Not quite what I wanted to hear

First off, I wanted to start by saying that when I wrote on Saturday, I told you that I had gained 5 pounds. Well, I went to my doctor's appointment today and I am down 4 of those 5 pounds. How crazy a few days can change things. Even crazier, I didn't do anything to loose those 4 pounds. Maybe the scales are off :(

Anyway, I met with my oncologyst today and it looks like I may be extending my treatments. I was really hoping to be done after 6 or 7 cycles (12 - 14 treatments), but it looks like it will be pushed out to 8 cycles (16 treatments). I will get another PET Scan done in December to find out for sure but the way she was talking today, I might as well plan on 8 cycles. Doing all 8 cycles puts me into February before I am done with chemo. UGGHH!!

I know I shouldn't be upset because I am going to have the rest of my life but it the news was still a little disappointing to me. Most people on chemo loose weight, not gain it. I really want to be able to diet and get myself on the right track with my weight. Having cancer and being able to eventually beat cancer gives me so much strength to conquer my forever weight battle. I'm just anxious to get started but until the doctor says I can start dieting, she is the boss.

xoxo

Completed Cycle 5 (10 total treatments)

Yesterday I completed Cycle 5 or Treatment 10 however you want to look at it. It was a tough one. They had to increase my dosages just a little bit because I put on 5 pounds. UGH!!! Such a shitty feeling!!! I meet with Dr. Tomita on Monday to discuss how much longer I need to be on Chemo. I'm really hoping I have one more cycle. I am so ready to start my diet and move on to a healthier life. I will post more on Monday once I get home from the Dr's on Monday! I hope everyone has a great weekend!!
Love you all!!

PET SCAN & MUGA RESULTS

I'm not very good with medical terminology so I decided I would look up the definition and share it with everyone.

Residual disease - Cancer cells that remain after attempts to remove the cancer have been made.

Now that I know what Residual disease means, I am VERY, VERY HAPPY to share that my PET Scan showed NO RESIDUAL DISEASE. Also, my MUGA Scan came back very good.

At this point in time, I received the news via email from my doctor. She does want to continue chemotherapy for a bit longer to make sure the cancer is completely gone. I won't know exactly how much longer until I meet with her but I'm assuming that it will be 7 full cycles (14 treatments). It would be really nice to be done with chemo before Christmas.

Anyway, I will keep everyone posted. Thank you all for the wonderful comments you have left me. I truly appreciate it.

xoxo

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

A New Me

Yes, it's me. I finally decided it was time for a wig. I can't handle the way my hair looks anymore. So what does everyone think?

I had Chemo yesterday. I kind of kicked my butt this time. I got some good rest though and was up at 7:00 this morning. Which is very unusual for me. Today, I'm feeling pretty good so I am going to meet up with Arian for lunch. Arian and I use to work at Hidalgo Properties together and we both went our seperate ways from there. So it's been a while since I've seen her. I can't wait.

Besides that last Wednesday we had the carpet replaced throughout the house. It was actually because the carpet that was in the house when Nana purchased this house had dye issues so the mill replaced it at no cost to us. Good thing about buying a new house and having a husband in the business. He noticed the problems with the carpet right away. The thing that we have to do now is put the kids romms back together. They've decided they want to share a room so they can have a play room. So that is my big project.

Anyway, I just wanted to stop by and show everyone my new dew. I hope everyone is well and I hope you have a great weekend.

xoxo