Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Anastrozole

I've been on Anastrozole for a couple of months now and I'm tolerating it well. I've had some heartburn which Mylanta takes of and a couple of minor infections, including an infected eyelash follicle (yes, really, an infected eyelash follicle). For the infections, I let my doctor know and he writes me a prescription for antibiotics. I'm so glad we found an antibiotic that works and that I'm not allergic to.

Saturday, October 5, 2019

New chemo

All of my incisions have healed. I did have an infected ingrown hair that had to be lanced and drained. I was on Levofloxacin(antibiotic) for a week and had to take a sitz bath at least once a day to help it drain. The good news is that I found an antibiotic that I'm not allergic to and that I can get in and out of the tub with the new bag placement.

I started on a new chemo on October 3. It's called Anastrozole. It's a 1mg tablet that I take every day. Yes, at home. 😀 I also only need to see my medical oncologist once a month. My gynecological oncologist is still every 3 months.

Sunday, August 11, 2019

New post op pics

Here's me without staples or drains.  The open area on my  lower abdomen is from where the doctor took out a few staples to encourage drainage. Now I have to clean and pack it with gauze twice a day.

 

Monday, August 5, 2019

Staple and drain free

Today I got all of the staples and drains out. I still have some drainage and one area that needs to be packed twice a day. I go back on the 20th for a check up.

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Home again

After going back to Mercy on Saturday, I got another JP drain installed. This one is on my left side to help drain the abscesses. They kept me overnight to be safe. I got home on Tuesday afternoon and I didn't even have to take a Lyft! My sister was able to leave work early and come pick me up.

 I have to go in Monday for 2 appointments. One is to get the staples out and possibly the right JP drain as well. The second is to get the left JP drain replaced. Apparently I'll have that one for about a month and it will be changed weekly.

 Thankfully, this county has a Medical Assistance Transportation Program for those of us on Medicaid so I don't have to sweat getting the 60 miles to and from scheduled doctors appointments in Baltimore. The ones the are here in the county are much easier to get to.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Back at Mercy

Last night, I started having very severe abdominal. The pain level was about a 9, so I had Mom take to the ER. After a nearly 4 hour wait, I was finally given a room. They had done a CT while we were waiting. The CT results showed that abscesses in my abdomen. Calvert called Drs. Ryu & Gushchin. They were able to get hold of Nick(one of Gushchin's PAs) who basically said send her up. Calvert finally got transportation arranged around 1pm and the AAA Transport ambulance brought me to Mercy.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Back home

I got home around 5:30 last night. I'm still in a lot of pain but I'm trying to stay away from the opioids. Last night, I broke down and took a Tramadol. OMG, I was dripping with sweat, had a rapid heart rate and increased breathing I thought I was going to die! I wish I had my fitness tracker on so I could see how fast my heart rate had gotten, but it charging. After about 30 minutes, I was ok but it barely affected the pain. So not worth it! Should I have gone to the ER? Probably, but hindsight is 20/20 and I'm ok. I think I'll stick to Aspercreme with lidocaine or a heating pad for topical and medical marijuana for internal.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

More post op pics

I'm feeling very bloated and sore today. Hemoglobin is low. They want to give me 2 units of blood today to see if that helps.
This is the area around my JP hook. The staples are from the ileostomy that they removed. o

Some post surgical pictures

The bruises were caused by needles from IVs & blood cultures. I'm positive for MRSA again & they found bacteria in my gut that's Graham positive.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Another update

After "seizure", the doctors did a head & chest CT. The next day, I had MRI of my head as well as an EEG. The surgeon came up that afternoon and said they could see my brain but nothing wrong with it.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Post op update

Apparently the surgery went well. I still have a bag but it's a colostomy now. I have tubes everywhere. This morning around 6, I had a small seizure but I'm ok now. They did a CT on my head and chest and found clot on my lung. They started me on a Heparin drip.

Monday, July 1, 2019

Schedule change

The HIPEC coordinator called me this evening. My gynecological oncologist isn't available on the 18th. The only day in July  that he & my surgical oncologist are available is the 15th. So I have to go on morning of the 14th.

I asked the  coordinator about how long she thought I'd be there.  She said it's usually 10 days.  The chemo wash takes about 5 days to take effect then they want to make sure there are no problems & everything is  functioning normally.

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Surgery

I will be having Cytoreductive Surgery with Heated Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore on 7/18/2019 at 7:30AM. I have to report to the hospital on 7/17/2019 at 9AM. I'm guessing I'll be there until 7/22.

The plan is to remove the tumors, do a complete hysterectomy and reverse the ostomy. They will also wash out my abdomen with chemotherapy to help get rid of any remaining cancer cells.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Surgical consult

I have an appointment with a surgical oncologist on Thursday at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. We're going to talk about reversing the ostomy and maybe trying the debulking/ hysterectomy again. My gynecological oncologist said that if the ostomy can't be reversed, it could be relocated. I just want it reversed. If I knew 2 years ago what I know now, I probably wouldn't have had the surgery. I should have at least gotten a second opinion before agreeing to it. Now I have 2 good oncology doctors and over a half dozen oncology nurses that I can talk to about all of this.

Friday, June 7, 2019

New van

I forgot to post about my new van. I had a 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport but the computer was going bad and my mechanic was having a hard time finding a pre-programmed one. After about a month of in and out of the shop and not being able to drive more than about 10 miles without it acting up, I decided to buy a new one. I found a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT that I liked and could afford. Does it all the bells and whistles that I would have liked? No, but it's got more than I had before. And it runs and handles beautifully! Now I get to learn what all the buttons do. 😃

Xarelto part 2

I'm now on 20mg of Xarelto once a day. It's $1,697.99 for a 90 day supply! Thankfully my insurance covers it, but they require prior authorization each time. So when I start getting low,  I have to call the doctor's office so they can call my insurance company to get the approval then I can submit the refill.

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Xarelto

My doctor put me on 15mg of Xarelto twice a day for 21 days to get rid of the clots. He said after that he'll switch me to a lower dose to make sure I don't get more. Apparently cancer can cause clots.



6/7/19 Oops! I never published this entry. I must've hit save by accident instead.

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Clot CT

These are the results of my clot CT.  I'll have to see what my oncologist wants to do. He mentioned anticoagulant meds but I don't know if it's pills, injections or what. My next scheduled appointment is on Monday.

There is adequate opacification of IVC and abdominal and pelvic venous structures. There is confirmed thrombus within the right common iliac vein which is near totally occlusive but not totally occlusive and extending into the right internal iliac vein which shows totalocclusion. The thrombus within the common iliac extends for a length of approximately 8.2cm. These veins are enlarged due to thrombosis which is probably acute to subacute. Thrombus extends just into the origin of the right external iliac. The external iliac is otherwise opacified without evidence of filling defect. Common femoral, profunda femoral veins are patent without filling defect. No filling defects noted within the right iliac vein. Renal veins appear unremarkable.

Monday, May 6, 2019

CT scan results

I had another CT scan on May 2. The results showed the tumor is shrinking but also shows a possible clot in my hip. I get to have another CT tomorrow to find out for sure.

 There is radiopaque matter extending over the pelvic organs. This includes the uterus and bilateral adnexal masses. Bilateral adnexal masses have decreased in size. That on the right measures 4.6 x 3.4 cm, previously 5.9 x 4.9 cm. That on the left measures 6.1 x 4.0 cm, previously 7.8 x 6.2 cm. There is calcification along the anterior peritoneal cavity just to the left of the midline. Colon is decompressed. Radiopaque matter extends along the left paracolic region and into the pelvic region. There is suggestion of a 5 cm filling defect within the right common iliac vein which is enlarged. This stenosis not appear to be totally occlusive but appears likely to represent thrombus. There may be extension into the right internal iliac vein.

Monday, April 22, 2019

Last chemo & CT scan

Today was my last day of chemo, sort of. On May 2, I have a CT scan with contrast then I have a follow up with Dr. Abbott on May 6. At that appointment, we'll discuss the options. They already gave me tentative chemo schedule through August, so we'll see if it gets modified.

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Fox in the garden

Pair of fox in my garden, about 10 feet from the door.  They're eating old hot dog buns that I  threw out for the  birds this morning.

Monday, March 25, 2019

New glasses

I decided to save money & buy my glasses online. I had to go to the eye doctor to get a new prescription then I had to figure out what my pupillary distance is since it wasn't on my prescription. I used Yesglasses.com for that but I didn't like any of their frames. I found several frames that I liked at Zenni Optical. I ordered them on March 7 and got them on March 18. They fit almost perfectly straight out of the box. I just had to tighten the earpieces a little. Considering that I paid about $110 for them including progressive lens, a hard case and a cleaning cloth, I'm very happy. Now I have to find frames for prescription sunglasses. 😀

Friday, March 15, 2019

Test results

My CA-125 was 29. That's the lowest it's been since my diagnosis. The highest was 172. Normal is <46.

The PET scan results showed that the tumor is stable but still has some slow growth.

I have an appointment with my gynecological oncologist on March 19, so I'll find out about the possibility of debulking as well as more about the ostomy reversal. When I saw him in December, he said that when I'm done with this chemo we could discuss reversing the ostomy.

Saturday, March 2, 2019

PET Scan

I have a PET scan on Thursday, March 7. Hopefully, it will show that this chemo is working. I'm also waiting for the results from the CA-125 (blood test) that they did yesterday.

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Site Updates

In November, I added a calendar & today I added a page of links. On a computer, you'll see the tabs across the top.

If you're on a phone,there's a drop-down menu.The calendar is easier to read in landscape mode.

I don't have a tablet, so I'd like to know how the site looks if you do.