Update after latest chemo -still good news

Had chemo trial treatment yesterday. Dr. says everything still looks good. CA-125 is at 8, she can't feel any signs of growing tumors. I get my next CT scan in about a month.

Took the kids to Pagosa Springs last week. They had fun snow boarding while I read a book in the lodge (had headache and knee is not in great shape.)

My parents are now here visiting. Dad seems to have the flu and is down for now. Hopefully is on the uphill.

Kids are enjoying the "chill" time away from school. Jodi still has wrestling practice every morning, but has rest of day for play - no homework!

Wish everyone a great holiday and hope for a fun 2010!

Latest check-up

I saw the Dr. on Wednesday, and all is still good. My CA-125 is 9, and no sign of tumors.
Had cycle 12 of the Avastin trial. I found out there are 22 cycles (every 3rd week) instead of the 16 I had thought. So, I'll be having chemo until mid summer.

Good news

Hi faithful supporters.

I'm not updating as often because I don't have much happening. I get blood draws every week, CT scans every few months, Acupuncture is now about every 3 weeks, physical therapy to try and fix my back is ongoing a couple times each week, and chemo (avastin trial) is every 3 weeks with a exam and meeting with the oncologist.

Today was a chemo day, and I got good news from the doc. My CT scan from last week she said looks "perfect", and my CA-125 (blood marker) is still 8 - good number. All looks good right now. (I just typoed and had "Ass looks good now!" I really wouldn't know, 'cause my head doesn't go back that far! Good for a laugh.)

I'm back at LANL 1/2 time and doing ok. Having trouble getting my brain around the work - but am told that is typical at LANL now days.

Take care
Breathe
Enjoy Life

Update

Hi all.

I've gotten pretty bad at keeping up this blog. I've got a good excuse - better than the dog and the homework. The chemo brain must have misplaced my knowledge of having a blog. My cousin, Cheryle (named after me!), told me about the blog. So, here I am writing.

I went to Albuquerque for treatment today. So many wigs! The one other patient who always wore hats suddenly had shoulder-length hair. Now, I know she couldn't grow it that fast! Just 3 weeks ago she was totally bald and I had the fuzz of a chia pet. Now, I have eye brows, nose hair, etc., and she was still without eye brows.

Anyway. The doc said all is looking good. My CA-125 is still at 8, and my red and white blood counts are up. Yipee!

Other news.
My parents are the proud adoptive parents of a 3 yr little poodle. They treat her better than they treated me at that age! She is cute, adorable, white, and very spoiled. Dad takes her for lots of walks, plays tennis ball catch with her, and sleeps on the floor next to her during lightening/thunder storms. Mom cuddles, and feeds her.



I'm learning to play bridge (cards - like poker without the money) with my cancer friends. It is great getting together. Some day we will figure out how to play without telling everyone what is in our hands.

Got to go. Getting that headache that comes on the day of chemo. Am also on a steroid high, so will be awake tonight and like a pregnant mother on due date tomorrow.

Cheri

down with the flu

The Dr. thinks it is H1N1 - most of LA has had it. My symptoms are sore throat, cough,headache
(could be the avastin - chemo drug giving the headache), run down feeling. Got lots of drugs to combat this and am tying to take it easy. I'm not good at this! Good thing this is a mild case.

Jodi is off at a Youth Group CON this weekend, so I'm using her room for refuse and her notebook to type this. It is really hard to type on the smaller keyboard.

Updating on my condition/progress

Hi.

Had my 8th treatment (8 more to go) and visit with my Dr. yesterday. CA-125 is still down (8) - WOW, this is an "8" moment. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket and choose all "8s"! - but my liver function tests are high. Got an ultrasound and it didn't show anything, so we'll just keep an eye on the blood tests.

My strength comes and goes, for the most part I'm doing well. I'm told I will probably never get back to the full energy level of pre-cancer - good thing I started with being a "high-energy" person.

Current symptoms I'm having are not too bad, just a bit irritating.
Head aches
Neuropothy - pain in feet mostly, some in hands
High Blood pressure
Upper spine pain
Insomnia
and the infamous "Chemo brain"

=============

Signs and symptoms of chemo brain may include:

• Being unusually disorganized
• Confusion
• Difficulty concentrating
• Difficulty finding the right word
• Difficulty learning new skills
• Difficulty multitasking
• Fatigue
• Feeling of mental fogginess
• Short attention span
• Short-term memory problems
• Taking longer than usual to complete routine tasks
• Trouble with verbal memory, such as remembering a conversation
• Trouble with visual memory, such as recalling an image or list of words

Signs and symptoms of cognitive or memory problems vary from person to person and are typically temporary, often subsiding within two years of completion of cancer treatment.

=============

The Dr. wants to wait another couple treatments (end of October) before thinking about releasing me for work. Hopefully I can gain strength and get a better handle on how to work around the brain function issues.

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful support.

Good news from Dr.

Went for chemo yesterday and got some good news. My CA-125 is down to 7, and my latest CT scan does not show any cancer tumors. The chemo seems to be doing it's thing. I'm now on the 2nd phase of the Avastin trial. Hpefully I'm an getting the real drug and it will keep the cancer from growing.

All is well.