Monday, August 18, 2014

Hell Week

WOW!!! The last 8 days have been brutal. Last Sunday at 1:00am I drove myself to the Emergency Room and checked myself in for what I thought was appendicitis. My last scan had showed it was inflamed and my doctor said I should be on the look out for it. Well turns out the pain I was experiencing was from gallbladder. So the next day I had that removed and my appendix as well. In addition last week I had 2 CT Scans, 1 Hydra Scan, 1 Ultrasound, and 2 Chest Xrays. I also had an NG tube placed in me and went through a infinite amount of shots and IV fluids. What a week. I am not gonna lie it really sucked. But you know I had cancer and why shouldn't I also have this. The last 6 months have already been crazy. Maybe things can get back to normalish now. So that's where I have been. It doesn't appear that it was cancer related. Also evidently after my last chemo I had appendicitis and just thought it was chemo side effects. Go figure. Nothing is normal on chemo. If you know about NG tubes you know how much they suck. If you don't go stick a .5in tube through your left nostril and into your stomach. It sucks. Crazy crazy but life goes on.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Thursday

    So Thursday was the day. I would get the results from my CT scan last week and learn whether or not the chemotherapy had done anything to my tumors and if the pain and suffering was worth it. Leading up to Thursday I was very stressed out because I was waiting for the results. I would go back and forth between being excited to be done with chemo, then freaking out because at the beginning of treatment there was a lot of pain and I wasn't sure I was ready to go through that again. In fact I was on break at work Tues and I broke down thinking about the beginning of chemo and how I may have to go through that again. Then a coworker walked in on me. I was glad it was the girl who has been to appointments, was there on my last day of chemo, and saw me with some frequency during treatment. I was a little embarrassed, but she is one of the people who knew what I went through and actually saw it. We are planning our trip to Sunday Brunch for a couple weeks from now. I have been dreaming about that day for almost 5 months. I am so glad that we are going and it will be one of the most important moments of the year for me. Even though cancer is stupid and sucks, it was a whole lot easier with her there.
    So what did my doctor say. He told me the sizes of the tumors and they all are approximately half the size they were last time. I was thinking "OH MY GOD!!!!" I was so happy to hear that. He said I was in partial remission and that we would hold off on another round of chemo until November when I have my next scan. So all I have between now and then is to go get my port flushed. I do have to keep my eyes open because my appendix (I know I still have mine) is inflamed. They said it could be acute appendicitis, but since I am not experiencing any symptoms that is a weird side effect of chemotherapy. If I do end up having more chemo it will not be on EOX, I reach my limit and anymore will screw my heart up. I can honestly say that I have not felt so relieved in my whole life. This week I worked full time for the first time since March. I am calling an FAA doc on Monday about my medical and maybe I will be flying soon as well. We shall see. If I do I have already gotten some more flying opportunities.
     I also want to give a shout out to my friend over at "Cancer in Your Thirties?! F*** " months ago I was up at 3am frustrated that there was nothing about young adults and gastric cancer and I came onto her blog. Well I read hers and started my own. I am so glad I did. If you haven't seen it you totally should by the way.
      Until next time everyone.