First Week

Good morning everyone,

Well it's Sunday morning, and the first week since the Chemo last Monday. And no nausea, YAY! My doctors and nurses have me taking my nausea medicine a combo of layers so that doesn't happen. Or so, we hope not. I've had some stomach twisting and turning this week (like a washcloth being wrung out) But my thinking is that's just the Chemo twisting out that cancer! At least that's what I'm sticking with. I've worked all week, not full days but enough for a paycheck. And as long as I can "stomach" the issues I will continue too. I slept 11 hours last night. I came home and my husband and I prepared dinner together. And I promptly fell asleep on the couch for a hour or so and finally went to bed at 8:30 and slept until 7:15 this morning. See I am listening to my body and stopping when it tells me too! It's a beautiful Sunday morning. Looking forward to spending it with my husband walking around the Renneger's Extravaganza just outside of Mt. Dora. I'm sure we'll walk around downtown Mt. Dora and take in the whole experience.

Hope your having wonderful weekend.

Love to all of you and,

...Make it a great day!

Patsy

IV Fluids

Good Morning,

I had 3 days in a row of IV fluids at the hospital for hydration. Which took about 2.5 hours each session. It was a breeze. I just sat there and watched the Today's Show and caught up on balling up my yarn for the next blanket. It seemed to go by really fast, mainly because chemo day was so long, plus I was in a single room by myself. Which was kind a cozy.

I've been working each day after I get my fluids. It ends up being close to a full day. It's hours for a paycheck and I love what I do and love to see my friends at work and my faithful customers.

So far so good my friends.

Love to you all,

And make it a great day!

Patsy

Chemo Day One

Well,yesterday started at 9 a.m. for check in. The chemo room is chosen by a random computer spin. The rooms are glassed in walls with pane windows with blinds. The rooms are all on a curved wall that circles the entire floor. The chairs for the patient are recliners with a chair for the visitor. The rooms have four patient chairs with a nurse in the middle who checks vitals throughout the procedure. We were escorted to our room by a nurse assistant. She explained the lunch menu and beverages available for the day. Then she told us about the fresh sugar free cookies the volunteers would bake and bring around for snacks. Then she left to grab a selection of gifts. One was a beautiful quilted blanked made by "the quilting ladies". The other was a large bag for carrying my "stuff" for my visits along with an insulated mug for water. I then met the nurse who explained the process for accessing the port in my chest. She then sprayed a very COLD numbing spray and inserted the needle that had butterfly wings (ha-ha). She took a vial of blood and then flushed my port. She took the vial of blood and told me it would be a half hour for the blood count to come back from the lab. It came back and of course everything was perfect! She then showed me each of the IV bags and made sure I saw they all had my name on them. Then she started me on the first IV fluid which was the Benzedrine and some other anti nausea medications. Then after that we began the chemo. During that time she increased my IU's every thirty minutes. I started at 50 units and increased to 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 and finally 350. It will take less time next time because we will now start at 300 or 400 to see what I can take. I kept myself busy the entire time talking with other patients who had breast cancer or lung cancer. They told me stories and I explained mine. Everyone was really nice and positive. I also started a ball of yarn to begin more crochet. If I had to go to the bathroom I simply wheeled the IV bags with me. The nurse told me I could take a walk down the hallways if I wanted which reminded me of the movie Bucket List where Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson walk around with their IV stands. I had to laugh at that. There was a TV and headset for me and Kevin brought his laptop to do some work stuff. Kevin was patient for the seven hour day grinning at me from his chair. I was thankful for that (yes the grinning too) that he was able to get some valuable work done while waiting so many hours with me. Finally we started the next series of IV's which took us all the way to 5:30 p.m. Eight hours later, we left the hospital. It was a very long day but, I'm better for the experience. We finished the day at home where we met my sister after dinner. I talked with my nephews about what I was going through to clear up any confusion they might have. My mother brought over a hand made quilt she made for me and we laughed and talked. So, that's it for now. Please stay in touch. I love your prayers and wonderful comments. Kevin has taught me how to upload pictures and type in my comments so I will update as often as possible. Take care and remember to make it a great day!

Test Results...

Hello Friends,

I got my test results back for my PET Scan yesterday (Thursday) afternoon. They were better than expected! There was no lymph nodes involved from my spleen (rib cage) and up. So....NO CANCER anywhere but the abdominal area. However, we found the reason I'm having such intense pain in my back. I have several angry lymph nodes back there. So many that they have bunched together and are pushing back as well as the front tumor in my belly (to the left of my belly button) pushing back and up.

My doctors said I may not get instant relief like first predicted with the first Chemo treatment. But....WE ARE going to fry all those cancer cells together.

My take away from this news, is that it's contained to my mid area of my body. Not in my legs, chest, neck or arms. And for that I'm psyched!

My first Chemo dose is this Monday the 16th @9:00 am. So say a little prayer that morning that I'm able to take the whole dose at one time. I will be there for aprox. 7 hrs. Then God willing, I''ll be up and around and back to work a couple of days.

My schedule of treatments are on the right hand side of the blog. And if you sign in with your email. You will be notified when there is an update. I will continue to journal through out this process.

I can't thank you all enough for the thoughts, wishes & gifts. I am SO blessed to have you all in my life.

Make it a great day!

Patsy

Tests...

Hello Friends,

I had the last test this past Monday. I'm glad it was my last. It was a PET Scan. I arrived at 8:00 am to check in. The girl behind the desk noticed my carbonated water sitting on the counter & called up to the PET Scan department. I wasn't concerned because the nurse had told me the night before I could have water. The girl looked up at me and said I'd have to reschedule. As you all know I'm off on Mondays and that's it. And at this point I didn't have any Mondays left before Chemo starts. After discussion back and forth we agreed I could have the test @ 2 pm.

Now I haven't had anything to eat since 10:30 the night before. But at this point I had no options. My back has been hurting now for about 2 weeks. My doctors have been trying to keep me comfortable until chemo starts. Which is supposed to relieve the pressure.

They think the tumor is growing at a rapid rate and pushing out and up. Which leaves me little room for food as well.

So sitting in the waiting room was going to be a challenge.

I couldn't leave the waiting room because they may have been able to work me in earlier. I found a recliner in the corner and asked for a blanket and slept for a couple of hours....2 down and 4 to go. I can do this I kept saying to myself.

I have some pain med's but couldn't take anything, again because of the test.

I was being tested for sure, ha.. ha

Finally around 12:30 they called me back, only 1-1/2 hours (test time)

I was so close to the end now , it didn't matter.

The test went off without a hitch. The male nurse inside the scan unit apologized & said they couldn't take the chance and have to repeat the whole test over again.

So.....I chalk it up to patience and NOT having carbonated water before a procedure again.

I had a dentist appointment yesterday (Tuesday) morning before work, to have my gums checked. Chemo does a number on your mouth.

So....I'm ready for this Monday!

Thank you for your continued prayers & support. I knew I was loved but had NO idea how much..

I talk to the Father a lot. He walks beside me and I can feel his arm around my shoulder. He pats my shoulder & says your going to be fine. Stay strong, we can beat this together.

I feel fortunate to have already had a relationship with our maker. And didn't have to go "find" him.

A friend at work, (after telling my work friends) turned to me & said.....WHY?

Why does this happen to good people?

I thought for a moment, and smiled through tears (because she was bawling)

Because good people are strong, if it happened to bad people, just think about it we either wouldn't have any bad people left in the world to challenge us or....it would teach them a lesson and they wouldn't be bad people anymore.

It made her giggle & then I said it happens to everybody. I'm not in control, God is. And that's it.

Most walk through life thinking they can do it without him. Reality Check!

Make it a great day!

Patsy

"Lord, whatever I encounter today, I hold onto this one truth:

You will walk beside me, every step of the way."

(A girlfriend from Sarasota sent that to me in a card)

The regimen...

Patsy has picked up her regimen of pills for the Chemo. They are to help with Nausea and stomach. It's a lot of pills to look at.

A week of tests...

Patsy has been through a lot this week. She had an EKG, a Mammogram, a MUGA scan, which is a test to evaluate the function of the right and left ventricles of the heart.

She also had a power port (image to the left) implanted yesterday. This device was surgically put in to allow the chemo to be put directly into the arteries as opposed to using veins. The veins would eventually collapse from over use so this helps alleviate that.

Next week she will have a PET scan. The PET scan takes an image of the cellular function of the human body. This helps the physician to get a more complete picture of the cancer and diagnose the problem and treatment.

Patsy is positive as usual and going to work this morning. She is a strong woman. Keep the prayers coming! Patsy reads the Blog daily and loves hearing from everyone.