The doctor is in!

Jan 23rd- Today was my regular oncology appointment. I do have a cold and so that makes me a little worried about my white blood count. When we get there, we find out that the doctor is already back from having the baby!! So that was good. In the appointment, he said my blood count was a little low, but not too low that I couldn't do chemo. which was a blessing and a curse! I hate going to chemo, but I know I have to! He also mentioned something that startled me a little bit. He said my chemo numbers were going up. Of course, being the scaredy cat I am, I didn't ask any questions. He went on to say that when I finish up this round of chemo and get my next scan done, we will send everything over to my surgeon, Dr. D and then set up my surgery to reattach me about 3 weeks after that! PRAISE THE LORD!!! I am so over this colostomy bag! I feel like a robot or something. It's just so unnatural! I know, I am a brat and should just be thankful that I am alive!! SO, after the surgery, my doctor said we are going to hit this cancer hard!! we are coming back and doing a 4th chemo called, Avastin. So, I will be on 4 different chemo meds

Jan 24th- Chemo time!! We went over all the side effects that I experienced the last time around. Not too bad! Only 2 days in bed this time around. feeling so sick and had a headache. But then, it turned into fatigue. But, I pushed past that. Then the nurse looked at me and asked, "So, when are you going to be thru with all of this?" Not a fun question, but I get it often. i just looked at her and said, "Well.... I am stage 4 and according to the dr's I will never be done with chemo. But, I am thinking I will have to endure this about another year or so!!" She smiled and replied, "So you are going to be here for the long haul huh? You can do it!!"

So we get home and I go to bed. I didn't get the headache, but the nausea was horrible. That next day was better! It got so good I attempted DISNEYLAND on Friday! I did overdo it and on Saturday, I paid for it!! But I don't regret one minute,.The kids were so excited that we all made it!

Hmmm....

Hey there everyone, here is another update! So, as you remember, last time I had the allergic reaction to the chemo I was taking. My dr had told me at my regular appointment that he was probably going to be out for my next appointment because he and his wife are expecting a baby boy any second now. Well, I decided to be unlike myself and be pro-active with my health and call my oncologist, before he went out with the baby, and see what the name of the new chemo is and find out the side effects. So the week before I had chemo I called 3 TIMES, leaving a message each time for him. FINALLY, on the Friday before my dr appt, I got a call back from his nurse. She let me know that he will go over everything on the following Monday and let me know everything then. I reminded her that he was going out on leave for the baby. She said, "He doesn't think the baby will come by then, so he is going to continue to come in until the baby arrives." I said, "OK, well, what if it does come?" She said that he will let the NP know all about what is going on and she will let me know at my appointment. I asked if she (the nurse) knew if he had decided on a chemo treatment yet. She said, "Well, since your file is on his desk, I will assume that he has and you guys can discuss it on Monday!" I was satisfied with that and got off the phone.

Jan 9th- Today is the appointment I have been waiting for, I am going to find out the new chemo and side effects. Fun, I know right? Well, I get to the appt and do my blood work as usual. OF COURSE, the baby was born on the Friday before my appt, so my dr was not there. The NP came in and told me everything looked good and that I was all clear for chemo the next day. So, I looked at her and asked, "what is my new chemo and the side effects from it?" She asked me what I was talking about! I told her all about the time before and told her I was allergic to my old chemo. She said there was nothing like that in my file!!! WHAT???!!! After all the phone calls and bugging the nurse, etc.... She said they didn't even mark it in my file that I had an allergy now! So she wrote it in my file and excused herself from the room. She went and talked to my dr's head nurse who I had spoke to on the phone and she said, "We shouldn't bug Dr Panares right now! They are probably just getting home or just getting settled in!" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? This is literally my LIFE we are talking about. The NP came back in the room and told me what the nurse said and told me that she would text the dr and hopefully he will respond by today or we will have to reschedule my chemo day to next week and have a different dr decide my new course of treatment! I was so mad!! It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't called him and reminded him 3 times that I need a new chemo treatment! Thankfully later that day the NP called and said that he called right back and apologized and my new chemo treatment is called CPT-11. The side effects are more harsh than my last chemo and they said I will probably lose my hair! I know, not a big deal compared to what I am going thru. But, I just keep thinking it will be a constant reminder that I am sick to my kids and loved ones. Also, right now, no one knows I am sick! I can go into Target without stares or sympathetic looks! I am just Christianne, shopping at Target, picking up diapers! Not so much anymore!

Jan 10th- I was so nervous to start this new chemo! But, I went in and faced it like a woman! It went quicker than normal! So Jon and I get home and it starts to hit me! I feel so sick to my stomach and have the worst headache!! I just go to bed early. The next day I don't get out of bed at all!! I just literally lay in bed until about 3pm!

I am doing better now! I am hoping that like my last chemo, I will get used to it after a couple of times and I won't have such harsh side effects. Like always, keep praying, God is listening. Pray for my family! Pray for strength for me. This is so hard! Sometimes I feel so unfaithful! Pray for Jon to remain sane as I go insane! Pray for my kids, that they don't get to negatively affected by this whole situation. Thank you all and I love you all so much! Your love and support mean everything to me!

Happy New Year!!!

I hope you all had a great Christmas, celebrating the birth of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ! Also, I hope you had a great and safe New Year's Eve and an even better 2012!!
I have been busy with the kids being home the past few weeks. I called my oncologist and asked him if I could postpone chemo for a week because I had the boys home from school for Christmas break and he said yes!! So instead of going every other week to chemo, I had an extra week off!

Dec 27th~ I went in to see my oncologist for a regular appointment to make sure my numbers were good enough to do chemo the following day. Everything was pretty much normal, except he did mention in passing that some of my cancer numbers are going up, while some were still going down. He said not to be too alarmed by it because I had been off chemo for so long and only had it 1 time since. Of course this freaked me out on the inside, but I kept it to myself.

Dec 28th~ Chemo time!! It was a normal chemo day for me. Jon took me as usual. I wasn't nervous or anything! So, they start my pre-chemo cocktail of prilosec, zofran, benedryl and another drug to help with the chemo side effects. After that was done the nurse came in and let me know she was starting the chemo. I told her fine and continued reading the book I was into. About 30 minutes into it, I started having trouble breathing! Then I notice my heart was racing! OH NO! A panic attack!! I tried calming myself down and its not working, Then, my throat starts getting really dry and I feel my face and neck turn red. At this time, Jon was on the phone and didn't notice what was going on. I tried to calm myself down and was wondering what brought this on anyway, when I heard Jon say, "Something is wrong with Christi!" and he hung up on the person he was talking to. He ran out to get the nurse and when they came back, she seemed a little panicked and said it was an allergic reaction to the chemo. She ran out of the room and came back in with what seemed like an arm full of medicine. She stopped the chemo and put me on saline to flush me, then she started shooting the meds into my IV. She told me it was more Benedryl and steroids. About 45 minutes later, I was completely back to normal! The nurse then informed me I can never use that type of chemo again. She said that sometimes what happens is between the 8th and 12th round of a particular drug, your body realizes it is poison and in turn, this happens. Well this just so happened to be my 10th time! So, after I calmed down, they called my oncologist and they asked him if he wanted me to continue with the chemo that I do at home and he said yes. They hooked me up with my pump and sent me on my merry way!

Dec 29th~ I was up all night from the steroids. The nurse said it might happen, but I couldn't believe it! I was staring at the ceiling all night with my mind racing. That afternoon, I still had so much energy compared to when I usually have chemo that I was doing laundry and cleaning up a little with my pump. Well, what happens, I bang my pump on the counter top super hard and it starts going off! I try turning it off, resetting it, NOTHING!! So now what?? I have to call the infusion center and act like I didn't know what happened! LOL!! So they told to take the battery out and come in. I get there and they put the battery back in and it starts working. OF COURSE!! So, they tell me to go sit down in the waiting room and make sure that it doesn't start going off again. While I am in there, a girl walks in and she is about 5 years older than me or so and she has her pump in a cute little purse (instead of the geeky fanny pack they give you to use), so I ask her where she got it from. We start talking and we find out we are both stage 4 colon cancer. She told me that they actually gave her 2 years and she had just past that mark. She also said that she had cancer in her liver and lungs too! She just had surgery on her liver in August. She said I really need to watch out because the cancer in her liver was dead, but 60% of her liver was calcified and they had to remove it!! The scary part was the drs didn't even know it was calcified before they went into surgery! She has chemo on Tuesdays also, so I will be looking for her from now on!

So, that was my adventure! Please pray that the next chemo will work as well as the last one did. I do want to also thank everyone for their gifts, prayers and thoughts the past 6 months! I honestly could not get thru this without every ones support and love. It also helps having such an awesome church family! They raised over $4800.00 for our medical bills this past month! Thanks again and as always keep praying, God is listening!!!