the Red Devil

My dear friend, Cari M. drove me to Huntsman and stayed with me today.  Anyone who willingly picks me up at 6:30 a.m. to take me for treatment or procedures is a saint in my book!  We had some unexpected surprises and I'm glad she was there.

Doxorubicin, most commonly known as the "Red Devil" - I had this drug in 2010 when my cancer party started.  I'd say that, other than killing cancer cells, there's not much good to say about it.  It has lots of side effects.  Mouth sores, blistering on the palms of hands and bottoms of feet, joint and bone pain, hair loss, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, taste distortion, heart issues, etc.  My oncologist at the time, Dr. Prystas, told me that I had reached my lifetime limit for Doxorubicin.   

The drug I had today was Doxorubicin Liposomal, the upgraded version is tolerated better, but still has all the potential side effects I've mentioned, and more.  The nurse told me that if I was going to have an allergic  reaction, it would happen in the first few minutes. 

She came to get the drip started and within about two minutes, I had a reaction to it.  My heart started beating out of my chest, so fast and something weird was going on in my brain.  She immediately stopped the drip and pushed a button that alerted other nurses to come help.  They gave me a steroid, then I heard them talking about Benadryl, "25 or 50".  I blurted out "50!" trying to be funny.  I don't ultimately know which they gave me, but it must have been 50 mg because when I was talking to my friend, Cari, I started getting really confused and kind of slurring my speech.  That's when I decided I'd better just go to sleep before I made a complete fool out of myself!    

I've waited two months for today's treatment.  Knowing about the tumors in my liver have literally made me crazy.  Even though I learned about them two months ago, they had been growing for some time before that because the genetics of my cancer changed and the chemo I had been doing for 3 or 4 months before that hadn't been working.  It's one thing to have cancer in your bones, but when it moves to a vital organ?  That's no joke.  I'm sure I've eaten my body weight in chocolate the last two months.  It's how I cope!  I'm grateful to be surrounded by so many dear friends who would do anything for me.  I'm so grateful for everyone that loves me (our family) and helps me through all the hard stuff.  

Genome results

 I did get an update from Dr Buys today. I was standing in front of South Davis Junior High when she called so it was hard to hear. Take all this with a grain of salt, I reserve the right to change all the details after I see her next time!

Testing came back from the genome lab. Chemo won’t work anymore but there are still options. She’s going to see what studies I qualify for (remember when I said “no way on studies!”). Funny how perspectives change. There are also some drugs that aren’t technically chemo that we can still try.

I don’t necessarily feel super optimistic about it, I’m sure I‘ll feel better after I have a chance to sit down with her to ask more questions. This has been a really rough winter on me. Can somebody order warmer temperatures please??

Cemetery Coolness

 Just talked to the guy at Bountiful City over Parks and the Cemetery. I’ve wanted to plant a tree on two of our plots to get it established, make sure it’s planted “correctly” and choose (and pay for) what I want there. He said it wasn’t a problem at all, that when we’re ready, he’ll have guys there to help if necessary. How cool is that?!

Lymphedema

 While fixing lunch today, I felt my left arm start to swell. In a matter of 15 minutes, my arm filled with fluid. Lymphedema. In 13 years of cancer, I've never had a problem. I've had the compression sleeve for about that long and have never used it. So why today? Why when everything seems so FREAKING overwhelming? Why, when I can't think of a single good reason for it to flare up right now, today.