It's My Life

Today was the first time since I have started Chemo that I had blood taken. My white blood count is 2,100 and considered too low to do treatment. A normal blood count should be 4,600 to 10,000. So after only one round I am way below the norm. The rest of the counts were all good. A low white blood count puts me at risk for an infection. So, I am on high alert. I have to avoid large public places as well as people who are ill. For the next four days I have to go to the doctors office to get a shot of a drug that will boost my white blood count. The hope is I will be at healthy level by next week and continue on with treatments. The lack of a catheter was also a concern today. Even if my blood count had not been below the bottom of the barrel, I am not sure how I would have been given the chemo. The doctor was not in the office today, he was treating patients out of town, so everything I got was translated from the nurses. The new plan for delivering the chemo is through a pic lin...

I have made no secrets that the catheter was not my favorite part of this journey. Although I do recognize the need for the catheter, it delivers my chemo drugs that are too strong/too much for my veins. This morning I woke up excited to be going to my mother's house today. Wayne was going to spend the day fishing and the girls were heading to Jamesport to do a little shopping.  After getting dressed and almost ready to walk out the door I realize my entire shirt is wet, soaking wet to be exact. There was blood everywhere and it was still coming out of the catheter site. I immediately began putting pressure on it, we called the doctor oncall, and then I noticed a lot of the tubing was outside my body. Wayne and I headed to the emergency room. There I had a chest x-ray and by the time the surgeon came into our room, none of the tubing was connected to the body, my body. Now, while I am happy that I can shower like a normal person today, tomorrow and Monday,...

This disguisting mess is my catheter site. Sorry for all of you nonmedical types. I am really posting this for one special Doctor To Be. This first photo is of me and my Cancer after 1 dose of Chemo. Remember, it is the right side.

Today being the middle of the week, I thought I would let you all know that I am doing okay. This week of non-chemo treatment has been a blessing. Since Sunday, I have gathered strength and a sense of normalcy! I have worked, made dinner, cleaned house, played with my kids, and even have done some future planning. Just as the doctor predicted, the first round of Chemo started shrinking the Cancer. My neck is dramatically different than it was a week ago! The catheter is still an issue. Everyone at the doctor's office pretty much agreed that the rash on my site is from adhesive tape. They are keeping my site covered with paper tape and gauze.  Today they removed the guide that was attached to the catheter and cleaned it all up. The site is very painful today and is still very itchy. I  was up a lot last night itching the darned site until I remembered you can put ice can help skin irritations. The weekend is near. It is the first time since my husband and I started dating...

I woke up this morning feeling normal again. Nausea was gone and once again I had energy. Food still did not taste good this morning, but by lunch time I ate a normal size meal and it tasted pretty darned good.  Many times today I have thought if this is how this is going to go, I can do this.  Monday I felt good, Tuesday half a day I did not feel good. I was down right out of it Wednesday and Thursday. But today, I almost felt like I was not ill at all. We even got out of the house and enjoyed a high school football game tonight. The dye study was today. I actually got to see a "live" photo of the catheter tubing in my chest. There is a whole lot of tubing in there! The dye showed the catheter is working but they still can not get a draw on the one tube. At first the Radiologist thought it might be a defect in the tubing but when he looked at it closer, he does think maybe there is a sheath blocking it. As far as what they are going to do about it (since the sheath has...

Days until Chemo Starts: 2 Wayne and I had to report to North Kansas City Hospital at 6:00 a.m. for my last preparation step: getting the catheter.  Besides thinking we were to report to the Pavilion when really we were suppose to be in the Hospital, everything went really well. When Jackie was here she gave me a few tips on how to deal with the Nurses who put in my IV. I have really bad veins; getting an IV in is sometimes very difficult. I always tell the Nurses but I am sure they hear this from many patients and they just really never listen. So, the good news, using Jackie's tips today's IV went in on the very first attempt and involved no pain!! Today's surgery went well. I have a tiny incision on my chest just below my collar bone. Small enough to only need 2 stitches. My chest hurts. I have been icing it all day. After surgery they took a chest x-ray to see if everything was in its proper place. There was a small concern because the catheter is not as deep as ...