Down the Hatch

With some trepidation, I managed to get the first dosage of Xeloda down my throat this morning. Now I'm trying to keep my mind busy and not sit here thinking about what the side effects may be or what comes next.

I'll keep you posted...

Dear Liza, Dear Liza

Good thing there's no hole in my bucket, dear Liza, cuz within only a couple of hours of my last blog, the bucket had to come back out. While it hasn't been a constant companion, it's never too far from my grasp.

I still feel queasy and SLEEPY! Lots of napping going on, very little eating happening, and today's "major" accomplishment was...hmmm...one load of laundry in the machine and I picked three weeds before almost falling over in the yard (decided to come back inside at that point since I was home alone and thought it might be safer/smarter).

I'll chat with Dr K tomorrow. Not sure if I have to resign myself to the fact that my only hope for pain relief is to feel 'out of it' in other ways. I also have this strange stiffness in other parts of my body that the pain relievers aren't necessarily relieving.

I hope to maybe get to work for small patches of time this week, but since I can't really drive, that may be tricky. At the least, maybe I can stop in and forward home everything I need to assemble our employee newsletter. I just may call on one or two of you who have offered your transportation services. I'll let you know what the doc determines.

Enjoy your Sunday evenings!

New drugs

I know, I know...I should have blogged days ago, but I just wasn't feeling up to it. Here are the results of Wednesday's doctor appt:

My red blood cells seem to be holding steady. My platelets have increased somewhat so instead of the usual 40mg of Procrit, they gave me 60mg instead, in hopes that this will get things all charged up by next Wednesday. Yes, we've put off the chemo pills "one" more week.

Because of the increased pain I have been experiencing, we are trying a new pain reliever called Tramadol (sounds like "damn it all"). Side effects include nausuea, drowsiness and, ironically, headaches. I've been taking anti-nausea pills that also cause drowsiness, so I've been sleeping a LOT lateley! The headaches went away after the first day, so that was good. The nausea is lessening and I put the "bucket" away this morning. The sleepiness seems to be sticking with me.

The reason for my increased pain is that my tumor marker number took a significant jump again. Now at 1474, that's a jump of 345 in only TWO weeks! Dr K hasn't seen that number yet as he won't be back in until Monday.

So if I can ask for specific prayers this week, it would be that we can finally start the Xeloda and start to gain some control over this thing. Healthy blood is what I need!

I'm supposed to be camping right now. (insert sad face)

Too Many Steps

It's a darn good thing that KB and I went to NYC last year. Brian, Dominic and I walked around the Farm Technology Days yesterday and I am hurtin' for certain today. I just think I walked too far, and it was on mostly uneven terrain, so I really feel it in my hips.

Yesterday's blood draw showed that I am still anemic. My platelets are also low and I'm supposed to be very careful so as not to cut myself. Xeloda is on hold for another week.

Golf Good...Bocce Bad

I had a lot of fun golfing Friday night! My driving wasn't so good, but my putting wasn't too bad. It's only my second time out this year. We had a lot of laughs with the Thorns and the weather was perfect. I didn't even hurt when I woke up Saturday morning!

Yesterday, however, Brian and I played some Bocce Ball in the yard. This morning I woke up feeling a bit of pain. I think the tossing of the weighted balls was not a good thing. So it's self-inflicted pain, that came with fun, so I'm ok with that. And the Ibuprofin is helping.

Overall, still feeling pretty darn good!

High...but Low

Just got the latest tumor marker number. It's up again, which I was pretty certain it would be. But it's lower than I anticipated, so that's reassuring. Now looking at 1129. That's a jump of 93 since last month.

Suddenly feeling a little light-headed this afternoon, but nothing too major.

Overall, still feeling GREAT!

Bad News that's Good News

The bad news is that my bloodwork numbers are going the wrong way. I'm actually more anemic this week than I was last week. But the numbers aren't quite low enough to warrant another transfusion yet. That also means that things are still too out of whack to start the chemo pills.

What's the good news in that? Well...I'm feeling really good today and was afraid that starting the Xeloda might make me feel crummy all over again. So I kind of feel like I've been given a reprieve and hopefully will now have a full week of feeling like a million bucks!

I'm really looking forward to golfing on Friday night!

I'll blog again tomorrow once I have a new tumor marker number to report. No matter the number, I feel good and I'm going to make the most of it!

I Feel Like Carol Again!

I am very happy to report that, at least for today, I feel like my old self again! It's wonderful!!

Right or wrong, I took myself off of the steroids and I honestly think that is what has made the difference. Appartently it shouldn't have been the cause of anything I was feeling, but the fact that it was really the only foreign thing in my system I just had to give it a try. Maybe the timing is all a big coincidence, but they will have to put up a good argument to get me to go back on them again.

As long as my blood counts look good today, I should be popping the first of my chemo pills today or tomorrow. I'll let you know how that goes...

Had a GREAT weekend with Dave & Kate and their boys. It was mellow and relaxing, but still so very nice to have them visit. Good therapy! Then Mom and Dad came and we had a lot of fun with them too! It was a really good 4-day weekend with lots of time spent with family and friends.

OK...back to work now. Just wanted to share my happy day with you!!