Life in the Slow Lane

Life in the Slow Lane

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

The Latest And The Greatest

I realised that it has been a while since I have updated you all about what is going on with my treatment. Here is the latest scoop.

I went to my chemo oncologist today for a follow up visit and she said I am doing great. I had an ultrasound of my liver recently as they had found spot on it prior to my chemotherapy. It is not uncommon for healthy people to have a spot on their liver. It is very bad to have more than one. So the good news is the spot is still there and totally unchanged. This means it is not cancer related at all but a normal spot-like spot. So good news from her.

I have had a couple visits with my radiation oncologist and that ball is rolling. I had a consultation where they took a CT scan so they can map out where they are going to radiate. At this appointment I got two tiny tattooed dots on my torso to help them nuke me the same place every time. The dots are very small. However Yoshi has noticed the one on my front and tries to lick it off for me. Negligibly helpful and ultimately futile. Try explaining that to a cat.

My radiation should start the last week of October or the first week of November. This means I get zapped every day, Monday through Friday, for 5 ½ weeks. 28 sessions in all. Fatigue is about the only side effect. There are some nasty very rare stuff that can happen but I am not thinking about that if I can.

There is a possibility that the radiation might be postponed if I can get into surgery right away. I have appointments with my cancer surgeon and my plastic surgeon at the end of the month. If they can operate on me within a week we will do that first. Such a quick turnaround time for surgery is rare so most likely it will be radiation first and surgery after. I have no idea what all my surgery will entail so I will update you all about that once I see the surgeons.

Now about the hair…after a fantastic start the hair growth has not only come to a halt but also settled down with a case of beer and a nicely filled bong for a looong evening in. It grew to about 1½ inches and then completely bailed out on me. Then it started falling out again and I have an odd thin spot on the right side of my head. What I am hoping is new fabulous hair is pushing the weak and weird hairs out. Hoping….hoping…. It is a little sad looking. I look like I have mange. Very attractive feature in a lady.

I am feeling much more perky but still get quite winded very easily. Yet I am trying to get out for walks every day. It doesn’t always happen as it has been raining very heavily which curtails my journeys somewhat. The other new thing is that I am getting really bad allergies. Probably leaf mold. I have never had hay fever before but my oncologist said that it might be that my mucus membranes (nice sounding, huh?) are more sensitive after my chemo and the sinus hell may soon disappear. I hope so as I feel really crappy.

The other thing is that I am suddenly putting on weight. Not nice. I had put on a little weight during chemo, which is supposedly quite normal with starchy food cravings and drastically reduced activity. These days I am eating better food with less junk and getting out way more so I was surprised to find my jeans getting tight. I was working up a very good shame spiral but the oncologist came to my rescue again. Apparently my hormones can be very out off wack after chemo so that could be the culprit. I grabbed onto that excuse and am holding tight.

So that is what is new with me on the Cancer Front. Right now it is all good and I am just enjoying my time off while I have it.

17 comments:

Closet Metro said...

Hooray for good news. Hooray for tight jeans too (wink wink).

eclectic said...

Mange, huh? Well, Sinead O'Connor and Demi Moore both looked beautiful without their hair, and your personality is guaranteed to outshine any baldspot you may have. I say it's healthy hairs pushing out the bad 'uns, just like you said!

Glad the news is so good, and fingers crossed that surgery will be timed just right to give you the results you want.

As for tight jeans? It's sweater season! No one will ever know. :)

Erin Mc said...

Very glad to hear the good news. And good luck with your radiation treatments.

KULA said...

Yay for good news. Hope everything goes well for you. I'm sure things will go well. Sending you a blog-hug :)

Anonymous said...

Yay--I'm glad you're getting nothing but good news. Well, except for the mange and tight jeans and sinuses. But you have to keep these things in perspective: THEY'RE NOT CANCER!!

I know--that doesn't make it any easier, does it?

Don't you hate the sinus thing? I didn't really have any sinus pain, but my snot was like water and I couldn't always anticipate when the faucet was going to come on. One time, I was standing next to JP's mom as she sat at a slot machine. The faucet came on unexpectedly, and I dripped snot on her outstretched arm. Not the kind of jackpot she was hoping for.

LadyBug said...

You cracked me up with your mange reference, and your hair settling down with a beer and a bong.

I'm glad you're getting good news, and hope things continue to go well for you.

Love and hugs, dear.

Nessa said...

yay!

Susie said...

What eclectic said about the hair. I'm so glad you posted this, I was just wondering and wondering and didn't want to be all up in your bidniss, so now we know. This is a good news post, it's always good news when we see how healthy and bouncy your sense of humor is :) I have been hoping for surgery first; I am now hoping and praying that you get what you get in the order in which it will be the very most effective. And you know, you might want to stay in a bigger jeans size, just so you'll be in nice proportion with you fancy new breastesses . . . just a thought ;)
And lastly, LOVE to sharkey for sharing a snot story with us. Good times.

Happy and Blue 2 said...

Glad things are progressing. Must be hard on you..

Anonymous said...

Hang in there. There is light at the end of this lousy tunnel..........

Ern said...

Thanks for updating us! I'm sure that it will all be uphill from here. Meaning, a bit tough to hike, but heading to a better and better place.

Anonymous said...

Yay for things on the Cancer Front being "all good"! Love you, girl.

jodi said...

Thanks for sharing the good news.

Squirl said...

So good to hear the update. Sounds like things are, generally, going in the right direction.

SassyFemme said...

Glad you got a good report from the chemo onc., and the spot is just a normal spot! Yeah for you!

As for the hair... well, you could just shave it all off and let it come in again, then you wouldn't be mange-chick. ;)

So are you going to turn your little tattoo dots into a full-fledged tattoo when you're all healthy and clear?

Kranki said...

I just spent ages responding to each and every comment in a totally thoughful and humourous way only for my comment to VANISH OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH!

So let me just say I love all your support and very much appreciate it. You guys are the best.

Blove to you all.

Candy said...

I am very happy for you lady. But you still havent answered the question, when do we get to see the hoots? hehehe