Saturday, December 22, 2012

Chemo - Round 2

Yesterday morning, Nathan & I dropped the kids off at the neighbor's house bright & early and headed to my second round of chemo.

After drawing blood, they sent me up to see the doc. He didn't have much new to say. Basically he just addressed some issues I'm having (sore feet & insomnia) and sent me on my way. He did say that my potassium is low and that my hemoglobin is getting to the point where I have to start watching for symptoms like shortness of breath, pale skin, fatigue, rapid heart rate, etc. If it gets lower, I may need a blood transfusion. Fun!

Back in the infusion center, my nurse started pumping me with fluids. Her evil plan to make me exercise (by walking back & forth to the bathroom) was once again successful. 5 trips this time! The chemo meds weren't too bad, other than the awful taste. In case you didn't know, some people can taste meds given via IV. I can even taste the Heparin she gives me at the end. YUCK! Thank goodness for Jolly Ranchers!

Yesterday afternoon, I had a few bouts of severe nausea but never got sick. Today has been much the same. I slept until 11 & then had a wonderful day with Nathan's dad, stepmom, and brother. They brought half of Toys R Us to the kids. We spent the afternoon & evening watching the 3Es play in the middle of the living room floor. It was so great! LOVE my babies!

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Bone Marrow - CLEAR!


Today, I had to go in for blood work & a quick visit with the oncologist. He is very happy with my progress so far. The swollen node in my neck is visibly smaller, and my cough is gone! This means the first chemo treatment did exactly what we hoped it would do: started shrinking the tumor! WOOHOO!

Doc said my labs look great. I'm showing no signs of Tumor Lysis Syndrome, which would mean my body is having trouble getting rid of the dead/dying cancer cells. My kidneys are functioning just as they should, so he's happy with that (as am I). I have to continue on Allipurinol (for uric acid) until my next treatment, but should be able to discontinue it if my kidneys can keep up.

The long-awaited results of my bone marrow biopsy show that there is NO BONE MARROW INVOLVEMENT! WOOHOO! This means that my cancer is officially Stage II B. My International Prognostic Index (IPI) score is 1. Each point 0-5 is a poor prognostic factor. I have one, which was high LDH (lactate dehydrogenase). He said it's barely high, but still high. A score of 1 is considered the low risk group. You can read more about IPI at this link, but let me assure you, it's good news! 

So, with the good news of the bone marrow biopsy, our current plan remains pretty much unchanged. 3 more chemo treatments and then a repeat PET scan. That scan, along with a visit with the Radiation Oncologist, will determine whether more chemo and/or radiation are needed. 

Upcoming appointments:
12/21/12 (maybe...Mayans?) - blood work, oncologist check-up, chemo treatment
12/23/12 (yes...a Sunday) - Neulasta shot (to boost WBC production...and make my bones ache just in time for Christmas)

Monday, December 10, 2012

(Almost) Bald Is Beautiful

Several of the medications in my chemo regimen cause hair loss. It's not a matter of if my hair will fall out, but when it will. I've read/heard different time tables...anywhere from 10 days past the 1st treatment to right after 2nd treatment. Since my hair was down past my shoulders, I worried about the mess that would come when it starts falling out. I've heard that it doesn't fall out a few strands at a time. It's like your hair follicles just open up and your hair runs away screaming.

So, in order to avoid as much of the upcoming mess as possible, and in order to prepare the kids (okay, and myself) for the shock of bald Momma, I decided to take matters into my own hands. My sweet hubby stopped by and talked to the lady who normally cuts my hair last week. (Big confession...I don't pay huge prices to get my hair done. I go to Great Clips. LOL!) She said she would be honored to shave me bald. How sweet! She even offered to come out to the house to shave it for me so we could avoid crowds/gawkers.

After much discussion, I decided that Saturday was the day. 8 days post-treatment. After a great visit with (one set of) the ILs, I tried to take a nap. But as I lay in bed, tossing & turning, I started to chicken out. I got up & told Nathan we had to leave immediately...before I decided against it.

Before we left, I read the kids a new book we got called "Mom Has Cancer". It's a great little picture book that explains a lot.





As we walked across the parking lot to the hair place, my heart was pounding. I was more nervous about walking through that door than I've been any other time during this whole ordeal. Well...maybe with the exception of the port placement.

We picked a great time to go. There was only one customer there, and my hair lady was almost done with her. We sat for a few minutes, and then it was my turn. My hair lady confessed that she was very nervous, having never done a buzz cut on a woman. I told her that we could be nervous and possibly cry together.

Here I am, gearing up for the big cut!


Now we're halfway there...


WOW...


They were left with this big pile to clean up...


Bald is beautiful! Thank you, Amy!

The only person who cried was the other hairdresser in the shop. We all stayed strong!

Emory loves my new cut. He says, "I will love you even if you don't have any hair."

Evie likes it, and even asked if she could cut all her hair off.

Emmit hates it. He wouldn't touch my head, and informed that I am not allowed to pick him up at school unless I wear a hat.

Nathan says it looks pretty cool.

I love it, except for that whole cold head thing. Thank goodness for caps & scarves!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

I Have Cancer

I have cancer.

I have non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

I have Stage II-B Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma.

I have cancer.

It doesn't matter how many times I say it. It doesn't matter which words I use. It still sounds like I'm talking about someone else. I know it's real. I know it's inside me. I feel bad. I have who knows what kind of poison running through my body attacking this shit. But it just doesn't seem like I, Suzi Mitchell, could possibly be talking about myself when I say the words "I have cancer."

I guess it'll really sink in later. Maybe when all my hair falls out. Maybe when I go for my next round of chemo. Maybe when I hear the word "remission". Who knows. I'm sure it'll sink in at some point.


Saturday, December 1, 2012

Stage II B

Yesterday, my oncologist met with us before my first chemo infusion. While we're still waiting on the results of the bone marrow biopsy, he has gone ahead and staged my lymphoma. Stage II B. Stage II means the cancer showed up on the PET scan somewhere besides the main tumor. It is also in a few lymph nodes on the right side of my neck. B means I'm having other symptoms, like drenching night sweats and weight loss. Once the bone marrow biopsy results come back, the stage may change, but it doesn't change the early treatment plan. It'll just let us know if there's more cancer to fight. He said it's likely that there is some in the marrow, as I am anemic, but he's hopeful there's nothing there.

My first chemo treatment went well. The longest part was getting fluids. They apparently wanted to make me spend most of the day walking back & forth to the bathroom. Their evil plan worked. I made 6 trips to pee while we were there. The three chemo meds only took about an hour. One was an hour long drip. The other two were pushed via syringe. It wasn't so bad, except for the strange tastes in the back of my mouth. 

I slept all day yesterday and all night last night. I've been tired today, but I ate a giant plate of spaghetti. It was divine. After having eaten very little over the past 2 weeks, that huge plate really hit the spot. And thankfully, it has stayed in that spot. 

Nathan has been awesome with the kids. I can tell they are testing his patience, but he's doing great. They don't understand what all is going on, so they are up to their usual badness.

Thanks for your continued thoughts & prayers.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

My Diagnosis


I know the announcement of my diagnosis came as a shock to most of you. It's been such a roller coaster the last few months that I just haven't said much to anyone. But my awesome hubby sat down with me yesterday (or maybe it was the day before) and helped me write down the timeline for everything so I could share it with you all.

(Please excuse any typos. I am on some good meds tonight.)

The week of August 20, I started having pain in my shoulder/back. I thought it was caused by sleeping funny. I used countless products (patches, creams, etc.) to help ease the pain, but nothing quite took it away. But I sucked it up so we could take our family vacation to Gatlinburg! Oh, we had a blast. The kids were well-behaved, we had an awesome visit with my momma, and the scenery was absolutely amazing. 

While we were in Tennessee, I battled the shoulder pain. On Wednesday, August 28, I woke up and was rubbing around on my neck & shoulder and found a lump just behind my collarbone on the right side. My mom & Nathan both felt it, and we blew it off as a tight muscle or something since my shoulder had been hurting. But I vowed to call the doctor as soon as we got home to make an appointment to see him if it hadn't gone down.

On September 4, I saw our family doctor. He felt the lump, but remained calm. He ordered bloodwork & said we'd wait & see. The nurse called to tell me my bloodwork came back a little "off" and said the doctor wanted to repeat it. On September 10, we did more bloodwork and the doctor ordered an x-ray of my chest. On September 12, I went for my first x-ray. It came back clear, and we all breathed a sigh of relief, although we still had worried in the back of our mind.

On October 24, I went to the doctor again. I was still having pain in my shoulder, the lump was still there, and I had developed a cough. The doctor said the cough was going around (it was...everyone had one). He decided to put me on an anti-inflammatory to help my shoulder pain, and he ordered an ultrasound.

On November 2, I had an ultrasound of the lump. We're not sure what happened, but somehow the lymph node got measured and reported as 5mm. At 5mm, a lymph node is not considered worrisome. On November 13, I went back to the doctor's office WITH Nathan. We were determined that we wanted answers. The doctor sent me for blood work and an x-ray that afternoon. He also started me on an antibiotic just in case.Before I even got home from the x-ray, the phone rang. It was the nurse. She didn't give any details, but said that the radiologist and doctor had talked and I needed to go in for a CT scan. She scheduled it for me for November 15.

I had only been home for an hour or so after my CT scan when the phone rang. It was my doctor's office again. They had made me an emergency appointment with an ENT for that afternoon. We hurried & went to pick up the DVD and report from the imaging office and went to the appointment. She was very concerned. My lump was NOT 5mm. It measured at 7.5 cm x 4.8 cm x 5.6 cm. It involves a lot of major blood vessels, and is pressing into the top of my right lung. She ordered a biopsy.

On Monday, November 19, I checked into the hospital for a CT-guided lung biopsy. They had to go in through my back because of all of the vessels involved.

And then we waited. Holiday weeks are not good weeks to have biopsies done. My awesome ENT called to check on me, and gave us both her home & personal cell numbers with a list of symptoms to look for which would mean the tumor (first time she used that word) has grown bigger & was causing something called SVC syndrome (obstruction of the superior vena cava).

On  Monday, November 26, I had had enough waiting. I called the doctor's office and asked for test results. The reception called back and said that the doctor did have the initial pathology in, but wanted to talk to us in person. I called Nathan to come home from work & we went.My mom went with us to the ENT. I can't even say how much her support meant. Just her being there in the office was a huge comfort.  The ENT walked in, sat down, and I could tell by the look on her face that she didn't have good news. She told me I have a form of non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I do have a positive marker for something, which means my lymphoma will respond better to chemo. 

The ENT made me an appointment with an oncologist. Thankfully he's awesome & is much closer to home (a 20 minute drive instead of an hour).On November 27, we met Dr. Raddin for the first time. He was amazing. He sat and explained things. My appointment lasted almost 2 hours. He is most concerned with the rapid growth of the tumor and SVC syndrome. It's dangerous to try to remove the tumor, so we need to shrink it...FAST!

My official diagnosis is Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALK +). We don't know the stage yet.They immediately set up every appointment I needed and scheduled my first chemo treatment for Friday. I  can't believe it's happening so fast.Yesterday (11/28), I had an echocardiogram, a CT scan of my abdomen, and a PET scan. Today (11/29), I had a CT-guided bone marrow biopsy and a port put in my chest for chemo. The doctor called tonight to tell us that the PET scan didn't show any cancer anywhere else (HOORAY!), but I am anemic, so that is concerning. He said the bone marrow biopsy will be in next week sometime, but the results (is there cancer in the marrow or not) will not change the kind of chemo I will get.

Tomorrow morning, I have to be at the cancer center at 8 AM for my first infusion. I'll then have chemo every 3 weeks. I will have between 4 and 6 treatments. Radiation may be necessary, but we'll have to wait & see.

So there it is. The story of my diagnosis.

We appreciate all of your thoughts, prayers, phone call, and emails.