May 11th - 2009

It's been almost a WHOLE YEAR since my diagnosis now. I'm starting to feel a little anxiety about my upcoming CT scans and blood tests. Eight more days!

Then a week after that I have an oncology appointment to have the port flushed and get the results of the procedures. I'm hoping that the scans are clean and I'll be able to have the mediport removed soon.

I hope that everyone had a Happy Mother's Day yesterday.

Neuropathy is much better, but still evident. More later...

A Day In The Life

I now have my dates for my scans!!! I'll be going into the hospital in Mid-to-late May for the scans and then have the followup with my Onclogist a week later. At this point I'm continuing to let the body heal from the toxic chemotherapy meds and feeling a little better with each passing day.

Now comes the waiting...as it's been said "the waiting is the hardest part" to find out if the chemo did what it was supposed to do. More later...

March 24th - Oncology Follow Up

I had my next follow-up this morning and was told that everything looked good, so my oncologist ordered a CT scan for mid-May and my next follow-up for May 26th.

I asked him about CEA blood tests and he said he was sending today's bloodwork out and would let me know if there was anything to worry about. He said the scan would be the biggest help in determining if anything is showing, but it has to be worked out with my healthplan provider before scheduling.

So, we went with the May 26th for the next follow-up, but he said if insurance doesn't approve the scans yet, then it may have to be re-scheduled later. If those come back good, then he said I could plan on my follow-up scope for June or July.

The neuropathy has improved and is only slightly felt in my fingertips. He asked if handling ice cubes caused any problems and it doesn't, and told him so.

So, it was a good visit and now I just wait to see how the insurance company is going to react to the scans. My last ones (CT and PT) were done last May.

If all goes well, I'll be able to have the surgery to remove the mediport in my chest sometime this summer :)

Thanks again for the positive support and mojo!

Happy St Paddy's !

I'll be going to the oncology center next week and we'll see where the road leads from there. It's been a long and winding journey since May of last year. Thanks to all for the supportive emails and comments!

Tomorrow is March 17th and everybody is Irish for a day.

May your best day in the past...be your worst day in the future!!!

February

Well, here it is February and Spring will soon be here. I haven't posted since last month's post follow-up and just a quick update today.

The 3 things that are still causing me problems are neuropathy, fatigue and short-term memory loss. I find that I need to write things down more often. The neuropathy is better, but I do notice that it is a slow process and may take several more months to completely abate. General fatigue is touch and go. I have good days mostly, but some days I just end up falling asleep with naps or early at night.

I haven't been to a dentist since last January (2008), and I have a tooth that's bothering me, so I called my oncologist and he said it was fine to go for dental work. I called the dentist this morning and have an appointment for a cleaning and exam on Thursday (day after tomorrow). They insist on this before doing any other dental work. I'll bet my gums are going to bleed worse than usual. I'll blame the chemo!

Thanks for everyone's support and I'll update next month after my next follow-up when they flush the port, check bloodwork and I have my exam.