Hi ~ Just wanted to give you a quick update after meeting with the doctor yesterday. We reviewed the PET and CT scans for the year and she feels we have made positive progress. Even though I did have a minor set back in the summer, the scans either showed stable or slight improvement throughout the year. I walked out feeling a little more at ease which has given me new energy to fight! Next CT Scan is set for January 24 to see if this new chemo regiment is doing its thing!
A great Christmas present! Thanks to all of you for hanging in there with me and for all your support. Together we can move mountains!
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and let's all keep on Dancin"!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Merry Christmas!!! Notice I didn't say "Happy Holidays"??? We have gotten so politically correct that the holidays we have grown up with are being diluted for the sake of not offending anyone. True, the USA is made up of all different nationalities and religions but I reserve the right to be able to wish anyone a Merry Christmas without being crucified just as my Jewish friends can wish me a Happy Hanukkah, my Muslim friends can wish me a Happy Ramadan and my African American friends can wish me a Happy Kwanzaa. At the end we are all wishing each other the best for the holidays.
Things are progressing well medically wise. I'm into my 3rd week of the new chemo pills with little side effects. I also am feeling a little more energy. Potassium and calcium are still teetering back and forth so hopefully today's blood test will show progress. Also need to carefully monitor my liver enzymes as this chemo is hard my the liver. My only issue with this new regiment is I'm am not able to drink grapefruit juice (I love grapefruit juice and usually drink a gallon a week) as it intensifies the drug effects in your blood stream (which results in worse side effects). I just read an interesting paper written by two physicians at the U of C Medical Center on the very subject. In a nut shell the drug company that developed this chemo and wrote the protocol for trial testing states you have to wait one hour before or after eating when taking the pills as well as no grapefruit juice. I take five 250mg pills or 1250mg at a time. If I would be able to take them with grapefruit juice or a high fat meal I would probably be able to only take between 250mg and 500mg and have the same coverage with less side effects (i.e. diarrhea, etc). But since the drug cost $5,000/month for 150 pills reducing it to 30 - 60 pills would greatly decrease their PROFITS!!! So unless they run another trial with a different protocol (which you know they won't) we pay the price.
I wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope you all have magical holidays whatever you do.
Until next time keep those feet moving and KEEP DANCIN'!
Things are progressing well medically wise. I'm into my 3rd week of the new chemo pills with little side effects. I also am feeling a little more energy. Potassium and calcium are still teetering back and forth so hopefully today's blood test will show progress. Also need to carefully monitor my liver enzymes as this chemo is hard my the liver. My only issue with this new regiment is I'm am not able to drink grapefruit juice (I love grapefruit juice and usually drink a gallon a week) as it intensifies the drug effects in your blood stream (which results in worse side effects). I just read an interesting paper written by two physicians at the U of C Medical Center on the very subject. In a nut shell the drug company that developed this chemo and wrote the protocol for trial testing states you have to wait one hour before or after eating when taking the pills as well as no grapefruit juice. I take five 250mg pills or 1250mg at a time. If I would be able to take them with grapefruit juice or a high fat meal I would probably be able to only take between 250mg and 500mg and have the same coverage with less side effects (i.e. diarrhea, etc). But since the drug cost $5,000/month for 150 pills reducing it to 30 - 60 pills would greatly decrease their PROFITS!!! So unless they run another trial with a different protocol (which you know they won't) we pay the price.
I wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope you all have magical holidays whatever you do.
Until next time keep those feet moving and KEEP DANCIN'!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Hope this finds all of you not too stressed and enjoying the holiday season. I must confess this is my favorite time of year. Those who know me best know I LOVE giving gifts. Through the years I've tried to come up with special gifts meant for the person it is given to instead of just buying anything. Lately it has been hard since I'm not as mobile as I use to be but I have a few things I've picked out that have meaning.
Started the new chemo last week and hope this does the trick. Of course it wasn't without drama. I had the usual IV chemo last week and am also on two different pills. One is a chemo pill and the other a hormone pill. I had asked for a prescription of the chemo pill that I could have filled at Walgreens and another I could mail. I called Walgreens and they did not have this drug in stock but were able to order it and get it in the next day. So the next day I get a call from the pharmacist who advised me my co-pay would be $1,000!!! For 2 weeks of pills the retail is $5,000!!!! I politely told him I would call my insurance and get it straightened out. Instead I called the pharmacy warehouse (Trissent) where I received the last chemo drugs (2 weeks of those were $3,300). If anyone has to work with this pharmacy they are FANTASTIC! I have dealt with them several times in the past have not once got anyone who wasn't friendly and very helpful. They told me to take my precription to Walgreens and have the pharmacist fax it to them. Trissent is owned by Walgreens. HMMMM......so if I get it from a Walgreens retail store it's $1,000 and if I use the mail order service it's $50. Makes a lot of sense to me???? Anyway, Trissent rushed it through and called me 7:00 that night to let me know they received the OK from my insurance company and would set it up for FedEx next day so I could start immediately. So I am now in my 4th day of the new pills. This is a new chemo pill still in the trial stage that only targets the bad cells. Current chemo's cannot determine between good and bad cells and just attacks them all. This is why you can get hair loss, skin cracking and peeling, nails falling off, etc. It still has a few side effects but not suppose to be as severe as the last chemo I was taking. Let's all hope for the best. I go back next week for a follow up and chemo. We need to watch my liver functions since it can be hard on the liver.
Try not to get to wound up with all the activity Christmas brings. Take time to sit back, relax and enjoy the season. My favorite thing to do is to sit with a hot chocolate (use to be wine!), turn off all the lights except for the Christmas tree and enjoy the lights on the tree.
Until next time put on those fancy Christmas shoes and "Keep on Dancin"!
Started the new chemo last week and hope this does the trick. Of course it wasn't without drama. I had the usual IV chemo last week and am also on two different pills. One is a chemo pill and the other a hormone pill. I had asked for a prescription of the chemo pill that I could have filled at Walgreens and another I could mail. I called Walgreens and they did not have this drug in stock but were able to order it and get it in the next day. So the next day I get a call from the pharmacist who advised me my co-pay would be $1,000!!! For 2 weeks of pills the retail is $5,000!!!! I politely told him I would call my insurance and get it straightened out. Instead I called the pharmacy warehouse (Trissent) where I received the last chemo drugs (2 weeks of those were $3,300). If anyone has to work with this pharmacy they are FANTASTIC! I have dealt with them several times in the past have not once got anyone who wasn't friendly and very helpful. They told me to take my precription to Walgreens and have the pharmacist fax it to them. Trissent is owned by Walgreens. HMMMM......so if I get it from a Walgreens retail store it's $1,000 and if I use the mail order service it's $50. Makes a lot of sense to me???? Anyway, Trissent rushed it through and called me 7:00 that night to let me know they received the OK from my insurance company and would set it up for FedEx next day so I could start immediately. So I am now in my 4th day of the new pills. This is a new chemo pill still in the trial stage that only targets the bad cells. Current chemo's cannot determine between good and bad cells and just attacks them all. This is why you can get hair loss, skin cracking and peeling, nails falling off, etc. It still has a few side effects but not suppose to be as severe as the last chemo I was taking. Let's all hope for the best. I go back next week for a follow up and chemo. We need to watch my liver functions since it can be hard on the liver.
Try not to get to wound up with all the activity Christmas brings. Take time to sit back, relax and enjoy the season. My favorite thing to do is to sit with a hot chocolate (use to be wine!), turn off all the lights except for the Christmas tree and enjoy the lights on the tree.
Until next time put on those fancy Christmas shoes and "Keep on Dancin"!
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