A lot has happened since my last entry, some great and some that was a bit disheartening. I'm sure I won't remember it all, but I promise I'll try to update this a little more regularly.
I continue to work part-time which has been a real blessing both emotionally and financially. In addition, the company I work for is extremely understanding of my physical constraints, particularly after I have had a chemo treatment.
Speaking of chemo, I had a CT scan late February which showed slight growth of my mets, so I am no longer taking the pill form of chemo, Xeloda, which I tolderated extremely well for almost 8 months. The oncologist has put my on an extremely aggressive form of chemo called FOLFORI, along with Erbitux. If you want more information on this regimen, you can google FOLFORI and Erbitux.
I have blood work coming up tomorrow with another CT scan on Thursday. Hopefully, this new regimen has done its job, because my body is getting tired of the onslaught of these toxic drugs over such a long period of time (over 17 months now). I believe these drugs have a cumulative effect as it seems to take longer to rebound after each treatment. My hair has thinned drastically, but so far it's still MY hair. I have a wig (donated by some dear friends) ready just in case. Erbitux is also known to cause a sometimes very unsightly acne-type rash on your face. My wonderful niece, Grace, has been prayerful about my hair and this rash. She's the best niece ever! So far the rash has been confined to the insides of my arms, sometimes the insides of my legs, but it is manageable and doesn't itch too bad.
In addition, when a group of my friends at The Andersons (my old employer) heard that I would be starting up on a new chemo "cocktail" they immediately went to work in coordinating home-cooked food to be brought in after my treatments. This has been an absolute God-send, as I am tired of eating restaurant food after treatments. There's normally about enough food here to last Mike and I about a week. It's working, too, as I have been able to maintain my weight, which is pretty unusual on chemo. I went from a low weight of 111 during my last round of infusion chemo last year to 129 pounds.
I also received a phone call from a nonprofit organization about a month ago. They had heard through a dear friend that we were in desperate need of a driveway which is an understatement. Our driveway had become merely a mud hole and we have not had the funds to pay for a stone driveway due to my limited income, my medical bills, and the outrageous amount we pay for group insurance through Mike's employer! Anyhow, these men spent a Friday evening and a Saturday here, and Mike and I now have a bonafide driveway! Whenever I look at it I'm amazed. We had a few friends and family members out for a "driveway party" on that Saturday, complete with Jeff's marvelous chicken!
Let's see -- what else? Oh, I spent 5 days in Las Vegas with a friend at the end of February. Enjoying the sun and warmer temperatures at that time of year was wonderful. I got to see my nephew Tony's home (it's quite nice) and he and Rachel treated my friend and I to dinner! The car rental agency upgraded us (complimentary) to a red Mustang convertible, too, so we felt like the Golden Girls on a trip. The frosting on the cake for that trip was that the airlines also upgraded us (complimentary) to first class for the red-eye back home. This was truly a God-send as I was SO tired that night, our plane had been delayed for a couple of hours, and I do not sleep well on planes. Well, I didn't get to enjoy much of the first class service as I fell asleep as the plane was taxiing on the runway and woke up when the pilot announced that we were just about to land in Detroit! It was a nice trip.
I'm sure I've left a lot of stuff out here, but I am going to post just a couple of pictures.
Love to all! I am so thankful for those who have prayed for my healing without ceasing. I think we're almost there!
