Hello all,

Hope you enjoyed the hubby's guest post. I've been really dragging this weekend. It's so hard to predict how I'll feel. I already started to feel nauseous before they even gave me the drugs. A lot of this is pyschological warfare now. I feel ok now as far as I can move and drink and not feel like I'm going to hurl, but my appetite still isn't all the way back (and that's ok for now). I've been very tired this weekend. I ran a few errands this morning and got back and felt just exhausted. Nothing a little nappy nap on the couch couldn't cure! Just mopped and cleaned the kitchen too. We found a couple mouses in the last few weeks (just what a cancer stricken gal needs!) so I want to make sure our house is clean.
The hubby's been great taking care of me. I just can't wait until I feel better EVERY weekend!! I'm very grateful and happy that my scan came back with such good results. It shows the power of prayer and modern medicine! Thank you everyone for your good wishes and prayers. they are definitely being answered!!

Boom! Take that Cancer - Chemo #9

Hello all this is Jonathan writing in my wife's place.

I first want to start this post off with the sincerest of apologies, as I by no means have the elegance, ability, or wordsmithiness of my lady friend. Being an engineer if I were a regular contributor to this blog the number of faithful followers and friends reading this would be decreasing exponentially. I would graph that to show you all but I do not have a large enough data set and the variance would probably be too big to really extrapolate any useful information from the results.

Ok, with that being said we had Chemo #9 yesterday and got the results of the CT scan. Drum roll please......Jenn passed with flying colors. Dr. Shorty told us the the results showed significant improvement and if the CT scan after the last chemo (#12) looked the same we should be done with treatment. In fact the good Doc joked that she should make us a copy of the scan so we can frame it and we can hang it next to Jenn's IU diploma. That would work our perfectly since there is room there on the wall because I don't hang my diploma as it is from a lesser university and it can't stand aside one from IU.

Back to the test, we are ecstatic about the results. I think Jenn was too pleased and that is why she became nauseous after treatment and decided to stay in bed all day or maybe that is because of the treatment. After I think about it, I bet it is the chemo treatment. These last two chemo sessions have really been hard on her. I think the knowledge that there are only a few more remaining makes it a little easier but feeling nauseous isn't fun at all. Being a good husband I try my best to take care of her and give her anything she needs. I also get the opportunity to get on her and tell her to drink more fluids. I get to be the one nagging for once, I kid but once this is over if I have to watching another "Say Yes to the Dress", "What not to wear", "Bethenny gets Married" or "Golden Girls" I might scream.

I take that back, I am the luckiest man alive to get this time and the good Lord has helped us through this disease so we will be able to watch "Bethenny gets divorced because she is bat sh!t crazy" next year.

Can you pull your pants down more?

Heard that twice Monday at the CT scan. Apparently my zipper was interfering with the scan, so they had to stop it twice. oops. :P

I went in, got my IV started and waited. In a hospital gown in a tiny room. Turns out, they had an emergency that bumped me for a few minutes. I swear this guy was Joe, Teresa's husband from Real Housewives of New Jersey. I was convinced it was him, but then they said his name was Jerry. Let down! Hope Jerry's OK!

then I went in, they shot the dye in me, and I was scanned. Now I wait for the results. Hopefully get good news Thursday at chemo.

One question though: why must hospitals be so cold? I'd rather be cold than hot, but I hypothosized while waiting for Joe/Jerry to get his scan that the cold must help stop the spread of germs.

100 posts!

This is my 100th post. I don't know if that's a lot or if I'm slacking. Anyhoo, found out the source of my arm pain is not a blood clot. Dr. Shorty said my right arm looked slightly swollen, so she was worried it could be a clot. After an ultra sound, no clot! So, the pain remains a mystery. I think it's getting better but still sore.

Have my CT scan Monday afternoon. Pray and hope that the results are good!! (Not exactly sure what I want, maybe for the cancer to be all gone?) I'm so happy football is back. Now I'll have something to watch on the weekends when I don't feel well.

A pain in my arm

I've always kind of been a hypocondriac, but since getting cancer, I've been uber paranoid. Case in point - my sore arm. I have been convinced for the last day and a half that the chemo that was injected through an IV in that arm seeped into my arm and is causing problems. Or it's a blood clot. You know, something serious.

It's hard to explain, but my right arm simultaneously feels heavy, sore, and if i push on my bicep, it hurts. Little bit of tingling too.

I tell these fears to my husband, who lovingly brushes off my crazy and suggests maybe it's nerve damage. If the chemo had seeped, it should have done so near my wrist, where the drug was inserted. That's a good possiblity. I just find it strange that it's only in my right arm. I'm going to keep an eye on it, maybe call the doctor tomorrow.

Arm issue aside, i've been very lucky through all of this. I wouldn't want anyone to have to go through this, but I know I've had fairly mild issues and set backs compared to others (knock on wood!!). I stumbled upon a blog today while googling chemo pain from IV. An English woman living in German had a pretty rare and aggressive form of breast cancer. Her experiences are far worse than mine, including an exploding port wound!! Yes, her port wound exploded shortly after surgery. ugh...

I don't want to ever go through this again, but it hasn't been as bad as I anticipated (again, knock on wood). I think it's due to the type of chemo I get. Yes, my hair has fallen out, i've got some aches and pains, hate the nausea, and i'm over the needle pokes and tests. But like I said, I've got a pretty good prognosis and I've had it easy compared to others.

Let's hope and pray that the next four treatments and 8 weeks go as well, I don't have any set backs, and the cancer is gone FOREVER!!

That wasn't too bad

I kept the nausea in check this weekend, for the most part. Friday was the hardest, but I managed to eat yesterday and had breakfast this morning! (although I really wanted cereal, but the milk was bad!!)

I'm still very tired. Even though I feel great today (which, really is like at 75%) I'm extremely tired. I'm hoping to make it out and run some errands. Yesterday, I laid outside under an umbrella while my husband worked outside. It was very nice.

My back already kind of hurts due to my shot, but now it hurts more because my husband punched me last night. When he flipped over in bed, BAM, i got an elbow straight in the back. IT HURT. :( so, he sleep beats me. :P I kid, I kid. But it does hurt.

Mort, quit being a diva and do your job!

A little set back yesterday at chemo. Mort the port wasn't given a blood return. That's when they push in a drug and then pull back and blood comes back through the tube. I need that with my drugs because if they leak outside of my vein, it can cause severe tissue damage. The blood return says it's in the port correctly and only in my vein.

Since mort wasn't doing so, I had to get an IV and have most of my drugs through that. Lucklily they got me on the first stick and it didn't really hurt. I had to have a special drug shot into my port that dissolves any dried blood that could be blocking the port. I just had a blood draw yesterday and it worked, so maybe some of that blood didhn't dissolve.

Finally, toward the end of my session, we got a return! Hooray. I did't want to have to go to a port specialist and such. Come on Mort, only 4 more times now. (well, 8 if you count blood draws).

The thing about getting the the drugs through an IV is you feel them. they felt cold in my vein. Definitely freaked me out a little.

I'm hanging in there. Choking down anti nausea pills, attempting to eat some toast and tea and basically don't plan on leaving this couch for a while.

No.8

Hi.

Still here. Still have cancer.

Treatment numero 8 is tomorrow. 2/3 of the way done! Here's hoping for a good treatment and weekend. In a sense, it feels like this treatment has flown by but at the same time, it's not. I couldn't imagine being 2/3 of the way done in May but here I am. As someone who had chemo told me once, you just do it. I'm doing it.

I realized this weekend how many people read this blog. It gave me pause for a moment about writing about my bowel movements and other lovely personal information. But then I thought, screw it. I've got no shame anymore with this stuff. And if the public wants to know if I'm constipated, then that's the info I'll give them!

Had a pretty good time this last round. No major issues, although the pain when I pass stool came back a little this week. I'd definitely need to get that addressed in the future. Had some stomach pains this past weekend. I also find I can't stand for very long right now. I get tired and my body gets sore. hopefully once I'm better, i'll start working out again (although I should really be doing so now) and get stamina back. Also had the lower back throb today. Fun times.