Thursday, December 3, 2009

Headed in the Right Direction

Good News! Looks like everything is on track. I saw my Oncologist this morning and he is very pleased with my progress from chemo and felt I can go ahead with surgery. I have called the surgeon and will meet with him next Tuesday. Now I just need to hope he feels the same as Dr. Neubauer and can get me scheduled before Christmas. Dr. Neubauer thought I'd need about 4 weeks to recover from the surgery and then we could start my second round of chemo. The next round will be a different drug which I'll get 4 times. There is a chance we'll do it once a week instead of every two weeks. Dr. Neubauer also said this drug should not be as bad as the last ones. It will not mess with my white blood cells, so I will not have to take the Nulasta shot.

Now that I've shared the good news, I'll tell you my chemo break isn't going quite as well I'd expected. Last week I thought the effects from chemo should be wearing off and I'd start feeling pretty darn good. Then on Tuesday or Wednesday, I started having horrible problems with my eyes. There were constant tears - even when I'd wake up in the middle of the night, tears would be streaming down my face. Jim and the kids kept asking why I was crying and I'd have to explain I wasn't crying but that my eyes just keep watering. After several days of this my eyes were puffy and swollen and I was stuffy, just like you'd feel if you'd cried for 3 days straight. I did discover for some reason that wearing my contacts actually helped. I had read that dry eye could be one of the side affects and had also had people warn me this could happen. But I thought dry eye would mean my eyes would be dry and that especially wearing my contacts would be difficult. Now I know it should really be called "crying eye" instead of "dry eye". I finally figured this out on Friday and got drops to help with the dryness and this has helped some.

Then Jim caught a cold on Friday and I had it by Sunday. Sore throat, headache, cough, achey - ugh! I think by now my cold has developed into a sinus infection and Dr. Neubauer agreed that a round of antibiotics wouldn't hurt, especially since we're trying to get surgery in the next couple of weeks. So, hopefully just a day or two more and I'll feel somewhat back to normal. In the mean time, Amelia came down it with it yesterday. The joke around here is that Miles and Michael are the only healthy ones left, which is similar to the lunatics running the asylum. I asked Michael what was for dinner last night and his response was "does everyone like M&M's?" We did manage to get everything together to celebrate Miles' 11th birthday on December 1st. No, he did not get a cell phone and therefore, remains "the only one at school" without a phone. I think the suffering and humiliation will make him stronger!

And no, I haven't started Yoga yet!

I hope you are all doing well and getting into that Holiday Spirit!

Monique

4 comments:

  1. I hope you start feeling better and I hope that your surgery isn't thrown off track because of this cold.

    I have no choice but to get into the Holiday Spirit because it's supposed to snow today in Austin! :)

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  2. So . . . . what's wrong with M&M's for dinner??? Technically, it's a vegetable because chocolate comes from cocoa beans. If you have a side of ice cream you've got your dairy covered and wash it down with diet coke then all calories are cancelled!!

    WOOHOO!!! On the clearance received for surgery. Get that nasty stuff outta there!! The best Christmas gift ever!!!

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  3. We had Nutella sandwiches for dinner the other night. Not much different from M&Ms.

    Reading your post is helping me feel more in the holiday spirit actually. It is so good to hear that things are moving in the right direction and that the oncologist is pleased with the results of chemo and you can move on to the next stage of teratment.

    Have a good weekend! BIG kisses to Jim, Amelia, Miles, Michael, and you Monique.

    We love you all!

    Nancy

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  4. Michael is hilarious. M&M dinner.

    The "dry eye" sounds frustrating. Glad you figured it out and can see some relief. I am sorry to hear you caught a cold.

    Miles will be ok without a phone. Poor guy. Really its that prevalent now that kids have phones? My nephews are 15 and they have phones but my 11 year old nephew does not.

    Thinking of you,
    Jill

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