Monday, February 13, 2012

Chemo on Wednesday was interesting - what I remember of it. Arrived to the hospital at 7:30 to check in and get prepared. Because this involves a study I now have my own nurse who just draws my blood and puts the IV in place. Once I was ready to go they ran saline for about 30 minutes before I was ready to start. Unfortunately they have to give the IV form of Benedryl in case of any allergic reaction. Benedryl make you drowsy and basically puts you out. In my case it also give me jumpy leg syndrome. Imagine laying there and not being able to stop moving your legs. AAARRRRR! Fortunately they have a drug they were able to give me that stopped it after a while. The chemo went for about 2 hours and then they watched me for an additional two hours to make sure there were no adverse reactions. During the time the chemo was being given they took blood samples several times to check liver function and platelet counts. I was good throughout the infusion and tolerated it well. As part of the study I also had to answer a questionnaire via computer on how I felt, etc which they gave me after I had the Benedryl so who knows what I put down! LOL All and all it was a pretty uneventful day. We finally got out of there about 2:30 and it was R&R for the rest of the evening.

The next morning I woke up with a terrible head cold. We thought at first it may have been a reaction to the chemo but it turned out the be a good old fashion cold. It basically knocked my on my butt all weekend. Thank goodness my super sister-in-law Cindy came to the rescue during the snow storm with DayQuil and NightQuil along with good old fashion chicken soup and crackers. It was the only thing I took that relieved the pressure. Feeling better today except for some fatigue.

Next treatment is scheduled for February 29. Hopefully it will be smooth as this one was.

Until I have more news......Keep on Dancin'!!

Tuesday, Februrary 7, 2012

Just wanted to keep you updated. I received a call from the hospital earlier this afternoon. They wanted me to know that I qualified for the trial and the computer picked me to receive the trial chemo as opposed to the standard protocol drugs. I have to be at the hospital tomorrow morning at 8AM to start. Since this is the first time I will be receiving this chemo they need to monitor me close to make sure I have no adverse reactions. Before, during and after the infusion I will have blood drawn to check platelets, etc. I also need to have Benedryl (the strong one that makes you goofy - they put it right in the IV) in case of any allergic reactions. I also need to be monitored for several hours after the infusion for any reactions. I'm a little nervous since I will be entering a new frontier that hopefully will help women in the future. I've been looking to find some good out of all of this and maybe this is it. Let's keep our fingers crossed. I'll keep you all updated as I go through this new adventure.

Until then I'll have my dancin' slippers on tomorrow. Keep me in your thoughts!

Remember to KEEP ON DANCIN' my friends!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Happy Birthday to me! Made yet another year. I for one look forward to birthdays and that number increasing only because it means I'm still with all of you. It's hard to get bummed about getting older when your wish is to get older. Hard to explain what goes through your mind. I've had so many good wishes today and I am truly blessed to have so many friends. Thank you all.

One more week until I start the new chemo. The hospital has pulled my tumor block and its on the way to Germany so they can confirm I qualify for the study. This week I have a Bone Scan, CT Scan (abdomen) and more Lab work to do in preparation. The best I could hope for is that this trial will buy more time. If anything hopefully it will help others down the road. I have to be thankful to all the women who in the past were on trials for the current chemo's I have taken over that last 21 months. Without patients agreeing to be in these studies we wouldn't have the variety of hopes we currently have in the form of chemo. There is still a chance that I will be accepted on the study but not get the trial drug. I have a 2 out of 3 chance of being picked (by a computer and most of you know my relationships with computers are not the best) to have the trial drug. If I'm not selected I will be given an FDA approved drug that my physician feels is the best for me at this stage. The study will compare those taking the trial drug versus those on a regular course of treatment. Either way it should prove to be interesting. I'll take you step by step along the way as I start this new journey. We could only hope it helps. We have to start somewhere.

Well I have on my birthday shoes and will continue to DANCE the night away.

Until next time - be happy, healthy and keep on dancin'!