Happy New Year 2010

I hope everyone has a wonderful year. My 2009 went out with a rush of trips through the MDACC Emergency Center, and being admitted to the hospital 4 times; once in November for an eye infection, twice in December for pnunemonia, and the last time was for raging heartburn that at first looked like tumors but was ulcers and erosions in my esophegous and upper stomach. These were caused by the Zeloda oral chemo.
Everyone was glad to hear there were no more tumors that it was just ulcers and erosions that could be fixed, rather that the tumors the CT showed mistakenly. After 10 days in the hospital, with a very bland diet and medication the ulcers seem to have healed up or vastly improved as the heartburn has not returned.
I started a new intavenous chemo drug this past week; the name is Vinorelbine. It will be weekly treatments, and so far has showed miminum side effects. My next treatment is this coming Wendesday, but I will see the opthalomigist on Tuesday as my eyes are still in pretty bad shape. At this point I am considered legally blind.
I walked outside and around the farm today for the first time in a month, and felt the sun on my face. I know it has been a month because I fell down in the mud getting ready to go to the hospital for the eye infection at Thanksgiving. I have been dack in the hospital 3 times since then. This is the first weekend I have spent at home since Thanksgiving.

I'ts beginning to look a lot like Christmas...09

My daughter and grandson helped me to decorate my house for Christmas today. I have a cute,2 foot high, real, live tree, with roots. It is an Italian stone pine tree. In the Spring, I'll plant it outside. I had wanted a slightly larger tree to start with, but Home Depot only had these, a 5-6 foot juniper, a Norfolk pine, or a Rosemary herb tree. Since I wanted a real tree that can go outside, into the ground, We bought this.

I'm home from the hospital, with 7 new prescriptions, and a nebulizer, for breathing treatments. I had a blockage remover from my right bronchial tube on Wednesday. It had an immediate affect on my breathing. The tube was 90-95% blocked when I was breathing, and as soon as I coughed, it closed totally. It's no wonder I couldn't clear that lung...They put in a stint, to make sure the airway stays open. I feel SO much better now. I have 10 more days of 2 different antibiotics, to make sure the pneumonia is all finished. I'll be starting on the xeloda tomorrow. No more vacation for my lung tumors. I'm ready to kick tumor butt.

12/15/09

I'm back in the hospital, and I have pneumonia again. There is a small growth in my right bronchi and they will try and remove it tomorrow, thinking it is the source of the bleeding in my lungs, and the sours of the bloody phloem that I've been coughing up. Prayers are requested...

Some good news...

I met with my neurosurgeon yesterday, after a follow-up MRI on my brain. The tumor has shrunk almost 70% in just 30 days post treatment, with no sign of further bleeding or fluid in the brain. This is great news for me. He wants to follow up with another MRI in 2-3 months. I'll be totally weaned off the steroids I've been on since October 23, in another 6 days. I;m really looking forward to being steroid free, as I've been fighting with Chinese Face Syndrome, as I heard it is called. I gained over 26 pounds in the time I've been on the steroids. The good news is, while I was hospitalized for pneumonia, they put me on Lasix, and I lost over 10 pounds of excess water weight. I'm back on the Atkins diet to try and shed the rest of the weight. I can't stand being this heavy, and I'm weak from the steroids, so that just walking up 4 steps to my back door is a struggle. The last 6-7 weeks have been a real struggle for me, but I'm looking forward to the Christmas Holiday.

Unfortunately, my eyes aren't doing well. The herpes seems to be under control, but the corneas are damaged, and they haven't improved as much as the Dr would like, and I feel they are slightly worse. I saw her yesterday, and she prescribed an additional eye drop, and increased the dosage of the one I was already on. My vision is blurred almost constantly and I have a hard time reading or watching TV. Being on the computer is different, as I can get right up on the screen of my lap-top and see what is there, but it can be a strain.

Update 12/4/09

Well, my lung tumors have advanced. I'm not sure, but I think we have lost considerable ground. I feel like we are almost back at the place I was 6 months ago. The good news, I've started on an oral chemotherapy that I can take at home. I started it this morning. I will take it twice a day, every day for 2 weeks, then take a week off. I'm also going to try an alternative therapy that is compatible with the chemo. I have to order the stuff, and haven't done that yet. I haven't gotten my Dr's OK on it either.

We have snow at the farm, today. It started with rain and switched to snow about 7:30 AM. I took a bunch of pictures on my phone, but I don't have the right software on my lap top to download the pictures. I want to down load them to my desktop computer, but It won't connect with the desk top.

My eyes

...are much better. The drops are cut back to 5 times per day, from 9 times per day. I'm to continue the Valtrex, 3 times a day for 10 more days, then I'll be on it once per day for quite a while as a precaution. The Dr is concerned about my corneas. My right cornea is the worst. The Dr is taking pictures of it each time I go in. She said it isn't typical, and she is worried that I may be developing veins in them as they try to heal. For now, there isn't anything blocking my vision, so she is just watching ...

I'm seeing my oncologist tomorrow. The tumors in my lungs are growing again, due to no chemo as we deal with the tumor in my brain. I'm hoping that we will be starting chemo up again soon.

The Lyrica is continuing to help with the numbness and tingling in my hands and feet. It is nice to know that there is something I can take to help.

Sunday 11/29/09

We have had 2 Thanksgiving feasts here. One on the day, at my niece's, and one here at the farm yesterday. Lots of good food. 2 turkeys on Thursday, 3 yesterday. One fried, one brined then baked, and one smoked. YUMMY! Sides were delicious, but we could have doubled the amount. The desserts were, and are, to die for. We have had every kind of pie, chocolate cake, rice pudding, you name it, we probably had some.

My hands have started to tingle, like they are asleep. I contacted MDACC on Wednesday, to see if another step down in steroids was possible. The nurse in neurology referred me to my primary care Dr. because the Brain one was off for the holiday. He is my medical oncologist. He increased my steroids back to 4 times a day, and wants me to continue at this dose till he sees me this next Wednesday. It isn't going to happen. I've increased to 4 times a day, with no change in symptoms, so I'm cutting back to 3 per day, and calling my neurosurgeon tomorrow. My hands are tingling constantly, and now the tremors are back, as well as the agitation I was experiencing before. Why can't my life be simple, or easy? The steroids make me crazy!