When I last updated my treatment story, I wrote about having my port removed after nearly a week in the hospital being treated for SVC Syndrome and various blood clots. Here we are at day eight of my hospital stay and I wake up to find out that my “numbers” that measure the clotting of my blood were way out of range. So very far out, that they shut off my heparin for a few hours. Um, yeah, so remember that port out one day, go home plan? It didn’t happen.
What We Tried – Blue Apron
February 6, 2015 1 Comment
Since Christmas, we have been spicing it up a bit with our dinners. A friend had been using Blue Apron and was nice enough to gift us a week of meals that she had been offered through her own subscription. Seriously, they won us over and our one week subscription turned into three. Then it was back to two again because of the snow storm in the northeast. But mostly, the timing was perfect. Post Christmas blahs, busy getting back into the routine, and the routine changing based on the stage of my treatment we were in. We were really in a rut and this helped us to resist the urge to break the blahs with take out. [Read more…]
Sidestepping Side Effects – Mouth Sores
February 2, 2015 Leave a Comment
One of the most common side effects for both courses of chemotherapy drugs I have been given is mouth sores. Now, if you are like me, you are asking, what is that? I did not know and each time I went into the oncologist they would ask me if I had sores and I was like, “not that I know of.” “Oh, you’ll know,” was the response. So when they happened, all I can say is, “Yup, no mistaking that!”
De-Porting
January 30, 2015 Leave a Comment
Don’t worry, we are nearing the end of the story of my SVC syndrome from blood clots and the related hospital stay! If you will, come back to early fall when I was in the hospital trying desperately to get home to my girls again (you can see the previous posts here under Detour – SVC Syndrome).
We are now at the seventh day of my stay and I awoke anxious, ready to have my port taken out. During the morning, the doctors came around and I found out that if I had the procedure done that day, I could go home the next day (spoiler, doctors are not always right). If Interventional Radiology couldn’t get it done that day, I would be scheduled for the next day and go home the following. This had me concerned since we were headed into a weekend and it seems pretty obvious that much of the hospital would be operating on a limited type staffing through a weekend and, rightfully so, working on emergency patients first. With how quickly they had been able to get my care started when I arrived the week prior on a weekend, I don’t have a problem with that. Once the port was removed, they would need to get my Heparin (short term blood thinner I had through IV) numbers back to level, then switch me over to Lovenox (more long term blood thinner injected). My activity was to be limited once I was home. The original plan was to take it easy for 10 days with lots of rest and only going to doctor appointments. I was not to be left alone with my girls or drive anyone anywhere for the same time, until I was seen.
Wacky Wednesday – Nip One, Purl Two
January 28, 2015 3 Comments
Breast Cancer isn’t really very funny. Parenthood, however, I will admit can be really really funny. And I do try to laugh at myself as often as possible. When you combine That Girl, That Guy, and My Girls, you get a pretty Wacky life. When I was a child, probably when I was learning to read, one of my favorite books was “Wacky Wednesday” by Dr. Seuss. Since we constantly talk about how wacky my oldest is, some Wednesdays I will be sharing what I think are pretty Wacky stories, quotes, and silliness from our lives. Enjoy!
I have debated sharing this story, because I should be mortified. At this point though, I’m fairly certain the number of people who have seen “my girls” (not my daughters, the other ones) is in a range that requires a comma to keep count. Basically, I am not mortified by it. Embarrassed I’m so oblivious, but not embarrassed by what others saw. And if you are related to me (cough, dad, cough) you might want to just skip this one. So here it goes…
What We Tried – Christmas Cookies
January 26, 2015 Leave a Comment
I mentioned a bit ago that going into Christmas, I would be trying a couple new Christmas cookie recipes. We did and both were great! I just wish I had taken some pictures for you all. [Read more…]
So Many Questions
January 22, 2015 1 Comment
This middle part of the week, as I continued to deflate, there were still a lot of questions. I was still stuck in bed. I was dizzy on and off. The left side of my face felt weird, including my eye, which is nerve wracking of course. No one had come to a consensus of whether I should be moving my legs around while I was in bed to prevent clots or if that would dislodge the clots I had.
Guest Post – Staying Sane During an Insane Time
January 19, 2015 Leave a Comment
Hey all. It’s That Guy filling in for That Girl. A little while ago, the readers of this blog voted on a topic for me to discuss in a guest post. And finally, with the help of some ‘gentle reminders’ from That Girl, I’ve gotten around to writing about it. Staying sane during an insane time. Oh where to start?
Finally I’m That Girl
January 15, 2015 7 Comments
I’m going to tell you a bit about what is going on right now, in present time, before I continue to recap my story. Even with this news, I am going to continue to tell the story chronologically as it happened. I’m currently about four months behind. If you need a refresher on where we are, please reference the Starting Line page. I hope that in sharing my story in full it will help someone someday.
As you may have seen, I had surgery over the holidays. It took a little while, but just a little over a week later, I received a phone call from the surgeon with the pathology results. And nearly a week later, I had a follow up appointment with her to check my healing and go over the results in detail. I needed to hear it from her in person before I really shared it in this way, which sounds crazy I am sure.
Long story short, I am now considered “cancer free”!
Places to go, People to see
January 11, 2015 5 Comments
Like most parents, traveling does not happen as much as it did before kids for us. Being “stuck” in our hometown for the last 15 months, since our last family vacation is making me a bit stir crazy. Now that I am nearing the end of treatment, I am literally dreaming of all the places I want to go, and people I want to see!
All About My Girls 