I am happy to report that my vacation away from Chemo last month was awesome!
I spent a wonderful week+ with Kimberly and David Jones. We went to doctor appointments and we got things ready for Baby boy Jones to come. I also got to go to a baby shower. OH!... and it was California.. so I did have to go see the waves crash against the shore! It was so nice to see how much support and love was being given to this sweet little family. It helped a lot to see such service in action so that I could take that comfort home with me that they would be okay.
This is out of time sequence.. but after I got back.. Elijah Matthew Jones was born on May 5th. He was a healthy 7pds 2oz. and has a head of nice dark hair. Sadly I could not be there .. happily others are able to help. =)
After California I flew to Utah to participate in Bethany's graduation from BYU. It has been about 17 years since my oldest went to BYU and so one more chapter seems to be closing to the bundle of memories we have been collecting from that beautiful school. Not all my children attended BYU but I am very proud of each of my children's accomplishments as they step up to take on their adult lives. I am so glad I was able to share in this moment with Bethany.
I am simplifying things .. and leaving lots of interesting details out.. but basicly.. after the graduation Dave and I flew to Arizona. There we met up with much of our families that live there, to witness the "sealing" of Dawn to Vickie and Ben in the Mesa Arizona Temple. For those who do not quite understand what that means.. and why its so exciting please talk to us personally and we would be happy to explain. Suffice to say.. it was one of those moments of joy that you want to treasure up and keep alive in your heart. I am so pleased to be part of an eternal family unit that are striving to stay connected forever.
So.. I came back from this lovely time.. and back to Chemo land and more snow. Treatment 6 was celebrated as the half-way point.
I arrived back from my trip late late Monday night.. or was it early early Tuesday morning?.. and then went off to the Chemo lab that same Tuesday (April 30th). I had 2 weeks of being mostly normal.. so in some ways I was ready to face the queasiness again.. but in other ways it seemed a bit harder.
The following week (May 8th) I was scheduled for the virtual colonoscopy and CT scan, to see if the chemo was working or not. The prep was easier to take then then the colonoscopy that I had in Dec. I did have to follow a liquid diet and take certain cocktail things at certain times the day before.. but it was not too bad. The hard part was when I was laid out for the machine and they had to add some gas to expand my colon inside so they could take better pictures. :> I endured it and then I got to go home and eat some real food. =)
When I went to the 7th treatment on May 14th the doctor came in with my lab results from the v. colonoscopy and CT scan. She said... I have good news.. all looks well! The liver is still NED (no evidence of disease) and the colon also seems to be very clear of those pesky polyps. =) =) =) Of course that does not mean that there are not some teeny tiny ones or cells that want to be those things.. but none are big enough to make the screen test. So.. the chemo seems to be working. I believe also that the power of prayer is working. So very grateful!
Well.. the next day I was feeling pretty good so I went out to run a few errands. My port has all along been a bit glitchy and I think I mentioned that from my first treatment. It has been hard for the attendants to access.. and the last couple of treatments they have not been able to draw blood from it. They could get the chemo infusion to go in.. but the blood drawing did not work. They said that happens sometimes.
Anyway, I went to do my couple of errands.. and since my port is on my left-hand side.. when I drive my seat belt rubs up against it. I tried to be careful with that.. but somehow it must have gotten bumped. (I was carrying around my little purse thing with the 48 hour drip system) That night I noticed that there had sprung a little leak. I knew that was not a good thing so I called the Infusion medical office and they came over to have a look at it, clean it up .. and reattach it.
The nurse unattached my infusion line.. and got the little bit of chemo cleaned up.. and then tried to reattach my infusion line. She could not get it to go into its proper place. She tried 3 times and decided after talking to her back up person on the phone.. that I would have the night off from chemo.. but come into their office the next day to get it reattached.
Dave and I got to the infusion lab and the nurse there decided, yes.. this was a very trickie port and she decided to contact my oncologist office since they were the ones to usually attach the line. They had me go over to their office.. and there they decided that it was now time to figure out what was going on with this port. So off to the hospital I got to go to have a radiology dye study done.
Well guess what.. those nurses there were also having a hard time attaching their line to my port so they could put the dye into my system. There was about 2 different nurses trying to determine what to do.. and they called in another that fortunately was able to attach the line and then at last, the dye study began.
Some of the results were shared with us after the they had a chance to look at the x-rays. There seemed to be a sheaf of enzymes that had grown around the port .. because my body did not like having this foreign object in it. It was not unusual but it was to be determined if the sheaf was going to be removed (and grow back again?) or the port replaced?.. or what? It definitely was stopping the blood draws from happening.
Dave and I went back to the oncology office where they reattached the infusion line so I could finish my treatment that had been interrupted. I had some mixed feeling about this.. because.. it would be Yay! if they decided to forgo it.. but Boo! if they decided to forgo it and then add another treatment to my schedule. So I decided to choose to look at it as a good thing.. I would have to finish the treatment but I would not be having to add another one. The next day it was unattached to finish treatment 7.
This last week I received a phone call on May 21st. Further examining of my e-rays showed a couple of kinks in my port lines (they are inside not outside). Soo.. they scheduled me for some outpatient surgery Wed. May 22nd to replace the port. The lady there said it would be better to put the port on the right side.. (they replace trickie ports quite often).. but the ones they placed rarely had to be replaced. (they did not put the one I had in) So.. they gave me some light sedation.. took the left-hand port out... and put the right-hand port in. I am getting quite the collections of holes in me it seems.
I declared Thursday May 23rd PJ day.. I hope you all had a good one. =)
Once again, I am so grateful for the support I have been receiving in word, thought and deed. My life has slowed down quite a bit with all this.. but its not unbearable and is full of great hope that I will be able to return to a faster pace after the chemo is over. Some things will not be the same.. but life is one constant change so that is okay. Some things will be even better as I am becoming more and more aware how precious each day is and not take for granite all that I have been richly blessed with.
Thank you friends! Treatment 8 will be May 28th... then 4 more to go. =) =) =)
