Finally, a hint of response to meds; a peak at blue skies

Systemic yeast infections are slow to respond to meds. This is my 2nd week on low voltage meds from my PCP and 1st week on high voltage meds from the oncologist. Yesterday was the first day I was even remotely interested in planning for a trip in the Fall. Today I had a "system purge" and immediately felt better. Apparently is it better to "expel" yeast than wait for it to die from drugs; or maybe the drugs are designed to expel the yeast after a while. Either way, I feel better.

The next step is to eat enough to get some energy back. I've NEVER had any disease or condition the took away my appetite before. Even with chemo I wanted to eat periodically. Not with this yeast infection.

I'm trying to eat every few hours and eat protein. Thank goodness for whey protein powder to supplement because it stays down when nothing else will.

I felt good enough about the future to watch a webinar from Avalon Waterways about river cruises in Europe next year. We are still considering a cruise in the Fall, but I'm not optimistic at this point. I think maybe it is better to hang closer to home through the Fall and the head to Tucson when it gets cold here. I guess I'm just not feeling strong enough to get back on the retirement travel trail.

Travel with no immune system.........means life in the slow lane

Monday I was back in Baylor for fluids and more meds from the oncologist. Bummer. I had just had the port removed a week ago. Double Bummer. So here I go with limited resistance due to the chemo which led to the invasion of a yeast infection which must have been a carry over from the chemo called the Red Devil which caused those terrible mouth sores. Now I have a more systemic version of yeast infection. Of course the oncologist always has the most potent drugs so now I'm on a 10 day regime.

Well, fluids.........It was so easy to get fluids with the port. I have the smallest, most rolly veins!! I have bruises from the RN trying to get the anesthesia line in when the port was coming out. Now I have more bruises from trying to get the IV line in for fluids. Two veins blew out so after four sticks we finally got a line in.  And a liter of fluid later I felt much better. Really, I should have consulted the nurses in the infusion suite before I agreed to get the port removed. When Dr offed the option I took it as a wonderful sign of forward progress. Now I know.... one step forward, two steps back. Bummer.

This is the 2nd day on the strong anti-yeast drugs. I can't say there is improvement but I am no worse. So now we wait. I'll be more down than up this week, no doubt. Bummer. O, I said that already.

Relapse .... again.

O, I'm so glad we got to party 10 days ago because I've had a rough ride since then. No because of the party....no not that kind of not feeling good. First I noticed a sore throat that was "different" than ever before. Turns out it was thrush, a yeast infection. This is VERY common post chemo and radiation when the immune system is destroyed. So the meds are working to kill that problem but it can take 2 weeks or more. It doesn't appear to be resolving and I think it has moved on to my esophagus. I would describe the symptoms as feeling like my body is full of bubbles and my throat stays "almost" sore. I drink something cold all the time and that helps a little.

Along with the throat issue is an ear ache. The tube going from my ear down the side of my neck actually hurts. This is the same side as the radiation so I think there could be a link. I'll see what my PCP thinks and then may go to the radiologist who was an ENT in an earlier life.

I decided to go back to the PCP on Monday rather than go to the ER or Urgent Care today. I do not like ERs and Urgent Care places don't seem much better for complicated issues. Unfortunately I've become a complicated issue.

I'll try to post something tomorrow night to keep you current on what ever is happening.

Celabrating the end of "cancer therapy"

Radiation is DONE and the burn on my collarbone is all but healed. Life is beginning to return to normal at last. It seems quite appropriate to  begin celebrating the completion of "cancer therapy." [What an oxymoron that is!! "Therapy" seems to such a healing word.....Do not be deceived. Cancer therapy is actually the opposite, designed to kill the cancer cells without killing the patient/victim. It will be 6 weeks after radiation ended before normal healing begins. My immune system is still fragile. I picked up a sore throat warranting a Z pack. If that is the worst problem I will declare myself lucky.]

The first celebration happened even before chemo/radiation ended. I bought the Bernina 830 sewing system right after the oncologist reported that my labs were clean and looked great. I get a bit of happiness happening every time I sew on that machine!

I love to have parties and have friends over. Friday afternoon 5 friends over to eat good food, drink good champagne and laugh much. We were all in the  Awesome Women's Investment Club together for some years - long enough to help each other make and lose significant money. AWIC is not my only connection to each person. My friend Joan and I met at BCBSTX in 1992. I met JoAnn in 1976 when we moved to Duncanville and our husbands worked together. Maggie was a great role model for how to care for your parent when regular nursing facilities aren't enough. Marilyn is a great interior decorator and has guided me through some decorating milefields. Sylvia and I are almost neighbors and had great fun a few years ago helping with a friend's wedding. Sylvia's current claim to fame is the rescue of Beau, a black standard poodle who plays well with Domino. Both poodles attend the party....part time at least. They had just as much fun racing in the back yard as they did going around the table to get each lady to "pet me, not him." The humans were politically correct and petted both poodles at the same time. Then they moved on to the next lady. Kids, bah humbug.

I get my power port out next week. That counts as a Party.  After that I want to go to Keller to visit Bill and LaVerne for lunch. When the four of us get together...it's a party. There was a resturant featured on the Food Channel show Diners, Dives and DriveIns that I want to check out. It is in a Convenience Store. At this point all I know is that I won't have to get dressed up!!!

Next will come some parties here for family and friends. I'm not ready for a road trip, even going down to Round Rock to see John and Jackie is too much to consider. The radiation heat is still "evaporating" .... that may not be the right word but I can't do any better at this point. I still can't cover my left shoulder very much without getting zapped with skin too hot to touch. That area has to have a vent. If I wear the wig or scarves more than 30 minutes I'm just wet with sweat. So until the heat is down to a simmer I think I'm better off to stay home for the most part. People who see me frequently have either gotten immuned to the bald head or they are super actors.

radiation update and the end is in sight

Fry.........that is another word for radiation. From the very beginning the doctor gives out two very expensive creams which are to be applied at least twice a day. I have been very careful to put the creams on every day. And still I have burned. There are three burn sights: under my arm, under the breast, and worst of all the collar bone and neck just above it. Each radiation makes the pain worse. Since radiation works from the inside to the outside, the heat I feel on the surface is less that the heat that is going on inside my shoulder. Good Grief!! That's hot!!!

Thankfully today was the last blast to the collar bone. It started bleeding right after blast was over so I went down to the doctor's area for treatment. More numbing lotion and lidocaine to get me through the weekend. I'm having quite a time dealing with the tape that holds the lidocaine in place. When I peel [literally] the patch back to add more lidocaine it really hurts until the lidocaine kicks in. They tell me that the burn will start healing now that it is not going to be hit with radiation again. That is the good news!! It will take 3-4 weeks before it is healed. I don't know how long before it quits hurting.

This last week of radiation  is boost week. They target the two surgery sights and not the full area. The good news is that both of those areas are "fluffy" - not on a bone. So maybe this time I won't get such a burn.

Finally I understand why I am having so much trouble with being hot, a different hot than hot flashes, even hotter. It is because radiation causes the "treated" body area to cook from the inside to the outside. I have to sleep either on my back or with the right side down. If I get turned over on my left side I wake up just steaming. I have to have one or more fans going all night. Joan gave me two neat denim bags filled with field corn kernels which I keep in the freezer. These bags hold the cold nicely without wetness. I use one or both of these every night.

So I'm not flashing, I'm cooking. Just proof that I am One Hot Mama..............

Travel question

Have you checked air fares lately? Good grief!! The "fuel surcharge" along with all those nickel and dime [well, really, quarter and 1/2 dollar] zingers really add up to just plain TOO MUCH. We were hoping to go to Europe in the Fall, take a 1 week river cruise from Amsterdam to Basel Switzerland. Air fare right now is as much as the cruise!! That doesn't make sense.

So here is my travel question: have you or your friends taken the Panama Canal cruise? Departures are from California or Florida and return to the opposite site. For the air fare part of the trip I have airline miles to cover the domestic flights. The cruise is 2 weeks long and cost is 1/2 as much as the river cruise. Math is not my long suit but Panama sounds like a better deal at this point. What do you think?

Health report: radiation is easier than chemo for sure; however I'm already getting some burn and blisters with 3 weeks to go. Could have some problems down the road. Fatigue continues to slow me down but nothing a nap can't cure!

Today I redeemed a Groupon certificate for a photofacial at a Spa in Northpark shopping center. This was another treat for getting through chemo. I had purchased the certificate so long ago I'd forgotten what was going to happen so the service was like getting a present...again. I have 2 more sessions in the package. That should be enough to take care of the damage done by chemo drugs.

Here is how I know I am not totally "well" yet: I walked through Nordstrom's TWICE today and did not buy a thing!!! I was even in the shoe shop and didn't buy anything!!

Hair and therapy and computer embroidery and a magazine recommendation

First the good news: I can walk from the hospital parking lot to the clinic bldg without stopping and, even better, I am no longer being passed by people with walkers!! This is PROGRESS. And I can sign in for therapy without having to rest before signing. This is really PROGRESS.

Now for the fun stuff:
I have taken several sewing classes lately and I think I pulled a muscle in my brain. It isn't the sewing part but the computer programming in coreldraw to create embroidery designs that hurts my brain. I can work simple programs like Word and Power Point; can mess up Excel without even trying; and I can surf the web and buy from all kinds of invisible sellers. So why can't I remember where the icons are on the 4 levels of coreldraw? Those icons are in the same place every time, really they are!! So after the 3rd class in a week and half I felt this glimmer of light and actually finished the last project without screwing it up!!!  This week I will try to repeat the process alone, here, at home, unsupervised. Wish me luck!!

The current sewing project on the machine is a dress for Kasey, Great Grand Daughter. I'd forgotten how TINY dresses for 6 mo old people are!!! It is like doing a miniature patchwork quilt! I'm having fun though.  And when I get the dress put together I'll try out some of the fancy stitches to decorate it.

Hair today, maybe more tomorrow: My bald head has some fuzz. Fuzz is hard to see basically because it is this white color. My 12 yr old physical therapist called it platinum. Right......... that will be an improvement over the grey hairs that fell off. I found an eyebrow hair yesterday. Poor thing was all alone way over where the end of the eyebrow was in the old days. Of course it was platinum.

Radiation is a daily happening. So far I haven't burned or blistered; however the area being radiated is getting fairly pink in the front, not so much in the back.  I drive myself to the hospital and sometimes have both radiation and physical therapy scheduled fairly close together which saves time and more important - gas. Lymphedema is still a big problem. The fluid tends to settle in my shoulder and elbow joints which hurts even when I'm not moving. The massage techniques move the fluid out of the joints and toward the trunk for drainage. I did get a compression sleeve for night wear that is really making a difference in the swelling.  Even better is the fact that it is more comfortable than propping the arm up on multiple pillows all night to get the fluid to flow down hill.

I have a cancer magazine recommendation for you. Check it out at http://www.curetoday.com/ - it is free for cancer patients, past and present. I've found the articles very helpful and the research focus very good.