hopefully final, round starting 6/29. Cross your fingers for me! I'll be back in touch post hosptial (I should be home next Saturday). Send lots of healing thoughts my way, and as always, thank you!!!
Much love, Reba
Last time I blogged with an update I was 48 hours home from the hospital. I'm now 13 days home and finally feeling really good :) Of course we know what that means, back to the hospital I go! Tuesday I'll be checking in for Round 3 of in-patient chemo.
I actually had a short, 5-hour hospital stay yesterday... I had a check up appt with Dr. X yesterday morning. It was routine and I was off to run errands and enjoy my day. Well, a couple hours later my phone rings and it's Dr. X saying I needed to go the the hospital right away! What?! My bloodwork came back and showed I was critically anemic. I spent the evening being transfused with 2 pints of blood, plus a shot in the arm to stimulate red blood cell growth. I felt okay yesterday but today my color is awesome. I'm now nice and rosey cheeked with pretty pink lips. I didn't realize how pale I was yesterday!
The time spent in the out-patient infusion center last night was enriching. I learned alot listening to and observing the nurses and the other chemo patients. We all shared stories of our side effects, complications and insights... the nurses shared stories about how funny we can be as patients ;) This fight can be a complicated and trying one that's for sure, but interacting with them all was a really positive experience. It was interesting to be in a room with people who truly understand and have experienced firsthand the same things I am experiencing.
Recovery from this latest round was different from the first one. The first round was very hard hitting and intense with more side effects. This round wasn't as extreme and the recovery reflected that. While the chemo definitely takes it's toll on a body, I found out yesterday, it's the Nuplasta shot they give me the day after chemo ends that gives me the bone aching and the flu'ish symptoms. The shot stimulates white blood cell production. This time around the nurse suggested I take some Claritin and some Tylenol and those should help with the discomfort. Happily there was no throwing up this treatment or recovery! I was pleasantly surprised by this. I'm crossing my fingers that's the case again.
The current plan is that this third chemo round will be followed by a fourth, and hopefully final, round starting 6/29. Cross your fingers for me! I'll be back in touch post hosptial (I should be home next Saturday). Send lots of healing thoughts my way, and as always, thank you!!!
Much love, Reba
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