On Thursday, things did not go as planned. After 2 days of chemo (Tue & Wed), I woke up to a very distended stomach. I was panic-stricken because I couldn’t figure out where the heck they were going to be able to put two more liters of chemo. What would happen to my stomach? I didn’t think it could stretch that quickly to accommodate all of the new fluid.
With those concerns in mind, Pat and I drove back down to Stanford, figuring that they knew what they were doing and somehow this was going to all work out. I’m not going to go into the details here, since even recounting them makes me a little woozy, but let’s just say that after many hours of trying to access my port to get the chemo in, they were unable to do so because of the amount of fluid in my body. They attempted to get me in to see a surgeon to see if he/she could help, but the surgeons were slammed and so we waited. After 6 hours of waiting and trying multiple times to access the port (which involves some really large needles), Dr. Fisher finally told the nurses to send me home.
This was not a good day. I was mentally prepared to get chemo (although worried about where it was going to go) and to be turned away after 6 hours was not easy. I want to get as much chemo in me as possible to kill this darn cancer. But, I have to trust Dr. Fisher and if he says that it’s time to go home, then it’s time to go home.
So - I’m officially one-half way through (unless Dr. Fisher decides to extend my chemo due to Thursday’s failure). I’m sore and tired from a very long week. The one plus from not getting chemo on Thursday is that I felt well enough to volunteer at Ellie’s Valentine’s Day party yesterday. She couldn’t have been happier.
Next is Round 3 – set to begin on February 23. In the meantime, my family is going to rest, regroup and try to enjoy every moment together. Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Dang, Eve. Sounds harrowing, but Ellie sure got the benefit, and that is priceless. I'm sure Ari was equally enchanted at a great Valentine's Day hanging out with fun mom. You can do this. You are strong, determined and YOU have cancer. Cancer does not have you, amd in fact it has an army working against it in you. Rest while you can, keep smiling and hugging, and know that there are hundreds of us who are sending you love, light, warmth, hope, hugs, healing beams and unequalled admiration. Sounds like your doctor is in it as much as you are, and I bet you can find many, many survivors who can share similar setbacks with you (now years later...). Here's a virtual hug. We love you!!
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