I forgot to mention that the first picture below is of Joan, who has done so much for me that I needed to put her picture in my blog. (She probably would have chosen a different one..... I'm not so good at moving pictures around though.) She gave me Lance Armstrong's book It's Not About The Bike when I was first diagnosed.... after she had come with me to the surgery to remove the lymph node (which I was not worried about) ..... Last Thursday she spent the day with me at Georgetown, which is probably the main thing that made it a good day for me..... She did a LOT in between too, but if I listed all the things she's done for me here she'd probably be mortified, so I'll desist.
Now for the update -- Em is all better, and my white count is UP today! I couldn't believe it -- that neulasta shot I got last Friday (guess who brought me to the hospital again) really worked! It's at 7.6, and the normal range was listed as 3.6-9.6.... and after a 2.7 a week ago Thursday morning before chemo!
Now if only this yeast infection would go away..... I took a diflucan last Saturday, and a 2nd one today....... Last Saturday's only cured the front part of it, but it had already travelled back along my episiotomy scar...... so I'm hoping today's will kill the rear one before it comes forward again. I would not have waited so long (not even for the first dose) but my oncologist was not clear initially about whether I could take it, and then after that, about what her role was to be in the yeast issue..... It bothers me that it got so bad because I have been so diligent about yeast prevention for decades now!!! Also, all the things I do to prevent it...... are struggling to hold it steady now. Oh well, at least it came at a time when I have to be off the bike anyway. (I can barely sit in chairs!)
About the bike thing. I tried to do another 55 mile ride last Wednesday and my knee went out on the way back. I had been tired before that, but I'd ignored it. I hadn't been sleeping great, which is always a sign that I need a good workout..... plus I love riding with the Babes! but I can't ignore a knee issue. So I got a ride home (Thank you Sue F!) and got in to see the chiropractor that afternoon (I owe Megm for pointing me to him.)
The chiropractor tried all his tricks and they didn't fix it -- so he said it's an inflammation -- and that i have to do heat/ice through the weekend, and that when I get back on the bike (hopefully next Wednesday) I need to scale down my biking..... Basically I have to recognize that even though I feel like myself most of the time, the chemo is toxic and my body is handling it, but it's trying..... Kind of obvious, isn't it? (I always have to learn about the obvious, it seems. I'm stubborn that way....) So I guess it's time for me to ride with the slower bikers, and maybe to see if the fast riders I usually ride with will come on a ride with me on their fat tire bikes -- maybe it will slow them own enough that we can ride together comfortably.
Swimming still works. Mom came with me yesterday and today. I did a mile both times in the usual 45 minutes. Then the locker room conversation was really interesting..... people I've swum and showered with for years had to know what was up with the new hairdo..... We barely got out in time to get to the grocery store before Emily's bus! When Mom and I walked to the car I wondered aloud to her why people always seem to talk to us......
I am lucky she's here -- and that I'm well enough to be able to enjoy the time with her!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Pictures
"Nadine helps to change a tire" is Diane's caption on this one.
Here are some pictures of the last bikeride I was on, last Wednesday, to Lake Needwood. It was a nice 50+ mile bikeride, though I was tired -- which isn't actually standard for me on bikerides, so it must be the chemo. Not that I'm going to slow DOWN or anything..... These were taken by Diane Royal, who was there, but of course doesn't appear in any of the shots....
Can you believe those deer? They were right by the road! And look at that presumptuous goose -- we had to keep shooeing him away from our food!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
sick :-(
Not ME -- Emily. She was FINE yesterday, running around and playing with all kinds of people (one of which was obviously incubating something...) Then she started calling us in the night with stomachaches. She spiked a fever of 103 earlier and can't keep anything down...... like tylenol or advil.
Alan's been taking care of her because I'm not supposed to be around sick people -- but it's killing me not to even look in on her or put my cool hand on her forehead. I finally was able to make myself useful running off to the drugstore to get tylenol suppositories -- only to find out that they don't carry them for kids her age.... she has to have 3-3.5 to get the right dose.
My white count on Thursday am before I had the chemo was 2.7. Normal range is 3.5-10. It tends to dip in between chemo cycles but it's supposed to come back up by the end of the 3 weeks. Mine wasn't that high to begin with (a little over 4) so that's as high as it got. I got a shot of neulasta on Friday to help bring it up more this time..... thank goodness, given Emily's illness. No idea when it should happen, though, or how well it will work. I will get another CBC next week and see.
Luckily I'm feeling fine myself, post chemo this time (???!!) because it's not about me this weekend! So aside from drugstore runs I'm doing loads of laundry, on hot, and changing my shirt every time.... trying not to catch a garden variety illness which, I'm told, could kill me while I have a low white count.
My mom is still recuperating from the cold she got from Matthew (he's better though) as is ALan. Alan seems to be more recuperated than Mom from the cold -- maybe he's well today, but for how long now (given his new role as caretaker for the sick) I have no idea. He's prone to catch things, but maybe more so when they go for his sinuses......One can hope. (Stay away from sick people, the nurse told me -- the nurse on Friday, who gave me the neulasta -- she was great, and very informative, though some of the things she recommended were impossible, like having my own bathroom....)
I don't think I ever explained here the deal with the white count. I suppose a good number of you guys know about it, but for those who don't -- basically the deal is, there isn't really a medication that targets cancer cells specifically. Chemotherapy targets all fast growing cells -- cancer cells, hair, white blood cells, sometimes red blood cells, maybe even platelets. (Did I forget anything?) Thus the side effects. Also -- that means it works better on fast growing cancers -- and less well on slow growing cancers. Which one mine is, is one of those wait-and-see things -- as is how well the chemo works. I can get a sense by checking the tumor, whose shape has definitely changed.
However, the final word on how well the chemo has worked happens after the mastectomy when they check through all the tissues that were removed. The best possible prognosis comes if everything that was removed is either non cancerous or dead cancer tissue. That happens in only 5-10% of cases, Alan tells me. I will do my best to get there, or close to it..... however the hell that works. I sure hope Cat's Claw doens't interfere with it.
That's an herb, unicaria tomentosa. It helps build immunity. My doctor thinks it's okay, but I don't think anyone has tested it on cancer cells, or looked at its interaction with chemo. (Course they probably haven't looked at pot that way either, and everyone knows about pot and chemo nausea....)
Alan's been taking care of her because I'm not supposed to be around sick people -- but it's killing me not to even look in on her or put my cool hand on her forehead. I finally was able to make myself useful running off to the drugstore to get tylenol suppositories -- only to find out that they don't carry them for kids her age.... she has to have 3-3.5 to get the right dose.
My white count on Thursday am before I had the chemo was 2.7. Normal range is 3.5-10. It tends to dip in between chemo cycles but it's supposed to come back up by the end of the 3 weeks. Mine wasn't that high to begin with (a little over 4) so that's as high as it got. I got a shot of neulasta on Friday to help bring it up more this time..... thank goodness, given Emily's illness. No idea when it should happen, though, or how well it will work. I will get another CBC next week and see.
Luckily I'm feeling fine myself, post chemo this time (???!!) because it's not about me this weekend! So aside from drugstore runs I'm doing loads of laundry, on hot, and changing my shirt every time.... trying not to catch a garden variety illness which, I'm told, could kill me while I have a low white count.
My mom is still recuperating from the cold she got from Matthew (he's better though) as is ALan. Alan seems to be more recuperated than Mom from the cold -- maybe he's well today, but for how long now (given his new role as caretaker for the sick) I have no idea. He's prone to catch things, but maybe more so when they go for his sinuses......One can hope. (Stay away from sick people, the nurse told me -- the nurse on Friday, who gave me the neulasta -- she was great, and very informative, though some of the things she recommended were impossible, like having my own bathroom....)
I don't think I ever explained here the deal with the white count. I suppose a good number of you guys know about it, but for those who don't -- basically the deal is, there isn't really a medication that targets cancer cells specifically. Chemotherapy targets all fast growing cells -- cancer cells, hair, white blood cells, sometimes red blood cells, maybe even platelets. (Did I forget anything?) Thus the side effects. Also -- that means it works better on fast growing cancers -- and less well on slow growing cancers. Which one mine is, is one of those wait-and-see things -- as is how well the chemo works. I can get a sense by checking the tumor, whose shape has definitely changed.
However, the final word on how well the chemo has worked happens after the mastectomy when they check through all the tissues that were removed. The best possible prognosis comes if everything that was removed is either non cancerous or dead cancer tissue. That happens in only 5-10% of cases, Alan tells me. I will do my best to get there, or close to it..... however the hell that works. I sure hope Cat's Claw doens't interfere with it.
That's an herb, unicaria tomentosa. It helps build immunity. My doctor thinks it's okay, but I don't think anyone has tested it on cancer cells, or looked at its interaction with chemo. (Course they probably haven't looked at pot that way either, and everyone knows about pot and chemo nausea....)
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