We got to MCV bright and early on Monday at 5:30 and surprisingly the waiting area was packed! I was taken back to a room soon after, sans parents, and sat there in my stylin hospital gown for a little over 1 hour. Luckily the room had a TV so I was somewhat entertained. Then a bazilion different doctors and med students started coming in and out asking the same questions and checking different things. The main person who spoke to me was the anesthesiologist. After getting a couple of pokes (definitely ready to get to use the port) they found a good vein and I was ready to go. I remember going into the surgical room and changing tables and then I was out. I wonder what it is like for the doctors to see that transition haha.
I woke up in a different room and they were letting me know that they were calling my parents to let them know I was done. The surgery for both the biopsy and the port went well. Sadly they were unable to take Belial out but they took his smaller brother that was right next to him instead. Dr. Kaplan thought Belial was too big and close to vital things to try and take out so for now Belial is still with me, womp wooomp. I spent all of Monday drugged up on pain killers while lying on Micah and MC's couch (my bro and sister in law). Interestingly enough the pain medicine, percocet, made me wired instead of drowsy which is its usual affect. So I caught up on some netflix and rested.
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| The top is the biopsy scar and the second is my port. You can kind of see the bump underneath the skin. |
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| My battle wounds |
On Tuesday morning I had a doctor's appointment with Dr. Wiedl. At that appointment she told me they were still unable to get the PETscan to work so no diagnosis yet but that we would definitely start chemo this coming Monday. We would try one more time to get records from Henrico Doctor's and if that did not work then I would just have to do another PETscan at MCV on Thursday. We need the PETscan to know what stage I am in order to know what drugs to give me during chemotherapy. At the appointment she went through the protocols for Stage 2 and Stage 3 so I would know what would be happening once we did get the results. It was a little overwhelming hearing everything I would be given and how they would make me feel and all of the medicines I will need to take as well to combat the effects of the chemo drugs. Being a person who only takes one pill a day to now having to take a zillion is going to be quite an adjustment.
After my appointment I went to work however the percocet was making me so nauseous it was hard to concentrate. By the time the work day was over I could hardly look at words without getting sick. Carrie came and got me and I went straight into bed (after eating a little something). This made me very nervous for the nausea to come. Dr. Wiedl is putting in some prescriptions for me to take before I go in for chemo on Monday and one is to help with nausea, I reaaaallly hope it is a good one! After having a crapy day on the pain meds yesterday I decided to go off it today and just take advil. This morning was still a little rough but as the day has gone on I am feeling more like myself which has been very nice. I am still a little sore and I can definitely feel the port under my skin but I can handle both of those things compared to feeling sick.
I had another trip to MCV this afternoon for my pulmonary function test to check my lungs. It was a pretty interesting test where I sat in a booth and upon instruction would breath into a long tube that was connected to a computer. The technician/doctor tells you all of these different breathing formats you need to do - holding your breath, short breaths, deep breaths, etc.... After about 40 minutes of testing we were done and I found out my lungs are very healthy so woohoo, yay for never smoking.
After hearing the PETscan debacle was continuing yesterday Mom and Dad spoke to their friends at Henrico Doctors and we were able to get them to send the files electronically. My parents also went over today and got another cd of the results and took them directly to Dr. Wiedl. Dr. Wiedl called before I went in for my pulmonary test and told us that they were able to read the PETscan and would call back with the results. This made us very happy, it means I do not have to go back to MCV tomorrow, another woohoo! When I got out of the pulmonary test I had a call from Dr. Wiedl and she told me they read the files and I am Stage 2, not Stage 3!!! This is greeeaaaattt news. This means I will have a less intense treatment plan then we were expecting. Very excited to have less poison going into my body.
Dr. Wiedl also told us I would only need to go for chemo for one day every other week for now. This was a little confusing since prior she said regardless of the stage I would do three days of chemo. I of course am very excited for Stage 2 and the less intensive chemo but I am also frustrated its all changing again. I am ready to know what is going on, I know this is hard to have happen in these situations but it is making me anxious. Therefore I am no longer planning or believing anything they say till it happens. I will be very happy if it turns out to only be one day every other week but I am not going to start thinking with that mind frame till I see it happen, this is making me cynical haha.
I am also concerned that since it is only the one day I will be wiped out and too tired to work Tuesday. If this is the case then I would rather do chemo visits on Fridays, not Mondays. But again this will be something we will not know till after next week. I am trying to be patient and take each day as it comes, obviously this is hard for me, but I know next week will get here soon enough.
So here we go, it is time to take some deep breaths and get myself mentally prepared for treatment. The next four days will be the longest I have gone without seeing a doctor since this all began in late November. I am going to try and use these four days to organize myself, try to relax, and get myself ready to kick some cancer butt!!!
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