Round 2 of Rituxan

Received the second round of Rituxan today. Took 4-1/2 hours. They decreased the amount of Benadryl they gave me as it really wipes me out. That being said, I still have slept most of the day. My white count has dropped to 2.8. Normal is 4.6-10.2. This means that I am at greater risk for infections. My resistance is low. Good hand washing, nutritious food, lots of liquids, and plenty of sleep are necessary. So far, I am doing real well. I did not get the cold that Brian and my sister had. I know that this is from prayers being answered. I go in for chemotherapy tomorrow morning.

Work Release!

Yesterday I received a work release from the doctors allowing me to go back to work for no more than four hours at a time. This gave me an opportunity to see whether or not I could handle working part-time hours. I asked my supervisor if I could try working last night and she said that I could do so anytime I wanted. I went to work last night and was greeted with many warm hugs and smiles from the ladies and the staff. It is a great blessing to feel so much love and so welcomed in the work place. Work went well last night. I was tired after the four hours but I am not feeling wiped out this morning so that is a good sign. There was another 4-8 staff working last night so I didn't do a full load of work but I believe I will try it again and take on more of the tasks to see how it goes. I'm just glad to be back to work.

Another round of Rituxan and Chemo starts on Monday.

Round 5; 2nd week update

It has been a tough week. Bowels have been inflamed and hurting. Movement makes them hurt more. Been very tired and sleeping a lot more. Despite that I have managed to get the laundry done, my house cleaned, my Iris bed cleaned and part of my garden planted. I also visited with my Dad and took my sisters shopping so all has not gone undone.
Today is cloudy and not as hot as it has been so I might try going out and finishing up in the garden- or I might just go take a good long nap.
I've only been up two hours but am ready for a nap.

Round 5; second week update

Things are going great! I am feeling good. I worked in my flower garden this morning and cleared away the weeds from the Iris, which are starting to bloom. I also went in to get my blood work done and with the exception of the blood being too thin again everything looked pretty normal. No complaints there though, I just had myself a nice serving of coleslaw! That should thicken the blood right up!

Round 5; Day Two

I think today went pretty good. I didn't get my headache until this evening, usually I get it during chemotherapy. My nurse was kind of concerned because my heart rate dropped to 54bpm but I told her that when I get tired it does go low. My normal heart rate is around 64 bpm.
Chemotherapy always makes me tired and so when Molly brought me home the first place I went was to bed. Other than the headache I'm feeling a little tired tonight but I am not in any other pain. I get premeds for nausea so I am okay there and I have medications to fight off diarrhea should that develop. I can take acetaminophen for the headache so I won't have to deal with that much longer either.
All in all, I'm doing well.

Round One of Rituxan

Yesterday I got my first round of Rituxan. I was given premeds ( Tylenol and Benadryl) to combat the side effects and slept through most of the therapy. My vital signs were checked frequently to make sure I wasn't crashing. To make a long story short- it went well and instead of it taking eight hours I was able to complete the therapy in five hours. Today I go in for round five of chemotherapy. They are lowering the dose of Vincristine and have adjusted the prednisone so that I come off of it slower. It should not take as long today as it has in the past. I'll update later on how things have gone today.

Another Visit with Dr. Oken

Yesterday started out with everything good and continued to get better throughout the day! I had another follow-up visit with Dr. Oken at 5PM. He was running behind schedule but that turned out to be a good thing because Brian was able to make it to the appointment. Dr. Oken came in all smiles and told me that my cancer is going into remission!
The tumor has shrunk by 50% and so on Monday I will start with my first round of Rituxan. I will go through four more cycles of Chemo therapy, each coming after a round of Rituxan, and then I will have some more tests done. Dr. Oken feels that I will be in complete remission after that but I will still follow up with Rituxan in four cycles of four infusions over the next two years. I am not out of the woods yet but I can see a bright light coming through the trees and so I'll keep walking forward with the hope that one day I will be in the clear.

Queen for a Day

Many years ago there was a T.V. show called Queen for a Day. People would go onto that show in hopes that they would be selected to be showered with gifts that would improve their lives or the lives of their families. It was a great honor to be chosen as Queen for the Day.
Yesterday was my day to be chosen and pampered! There were three of us ladies, who are currently battling cancer, who were able to make it for the occasion.
We met at the AmericaInn on the East end of Litchfield. Our white limo arrived promptly at 10AM and rolled out the red carpet for us. From there we were escorted to the limo by the driver. As this was my first time in a limo, it was quite the experience! This limo was 34 ft. long! It was plush inside and very comfortable. It left me with one question in mind though and that is how a bride manages to get in and out of one of them without ripping here dress off! There is a hump that runs down the middle of the limo where the drive shaft runs. The seats are located on either side of this hump. In order to get out of the door we had to cross over this hump and the best way to do it was to slide out of the seat and then brace one leg on the seat while stepping out of the limo with the other leg. Boy am I glad that I didn't where a dress or skirt yesterday as I don't think there would have been a graceful way to maneuver around the hump. I'm not complaining , just making note of the lay out of the limo!
Once we were all inside the limo we left for the beauty salon. I was happy to see that we were going to the same salon where I originally went to get my hair cut. The ladies were excited to see me and I was equally excited to see them. I showed them how much my hair has grown in the past two months and they were delighted to be able to help me get it trimmed up and looking nice. Once we were all "dolled"
up we returned to the limo, again on the red carpet, for more pictures and our ride out to Peters on Lake Ripley. When we got to the restaurant we were greeted and set up to a fancy table setting and told that we could order anything on the menu. I had Coconut Shrimp! HMMMM, that was so good! I don't think I have ever tasted that before. It was served with this wonderful pineapple sauce, a baked potato and a bread stick. We all had a wonderful time and enjoyed visiting with each other. After dinner, we returned to the limo and headed towards the East side of town. We were told that we had a couple of more stops to make. We stopped at Kleman's Floral and were each given a beautiful bouquet of flowers. From there we traveled to East Fifth street and back down to Sibley Ave, where we stopped off at Pizza Ranch to pick up some pizza's for each of us to take home for supper. I still have mine in the refrigerator and we will enjoy them tonight. Our last stop was to return to the hotel. When we got there, we were informed that there was one more surprise. Each of us was given a gift bag filled with gifts from various merchants around town. We took more pictures and gave each other hugs. We shared our addresses and phone numbers with each other and were told that there will be another gathering for us throughout the summer. It is a great blessing to know that there are so many supportive people in this community. This whole day was given to us because of the efforts of one very special lady, who revived the Queen for a Day theme for those of us with cancer. Her name is Donna Hansen. It is my humble prayer that the Lord will bless her abundantly for all her efforts and her goodness.

Good News!

I had another CT scan today and the test results came back and showed a drastic improvement in the size of my tumor and other related nodes in the chest and abdominal cavity. I see Dr, Oken on Thursday and 5PM and he will let me know what the next step will be. Until then I am feeling fairly decent. I can not do strenuous work because although I am strong enough it takes any energy reserves I have right to the bottom. That fencing project really took it out of me although while I was doing it I felt great. I just didn't have any energy until Thursday.
No more fencing! I don't think I'll put in a garden this year. They take a great deal of time and energy. Maybe Brian would like to learn about gardening this year. I know he loves the produce out of it!