How 'bout some happy news?? Sounds good to me. Maybe writing it out will boost my spirits some. We finally sold our home! It was final on January 21st. Whew, feels so good to have that what-became-a-burden lifted from our lives. After a longer than expected renovation project, multiple deals gone bad, and I don't even want to say how many months of dual mortgage payments (the ouchiest of the owies!!), we finally are owners of just a single home again!
There is still so much we miss about that house, but we've made some progress at the new house in making it more "ours," and that has helped. A few new pieces of furniture, some new plants and trees, and weather allowing us to be outside more have all added some joy to our always-stressful lives. Just looking at my trees, plants and flowers gives me happiness! And planning for future gardening projects really excites me. Oh and also home decorating projects. I'm a dreamer, what can I say?
We found a private spot for a fire pit and our swing, so we've had enjoyable time on some sweet, clear-sky nights. I seem to be having longer-than-3-week breaks from chemo due to continued low blood count issues, so that allows me more "feeling pretty good" time.
I do, however, currently have worries about the CT scan results. The last one done 3 months ago showed some progression, but not enough to warrant treatment change. Wondering what this one will show. My tumor marker (CA 15-3) is still trending upward and is now the highest it's been since I've been on this Carboplatin/Gemcitabine chemo regimen. Also, this may seem silly, but when I exited the CT exam room, there was a crowd of workers in scrubs (techs, docs, who knows who?) standing around the computer monitor screens facing the room I was in. This could just be coincidental and totally meaningless, but I worked in healthcare for many years. In my mind I'm thinking, there must be something interesting to see on my scans, and they have called others over to see it. Is it a lot of fluid? Is it large tumors? Has my heart been displaced to my right side again? What is it? If it's nothing, they really shouldn't do that where the patient can see them when she leaves!
I am trying to look at the positives which are mostly that I feel none of the symptoms I had when I was dealing with the major pleural effusion issues last year. No cough, no fever, no tachycardia. I am feeling a slight pressure in the center of my chest which worsens when I lay on either side. The only other issues are treatment-related: gradually worsening peripheral neuropathy, symptoms of magnesium deficiency, and fatigue -- all caused either directly or indirectly by the chemotherapy. Oh and gastrointestinal problems. I've mentioned before that my insides have never been the same since receiving radiation to my lower spine a couple years ago.
I'm scheduled to see Dr. C on Monday to get CT results. Prayers appreciated!!!
I leave you with some happy pictures taken from my garden today...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment