Getting ready for radiation

Everything went well today. They did a cat scan and I only have three marks. They are at the bottom of my ribs, one on each side and one on the front in the middle. She made marks with some sort of marker and then put a tiny tattoo there also. They said it will look like a freckle.

I will start radiation on July 7th. I have to be there at 12:30 that day then after that my appointments will be at 3:30 everyday. I will see the Dr every Tuesday so I will let you know how things go then.

The L's turned 3 today. We celebrated by taking them to eat at Fuddruckers. They are getting so big.

I guess that is it for now.

Have a great week!

Appointment with Surgeon

I went to see the surgeon Dr Brian on Monday. She said everything felt good and was very pleased. You can't feel the tumor anymore. She got me set up with a plastic surgeon, Johnathan Heistein, in Ft Worth. I go see him August 10th and we will decide what our best options are for implants. Dr Brian said she will do surgery about six weeks after radiation. That will make it the end of September or first of October. So there is plenty of time for both of them to get together and make a plan. Dr Brian will take them off and Dr Heistein will put new better ones in their place. Dr Brian will also take out the port at the same time. She said she will also take out a few lymph nodes since the one was compromised but not all of them. I will meet with her again after radiation and get everything finalized.

My next appointment is Monday June 29th with Dr Freeman at Radiation Oncology. I will get scanned and tattooed so I can start radiation the next Monday.

Last Chemo!!!!!!!

Hello everyone. Chemo is done!!!!! I am so excited. I learned something yesterday, that I don't recommend trying at home, mixing Musinex-D with IV Benedryl. I was stuffy and had been taking musinex which works wonderful but I did not take it yesterday until I asked. The nurse said I could take it so when I got to chemo I took the pills and they hooked me up to the Benedryl. Well, I got a really clear nose but before I left chemo I was so tired and after walking for a few minutes I got dizzy which made me nauseous. What a day it was. Other than that Chemo went fine and after sleeping off the meds last night I feel back to normal today. I will see Dr Crim again on July 13th to check my blood and make sure that it is all still normal. Since I am not going to be using my port anymore I will have to get it flushed every month until they take it out to keep it from getting a clot. So I will have that done when I see Dr Crim on the 13th. My port should come out when I have the other surgery. He also will do a CAT scan after radiation and before surgery to see how everything looks. Then he said at some point we will see what meds I have to take. I will still have to see him every three months for a couple of years to get my blood drawn and check everything out.

I am now moving to the next phase of all this, radiation. I go to see Dr Freeman, the radiation oncologist, June 29th to get the tattoos, scans and other markings. Radiation should start July 6th. I will then post once a week on the days I see him. I can't see posting everyday since nothing will be going on other than getting the radiation.

I will see Dr Brian, the surgeon, next Monday June 22nd. She wants to look me over and I will find out how long after radiation it will be before surgery. I will also get the name of the plastic surgeon. I want to go ahead and meet with them so they can get on the same page since they will both be doing the surgery. I don't want any delays moving forward after radiation.

Lets see what else. The kids will be 3 on June 29th!!!! Oh, that's one more appt we have, July 1st their 3 year checkup. We have their 3 year pictures made this week on Thursday, I am so excited. I hope everyone has a great day and great week. I will post next Monday after my meeting with the surgeon. Oh, I almost forgot I get the last shot of neulasta today.

Chemo phase 2 round 3

Everything went fine today. I got good news, he can't feel the tumor! He said there may be a little scar tissue but really nothing. The other Dr didn't feel anything either. Chemo was the same. I was out by 1:30, I went to the parking lot and ate a quick lunch with Brian and the kids and went back inside for my apt at 2:00. I met with the radiation oncologist Dr Freeman. I finally left there at 4:00. It was a long day, I got there at 9:20 this morning. Anyway we have a radiation plan. I am so excited (not really). Well, I am excited we have a plan and once that is over I can move on to surgery. What I am not excited about is I will be going to Ft Worth everyday M-F for 6 to 6 1/2 weeks. Oh well, I know that this too shall pass. The driving will be the worst of it. The longest I will be there on 4 of the days is about 45 min. The other day I see the Dr and it will take a bit longer. We can't start anything until after Chemo though. I only have one more treatment. I am very excited about that!

Here is what June looks like:

Neulasta Shot June 2nd
Last Chemo June 15th
Last Neulasta Shot June 16th
Appt (follow up) with Dr Brian the surgeon June 22nd
June 29th (Kids officially turn 3) Appt with Dr Freeman - I will meet with the dr and then I go get a scan done and the tattoos and other markings for radiation.

Dr Freeman said I should be able to start radiation July 6th. So as you can see I am not slowing down on bit. I am working hard to get this all behind us. Oh, and for those who don't know radiation is just like getting an x-ray, it just lasts a little longer. There really aren't any side effects from it. If anything the skin may turn red kind of like a sun burn or fluid may collect in my right arm because of the radiation on the lymph nodes. But that doesn't happen in everyone so I hope it is like Chemo and I don't have any major side effects.

It looks like late August or early September before the surgery. I will know more about that when I talk to Dr Brian.

I guess that is it for now. I am having fun this month planning the kids party and getting their 3 year pictures taken!