First Day of Chemo!!!

Good Morning All. Happy Valentines Day!!!

I drove myself to Billings Tuesday afternoon to pick up Mary jane at the airport and then go see my oncologist. It was the best two hours of the past two months! I was in coltrol of something (the car) and I was not hurting at all and I was blasting the music and singing my heart out. It really made me feel like a non-sick human being!

I did not have my port put in yesterday (wednesday). I have a seroma in my pelvis and it has been leaking fluid out of me for over a week. DG (Doctor Gibb) said there was a great chance of me getting infected if he did the surgery and we really don't want that. That would put me way behind in the chemo route and we don't want to go there. They will wait until my body takes care of itself and then put in the IP port. Ironically I stopped leaking the fluid yesterday! I feel I don't want to jynx myself so pretend I didn't tell you that! It feels so good not to be leaking that gross fluid! DG says the seroma probably started as a little hematoma from my anticoagulants and then it formed a seroma to help try to get rid of it. It was measured by CT as about 3x5 inches. Speaking of CT, I spent a good part of Monday at the Bozeman hospital getting tests to fugure out why I was leaking this fluid. I first went to x-ray where they took a picture then they stuck a catheter into my bladder and filled it up with this dye liquid. They took all kinds of pictures to see if I had a fistula (you can look that one up on line its between the bladder and the vagina). Then they wanted me to pee on the table to see how my urethra was doing. I couldn't do it!!!! Arent we taught to not do that????? Tha catheter was so much fun, NOT! My bladder is still very sensitive from the surgery. Then I went to Ct where they gave me an IV and took many pictures while shoving a contrast fluid into me. Again they were looking for the fistula of which they did NOT find but found this seroma. It was a long tiring day and I was wiped out by night time. Bob got a massage so I took Fischer to dinner. There we played (at the table) and he told me I "wasn't being very much fun right now". I at first felt really bad but then realized that he is absolutely right so I told him that he was right and that I would be fun again (someday!). He said "I know, right now its because you're kind of sick" He was so cute! By the way he does know that I have cancer and that I'm taking harsh medicine and that I may be sicker for a while and that my hair is going to fall out. He said I will look silly with no hair and that I will look like a bald eagle! How perceptive! (speaking of bald eagles, I saw three of them on the way to Billings on Tuesday! They were just sitting in a field right bedside the highway doing nothing. No carrion or anything!)

So, no port for now. They did chemo via IV. It was a 5 1/2 hour visit. I fell it really went well. They loaded me up with pre-meds. Benedryl, pepsid, anti-nausea drugs, saline. then slammed me with taxol and carboplatnin. I felt fine, well maybe a little sleepy so I slept for a while. The chemo nurses were having a baked sale so I wheeled my IV pole out the the main part of the hospital and bought myself a little treat! Mary jane had gone to get my presctiptions for me and when she came back I was gone! They told her I left, she was surprised! We were done at 12:30 and ate lunch at the cafeteria waiting for another prescription to be filled. Then we went to a couple of thrift stores (bought a couple of has for when I lose my hair!) and then drove home. I was feeling a bit tired but overall pretty darned good! Yea! I guess I might get tired as the days pass. I'm taking anti-nausea drugs to help me not kack. I had a bit of the runs last night (just what you needed to hear! ((having cancer leaves you with absolutely no dignity! so what the heck!)))

Bob and Fischer stayed at home. Fischer was sick over the weekend and I've been trying to stay away. I can NOT afford to get sick!

So thats the scoop. If I feel good enough, I'm flying to Colorado next weekend the 22,23 and 24th. It's for a girl's ski weekend, of course I won't ski. Ill be swooped up at the airport and taken to the mountains, then swooped back to DIA Sunday night. I'm really looking forward to it!!! Hopefully I'll feel good enough to go! I really think I will!!!

Thank you again for all your support! Keep it coming! I love hearing from all of you!

I'll put on some pictures when MJ wakes up. The camera is in her room!


Love,
Katie