Three weeks after my last round of chemo, and I finally feel as if I am eating normally again. In the couple weeks after my last round of chemo ended, food that often sounded delicious did not agree with my stomach, and eating more than half a bowl of cereal was a rarity. I am very happy to say that I just ate two pieces of pizza and no thoughts of potential stomach "expenses" have passed. Yeah!
I am also very happy to say that I am almost back to my original starting weight before they filled me full of steroids. I'm a human female, so trust me . . . this is bigger to me than the hair. I never thought being able to slip on an old and grungy pair of jeans would be so wonderful! On another ascetic note, my hair follicles are growing back like weeds. There is hair growing back on my entire head except for one section on my left side about half the side of my hand. Everyday there seems to be more hair coming in, so I am really hoping that in a week or two I will be able to succumb to an itchy-hair-growing-scalp and stop shaving my head each week. My new hair that is coming in seems to be an reenactment of my childhood head in a quickened time lapse. It comes in blond and curly, falls out, comes back dark. It is like being a childhood toe-head compressed to a two weeks span. It is too early to tell if the hair that returns will be wavy like my previous hair, curly like when I was a kid, or coming in straight just to be different. Time will tell!
The most important medical news is that my left ear is still a mystery to Dr. Stilles. All swelling and redness are gone (woohoo!), however, now that all that gunk is gone, some scarring is now visible. My hearing in that damaged ear has improved to about 50% though, so I'll take what I can. We're going to let my ear continue to sit and (hopefully) heal more for the next six months, then do some more tests and take another look to see how this ear will be in the long run. My next goal is to be able to turn my ears in two different directions to hear things said around me just like cats and dogs can do. Now that would be cool.
Next big medical event will be my next round of chemo. I did really well on my triple dose of chemo meds according to Dr. Wagner (apparently most people he deals with don't even feel well enough to get out of bed when they are on a dosage similar to mine - thinking about it, I really wouldn't mind being able to sleep in a couple hours each day over the span of a week ;). My next round will be starting Tuesday night next week when I take my first dose for the next five days. I didn't really feel this higher dosage too much until two or three days had passed; I'm hoping for the same this time. If I do lose my stomach, I'll just make sure to aim for the cat instead of my husband. He (the cat, not my husband - you know you thought it was Rock) owes me anyway for licking my scalp while I was asleep. Trust me . . .waking up to a giant cat licking your head is more traumatizing than waking up from brain surgery.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Hairy and Loving It!
I am now (FINALLY) on my last day of this round of chemo treatment on my triple dosage. The first three days went well, I was certainly more tired than normal, but it was manageable. This weekend however has been a new chemotherapy adventure; it was much like the weather, stormy with occasional glimpses of sunshine.
Step 1: My tummy felt a bit upset on Saturday when I woke up, so I decided to just make a couple pieces of toast for breakfast. Bad idea. Don't know if it was the butter or the bread that resulted in the rapid evacuation of my stomach contents.
Step 2: Don't eat anything! Smells were gross, thinking about food was gross, TV commercials were gross, meals in my book were gross, water was gross, etc, etc. My husband was kind enough to only eat non-scented food. Anti-nausea pills did nothing!
Step 3: Take more anti-nausea drugs! My stomach stopped rolling enough that I decided to try and eat something. I still wasn't hungry, but I do know that food is an important thing that contributes to survival of the fittest. Toast still seemed like a big no-no, so I went with some good ol' $0.89 box of mac and cheese. I managed eat about 1/4 bowl of it, and then stopped. YEAH! Survival!
Step 4: Waited a couple hours for my stomach empty (NOT out of my mouth thankfully), and then took my last round of chemo drugs for the next four weeks. Then to bed, my vomit bowl coming with me. The cat may throw up/drool on the bed, but I refuse to.
Step 5: My tummy this morning felt like it did yesterday morning, so I decided to try a small bowl of cereal instead of toast. Success! I haven't eaten anything since then, but the food is staying down.
Despite everything with my intestinal tract, my hair is very happy right now. It is growing like there is no tomorrow! (Much like the grass is some patches in our yard). A couple months ago we had to shave about 20% of my head, now we are at least up to 50%, if not more. We also now have to shave my head more often, since the hair that is there is growing in faster. YEAH! I'm planning on gradually beginning to switch over to wearing hats to work instead of scarves as the growth continues.
Right now my head looks more a balding man's head than my own, but least my hair is coming back instead of going away! Unfortunately, it does seem to coming back the same color now. Darn; I was hoping for green or blond.
Step 1: My tummy felt a bit upset on Saturday when I woke up, so I decided to just make a couple pieces of toast for breakfast. Bad idea. Don't know if it was the butter or the bread that resulted in the rapid evacuation of my stomach contents.
Step 2: Don't eat anything! Smells were gross, thinking about food was gross, TV commercials were gross, meals in my book were gross, water was gross, etc, etc. My husband was kind enough to only eat non-scented food. Anti-nausea pills did nothing!
Step 3: Take more anti-nausea drugs! My stomach stopped rolling enough that I decided to try and eat something. I still wasn't hungry, but I do know that food is an important thing that contributes to survival of the fittest. Toast still seemed like a big no-no, so I went with some good ol' $0.89 box of mac and cheese. I managed eat about 1/4 bowl of it, and then stopped. YEAH! Survival!
Step 4: Waited a couple hours for my stomach empty (NOT out of my mouth thankfully), and then took my last round of chemo drugs for the next four weeks. Then to bed, my vomit bowl coming with me. The cat may throw up/drool on the bed, but I refuse to.
Step 5: My tummy this morning felt like it did yesterday morning, so I decided to try a small bowl of cereal instead of toast. Success! I haven't eaten anything since then, but the food is staying down.
Despite everything with my intestinal tract, my hair is very happy right now. It is growing like there is no tomorrow! (Much like the grass is some patches in our yard). A couple months ago we had to shave about 20% of my head, now we are at least up to 50%, if not more. We also now have to shave my head more often, since the hair that is there is growing in faster. YEAH! I'm planning on gradually beginning to switch over to wearing hats to work instead of scarves as the growth continues.
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| Two months ago |
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| Today |
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Anti-Nausea, Chemotherapy, Anti-Seizure, and Ear Antibiotics . . . A Recipe For Adventure!
Happy Spring Break everyone! Teacher's everywhere probably agree with me, but parents whose kids are now home for the week might not. At least it is sunny so they could always be pushed outside to play. (Now that I've said that I'm sure that I've jinxed it and it will start raining/snowing any minute).
First things first; an ear infection update. On Thursday I went in to see Dr. Stilles (my radiologist) . . . again. This time it was for a second look at my infected left ear to see if the given treatment had any affect. Happily, all the gross gunk/puss/gooey-ness that was there is now gone, however it is still just as swollen as before. The good thing is that this pretty much eliminates the chances that it is a fungal infection. However, the bad thing is that it makes it more likely that it is permanent damage from the radiation treatment. Dr. Stilles has put me on my antibiotic ear drops for another week to see if all we need to do is continue the treatment on the infection longer than normal thanks to my chemo treatments. If there is no significant change when I see him again in two weeks, then I'll have to start searching for hearing aids. Yuck. If nothing else, it will guarantee that no one will ever be able to talk behind my back (Ha! Knee slap on that one!)
I also visited Dr. Wagner (my oncologist) the same afternoon I saw Dr. Stiles. I am very happy to say that the results of the blood work testing that was done that day with Dr. Wagner (or his identical twin brother ;) were really good. My blood work, in a very pleasant surprise, came back 100% normal. Woohoo! Since the nausea I experienced with my last week of chemo was quite a bit below what most people experience with a double dosage, and my blood work came back so well, my weeks of chemo treatments over the next six months will all be triple my original dosage. That Temodar (chemo) prescription and I are going to have to bond even more. The only difference from now on (other than the dosage) is that I am going to start my five days of chemo treatment on a Wednesday instead of a Monday. That way my last two, and toughest, days will be over the weekend instead of on Thursday and Friday when I am working. I would really rather not lose my lunch on a student if I could avoid it. So far I feel the most nauseous at home, not at work. I think the fact that I am always up and moving at work helps with that. However, this could be a good lesson in health class on the digestive system :).
I also have a request for bald/balding people everywhere . . . how can you prevent getting a sunburn on your head ? Sunscreen makes my scalp into a greasy mess, and most hats that look cool enough for spring/summer weather have holes or gaps in them that would expose parts of my head or my neck. I went out into our yard yesterday for fifteen minutes without a hat, and managed to get a sunburn on my head. They really weren't kidding when they said that the radiation treatment would make my head ultra-sensitive to sunlight. Today when I go out to do some yard work, I'm going to just wear a hooded light jacket along with a bandanna. I may look like a creepy vampire, but I won't get burned!
For anyone who gets really bored over Spring Break:
LOTS of dominoes
First things first; an ear infection update. On Thursday I went in to see Dr. Stilles (my radiologist) . . . again. This time it was for a second look at my infected left ear to see if the given treatment had any affect. Happily, all the gross gunk/puss/gooey-ness that was there is now gone, however it is still just as swollen as before. The good thing is that this pretty much eliminates the chances that it is a fungal infection. However, the bad thing is that it makes it more likely that it is permanent damage from the radiation treatment. Dr. Stilles has put me on my antibiotic ear drops for another week to see if all we need to do is continue the treatment on the infection longer than normal thanks to my chemo treatments. If there is no significant change when I see him again in two weeks, then I'll have to start searching for hearing aids. Yuck. If nothing else, it will guarantee that no one will ever be able to talk behind my back (Ha! Knee slap on that one!)
I also visited Dr. Wagner (my oncologist) the same afternoon I saw Dr. Stiles. I am very happy to say that the results of the blood work testing that was done that day with Dr. Wagner (or his identical twin brother ;) were really good. My blood work, in a very pleasant surprise, came back 100% normal. Woohoo! Since the nausea I experienced with my last week of chemo was quite a bit below what most people experience with a double dosage, and my blood work came back so well, my weeks of chemo treatments over the next six months will all be triple my original dosage. That Temodar (chemo) prescription and I are going to have to bond even more. The only difference from now on (other than the dosage) is that I am going to start my five days of chemo treatment on a Wednesday instead of a Monday. That way my last two, and toughest, days will be over the weekend instead of on Thursday and Friday when I am working. I would really rather not lose my lunch on a student if I could avoid it. So far I feel the most nauseous at home, not at work. I think the fact that I am always up and moving at work helps with that. However, this could be a good lesson in health class on the digestive system :).
I also have a request for bald/balding people everywhere . . . how can you prevent getting a sunburn on your head ? Sunscreen makes my scalp into a greasy mess, and most hats that look cool enough for spring/summer weather have holes or gaps in them that would expose parts of my head or my neck. I went out into our yard yesterday for fifteen minutes without a hat, and managed to get a sunburn on my head. They really weren't kidding when they said that the radiation treatment would make my head ultra-sensitive to sunlight. Today when I go out to do some yard work, I'm going to just wear a hooded light jacket along with a bandanna. I may look like a creepy vampire, but I won't get burned!
For anyone who gets really bored over Spring Break:
LOTS of dominoes
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