Missing in Action

Hey everyone, sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been feeling kind of blah lately. My last treatment kind of stuck with me. I don't know what it is but the nausea seems to be sticking around longer.

Not much has really been going on. Just trying to close some loans which hasn't really been happening. All the changes to the market, the amount of foreclosures and now the California Wildfires is really making lenders take a second look before lending. Fortunately, no one that I know was affected by the wildfires but I feel so sorry for all those people who were affected. The last I heard, 1800 homes were destroyed and 7 people died because of the fires. What a horrible disaster!!

Yesterday, I got A MUGA Scan done. The MUGA scan (MUltiple Gated Acquisition scan) is a noninvasive test that produces a moving image of the heart. From this image, the health of the heart’s major pumping chamber (the left ventricle) can be assessed. Adriamycin (generic name – doxorubicin) is a chemotherapeutic drug that is commonly used, in combination with other drugs, in the treatment of cancer. A serious problem with Adriamycin is that it can be toxic to the heart muscle, and can lead to heart failure.

A MUGA scan is performed by attaching a radioactive substance, Technetium 99, to red blood cells, then injecting the red blood cells into the patient’s bloodstream. (The level of radiation to which a patient is exposed during this test is considered minimal.) The patient is then placed under a special camera (a gamma camera), and with some fancy computer manipulation, a “movie” of the beating heart is made. From this moving image, the MUGA scan gives an accurate and reproducible way to measure the ejection fraction of the left ventricle.

Today, I had my 9th chemo treatment. For some reason, I felt sick half way through. Catherine (my nurse) gave me all my anti-nausea medicine but for some reason it wasn't enough. After treatment, I came home and rested. I'm feeling a little better now but I think I'm hitting the hay early tonight.

I have another PET Scan scheduled for Tuesday. When I met with Dr. Tomita on Tuesday, she said that I am probably going to go for at least a full 7 Cycles or 14 treatments. So with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years in there, I am hoping that I will be done with Chemo by January 15th. I was really hoping to be done by Christmas but chances are I won't be. I would rather be safe than sorry.

I am so tired of cancer and chemotherapy; it is so draining. I have gained about 30 pounds since I was diagnosed with cancer. Between the fact that I quit smoking and also the anti-nausea medicine I take has steroids. Dr. Tomita is okay with the weight gain. She would rather see weight gain than weight loss. I guess I understand, it just sucks. How many of you know about THE BIGGEST LOSER on NBC? I have religiously watched it for the past 4 years and many times thought about applying to be on the show. Anyway, I am going to use everything they do to loose weight once I am done with cancer. I have the Biggest Loser Book, Cookbook, Calorie Counter and Fittness book. I just need to get the workout DVD's that they have and a membership to the gym and I'm set. I'm reading all the books now, so I can be more educated when it comes to dieting. I've tried many diets in the past and I've lost weight, I just don't keep it off. So I'm actually going to get the whole family involved. The girls loved it when we had our membership to the gym before because they have areas for them to go to. The Biggest Loser isn't just a diet, it's a life style change.

Well not much else is going on, so I'm going to go rest for awhile. I hope everyone is doing well. If anyone has some healthy recipes to share I would love to have them.

xoxo