JAMs Jams. Pure. Real. Fresh.

sorry its been such a long time between posts.  We tried hard to leave the electronics alone while we were in the Keys.  It was an amazing & wonderful trip - more about it soon. I am about done with the 2nd day of this cycle of chemo.  Dr Keedy added back in the adriamycin (the Red Devil) drug this time and it has kicked my ass like it did the first cycle.  I've gotten a ton of phenergan so far which is helping keep the vomiting at bay most of the time but I still feel nauseous & like I was hit with a train.  Had to also get 2 more units of blood because my red counts were a bit low.  They were really at the threshold between needing blood & not so we decided better to be safe.  So i haven't done much of anything the last 2 days except sit here in the chemo suite.  But after today we are halfway thru - there is a light out there at the end of this tunnel. Sadly, one of our kitties - Gus - has disappeared.  We last saw him the ...

Yep thats correct we have clearance to go on vacation, officially.  No more appointments before we leave except a routine check up with the surgeon tomorrow. Had my labs done this morning; I was worried when I got to the Infusion Suite for my neulasta shot & the charge nurse asked me if I could wait a while to be sure I didn't need a transfusion.  Meanwhile I'm furiously checking for the results on my ipad (love technology & at Vanderbilt I see my labs the same time my doctor gets them).  Guess what - the red blood counts are actually better than they were when I was getting treatment last week.  Much better than they were on May 1st when I had to get the transfusions.  So, no blood products needed this week.  In my slowly growing medical knowledge, I have learned that there are really two numbers to look at for red blood cells.  One is PCV (which stands for packed cell volume, strange) or Hematocrit.  The other...

Yep that's right! Finished the 3rd round (or 6th cycle as they count it in oncology world). Woohoo. After the severe nausea & stuff mid-week things got better during the last round. I got my 5th infusion Saturday morning & was home by noon! Life moves at a different speed altogether in the hospital. Minutes are hours & hours are days. I'm sure for those working there saving lives that's not true. But for those sitting there getting chemo it is! I don't regret my decision to do this past week as an inpatient. I don't know if I will go the inpatient route aagin though. So if I was counting I have now had 21 total infusions. I have 28 to go. That sounds pretty damn manageable to me! Tomorrow I get to go to the dentist. Yuk. And get my blood checked. Yuk. And get my neulasta shot. Yuk. And go to work. Yay. But I'm expecting my blood work to be fine and will ensure that the nurse who draws it prays before she sends it in again. In fact I may...

I won't lie - this week has been no fun.  Things move slow in a hospital & the chemo has been making me very sick this time, which is new for this routine.  Hasn't really made me sick before.  And along with the nausea comes a lot of anti-emitics that make me sleep.  So I should be well rested by the time  I get done on Saturday.  Been watching my blood counts take a little drop each day as a result of more chemicals being pumped in. They do unhook me from the IV every morning so I can take a shower - thats nice.  I've learned the smell of chemo is disgusting.  It comes out thru your pores and its just not a good smell.  Showers help that a ton. Its the highlight of my day when the girls & Kendall come visit each evening.  Last night EB brought me dinner that she had made - carribbean chicken.  Bless her heart there was no way I could eat.  I felt so bad about that.   Really haven't eaten anything sin...

So this is the first downside of inpatient chemo. Paperwork, bureaucracy & time to get admitted. Right now I'm sitting in the hospital admitting office waiting for a bed. Been here at the hospital since 8 this morning. Gosh, what was this like before wireless, laptops, iPads & droids? I guess everyone read books. I would've lost my mind! Great news from my labs today. White & red blood cell counts are "great". Dr Keedy said she chose that word intentionally & was pleased with everything. The dosage of Ifosfamide & Etopocide this week will be the same as the last 2. And I will get labs drawn Monday afternoon so we Know where I stand before leaving for the beach. Did I mention we are going to the beach? My favorite place on earth is on a beach. When its together with Kendall & my baby girls it's even better! Dr Keedy said she was a bit surprised how my blood work rebounded after the transfusion & how good my counts are. I reminded her...

Happy mother's day to all my mom friends.  Hope you have enjoyed a peaceful, fun day with your families.  Ours has been very nice - got to open my gifts in bed this morning & then Kendall made us all a delicious breakfast.  EB & I went to run some errands while Kendall & Eri picked up his mom from the airport.  Had a great lunch at Past Perfect downtown, now chilling out while I make a ribeye roast, roast potatoes, green beans, gravy & yorkshire pudding for dinner.  And homemade carrot cake for dessert.  yum. Almost time for another 5 day round of chemo.  We're starting Tuesday this week so I don't miss EB's band concert tomorrow night.  And I'm getting admitted to the hospital for this round.  Kendall's mom will be here to take care of meals and stuff, so I am going to chill out in the hospital for a week with my laptop, my ipad, and a couple of books.  I don't know if it will be easier on my mentally than going in eve...

Wow, astonishing that my blog has been read 9000 times since January.  Thank you all for your dedicated reading!  I hope you continue & also keep sharing it with your friends & family. Well the cooking therapy has kicked back in recently & I'm having a lot of fun making new recipes & exploring new things I've never made before. Last night we had fresh veggie soup - sauteed some onions, carrots, peppers then cooked some potatoes into it with chicken stock.  Added some fresh herbs & pureed before we ate it.  Also added some pesto into the bowl when I served it.  Delicious.  We had a salad too - with lettuce we bought at the Farmers Market on Tuesday night.  And rotisserie chicken.  All fresh & healthy.  And for dessert we had fresh strawberry shortcake with strawberries that were on the plant just earlier in the day yesterday. Tonight Katie brought us some amazing moroccan chicken, wild rice & salad....

Yep, white blood cells are back in the "normal" range for a healthy person (which is higher than the "normal" range for a cancer patient) and the neulasta hasn't really kicked in yet so they are expected to climb some more.  It was 3.4 last week (threshold for "normal" is 3.9) & it was 4.2 today!  Yes! Red counts (they still confuse me, I've got to get some more education on the different numbers) are much better than last week too.  So no transfusion this time, but clearly the last one did a lot of good!  My platelet count, which must be above 75 to get treatment, was 86 last week.  Today it was 302, so back close to what it has historically been.  The other number they seem to be monitoring is hematocrit.  Mine last week before getting the 2 units of blood was down to 24.  This week its back up to 30, which is still a bit below the normal limit of 36ish, but much improved.  Since surgery mine has hovered around 28-34 so I'm right back...

Celebrating one of the first milestones on the path to being a cancer survivor not a cancer patient.  Boy does it feel amazing.  A little weird frankly but amazing.  As of 8.10 this morning, I am finished with radiation therapy!!!  I have been to the hospital 27 of the last 30 days for either radiation or chemo.  No more daily trips, woo hoo!!!  Aside from recovering from surgery, this is really the first big survivor-path milestone we have hit.  A few weeks ago my friend Ann baked us Alan Jackson's favorite Chocolate Sheet Cake.  Its delicious & pretty simple to make so I made it last night & took it to the radiation therapists today to say Thank you for taking such great care of me the last 6 weeks.  Margie, an older lady who has been my primary therapist, was so touched by the cake - it made me feel good.  Poor Emilia is home sick today.  She's sleeping peacefully right now, hope she is better this evening so we can g...

JAM is kind of quiet this week - pretty tired for some reason.  But, hey the first half of round 3 is in the history books.  And only ONE MORE radiation treatment on Monday then we can close that chapter too.  Sweet. The transfusion was fine - didn't really feel any different than getting IV fluids.  That is to say it didn't really feel like anything.  They gave me benadryl with the transfusion so I was pretty sleepy during it.  Unusual for me to doze, not work, in the chemo suite but it is what it is!  Looking forward to a relaxing weekend.  Eri is going to her friend Clara Beth's birthday party on Saturday afternoon, we have some fence to finish putting up in the garden, a couple plants to get in the ground when that's finished.  And thats about it! Eri's Work I wanted to share these pictures - I let the girls use my now completely bald head as a white board the other day.  They loved that!  What other use is a bald hea...

I'll start with the good news.  Dr Keedy held the Adriamycin (red devil) again because I'm still doing radiation (even though I only FOUR - count them - FOUR! treatments remaining).  So chemo today was quick - cytoxan & vincristine & done.  That was an unexpected treat. Not good news on my blood counts though.  Warning, this is your medical school lesson for the day as I attempt to explain all this -hope its not too confusing or boring.  They were okay to proceed with treatment this time, but they were significantly worse than 2 weeks ago.  My white blood cell count (for my fellow cancer buddies who study this stuff!) was down to 3.4 (below 3.9 is considered low).  2 weeks ago it was 11 & a month ago it was like 15.  Amazing how fast these drugs can affect your blood counts, even with white blood cell boosters like the Neulasta shot I get after chemo.  So, we don't have to do anything about this right now, but it is prett...