Staging Results and Treatment Plan

So I am sitting in a private room inside the oncologist office surrounded by my Mom and my Momma Liz. We are in the process of having the chemo drugs administered. So far I am tolerating them well.

The first thing we did this morning was meet with the Doctor. The good news is that I am only a stage 1A. The best diagnosis to have is Stage 1A. With the good news I may only have to do 3 rounds of chemo and not 4. Other good news, I will not need a MUGA in between each round of Chemo.

If there has been a complication so far, it has been the fancy catheter they put in my chest on Friday. The nurses should be able to administer medication and take blood from both lines of the catheter. However, only 1 side is working. The nurse believes I may have a sheath developed. They have given me some medication to break that up but so far it has not. If they can't get it to work, then they will declare it broken.

The administration of the medications is not exactly what I thought it would be. I thought I was coming in, getting a pump, and being sent home for the next 48 hours to pump the medications into my system. While that is somewhat true, it is not totally true. I am being given four drugs. Three of those are given in the treatment room at the doctors office. One of them will be given on a pump and will take 48 hours to put into my system.

My four chemo drugs are: Adriamycin which prevents cancer cells from growing by attacking and interfering with DNA. This is the drug that can cause heart damage and my doctor was trained that it causes the least amount of damage when administered slowly. So, this is the one they will pump in over a 48 hour period of time.

Bleomycin is the second drug and it generates oxygen free radicals that cause DNA strands to break and the cell to die.

The third drug is Vinblastine or Velban. This drug prevents cancer cells from growing by interfering with the cells ability to divide. This is the only medication they have given me that had to be "pushed" into my IV and not dripped.

The last drug, DTIC also interfers with DNA and prevents cancer cells from growing. It takes the longest, 2 hours to drip into my system.

Please continue to pray that I tolerate these drugs well and that their side effects are minimal. Despite low blood work, they will be giving me these drugs every 15 days for the next 45 days at least.

My Weekend Project: A PVC Camping Lamp Post and Flag Holder

I have seen a few of these around campsites and I knew I would like to have one. The only problem that I had is The Husband. He already thinks we drag too much stuff with us when we go camping and if I had told him my desire to have a PVC Camping Light Pole he would have shut it down quickly! So, that leaves a girl with only one choice: Figure out how to do it by herself. I did some internet searching and found a few road maps on RV forums. They seemed easy enough! I visited the local hardware store for the supplies: An exterior post lantern light 2 inch PVC pipe (I used 5 feet but had to purchase a 10 foot piece) A 3 inch toilet flange A 3 inch to 2 inch Reducer PVC Glue A 12 foot electric cord kit 2 - 3/4 inch PVC Caps I also used a few supplies we already had on hand: White Spray Paint 3 1/2 foot - 3/4 inch PVC Pipe Drill Bits (1 inch and 1/2 inch) Tent Stakes The first step was preparing the lantern light. I could only find black i

Liver Cheese: A Family Tradition

Today is an anniversary date. One of those dates you wish you did not have to remember but there is no way you can forget. Fifteen years ago today,two days after his birthday, my father died of lung cancer. He was a lifelong smoker and his cancer was aggressive. His battle was short. He fought for six short months after his diagnosis. He knew the chemo was not working and that his time was limited. When he came to this realization he became the best dad in the world. In the days before my father's passing, my family shared some memorable moments. One of those moments centers around the deli meat: Liver Cheese.I would not be surprised if you have never heard of it, or even never tasted it. But I was raised on it as it was one of my Dad's favorite things. What is it? Well, it is a German food that is actually called Leberkase. It is bacon, corned beef, pork, and onion that is ground together and baked. It comes with a

Tonsillectomy (Warning Photos!)

The Short Chic came down with a pretty nasty case of strep throat back in April. So, when The Boy started complaining about his throat hurting about 12 days later, I was pretty confident that he had inherited his sister's strep. Instead, The Boy was diagnosed with a peritonsillar abscess growing on his right tonsil. We had to immediately see an ENT Physician who took a needle and drained the abscess. He removed about 5.5 cc of puss from The Boys throat.and then told us that once you have a peritonsillar abscess you were high risk to keep getting them. The Boy's tonsils were now compromised and needed to be removed. We were told to plan for a two week recovery so we worked a surgery into our summer plans. Between family vacations, summer sports, and the beginning of school The Boy had his second surgery. A tonsillectomy. Pre-surgery prepping went well. It must be nice to be young and have healthy veins for an IV! The Boy had lots of pre-surgery visitors. My

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