Date-aversary

Eight years ago tonight I met the man that would later become my husband; what a crazy ride it has been! From cross country moves and back again to brain tumors, we've seen far more than our share.

This year has been absolute shit, but there's no one else I'd have by my side to go through it together.

Here's to a better 2016 all around!

Happy Holidays

I'm not feeling particularly festive this year, but I wish everyone happy holidays and good times with family and friends.

My eyes seem to be a little better on most days. It really depends on my naps and the light condition, but I've been able to do a little reading and actually finished a book recently. Score 1 for this book nerd!

I won't have another scan until January 25th. Until then we wait, and I still get infusions every 2 weeks. Some of my hair seems to be growing back in little fuzzies but I mostly just look ridiculous. This is me giving a shit...

Fight like hell.

F&%$ This Year

It's not all badass bitch tumor warrior woman and sarcasm over here. I'm pissed. I'm sad. And just when I thought we couldn’t possibly get kicked again this year . . .

I had an appointment with my oncologist and an infusion today. It turns out that the Avastin can cause a fatigue syndrome to set in after several months, So it looks like I’ll be taking naps for the foreseeable future, since the radiation fatigue is still hanging around.

My disability company had sent some forms for my doctor to fill out, so part of my appointment was spent answering super fun questions. In my oncologist’s opinion, I will not be returning to work anytime soon. He asked if I enjoy the work I do or if there were other things that I would like to do. [Cue: Panic]

  

At this point, my eyes may not heal any more. My oncologist thought that my eyes are probably as healed as they’re going to get, but he couldn’t say for sure. I’m still outlawed from driving, which is annoying. I have a stack of books next to our bed that I just want to read, but can’t manage more than 10 pages at a time. This is a hard pill for me to swallow. As if I wasn’t panicking enough about my future ability to return to work, my future ability to read makes me panic even more. . . . I’m still holding out hope that they’ll get better.

My oncologist is quite the character. The man is brilliant, but quite the character. He’ll walk out of the room during my appointment, without saying where he’s going, leave the door open, then walk back in a few moments, and continue talking right where he left off.

A final thought — This year can fuck off.

Fight like Hell.

Unexpected ER Trip

Well, today did not go as planned. We were supposed to be doing Shop with a Cop this morning, but instead ended up with an impromptu ER visit. Hurray.

In my last post, I mentioned a botched port accessing; since they weren’t able to use my port for the MRI last Monday, they ended up putting an IV in a vein in my left wrist joint. That in itself is not pleasant. I noticed yesterday morning that my left forearm was super sore. By yesterday evening, my arm was to the point where I couldn’t touch it without pain, and it was starting to have red splotches. I realized that from the point there they put in the IV and straight up my forearm was exactly where the pain and redness were.

N. reminded me that my oncologist had told us that because I’m receiving Avastin infusions that any sign of blood clots should be an ER visit. In the world of Avastin patients, I’m at a pretty low risk of having blood clots. But … that’s not something with which you mess around. N. called our neurosurgery contact, and they said we should go to the ER just to be safe. Unlike our last ER visit, it was deserted. We got into a room right away, and they sent me up to Ultrasound almost immediately. The ultrasound hurt like a &!@#%. It showed that I did not have a blood clot, though. They diagnosed me with superficial Thrombophlebitis and lymphangitis [inflammation of superficial veins and inflammation of the lymph nodes in that area] … from that lovely wrist joint IV I got stabbed with last Monday. I've lost count of how many time I've been stabbed for an IV since November 2008 [the start of the first go round], but I've never had anything more than a small bruise from an IV.

Needless to say, the American Center Imaging Department is on my shit list, and I will never attempt to get an MRI there again — Always, always at the main UW hospital. 

I’ll be on an antibiotic regimen for the next 10 days. Between that, elevation, and warm compresses, I should kick this. In the meantime … frick, my arm hurts.

On a happier note, it seems like my hair is starting to grow back a little. Also, our foster kittens were adopted together today. We have them for the week, but once we bring them to the adoption center on Friday, they'll go to their forever home. I'm happy that the little poofs will stay together, so that they won't be lonely. I imagine that we'll be getting a couple more kittens for our next foster round. :D    

         

Fight like Hell.

Burning the Bitch to the Ground!

After starting my week with botched port accessing, almost passing out, an IV in my wrist joint, and Ryan’s wake... it sure was nice to get a good news call from my oncologist Monday evening. just as we were pulling into the funeral home parking lot, Dr. Robins called and told us that my MRI looked exactly as he had hoped it would. My scan showed no signs of recurrence or progression, which means that the radiation and Avastin infusions are working! Dr. Robins said my brain is healthier than it was on my last scan in September.

I will continue to receive immunotherapy infusions every two weeks, indefinitely. My next MRI Is scheduled for January 25^th. My eyes continue to heal, but I’m still limited in my reading. We had busy days this week, so I missed a few naps, and my eyes certainly let me know they were not pleased. I think I made up for it this afternoon with an epic actual cat nap. 

Also, I finally got the lidocaine to work today, so when I got stabbed in the chest twice to get my port accessed, I only felt it a little the second time [Small victories].

Fight like Hell.

P.S. KITTENS!!!