Update to Chemo, Steroids, and Weight Gain

Went and saw my oncologist this past Tuesday before getting my 48^th treatment of Pemetrexed (Brand name Alimta). I had just had a CAT scan done last week and was awaiting the results. Happily I am still in total remission and I was so happy that I forgot all the questions I wanted to ask my doctor about the steroids.

Good news is I had lost 2 pounds from my previous visit. There was no mention about my blood test until I asked the oncology nurse (not the same nurse I saw my previous visit). She said my blood work came back from that morning and it was 8.0, which is a good count apparently as I had taken my steroids for two days previous to the blood work being done. I did tell her that when I had an A1C blood test done to measure my glucose over the past 3 months it was 6.3. Her reply was, oh that’s good. 

Rather than question her I left it alone.

My oncologist after telling me the great results of the CAT scan stood with his hands on his hips saying to me, “I don’t know what we’re going to do with you. You’re such a unique case, but we can’t keep giving you chemo forever.”

My reply to him was, “Well we skip a month and make it chemo every 2 months.”

“No I’m afraid we cannot do it that way, but I can give you breaks. I’ll see you back in November.”

I was thinking to myself that maybe they have to keep me on once a month in order for the Ontario Health Plan to pay for the chemo I’m receiving.  Stupid me, didn’t ask.

Wednesday morning I get a call from the dietician that was supposed to come see me on Tuesday but never did. She apologized that she was very busy and couldn’t get to me. 

 I explained to her that I had gained 70 pounds and it was starting to affect my knees and back. Her answer to me was well we just want you to maintain your weight and I see here that you lost 2 pounds from your previous visit in August. She asks me if I get much exercise and my answer to her is I try to walk but get out of breath quite easily. Just walking up the stairs from the main level of my house or down to the basement winds me. I do walk around malls, and try to get out and get in smaller walks than the marathons I used to due pre cancer. 

I told her that I’d taken pictures of my dinners for the past couple of weeks to show her what I eat. I’m trying to cut back on the carbs and usually have a salad, protein, and veggies for dinner.  Her answer to that was, “Low Carb diets don’t work.”

They sure have for me in the past and I will continue to watch my carb intake.  

Anyways to make a long story short or shorter the dietician is sending me out some pamphlets to look at that may help me. She said that she’d see me in November at my next oncology, chemo appointment. 

Steroids, Weight Gain, and Chemo

Dexamethasone (Steroids) 

At my last chemo appointment I saw my oncology nurse. After weighing me and looking at my blood results she said that she wanted me to go for a blood test as my sugar levels were high. Then she proceeded to draw a picture of a plate with how many carbs, protein, and veggies one should have at a dinner meal.

I’ve always prided myself in knowing what a well-balanced meal is. So I was a bit taken back as she was talking to me as if I’d never seen this before.

Since first starting chemo 4 years ago I’ve gained 70 pounds. It’s been very frustrating as I don’t eat any more than I did before starting chemo. When I first started gaining the weight I was told (by my oncology nurse) it was due to the steroids I had to take and that weight gain was a good thing while on chemo. Now her tune has changed and she has set up an appointment with a dietician for me.

I went and had a blood test done yesterday and it’s showing that I am pre-diabetic. I’m assuming this is due to all the weight gain I’ve had over the past 4 years. So my plan now is to cut out as many carbs as I possibly can.

I will be seeing the dietician on Tuesday of next week. I’m hoping that she can give me some tips on how I can lose some weight. For the past few weeks I’ve been taking pictures of my dinner plate (which is smaller than a normal sized dinner plate) to show her what I eat. Hopefully this will be helpful.

If anyone that takes steroids and has weight gain would you please leave me a comment if you have any tips for me. Thanks so much!

A Frustrating Chemo Day

Had today what I thought was going to be my every two month chemo treatment. Little did I know that my oncologist and I were on a very different page.

At my last visit to him he said to me I'm going to put you on chemo every 2 months rather than once a month. I was ecstatic. I For the past month I've felt like my almost old self.

I wasn't looking forward to going to chemo today at all knowing that over the next week I'd be getting all the side effects from the lovely drug (Pemetrexed) they shoot into my system.

My oncologist walks into the waiting room and asks me how I'm doing. I reply with I'm doing great thanks. So the break did you good he says. Break? I reply. I thought that you said I'd only have chemo once every two months? Oh no, he replies I was just giving you a month off and now you'll be back to your regular once a month treatments.

Talk about getting that last visit wrong. I called my husband who went with me for my last visit and he said to me, Oh I thought I heard that he was only going to have you going to chemo every two months. That made me feel better as I thought for a few minutes that maybe I was loosing my mind. LOL! Al then proceeded to say to me, well maybe it's for the better that you continue on with the treatments every month rather than every two months.

I'm approaching my 4th year of chemo and to tell you the truth I'm getting sick and tired of it. I just want it to be over. The treatments that is, not life itself. I suppose I should be grateful that I'm still here to write about the frustrations, tribulations, and conquering all that I've been through.

So this has been my frustrating day. Sorry this has not been a happier post. So until next time, which I hope will be happier news I wish you all a fantastic week!

Depression and Ten Things of Thankful

"Light At End Of Tunnel" by lkunl via freedigitalphotos.net

Hi Everyone,

 I know I’d posted that I’d let everyone know where I've been for most of March, April, and May. I woke up one day in March a few days after a chemo treatment feeling anxious (this was new to me), and not feeling comfortable being alone. I was also feeling very depressed about life in general. To make a long story shorter the steroid that I take for anti-nausea called Dexamethasone can cause anxiety and depression. The day before I get my chemo treatment I start on this drug twice a day and continue taking it the day of, and the day after chemo.  It gives you a euphoric feeling and then bam, it brings you down a few days after stopping it. So now I’m on an anti-depressant and Abilify to counter act the Dexamethasone.

TToT

Now that I've gotten that out of the way …. I am so happy, and thankful to be back writing or trying to write again. I had no interest in even opening my computer up let alone posting anything. I did force myself but usually I only did so to play Bejeweled, or Texas HoldEm Poker.   

I am thankful for my latest CAT scan results. The tumors are still shrinking! You can read all about it here if you like.

Thankful that I have a son that not only knows how to make coffee, but has been getting up earlier than me lately and making it. There’s nothing quite like coming downstairs to the aroma of fresh brewed coffee that I didn’t have to make. It always tastes better when someone else makes it too.

About two weeks ago I woke up one morning and wanted to get out of bed. This had not been the case in so long. I think I knew that’s when I finally had hit a turning point. I’m not quite back to springing out of bed at 5 am, but I did get up at 6 to start writing this.

So very thankful that I have a hubby that stands beside me no matter what happens. In sickness and, in health ….. This man has been through so much with me over the years. I think he deserves an award. This Sunday is not only Father’s Day but his birthday and my twin sons birthdays. My only hope is that he takes the day off and gets to relax a bit.

Through all of this I tried to keep up with Scrabble and Words With Friends. I forced myself to play even though I did lose more often than what I used to. I’m thankful to all the people that I play these games with even if you did beat me.

I’m thankful that I've gotten my appetite back except there’s one little problem,  and that’s that I've gained weight. Back onto the lower carb diet I go, soon :)

The weather has been gorgeous and I’m so thankful that all the snow melted. There was doubt in my mind as I pictured going through this entire spring never seeing that horrible white stuff disappear.

Thankful that it is time for my mother in law to come for a visit, as a lot of you know we are pretty good friends. She arrived in Toronto on Thursday night and will be at my house on Sunday.

Once again I have to say thank you to my online friends that kept sending me messages of concern during my lost in space time. You guys mean the world to me. 

I've learned that no matter what life brings there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Check out all the other TToT posts by visiting the following links and Happy Father's Day to all you Dad's out there!

A Fly on our (Chicken Coop) Wall, Amycake and the Dude, Considerings, Finding Ninee, Getting Literal, I Want Backsies, Mother of Imperfection, Rewritten, Thankful Me, The Wakefield Doctrine

Join the Ten Things of Thankful Facebook Group

Ten Things of Thankful - Not so Thankful

This week I decided I'd tell everyone about the ten things I'm not so thankful about. Guess I'm sick of being positive all the time and would like to take this opportunity to vent a bit. Sorry +Lizzi R  but I'm telling it like it is. Some days I just don't feel thankful and this is one of them.

Cancer Sucks!
I'm sure everyone agrees with my numero uno. How many times do I get to have this dreaded disease anyways? As if 3 times wasn't enough over 20 years ago I now get it again. So if I'm lucky enough to beat it again (yes miracles do happen) will it try and rear it's ugly head once again? Cancer I'm Unbeatable so GIVE UP ALREADY!!!

Anti-nausea drugs + 2 diuretics 

But on the same hand I'm thankful that chemo has gone well as far as nausea goes. I've not tossed my
cookies once yet. The anti nausea drugs they have out now a days compared to 20 years ago are magnificent. My oncologist nurse told me to follow her instructions to the "T" and I would not get sick. Eat breakfast and drink 4 bottles (500 ml each) of water before getting to the hospital on the day of chemo. After chemo eat small amounts of food every 2 hours whether you're hungry or not, and continue to consume water.  Food has not been an issue with me and I've not lost a single ounce of my appetite. 



Dog Breath
No not mine! Although wait till you see my post tomorrow for Silly on Sundays :)
My dog has really bad breath, Bruce that is. Maggie's isn't all that bad. When I had them on a raw diet their breaths didn't stink a bit. Wish I could have afforded to keep them on a raw diet but it was costing me more to feed them per week than it was 4-5 adults a week. It got to be a bit much. 

Thankful that I myself do not have dog breath.

Okay so I'm actually mixing it up a bit here with thankful and not thankful things. Oh well. Started my round 4 of 4 chemo yesterday and let's just blame it on "GOOFY", or as they say Chemo Brain.

Thankful that round 4 has began. After the 4th round is complete I will be having a CAT scan done on the 24th of January. If all goes well and the tumors have shrunk then my oncologist said he'll be putting me on a new treatment. I should have written down the name of this new treatment as then I'd be able to do some research, but I forgot to bring a pen with me. The doctor would have freaked on me if I'd taken out my iPhone to take notes. (That's another story) So with this new treatment it is only done every 3 weeks and time for treatment is only one hour. I'm getting excited about this new treatment as it means more time for me, less driving, and rather than going to the hospital 3 times a month Ill only have to go once every 3 weeks. Let's just hope that I don't lose get to keep my hair with this one too.

Thankful that I have not lost my hair. I'm fortunate to be in the very low percentage of people that don't have any hair loss. I did lose a tooth though and it's the front one which sucks! Now I have to go and get a partial or full plate done. Need to save up for that though. My smile has turned very small over the past month trying to hide the fact that I'm missing a tooth.

Not thankful that my calves (no not my cows although they are pretty big) my legs and ankles are not doing well with the chemo. One of my side effects are water retention and so now I'm on 2 diuretics that I have to take every day. They're not working all that well because I'm bad. I don't put my feet up as often as I should. It's hard to type with a laptop on my lap while lying down and feet propped up.

On the other hand thankful that the swelling is not caused by blood clots.

That's it for today folks. Technically if you count all the thankful's and un-thankful's there are ten I think. I'm not good with math so please forgive me if I've counted that incorrectly. 


Hosts for TToT are:
A Fly on our (Chicken Coop) Wall, Considerings, Finding Ninee, Getting Literal, I can say mama, I Want Backsies, Mother of Imperfection, Rewritten, Thankful Me,The Wakefield Doctrine

Please join in on the fun of this blog hop, and remember to link up!

Therapeutic Thursday

Don't mind me this week I just can't seem to come up with good blog post titles so instead I'm playing around with words.

Today is my last day of freedom as I start chemo tomorrow. A day that I've been dreading and hoping wouldn't come so fast.

I try and put on a brave front but the truth is I'm scared. Don't get me wrong I'm still planning on fighting like hell but to not be afraid of cancer I think is an impossibility.

Last night hubby went to pick up my pre-chemo pills. These are the pills that I have to start taking upon getting up tomorrow morning. Two of  the bottles you see in the picture I've been taking for pain in my neck and shoulder, so technically I have 4 for pre-chemo.  All of them are to help stop any nausea and vomiting.
For a person like myself who rarely takes any pills at all this is a lot.

My appointment is at 9:50 am and before arriving at the hospital I'm to drink 2 litres of water. That is 4 bottles. Normally I'm not a huge water drinker but by the looks of things I'm about to turn into one.

If you don't happen to see me online tomorrow you know where I am.

Have a Happy Halloween and a good weekend everyone.