Philadelphia

I guess I need to give an update on my July 13-15th visit first. I had a PET scan done the first day I was there and then discussed the results with Deb, who is Dr. Willis' Nurse Practitioner. Dr. Willis was sick this day. :( So Deb had talked with him regarding my future plans.

Bad news is: The last chemo I was on did NOT shrink the tumors and they even grew. So, I will begin a new regimen of Ifasfamide, Mezna, and Taxol in one week. The weird thing about my PET scan was that the right upper abd tumor didn't show up this time. Hummmmm....miracle or was it the actual test or what?? Will find out more when I actually talk with the doctor!!

My Mugascan was normal so the chemo did not do any damage to my heart! Yeah! My Hgb was 8.2 so I got 2 units of blood this visit.

The nice part of this visit was that Laci & I each had 1/2 hr massages. Very relaxing!! We also went downtown and finally got to see the Liberty Bell.




Next trip- July 19th-23rd
Ruth was my chauaffer for this trip. This time I had to be admitted to begin my new chemo regimen of the above meds. They started all the pre-chemo stuff on day shift but didn't get to the actual chemo drugs until night shift and it ran for 12 hrs.
The next morning I had some weird side effects! I felt "out-of-my-body", like I was coming down from some weird high. My ears were muffled and I even had a hallucination. So they were going to keep me another day. But later in the day I felt much better and the oncologist assured us that these were NORMAL side effects. So I was ready to go home! We left about 6:30pm Friday night and got in around 3am Saturday. Long drive...

This visit I was also seen by the Urology Team because they thought I had Hydroureters because my BUN was 33 & Creatnine was 1.3. At first they had me thinking they were going to put in nephrostomy tubes or put stents in after doing a cystoscopy. But the team felt my BUN & Cr were going up and down and dehydration was the culprit. So thank goodness nothing had to be done with that. We will keep a watch on it.

Next Visit:
My next visit will be August 11th for the same chemo. I will see my surgeon first to discuss the abd tumor and my bowel obstructions. I really want to have surgery to get that fixed if it's an option!!! We will see...

Then I will see Dr. Willis and if he thinks I am doing well I will be admitted for my chemo.

I also meet with Naturalpathic team. They have me on the following supplements now to combat the side effects of the chemo.
Astragalus 300mg 2 caps 2 times a day- For immunity
Slippery Elm 7.5 grams 1 tsp 2 times a day- To protect bladder from Ifosfamide
Omega-3 2 caps 2 times a day- For over all health
Sepia 200 3 tabs sl at bedtime- Help with urinary symptoms I'm having
Co Q10 200mg 1 cap 2 times a day- Protect heart and increase energy
Ultra Flora 15 billion 1 cap 2 times a day-For digestive health

I also will meet with the dietitian to see how I am doing there. My current weight is 142. She really wants me to stay around 140-145. So I am trying to keep it on!

That's it folks...more excitement on my cancer journey! Whew, can't wait til I kill this dragon!!! There are certainly more exciting things to talk about than this! lol