Living the Dream!

Yesterday we were up bright & early & on our way down to Houston for my first check up since the end of my treatment. We were both pretty stressed so we listened to "Naked," and audio book written and read by David Sedaris. We figured a little humor never hurts. Thanks to Michelle Duffy and Kristin Scott for introducing me to the hilarity of Sedaris! I can't fail to say that yesterday marked 24 years of my second opportunity at life and tomorrow marks 13 weeks of my third opportunity at life. Very grateful but I still say that whoever thought I'd go easily is just delusional!

Jane met us in Houston last night and Kim drove down from Spring very early this morning. We left the condo around 545 in order to get to my first appointment by 6:15 AM. My stress level was at an all time high and I barely kept my breakfast down but once I was prepped for the MRI, I started to feel some relief.

Once I had changed into scrubs and my IV was in, my MRI technician introduced himself and led me to the scanner. We walked down a strange hall and then outside. I will admit that I was thinking maybe he was actually a mob hit man who was leading me out into the alley to do away with me. I was trying to figure out who I'd crossed lately and could only come up with the insurance company. Then I really started to worry! I must have looked at him sort of funny, because he felt compelled to explain that they are renovating and they have four portable units in trucks outside. When we got to my portable scanner unit, I got to ride on a hydraulic lift to enter the little trailer. It was more like MDA Disney than ever! My technician was great and the scanner was probably the most comfortable I'd ever been in due to the extra padding and the extra heated sheets that I was provided with. Because of the ear plugs and the extra padding the technician placed around my head, I couldn't really hear him talking to me while I was in the scanner so I would just say, "OK" and he would continue. I pretended that he was saying things like, "Your scans look great, I see no evidence that you ever had a tumor" and "Just kidding, you never had any issues. We had you in the placebo group the entire time!"

Next we were off to another building in the city of MD Anderson for blood draw and an appointment with my oncologist. The word from the oncology team is that everything is exactly as expected. Scans three weeks out from radiation are difficult to read because the inflammation lights up in the same way a tumor would light up with contrasts. However, we know where the inflammation should occur and mine is exactly as expected and exactly where radiation was targeted. We were told that patients who have more inflammation (areas where the radiation successfully damaged cells in expected locations) have a better prognosis in the longer term. When we have our next scan in 8 weeks, the inflammation will likely be improved and we should be able to see more clearly if any cancer masses reveal themselves. Right now there are no visible signs of that but again, the inflammation could cloud something.

As planned, I will take chemo pills 5 days per month with 23 days in between. I start my first round next week and will have 12 total rounds. The strength of the chemo will gradually increase until I reach some threshold or some level of intolerance. I will be coming to Houston every 4 weeks for now to check in and I will have a scan every 8 weeks. 

The doctor told me some discouraging news. He said...no more naps. Seriously! I feel like this man doesn't even know me. Jason was thrilled, of course, but Kim and Jane fought the good fight on my behalf and appear to have lost the battle. This guy wants me up and moving around all the time. Who ever heard of such blasphemy?! No naps?????? He's not saving me- he's killing me slowly! Still surviving one day at a time!