Endings

This past Monday I had my last chemo. Hopefully ever.

Mom sitting with me at chemo

It was really short. I couldn't have one of my regular chemo medicines. It causes temporary lung damage, which I've experienced too much of. It shouldn't be too big of a thing though.

It was a little bittersweet. I'm so glad to be finished, and I'm ready to get on with my life. It was sad though. Over the past 6 months I've gotten to know my nurses and it's sad having good people leave your life.

It's also scary. For 6 months my main goal has been getting better. The nurses gave me my schedule for the month, and a lot of my decisions were made my doctors. Especially things like what over the counter medicines can I take? What can I eat? A lot of my life has been ruled by cancer. Now I'm facing down making my own choices again, going back to work, and generally living life.

It's exciting, but it's scary! I was up and down emotional for a week (a lot of you may know I don't deal with major change all that well, which might also be a factor).

I still have next week for my food restrictions. My doctor told me I can go back to regular food sooner, but the instructions on the medicine said two weeks, and I'd rather play it safe.

It seems I've avoided a blood transfusion this cycle, which is great. My red blood cells were a little low, but not low enough to be a problem. My white blood cells, however, are another story. They were extremely low, so much so that my neutrafils (white blood cells that fight bacteria) didn't even show up on the chart. So I've been in "quarrantine" this weekend. Luckily my neulasta shot will probably kick in tomorrow night and I can go back to normal.

I don't know exactly where we go from here. I do know that just because chemo is over, it doesn't mean that my treatment is over. I will still have to see my oncologist and get a lot of scans and stuff. On Monday I see him to get my blood checked, and find out what the next steps are.

I know I have to get a bone density test. One of the side effects of the chemo has caused some probable bone issues, so I have to see if I need treatment for that. I also need to get a third PET Scan in about 4 weeks. If all is well then I can get my port removed, which I can't wait for!

Also, my hair has started to grow back! I've got little fuzzies all over my head which is super exciting. I can't wait 'till I can get my first haircut :)

So the chemo's over, but I'll still be posting updates as they come. Thanks for all the love and support and prayers, you guys really helped me get through this!

Home Stretch!

Last week was rough. Two weeks ago my red blood count was low. I didn't feel super sick, but I was exhausted. Constantly. I was on the border of needing a transfusion and not, but we decided to hold out and see what happened, since I was borderline and felt ok.

Last Monday was the same deal, and I was going to have my blood tested again on Thursday. I spent Tuesday pretty much asleep, and slept for 12 hours that night.

Wednesday I woke up, got up and was extremely dizzy, I knew I needed more blood. Josh called the doctor to see if I could get my blood tested that day and we set that up. One of the lead nurses called me and said since I had my blood taken on Monday they could just set me up for a transfusion and bypass more testing. I said great. She then told me that the hospital didn't have anything available till Friday. If i didn't feel like I could wait I could go to the emergency room.

I decided I couldn't wait, and I'd go to the emergency room. It turned into a one night stay, and the whole thing was sort of a debacle that I don't really want to talk about. The biggest highlights being the fact that it took 5 tries to access my port, and they decided to give me an IV anyway, and the prisoner wearing NOTHING but a hospital gown who kept passing my second room to get to the bathroom.

I felt so much better after getting more blood. Let's hope that was the final time.

Onto better news...

Yesterday I started my FINAL round of chemo!!! I am just tickled about this. It's really exciting and I cant believe it's finally here! Mom has been taking pictures of me with all my caregivers, which has felt like the end of Summer camp, when you get pictures of all your friends. I may post them up here for you guys.

I'm really happy that the weather is so beautiful for my final chemo rounds, and that spring is starting right when ai'm starting my new life as a healthy person.

Lazy Bones

Everything's going well, and I'm coming up on the end of treatment which is epic. I'm halfway through my penultimate cycle!!

I've been having such a hard time motivating myself to do ANYTHING though. It kind of stinks. I guess everything's finally catching up to me. At least I'm getting a lot of reading done.

Give me blood, blood, gallons of the stuff...

All has been going well. Last week I was feeling fine and took myself around to some craft stores and everything. Then, last Monday I went to chemo, and my nurse told me I needed to have a blood transfusion. That was a total surprise because I felt fine. Luckily it was outpatient this time. I still had to go to the hospital, but it only took 4 hours. So for the first transfusion I was in the hospital 7 days, the second one for 3, and the third one for 4 hours. Not bad!

Everything else has been going pretty steady, and I don't have a lot to report on. I have had to try really hard to stay hydrated, so I'm pretty much always drinking.

Coming off the steroids this week was really hard. It always makes me tired, but I just feel like this week I was especially tired. Yesterday I took 2 naps (I'm not much of a napper).

Also, Josh got me a Kobo (e-reader) for Valentine's day which was an awesome surprise! The first e-book I bought was Watership Down, and I'm already 10% finished. I'm LOVING the Kobo!

Monday I'm starting my 7th chemo cycle. Two more to go!!!

I'm Still Here

I've stayed out of the hospital so far, which is great! There's a lot of little things about being there I'm glad I don't have to deal with.... like having to unplug an IV pump every time I go to the bathroom.

At this point in my cycle, along with low blood counts, I end up in a lot of pain. The shot they give me to boost my white blood cell count causes pain in my chest and lower back, but doesn't always happen. One of the other chemo drugs I have, called Vincristine, gives me a lot of bad symptoms (which sucks because it's such a teeny tiny amount of chemo. It doesn't even come in an IV bag, they use a little syringe to give it to me). I get earaches, mouth sores, and terrible leg pain. The pain in my thighs is the worst. The first cycle I could manage it with Tylenol, but every other cycle I've had to use a stronger pain medication to manage it. It only lasts a couple days, which isn't so bad.

Hospital time comes around when pain time comes around, and here's why I'm really glad I'm at home. When you're in the hospital they don't want you to take your own medicine, so they can be positive of what you've been taking, and how much of it so they don't accidentally kill you or something. (Makse sense). So when pain would show up I'd have to call a nurse to give me my medicine. Since I was in a hospital, and not the only patient there i would have to wait a while to get my medicine sometimes. It was such a relief last night when I woke up in pain and could just get up and get my own darn Tylenol.

Good News, Everyone!

So I'm at my halfway point in treatment. This means PET scan time! I had it done on Wednesday, and my appt. to see the doctor for the results was on Friday. Well, he called me on Thursday afternoon with the results because they were awesome and he's such a good doctor.

If you remember from before, a PET scan is where they inject radioactive glucose into the bloodstream, and then basically do a CT scan. Cancerous cells show up as glowing on the scan. When I had my first one done it showed infected lymph nodes all through me, and infectoions in my liver and lung.

On this new scan nothing was glowing! That's great news! The doctor said that I was in clinical remission which is so awesome! The doctor said that the places that were cancerous just showed up with dead tissue now.

I still have to finish out four more chemo cycles, in case there are microscopic infected cells, but they're going to lower the dosage of what I'm getting. So we're hoping that I wont be as sick all the time, and that I wont have to go back to the hospital.

A New Year!

I'm home from the hospital, and very thankful it was a short stay this time! I have tons of pictures from my excursion.

Sleeping at the oncologist.

Josh and I waiting at the oncologist for a hospital room.

I was really greatful that the oncology floor was opened this visit. The nurses and techs on the oncology floor of Howard County General are all just great people and gave me really wonderful care last time I was there. They knew the little ins and outs of people receiving treatment and how to deal with all the oddball side effects.

They even wrote a little message on my white board, everyone remembered me!

I did get a blood transfusion again. I didn't need platelets this time though, which was great.

My mom is queen of sneaky sleeping pictures!

My "fresh blood" as I referred to it!

I was neutropenic again, because my white blood cells were so low. Going in I only had about 150 white blood cells. A good number for someone going through treatment is around 20,000! When you're neutropenic you can't have fresh fruits or veggies, and everyone has to be super careful when coming into contact with you. Lots of gloves and masks were worn around me.

I have no recollection of this picture being taken.

During my transfusion there was a clot in my needle which is kind of crazy. Apparently that's something that can happen. I was glad it didn't go into my port, because that would have meant getting medicine injected in there and stuff, and I don't know, clots near your heart is never good.

A family friend had made us a couple chicken pot pies which was awesome, because we all know the luck I had with the hospital food last time. I was eating great all weekend.



Yuuuuumm!

 So I had to spend New Years Eve in the hospital, which kind of stunk. I wasn't planning any crazy parties or anything, but you know, no one wants to be in the hospital on a holiday. My mom got some goodies for Josh and I so we could have some fun on our first New Years as a married couple.

Like hats!

Sparkling Cider didn't work out, so we toasted with Pepsi and Giner Ale!

Almost Time...

Happy New Year!

I was still neutropenic.... so this was the best we could do for a New Years kiss!

Hat swapping

It was fun to celebrate together. I was on pain killers, so I fell asleep pretty soon after the new year. The nurses got a kick out of our hats.

Although I went in the hospital because of a low red count, they wanted to keep me in there because of my low white count. Last week, before all this my blood counts were low, and my doctor put me on antibiotics to preemptively stop an infection. They worked. On Saturday one of the doctors told me that although my red count was good after the transfusion, if he'd sent me home then I would be back in 24 hours with a fever and infection, becuase I just couldn't fight it off myself, and I needed to wait until my white count was out of the danger zone. We were all expecting me to go home Monday.

Well, at 4:30 in the morning on Sunday I woke up in horrible pain in my back and chest. It was so bad I needed help getting in and out of bed to go to the bathroom. See, there's this shot they give me called Nulasta. What Nulasta does is tells your body to produce white blood cells, and white blood cells are produced mainly in the lower back and the sternum. It takes about 4-5 days to kick in, and my last Nulasta shot had been Wednesday.

Boy did I feel it.

But, it blasted me enough that my body produced enough white blood cells that I was able to go home Sunday! I'm still low, I think I was at around 3,500 whites when I left, but I'm still climbing.

I'm really glad to be home, and that all the doctors took pre-emptive measures so I wouldn't bottom out like I did last time, because that was pretty scary.

Oh, did I mention that I've passed my halfway point in my chemo schedule? I couldn't be more excited about that. This Wednesday I will be getting a PET scan which will tell us how well the chemo has been working, and I've got an apointment Friday morning with my doctor to see how it's all going! If the chemo has been 80% effective we will stay on this path. I can't wait!

Shannon's Adventures in Hospital Land

So... It's been an eventful two weeks.


Two Thursday's ago I woke up at 5am with a fever in the 100's. I called the doctor (they have someone on call 24 hrs). My doctor happened to be on call and told me to come in when they opened to get my white blood cell count checked.

That morning was extremely difficult. I couldn't stand up without being so dizzy I'd fall.

By the time I got to the doctor's I was a mess. The nurses said I was blue. They took me back to take my blood, and then sent me to see the doctor. When I was on my way back to the doctor I collapsed. They brought me back to the chemo room and started giving me fluids. Because of the fever I was extremely dehydrated. When my blood work came back they found out that both my white and red blood cells had dropped to drastically low numbers. I was going to have to go to the hospital.

The doctor called the hospital to get me a room, and I stayed there for a few hours while I waited for a room to be ready. I was neutropenic, which basically means that my white blood cells were so low they had to exercise a lot of caution, because I could catch things really easily and my body couldn't fight them off. I wasn't even allowed to eat fresh fruit or veggies. I had a private room because of it.

The Oncology unit of the hospital was closed when I got there, so I started in a different unit (I don't know which one)

In my first room.

I had to have a blood and platelet transfusion as well. I was supposed to have it on my first night, but it ended up happening my second day.

My IV, complete with saline, blood, and platelet bags.

Nicole came by for a visit!

 The second or third day (I don't remember) the oncology unit of the hospital opened up and they moved me up there. I had to wear a mask when they transferred me.

 I ended up staying in the hospital for 7 days before they released me. It was crazy, I'd never even spent the night in the hospital before. I was on antibiotics through an IV 24/7

My mom is sneaky and takes pictures of me while I sleep.

Another sleeping picture.

The food in the hospital was so awful. Near the end, someone made us a meal and it was delicious.

So that was my saga. I've been a lot better since I got home. My white and red blood cells have been in a good place. They pushed my chemo back a week to give me time to recover, which has been going nicely.

Quiet Times

I haven't had a lot to post about. Everything's going steady, which is good. It's not all rosy, and I've gotten pretty sick from one of my chemo drugs (which will probably happen every time), but still, I'm plodding along. I'm also halfway to the halfway point which is exciting!



I've started getting pretty bald, but as much as my hair has fallen out I still have a ton of it. Here's a recent pic:

Blerg?

Last night Josh and I had our first "Why Me?" moment. I'm honestly surprised it didn't happen sooner and was good to get it all out.

We've both been styaing positive through all this for a lot of reasons. We're both positive people, everyon'es been saying that attitude is 80% of the cure, and honestly, I just don't see the point of being negative all the time. Man though, it still sucks to sit back and think about it. Especially the fact that I'm 2 months into my marriage, and instead of having a movie montage of setting up our apartment, cooking together and canoodling on dates, we've got chemo appintments, keeping medications in order, and dealing with sickness at random. It sucks.

But cancer sucks for anyone, and it happens to anyone. There's nothing I could have done to prevent this, it just happened to me. I believe it happened for a reason, I just don't know what it is yet.

Retrospect aside, I'm doing well. Josh and I had 2 date nights earlier this week which was great, we needed to spend some time together. My last round of chemo left me pretty wrecked, which was to be expected, but I know I'll bounce back in a few days.

Food & Stuffs

Chemo went well last week, the most eventful part of it was that I was super sleepy, so that's some good news!

Thanks to everyone for all the meals and groceries. Sorry I can't thank you all personally, we really appreciate having such an abundance of good stuff in our fridge/pantry! I've been in such an abundance of fruit lately, it's been awesome.


Vegan cheese has given me back nachos and pizza, so I'm pretty happy with that. Thank you vegans!

Good News!!

I'm at chemo now with Josh, picking out which wedding pictures we want as prints. It is both daunting and fun!

Before chemo I had an apointment with my Oncologist this morning and he gave us some great news: My bone marrow is just fine. There are no problems with it and I wont need a transfusion or anything!! I know I had tons of people lined up willing to donate, which is just amazing! I'm super relieved that I don't have to go through all that!

Some Slight Discomfort

My last round of chemo kicked my butt! Who would have thought chemotherapy would be uncomfortable? The chemo I took caused fevers, earaches, and pain in my gums. I'm starting to get it all under control.

The shot they give you to up your white blood cell count can be extremely painful, and I felt that in my chest. Thanks to some muscle relaxers I spent most of the weekend asleep (I haven't slept that much in 6 months).

I've also got no appetite now that I'm off steroids. Hoping that will change when the fever breaks.

On the plus side, I'm going back to work today. I've gotten so stir crazy I'm really excited to go!

I'll have an exciting update either tonight or tomorrow!

An Introduction!

Well, no one wants to be diagnosed with cancer 2 weeks after their wedding (what a way to end a honeymoon), but here we are. While the news was terribly upsetting, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma which is very treatable. Unlike other cancers, there aren't any tumors with Hodgkin's, you get little infected nodules and lymph nodes. Since the cancer was in stage 4 when we found it I am on a pretty aggressive treatment plan, which has put me out of commission for a lot of things. The worst of which is the food restrictions!! Just when I thought my wedding diet was over with! But if I have to go 6 months without caffene, chocolate, or aged cheese to be healthy then that's what I'm going to do!

If you don't know the whole story, I've had a chronic cough since March of 2010. It's been diagnosed as everything from a sinus infection, to asthma, to acid reflux, to stress, and back to a sinus infection. After countless doctors apointments and exams, my ENT, Dr. Shimoura found lymph nodes on my neck were extremely swollen, and ordered a CT Scan of them, as well as my sinuses (we were gearing up for the possibility of sinus surgery). He decided to throw in a CT Scan of my chest while I was getting everything done anyway.

Boy I'm glad he did, because they found lumps in my chest. Everything after that was a whirlwind. Dr Shimoura got me in to see an Oncologist he knew that day. We were in his office and he said "he'll see you in 20 minutes, go!" And before there was time to think about it, I had a lymph node removed, and was given my diagnoses.

The lymph node surgery was barely healed when I had my port installed. For those who don't know, a port is something they give to some chemo patients when they have to receive treatment often. It connects right to a vein and stays under my skin, below my collar bone so I don't have to put my veins under the stress of repeated needle usage.

Well, the day after my port was installed I had my first day of chemo. All of this was terrifying, but I had my parents and my husband by my side. 

The chemo hasn't been terrible so far. It has caused a huge amount of fatigue, and I usually end up napping after treatment. I've only had one bout of nausea (let's hope it's the last), and have been doing pretty well. This week was suppposed to be pretty rough, because it's such a system shock, and I'm feeling confident about going through this.

The treatment I'm receiving has been fantastic. Everyone at my oncologist's office is friendly and super helpful, and they already know who I am, which is good because we're going to be seeing a lot of each other in the future.