Saturday, September 21, 2013

T.E.E Test.

Okay People,


This is not my normal Tuesday or Wednesday post. But so much is going on in life right now with moving and upacking and establishing myself with the new oncologist. It is all a bit crazy. I wanted to update you before life swept me away with distractions. Here is a quick little video to update you on how things are going. It isn't a whole lot of new info, but it has me a bit stressed out.

I will talk to you again on Wednesday of this week.

Leslie

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Testing, testing, 1,2,3!

Hello People!


Oh my gosh!!!! This has been a crazy busy week for me. What with moving, unpacking, and doctor visits. How has your week been? I'm hoping you are all doing well and are happy. I'm surrounded by boxes. There are only a few things I am allowed to do with all this moving and unpacking. I am not allowed to carry over 10 lbs. So, I only get to carry small, light boxes. I can unpack like a fool! Our current town house has a lot less cabinet and storage space than our previous home. So there is a lot of things that had to go back into their boxes and get put in storage. Right now we are in the process of unboxing some of the larger boxes and deciding what to keep and what to store. My mom drove back from the Colorado portion of this move with Mo. So she has been here for the past 4 days helping move, unbox and arrange! Wow, she is a hard worker. So is Mo. He drove me from my apartment in Texas and unpacked my stuff. Then turned around and went to our house in Colorado, packed and drove back with my mom. Now he is flying back to get all the stuff that wouldn't fit in the moving truck and driving back. All so that our house can be cleared before Oct 5 when it will sell. Whew!!!!! So crazy busy!

While all of this has been going I have gone to my new TN oncologist. I really found her to be a very straight forward Dr. She ordered a lot of tests after talking to me and examining me. She really really listened to me, and took a detailed, exacting history. When she examined me, I told her "I am concerned about all the swelling in my body" I have so much swelling in my feet and hands. That is a side affect of the avastin/taxol. They have been causing me to spill protein in my urine for a while off and on. This may be causing kidney damage. I showed her this picture that seemed to make an impact on her.


This in an image of the impression Sadie left on my very swollen leg after just a few minutes of standing on my leg in the car. Now keep in mind that she is a mini dachshund that only weighs 8 lbs. Not heavy enough for a dent of her paw print to be left in anyone's leg. So I was pretty dang swollen. The oncologist took a look at this and got very concerned. She examined me and felt that my swelling was excessive. She could hear fluid in my lungs and found that to be concerning. She spoke with my daughter Anna and I in a private conference room and explained that she felt the swelling could also be a result of the protein spilling situation. It would cause a build up of fluid around my heart. So she ordered an echo cardiogram, a bone density test (since it has been 3 years since I have had had one) a mammogram, and my Pet scan. I have had all of those tests done, except the Pet scan. I go for that tomorrow morning. The oncologist will speak with me at my next appointment to discuss test results and let me know what course of treatment she recommends based on those results. She did mention possibly discontinuing taxol/avastin and just keeping me on hormone suppression. It is her experience that it is better to treat chemo and hormone suppression separately to better determine which of the treatments are causing your body to go into remission. I am currently taking all three. ( taxol/avastin and femara) Yay! I would love to go off of chemo and only take hormone suppression.

Based on my previous Pet scan, I am in remission. Or as Doc Costa put it, "My cancer is under control" But he wanted to keep me on chemo because previously I went off treatment during a brief remission. Going off chemo caused the cancer to come back a short six weeks later. Honestly I can see both doctors reasoning. I just want to be a cancer patient that feels well enough to function through normal routines, without swollen body parts, excessive fatigue and shortness of breath. I will have that scan tomorrow. As soon as I know the results and my treatment plan, I will let you all know.

Thank you all for reading this super long and excruciatingly detailed post. More video blogs will be coming soon!!!! See ya then.

Leslie

Trodelvy trial failed.