Roaring in Sarasota (the universe is resonating)!

I have been waiting to post until I had some real news to share.....and the good news is that it is great news!

Paul and I just returned from my appointment with my surgeon and chemotherapist and the results from my tests that were run 10 days ago are excellent. My next visit will be January to repeat all of the scans, x-rays and lab work.

I went feeling confident that it would all be good, but the rush of joy that came from hearing the news made me absolutely giddy :~)

I was hoping they would have some answers about the Chemo induced neuropathy I am dealing with, but alas....there is no definitive outcome to expect. I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens over the next year.

Based on what Dr.Letson (surgeon extraordinaire) expressed to me in regards to my surgery and recovery, I am at a functioning level that is way beyond the normal expectation for the very invasive surgery he had to do to remove the tumor! I guess a bit of neuropathy is considered a little collateral damage when you look at the big picture.

So to all of my blog friends who have supported me during these past 9 months.......open your window and you may be able to hear the sound of roaring....that would be me

Oh and by the way, when my chemotherapist asked me how I was dealing with the ear ringing I have as a result of Chemo damage,and I told him that I don't think of it as ringing it is that I am now able to hear the sound of universe resonating ;)

Leaving Port!

Today was another milestone in my journey back to the land of normal.

I went to , this morning, to have my port removed that had been placed in my chest for chemotherapy purposes.

It was great when the doctor pulled it out and held it up for me to see.

My comment to him was that it looked like E.T. :~) So happy to see it on the outside of my body!

So today I left port...so to speak as I left my port in Tampa....I am so looking forward to a smooth sail from now on.

Fantastic News!

Paul and I just returned from Moffitt with fantastic news. All of my test results came back clean and Dr. Letson told me that I am doing a great job on rehabilitating my leg.
My next appointment will be on September 26th and every three months there after to follow up over the next two years.
As all of you can imagine......we are so very happy and relieved.

Celebration is in order for this evening :~)

Testing.....Testing... 1-2-3

So here I am back at Moffitt three weeks after I came for my last round of Chemo. This time it is not in patient, and it is to do tests to check out the state of affairs after all of the Chemo treatments.

The schedule has me here from 11:30am start time with my last appointment for a MRI at 6pm. Currently I am drinking a copious amount of a mystery drink that needs to be ingested for my CT scans. Hey, it is better than doing Chemo. My standards of what is okay have really come down since December!

I will be back on Monday afternoon at 2pm to meet with the surgeon, Dr. Letson, to go over the results. Naturally, I am sending all of my positive energy into the universe that it all is good!

I will be blogging again after I have news....meanwhile, Paul and I will be celebrating our 18-year wedding anniversary with a romantic dinner out this weekend  : )

Small Glitch

I woke up today feeling good. It was early (6:30 am) so being anxious to get up and looking good for the roving chemo team I bounded with my tower to the bathroom to freshen up. I felt so good after that I did some of my Pilates mat exercises on the bed, followed by the light leg work I do with ankle weights for my operated leg.

Team came around....liked how well I looked and declared me fit to go home at 6pm when chemo is completed....yay!

Half an hour later comes a glitch. It seems that my hemoglobin level is at 7.7 and is supposed to be at least 11.7-13.7 so blood transfusions are necessary before I can leave.
I was of course so disappointed, as they were unclear as to whether I could receive the blood with the Chemo which could have kept me here an additional four hours tonight after 6pm.....do the math!

Happily I can report they are transfusing me as I type and will be blood fortified by 4pm so I Can depart this evening as scheduled.

I must confess, I did have to hold back a few tears when I thought I was going to be held here late into the night. Even Virgo Warriors start to hit the wall every now and then during such a big adventure! Rest assured, I am back and ready two roar :)

Finally!

The Liquid Plumber worked and my last Chemo treatment seemed to be going for once close to schedule.

My nurse, Leslie, who has been awesome came to my room as the pre-Chemo hydration liquids were running dry to say that the pharmacy had not sent up my Adriamycin and Cisplatin cocktail. In the midst of this a short black out occurred and left me with a flashing digital wall clock and a TV that will not reset itself! At least the pump on my tower stayed functional!

At 6:45 my drugs came through and by 7pm I officially began my final dance with the crystal tower!

Clock is still flashing and TV is not working, but I have my IPad, so....
Life Is Good ; )

Got A Bed!

The good news is that I was called before lunch time and informed that there was a bed for me!

My friend, Donna, was able to give me a ride as Paul had meetings already scheduled today so getting me back to Moffitt was going to be a big problem. Nothing comes easy with this cancer dance and trying to maintain a normal life schedule.

Check in at admissions totally uneventful and the room was ready as soon as I got to the fifth floor.....yippee!!!!

Of course I should have known it was going too smoothly and something was bound to occur.

I developed a little clot in my port and so when they tried to access it no blood flow would come out. Two nurses looked at it and decided the port needed to have Heprin injected into it to dissolve the clot....makes me think of Liquid Plumber. So this takes an hour to work which means my Chemo cannot begin until this problem is resolved.