I THOUGHT I WAS DONE WITH THE PAIN!

Since I had no pain on Saturday, I thought it would be safe to go to dinner to celebrate David's birthday. Just as I was finishing up dinner, I started getting pain again in my back. Wayne took me home immediately and I took Lortab and laid down. The Lortab helped rather quickly -- within a half hour. At about 5:30 in the morning I woke up with that same pain. So again I took some more Lortab and waiting for the pain to subside before going back to sleep.

It's Monday now and I have had any of the same debilitating pain since Sunday morning. I did take a Lortab one more time last night just in case. I don't plan on taking anything tonight, so we will see if the pain comes back. Hopefully not. Still when I breathe deeply I can feel that the clots are still there, but the constant pain is no longer there. I am to just watch my activities -- nothing too strenuous -- and the clots should dissolve in a few days.

Another week at home and I will be back to my old self again. I'm glad this episode of my life had a happy ending. I get a reprieve for another two months and I'm hoping for another good ending.

What is going on with my body?

Last month I had another surgery (female stuff). Since then I have been feeling really tired, hard to catch my breath, and my back hurting when I breathe deeply. I thought the cancer must have returned, so I waited patiently for the CT scan that was scheduled for February 22. After the scan, the tech asked me to wait until after the radiologist looked at it. (RED FLAG!) She came back and told me she called my doctor's office and they wanted me to go right over. (ANOTHER RED FLAG) The short walk to their office seemed longer than I remembered it. Wayne said "now they've got me worried." They called us in and the doctor was there but the PA said I had four blood clots in my lungs, two in each lung. No wonder I couldn't catch my breath. I also asked if there were tumors, and he said yes. My heart sunk and thought I would have to start chemo again right away. They gave me a script for Lovenox (blood thinner) and told me start taking coumadin again. Also, he said my vitals were good so he would send me home if I promised to "lay low" and do nothing strenuous. I had a doctor appt. with my doctor on Friday already scheduled so he said to come back and see him then.

That night I was trying to sleep and my body hurt, when I would lie down my back hurt and I couldn't get comfortable. About 1:00 a.m. I just started sobbing and couldn't control it. I guess I needed to get all those emotions out. Wayne held me close and thought that perhaps I should be in the hospital. I said no, they couldn't do anything more for me than I was doing for myself. I took some tylenol (because now I can't take ibuprofen with blood thinners) and an anxiety pill. I found a comfortable spot on my body I could sleep on and I fell asleep until morning. I stayed in bed all day Thursday and cancelled everything for the next week.

Friday Wayne, Karie and I went to the doctor. He said that he wasn't 100% positive that the cancer had come back. He wasn't sure if the spots on the CT were cancer or blood clots. So the plan now is to wait two months, get another CT scan and see what's left. The blood clots will be gone so if there are any further lesions on my lungs, then it would be cancer. He told me to do what I was doing already for the blood thinners, and that I wasn't in any danger of them moving because I already had been doing everything for two weeks and if they would have moved, they would have already done so. It looks like I missed another bullet that could have killed me. Thank goodness.

On the way home from the doctor, my back started hurting a little, then a little more, then a lot more, then severe pain. I had to take shallow breaths. Wayne drove me straight to the hospital. They got me in immediately and started an IV in my port, took a couple of tests including an x-ray, and then finally - they gave me morphine. The pain finally subsided. The doctor told me I could go home because again I could do for myself what the hospital would do for me anyway. So after four hours or so, we finally headed home with scripts for Lortab and Zofran. I went directly to bed, watched a little TV, took my medicine (didn't need Lortab - I hate that stuff) and fell asleep.

I woke up this morning with NO PAIN -- anywhere. It's so amazing. Now just another long two months to see if the cancer has come back. Keep those prayers and thoughts coming. I am hopeful that all will be well.

Luck is still with me!

Had another CT scan today. I was able to access it on line and it was another good report -- no changes since last scan. I am so blessed! I don't know why I am so lucky, but I'll take it. Thanks to everyone who has said prayers for me, thought about me, or even crossed your fingers for good results. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Another Good Report

I had another CT scan on the 27th of June. There are no changes, woo hoo!!! The doctor is even thinking I'm beating the odds. Cancer is trying to beat me, but I'm trying my best to beat it!! We are celebrating big time.

YES!!!!!

Had the surgery on Feb. 23. Everything went as expected. The pathology report came back and all the cancer was taken out with the uterus. YES!!! I will not have to have any further treatment, no radiation, no chemo. Another serious health scare averted. Today, Monday the 28th I am feeling quite good. I haven't taken any drugs as I don't do well with them. I have been taking Tylenol and that has seemed to help as much as needed. This new procedure, which is called the da Vinci Surgery, is fantastic. It's minimally evasive so I haven't had as much pain as I did with a C-Section (which by the way was 24 years ago yesterday).

THANK YOU EVERYONE for your concern and prayers. Apparently, all have helped. It's not my time to leave this world yet.

Surgery scheduled

Went to the doctor today. Surgery is scheduled for Feb. 23rd. I get to have a robotic surgery - sounds cool huh! The surgeon by remote control to a machine can see inside me in 3D. I get five small incisions and the machine's arms go in and with the surgeon telling it what to do, it cuts out what he wants cut out. I will have my uterus, ovaries, tubes, and curvex taken out - so no chance of getting cancer in any of those places again. He said according to the MRI the cancer is contained in the uterus, but he will also take some lymph nodes out and have them tested to make sure. So even though I am confident that everything will be fine, prayers would still be appreciated. So I am thankful for all those prayers said with my name mentioned. Thank you all for your concern and love.

BEST OF THE BAD NEWS

The MRI showed that the cancer hasn't spread outside the uterine wall yet. I will have a hysterectomy, but haven't got a date yet. I see the surgeon on Monday, the 14th (happy Valentine's Day!) who will schedule the surgery at that time.

More difficult news to deal with.

Last week I found out that I have uterine cancer. At this moment all I know is that I have it. I am going to have an MRI and CT scan to find out more information. As soon as I find out anything, I will update. In any event, I will be having a hysterectomy within the next couple of weeks. So here we go again. I'll say this, my life is never dull.

STILL STABLE - WHEW!!

Had my 3-month CT Scan and it came back stable again. I am elated. Will be getting another CT scan in March. I am very encouraged that maybe I have a chance of surviving this thing.

Cancer is "well controlled"

I had a CT scan on the 7th and found out the results yesterday. The doctor said my cancer is "well controlled" now. I have two very small tumors in my lung that are now smaller than in the last scan. I will have another CT scan in January and hopefully it will be great news again. It looks like I get to have a great holiday season this year -- no chemo!!! Yay. I am walking in the clouds (but not too close - don't want to get to the other side yet).

Thank you everyone for your concern and prayers. It really means a lot to me.

Best News Ever!!!

I went to the doctor today and he said my cancer is in remission. So I get the summer off from chemo, and hopefully longer. My next CT scan isn't until September, so I will just enjoy the summer and not think about it any longer. I want to thank everyone for their prayers and love. I am so blessed.

Waiting on pins and needles for the news.

I had another CT scan on Tuesday the 8th. My appointment with the doctor isn't until Monday the 14th. It's so hard waiting for what he'll say. I'll update everyone when I find out. Until then, let's keep hoping and praying.

Only one more chemo left

I haven't been keeping you up to date, but there wasn't really anything to report. Sooooo......I had chemo four weeks ago and everything went fine. Just the usual tiredness, etc. I went in last week to have chemo but my plateletts were too low (36 - with a usual of 360). It was postponed to this week and I did have it today. However, my plateletts were up, but only 130. They decreased the chemo 25% so I'm hoping that helps. I usually start the chemo with higher numbers. I feel pretty good today, but by Sunday, I'm sure I'll be in bed all day. My next chemo will be in five weeks so I can participate in the two concerts my singing group has on the 8th and 15th. I'm sure everything will work out. I'm hoping I'll get a break for awhile. Keep up the faith. I am.

Good - no GREAT news!!

I went to the doctor today and there are no new tumors, some of the tumors have disappeared and the others are shrinking. Wayne, my daughters (Teresa & Karie), and my sister-in-law, Nilda all went with me so they can be there for the results. We were soooo excited. This means the chemo I'm on is working and perhaps I can get a resst from chemo for awhile. In the meantime, I couldn't get chemo today because my platelets were too low. I have to wait a week to get them back up again. I will have three more chemo treatments and then another CT scan. But I'm not thinking about that today. Today I am just very happy about the news today and want to wallow in it for awhile. By the way, thank you everyone who crossed their fingers and said a prayer or two on my behalf. I'm sure that's why everything is going well.

Tomorrow is the day I get the CT scan. We are hopeful that we will get good results. I need your prayers. Thank you everyone for your concern and love.

I was able to get chemo yesterday. All my blood count numbers were up except the white blood count. They still gave me chemo, but today I had to go in to get a shot of Neulasta. Neulasta helps your white blood cells increase. The only problem with this medicine is it works on your bone marrow so your large bones (legs especially) may have pain. I remember getting this in 2007 and my legs ached a lot. I'll get through this too. I have a CT scan scheduled for the 8th of March. So everyone cross your fingers that the cancer is reducing and NO MORE NEW LESIONS.

I went in Thursday to get another round of chemo, but alas, it was not to be. My blood count numbers were too low. For instance, my platelets the end of December was 360. Each time they took blood, the number went down. This time it was only 36. They want it to be over 100 before getting chemo. All my other numbers were low as well, so no chemo. I was wondering why I felt so week, light headed, and just an all around feeling ill. They scheduled me to have chemo next Thursday, the 18th (happy birthday Wayne). All will depend on if my blood work comes back ok. I asked what the remedy would be to get my numbers up, and they said just time. If my hematocrit is low again next week, then they can give me blood. Hopefully that won't be necessary.

I asked Dr. Litton how many treatments I will have of this drug (carboplatin). He said the protocol is 6 and hopefully that will stop the cancer from growing and I'll be in remission. That's what we are all hoping and praying for.

2nd Round of newest Chemo

It's been awhile since we have updated.. Which is actually great because usually "no news" is good news. In this case it is. Mom did really well with the first round. It was no picnic in the park but she was mostly fatigued, sleeping a better part of 18 hours every day for a good week or so. As far as potential side effects I think we will take this one! She had a 2nd round last thursday the 21st of January. She is set to have another on Feb 11 and then do another CT scan to see how well this treatment is working.
Teresa

Side Effects with new Chemo Drug

Mom is feeling very tired with this drug. She has also felt nauseous. She has to eat or she gets sick. Mom says knowing that is half the battle. She had an uneventful New Years with Dad at home. She has been sleeping quite a bit. Last night she wasn't feeling very well so she went to bed at 6pm woke up today at noon, showered dressed and went back to sleep until 3pm. She said the bed just looked so inviting. It's good she is getting the rest she needs. Dad takes good care of her! Since this is the first round with this new drug we don't really know how long she will feel so exhausted. But with 3 weeks in between treatments we are hopeful that she will have more good days than bad.

Off the study...new treatment

Since our last post much has happened. We took mom in for her next treatment of Chemotherapy (Avastin and Gemzar) on the 17th, when we were taken to see the Dr. first. We knew she didn't have an appointment with the dr so we were a little curious as to what was going on. Well since starting the treatment a new lesion grew. This made it so she couldn't be on the study (the gemzar and avastin). Even though the others were shrinking one still grew.

She also had an x-ray to make sure everything is still the same. This month she hasn't been feeling too good. Well the x-ray came back that she had pneumonia sometime this month. That probably explains the fevers she was having.

We attempted to get her on another drug that is in pill form, we found this to be too expensive. (Xeloda) So today (Dec 31) she started up another IV drug. I believe the name is Carboplatin. This affects her white blood counts so she will be susceptible to infections. She will need to stay away from those who are sick. She will get treatments every 3 weeks.