Mother's Day field trip

Megan and I took Jenna to the American Girl Doll store in Tysons Corner, VA, on Mother's Day to buy her a McKenna doll and accessories. Jenna also fell in love with the painted filly horse so "Bob" came home with her too. What a fun day just prior to her 3rd birthday on May 15. We ate at their Bistro where McKenna sat next to Jenna in her own table seat. More fun!

Bad reaction to carboplatin #2

Crashed big time on 2nd round of carboplatin..So carbo is off the table for further use. One less chemo in my doctor's bag of tricks. After experiencing what I can only surmise would have been a bad LSD trip including dayglo colors, red skin, lungs and heart spasms, I had at least 6 nurses, 2 techs and 1 doctor working on me. Got me back to normal (yes, that's questionable) but Megan and troops had to come to the rescue to drive me home. Megan had to remember how to drive my stick shift and Alex and the kids followed us home. Alex and troops had brought me macademia nut cookies. Jenna was thrilled to be able to run in the middle of my dead-end street when she, Tyler and Alex walked Ditto. Both Dylan and Megan offered to spend the night but allowed me to dismiss their offers in lieu of making sure my retired hospice nurse neighbor was on-call. Just lucky timing it happened before Mother's Day. How to make sure I'm appreciated. Dylan didn't understand when I told him I had thought "I'd bought the farm." Wonder where that term became synonymous with "pushing up daisies." It should be a very happy Mother's Day: Megan, Jenna and I have a field trip planned to the American Doll Store in Virginia to get Jenna a doll and a horse for her birthday May 15.

started carboplatin chemo

Had forgotten what all has to precede getting actual IV chemo. The biological avastin I'd been on for two years (which held me steady but was denied payment by BCBS) required no pre-meds or anti-nausea pills. With carbo, I had a bag of dexamethasone & zofran followed by another anti-nausea bag of emend. Nurse Linda said they each deal with different receptors in the brain to prevent nausea. Think steroids. Was I wired last night!

After driving to OPC this afternoon to get a neulasta shot to boost my white blood cells, will stock up on anti-constipation pills as well as Immodium to be able to counteract whichever way the new chemo affects me.

Good news is that my CA125 only went up 1.5 pts to 207.2 since 3/23. Am hoping carbo will put numbers in a downward spiral and get rid of recent new very small pleural effusion near my left lung.

Spring has sprung

Jenna and Tyler have broken out their spring duds. And are enjoying the lovely weather albeit without much in the way of April showers this month.

Back on carboplatin chemo

Since my CT scan on 3/23/12 showed some good stuff but CA125 had risen to 205+, I had an appointment to see Dr. Rosenshein. Dr. R said CT scan showed new pleural effusion near lung. He inferred this might be causing the CA125 to rise. Etoposide chemo pills are NOT doing the trick so I start on chemo Carboplatin by IV 4/19/12. I’ll have to go to Weinberg every three weeks for an IV infusion.

Oct. 19, 2006 my first chemo treatment was a combination of taxotere and carboplatin. In 12 treatments the combo dropped my CA125 from 1535.2 down to 13.7. I haven’t had either of those drugs since 6/28/07. Since they worked then and it’s been a while, Dr. R reasoned they might work again. But I only have to take one of them.

Common side effects of carboplatin are constipation; diarrhea; hair loss; loss of appetite; nausea; stomach pain or upset; vomiting; weakness. Nothing I haven’t had to deal with. I was joking about holding a zofran (anti-nausea pill) between my knees when I have to give a 5-minute speech at the National Cancer Survivor’s meeting June 3. I may have to swallow it so I can make the speech.

Never a dull moment when you have chronic cancer.

Megan with hair

Yes my daughter has enough to provide me a wig.

I once had similar locks.

CT scan good, CA125 bad

Terri Rowley returned from hot tubbing with her sisters in western Maryland to send me the results of my latest (3/23/12) CT scan.

New very small left pleural effusion (small amount of fluid between the outer wall of the left lung and the sac membrane that surrounds the lungs). "An oblong density adjacent to the right pericardium (near the heart) measures 1.8 cm as before; however, density is decreased significantly since prior exam, suggesting that it may be a necrotic (dead) node at this time. The small nodule previously noted at the right base has also decreased significantly in density." Nothing in abdomen or pelvis. This sounds good, right?

But CA125 (measure of cancer activity) was 155.2 in January and up to 205.7 on 3/23/12. Not good.

I'm a dichotomy. Dr. Im is having me continue on etoposide (oral chemo) but am supposed to see Dr. Rosenshein about future treatment. It's a good news, bad news type of thing.