Chemo Round Three Is Finished!!!

Wooohoooo! Chemo round three is done and over with! One step closer to remission!

Screw you cancer, we got this.

AND because I am an awesome, outspoken patient I got released early so no more hospital for me! I'm feeling pretty tired so today will be an easy day on the couch cuddling with the kiddo but it's way better than being in the hospital!

I want to thank all my wonderful friends from the bottom of my heart that have visited through this chemo treatment and for bringing me so many delicious snacks. Thank you for saving me from hospital food. It definitely reduced the stress and I thank you all so much. Love you guys!

So now I'm just waiting for the official okay and I can get out of here!

I have family in from Colorado this week so that is great. My dad and his girlfriend Sue are up here for a visit so it's nice to have some added family support. I hope that I'm feeling good tomorrow to enjoy my freedom.

The nurses were absolutely lovely during this hospital stay: if any of you ever find this blog- thank you for being so great to me and my son during this time. Nancy, Sue, Megan, and, Nick- you were all amazing.

I am so happy to have this third round done and be one step closer to this being a distant memory.

That's all for now folks- it's time for me to skip out of here and go eat some pizza!

Chemo Day Four!

So far, so good. I'm handling this chemo round like a champ. Having hardly any side effects right now. If anything just a little tired but that's about it!

I have too much fire in me to let this knock me down! ;)

If anything, I am just BORED. I tried some of the craft projects I brought with me but that didn't work too well. I managed to make earrings but then once I got to the bracelets I got bored and gave up.

Next I'm going to try knitting- we'll see how that goes! It's hard to focus in here- I'm just so antsy!

Sorry for the short little updates guys- like I said, I can't focus. I'll have more in depth and entertaining blog posts ready for everybody once this chemo round is done.

Thanks everybody that has visited me and for all the support. You all rock!

Day Three of Chemo Complete!

This is just going to be a short little update because I know some of the family reading this will worry if they don't hear from me.

Today's chemo round went good- felt pretty good all day and just bored. Can't wait to do outpatient chemo for the right of my treatments. I really don't feel too bad when I'm in here- it'd be so much easier to be at home. Nothing compared to what I feel like if I had a cold or the flu or something. It's pretty manageable. It's amazing what they can do now with medications to make you feel normal.

Just two more days to go and I'm home free! And the last time to stay in the hospital ever! Now I can stay at home and get my medicine and be there with Adrian to spend time with him.

Recovery is now pretty much halfway done. Can't wait to put this behind me. Have a bright future ahead of me and Adrian- I can't wait to enjoy every minute of it.

Well that's all for now! I said it was going to be short. ;) Spent most of the day working on homework and spending time for Adrian, my mom, and friends so not lots of time for blog writing.

Until tomorrow kids!

Day Two of Chemo Complete!

Well, today is officially coming to an end so round 3 of day two is now complete! Just three more days to go!

I had a hard time sleeping last night. So I got pretty bored and started taking pictures. The lights from my IV were making me think of green hospital monsters. No seriously, look!

Okay well all know that's just the reflection of my IV lights on the window but to any regular sci-fi writer we instantly think aliens.

Or ghosts. 

And this was my ghost face. 

Oh sweet crispy cremes the ghosts are coming!! It's like Blair Witch project without the camcorder! Dr. Port Installing Hot Pants where are you?!?! Oh wait, we left him at Baycare. Booo. (See port surgery post for more descriptions on Mr. Biceps)

Seriously I bet hospitals are haunted. Think of all the things that happen here. Or don't think about it. I really shouldn't think about it.

I'm starting to get bored.

But today was filled with wonderful visitors and pizza so it was a good day. Busted out some homework and got my grades in. And I am pleased to announce I am getting all A's. Because I'm awesome like that! 

The absolute favorite part of my day was cuddling up with this little cutie:

Gosh he's just the cutest. He will be very excited that mom gets to do outpatient chemo next time around. He's too bonded to me to be a part from me for very long and it's just been too hard. One day I hope he'll look back on this (if he remembers much) and be proud of his mommy for beating this cancer. I have better things to do. 

Seen a lot of sick kids around the hospital today which just breaks my heart. I hope they're okay. And above all, I am grateful it was me instead of Adrian. After this treatment we are half way there! The light at the end of the tunnel is nearing!

And I am just so stoked that I still have my eyebrows!

Day One of Chemo!

Well the first day of chemo has been uneventful so far. Everything is going good. Almost finished with the first dose of the Rituxan and had no allergic reactions. Just felt really sleepy but that was it! We'll be starting the Doxy, Vincristine, and Etoposide any minute now and we'll be cruising on our way.

It's easier to be going through this now that we have those awesome x-ray results. At least I know the treatment is working and all this hell is worth it. Definitely improves my attitude on things. I finally have the technical terms down since I've recently been on a Googling mission. The technical term for my type of chemotherapy treatment is DA (dose adjusted) R-EPOCH. I have no idea how they come up with these abbreviations but that's the technical term.

Update: I found out what the abbreviations stand for: DA-EPOCH-R (dose-adjusted etoposide/vincristine/doxorubicin/bolus cyclophosphamide/prednisone) and rituximab.

Yikes, that's a mouthful. Some are steroids and the rest are the actual chemotherapy drugs I get. Crazy huh?

And in my Googling I found out some interesting information! It is possible to get this type of chemotherapy outpatient. Basically, you get things done during the day at the clinic and then they send you home with a little backpack thing that has your pump and chemo in it so you don't have to stay in the hospital!

YAHOOOO! So the next chemotherapy treatment we are going to try the outpatient method. Which I am STOKED about. These hospital stays were starting to make me lose my mind. Really it is better for everyone.

Yesterday we tried to have a fun 'last day before chemo' afternoon so my mom and I took Adrian to see the Easter bunny in Green Bay. I love doing holiday stuff with that little guy- it makes me so happy. We also have a routine of finding those little photo booths and taking pictures. I think the one we got yesterday was excellent.

Next time we'll have to do dinosaurs. Those things are so cool. 

I brought some projects this time around to try to keep my hands busy so I don't go insane. I decided to try crocheting! I'm going to attempt to make Adrian a blanket. I'm not very domestic as far as crafts go so we'll see if it turns out actually looking like a blanket.

So far so good, not feeling too crappy yet just sleepy. Third treatment on the way and just three more to go! 

X-Ray Day!

Pretty much spent all day at the doctor today. Had my blood work and x-ray this morning and then my results appointment! My blood work is looking good and my white blood cells are back up to a normal range. 

I must admit I was totally all over the place nervous about this x-ray. Just having it done and waiting for the results brought back 'waiting' jitters from all the results we waited for before treatment. I'm sure that's typical- that waiting period sucks. Your brain goes in a million different directions! And especially since the first two 'waiting' periods were followed with 'tumor' and then 'cancer' it's hard not to be a little shaky.

But the good news is...... (drumroll)

THE TUMOR DOESN'T EVEN SHOW UP ON THE X-RAY!

Where is that little bastard? You can't even see it!! My doctor pretty much (but nothing is ever 'for sure') confirmed for me that I will be in that 97% cure rate. YAHOOOO! So all this chemo and hell has been worth it! My treatment is working great!!!

He said there are likely cancer cells/tumor ickiness remaining but an x-ray is not as detailed as a CT scan. We'll do a CT scan after the fourth treatment to get a better look at things. But so far, so good! I'm sure not complaining. So we'll continue the treatment as planned.

Since I like to take pictures- here's a nice before and after shot:

The one on the left is the one from today and the one on the right is the initial x-ray done at my primary doctor's office that started this whole adventure.

If you look closely- that shadow of stuff on the right is my heart and junk. The x-ray on the right has more stuff hanging around on the top. That's where the tumor was/is. 

Pretty spiffy. So it was a good results day! I'll just be happy when it's all completely over with (chemo sucks) but this is great news. 

So yes, things are going well and I will be JUST FINE. :)

Just in time to start my next treatment on Wednesday which I am DREADING. I decided to try crocheting to pass the time. We'll see if this works or if I just end up wacking someone with a crochet hook. I'll keep ya all posted. 

Today was a beautiful day!

Sorry for the lax updating kids. I had one badish day (yesterday) that was followed by a pretty awesome day today so that doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging.

Today was an exciting day. My sweet coworker, Emileigh, from UW-Manitowoc offered to do pictures of Adrian and I. They turned out really beautiful. Here are a few of them:

Thank you Emileigh for such beautiful pictures. It was especially nice to dress up and feel like my normal diva self and do something fun. And that wig really is awesome. It looks better than my real hair did! The pictures are fabulous- I'm so happy with them. She does great work- check out her facebook page!

The pictures are so sweet. They really capture how close Adrian and I are bonded to each other. They will be nice to look through when I'm in chemo this week. Can't believe it's already almost chemo time again. Go figure- right when I have a really good day like today and it's almost time to start feeling like junk again. 

But after this treatment we are half way there! And Monday we do the chest x-ray so that will be good. I can't help but be nervous for that. I know that logically my treatment plan is awesome- it's actually the result of some famous study by some well known oncologist. Ooo, scholarly. It's hard not to worry though. It's hard not to have that dark 'what if this isn't working?' thoughts. But we know it is. Have to stay strong! Having tests done is nerve wracking. I'm sure I'll be a wreck for that final PET scan. That whole 'hey go sit in the dark for an hour' beforehand doesn't help the stress level for those tests. But that's a ways down the road.

Yesterday we had a full day of errands to run so we were busy bees. But sadly, I started having all those weird dizzy issues towards the end of our shopping trip where I immediately have to sit down. That's sure inconvenient when you're out and about. Seriously inconvenient. There's not always a chair. You're in the middle of a store trying to hunt down toilet paper. It sucks. That's probably the side effect I hate the most. So at the coaxing of my mother to not be embarrassed I gave in and agreed to use the motorized scooter. 

And of course, yet again we had the stares. But even worse than that- right when I got on the scooter, some lady from the service desk in Shopko (the one in GB) came over and questioned me using the scooter. After informing her of my cancer, she didn't even look abashed but continued to eye me critically like I was some hooligan stealing the scooter for some shenanigans. 

Hey, I've had plenty of shenanigans in my life but seriously lady, I really needed that scooter.

Thanks for the embarrassment, Shopko service desk lady in Green Bay. That was just peachy.

I know I've said this before but I really wish people wouldn't judge without knowing the whole story. Sure, when I slap on some makeup to cover the dark circles under my eyes, put some jeans on, and cover my bald head with a wig I look pretty healthy. Doesn't mean that's the case. Oi vey.

But for every person that treats me in this manner there are ten times as many that are showing me tons of support and love. <3

Don't let the meanies get ya down.

That's all for now kids, love ya.