Saturday, June 1, 2013

CANCER JOURNEY #22: Three More chemo Treatments to Go

I wish my blog posts could be more creative lately, or at least more encouraging to those reading it; but, I guess I'm in a place where my creative juices are kind of on hold. I don't know what else to do other than just give an update to those who are interested in reading about this cancer journey I am on. It's a journey I didn't ask for, but one I am trying to get through to the best of my ability (with the help of God and my family, of course, because I certainly don't know WHAT I would do without them!) So, for those of you who are following me, here's an update on this past week...

Last Friday (the 24th) was my birthday. The morning started out rough, as I was feeling rather weak from chemo the previous Tuesday, and was also experiencing discomfort in my arm port. The swelling and hardening around the port had become worse (or at least not much better), so I made an appointment to see my surgeon later that afternoon. My husband and I were concerned about a blood clot forming. Thankfully, after viewing good blood flow on a Doppler, the surgeon said there was no clot. (Big sigh of relief!) He said it's normal swelling due to the trauma of surgery, and that there was some scar tissue growing around the port. He was confident the port could be accessed at my next treatment. He did, however, put me on an antibiotic as a precaution to ward off any infection.

Friday evening, I was feeling better and my family and I went to Cracker Barrel for my birthday dinner, and then to the park. It was a nice way to end the day. (I had a picture I was going to insert here but there seems to be a glitch somewhere that is not allowing me to do that. Sorry...)

Tuesday was my next chemo day. Once again, the port was not accessible due to swelling (sigh). The Oncologist informed us that we may end up not being able to use it at all. If its not any better this coming Tuesday, then we'll just have to get it removed. Thankfully, I do have at least one good vein in my left wrist that the nurses have been able to use.

My blood work showed an increase in White Blood Cells, but my Hemoglobin is still in the anemic range, thus causing me to be weak and easily fatigued. I can still function, for the most part, but can only do little bits at a time before I need to sit down again.

The Neuropathy in my fingers has gotten worse and moved down into my entire hand, as well as on the tips of my toes. The doc asked if I wanted to take a week off from chemo. I said no - let's just get 'em done. As long as I'm not dropping things or having trouble walking, I want to keep pressing on. The doc was okay with that decision.

So, now I'm down to just 3 more chemo treatments. I can see the finish line, and I really want to sprint quickly to the end (or maybe just fly there with much less effort); but, as the saying goes, "Slow and steady wins the race." So, I guess I'll have to remain patient and be like that little turtle in the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. Slowly and steadily I'll make it to the finish line.


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