I will be spending Thanksgiving with my kids in Mt. Vernon. Ron went elk hunting with friends. I hope he gets an elk.
I wanted to update everyone where I am at. I was just released from Seattle again. I started my maintenance therapy with vorinastat and velcade. I take vorinastat pill for 14 days and velcade the 2nd and 5th day of a 28 day cycle. I notice it is causing all my blood counts to drop. I saw my regular oncologist just this morning and we set up appts. for next month to continue the therapy and I was no more than 5 min away and I got a call to be back on Mon. to recheck my counts again. He had just got the counts from the lab and was concerned. When I was with the Seattle doctor on Monday the 23rd and I saw my blood counts were low, they said it was expected. Maybe that's why they give me 14 day rest from this chemo.
I have been feeling very healthy and miss working. I planned on going back to work in February. I just might see about doing some part time in Jan. to work back up to handling my job full time.
I also spent a couple of days in Salem, OR this last Thurs and Fri with my mom in the hospital. She has been diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. She was a heavy smoker all her life which is the main cause for this cancer. It is fast moving and could spread to other parts of the body. The hospital did a cat scan on Tuesday(yesterday) and found cancer also in her brain and liver. They can treat it with chemo but even with chemo her life expectancy isn't very long.
Pray for my mom, that she endures the treatment and she can be with our family this Christmas. They will be putting her in a nursing home this weekend after her first round of chemo. We had a family reunion planned this Christmas since it will be my dads 75th birthday on Dec. 28th.
Pray also I do well with this maintenance therapy and I can go back to work soon.
God Bless, Becky
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Nov 4th-I'm home
I was released from SCCA on Oct. 30th. I will be staying at my son's house for several months which is only 5 mins. to the hospital and cancer clinic in Mt. Vernon. I am feeling very well outside of the times fatigue hits me then I go take a nap. I usually last about 4 hours. I can go along not watching the time then all of a sudden it hits me and I know it is time to stop. My blood counts are all in normal ranges. It will take about a year for my immune system to be back to normal. The nurses explained the importance keeping my hands washed and be careful not to be touching my face much. I stay away from crowds which means I will still have to miss church for awhile. I did go to bible study fellowship several times and during the lecture time I sat in the back away from everyone.
The last week in Seattle the clinic keep me busy with appts. with various doctors on my team and attending a long term care class. Basically, I can't isolate myself and if someone in my home is sick, we just stay apart from each other. We have handy wipes to wipe things done often so germs aren't spread. I even put paper towels in the bathroom because I can't share hand towels. I plan on staying healthy.
I start my maintenance therapy on Dec. 16th. It will involve a 28th day cycle of Velcade and vorinostat. Velcade is the same drug I was given when I was first diagnosed and I did real well with it. It will be given to me the 2nd and 5th days of the cycle. I will miss my pick lines when they give me that. I will have to be hooked up to an IV for treatment. For those who din not see me I had a pick line in my upper right arm for 10 months. It was removed in Seattle and I was given a Hickman line in my chest. That was removed on Oct 29th.
Vorinostat is a pill that I will take for the first 14 days of the cycle. It is used for other types of bone marrow cancers but not in post transplant patients for myeloma. It is a protein inhibitor. I will be part of a research study of about 30 post transplant myeloma patients to see what effects this drug combination has on people after a autologous transplant. They want to see if by using this as a maintenance therapy if it will keep the cancer from coming back and increase the survival rate.
This last paragraph reminds me that when I saw my doctor at by release appt. and he is telling me all about the chances of this cancer coming back or that I am at high risk of getting other cancers, I told him I have a powerful almighty God who will heal me completely. I was impressed with his reaction. He actually agreed it could happen.
This blog is getting long time for me to go. Pray that I will do well with my maintenance therapy. Also, notice the start date of Dec 16. I have to go to Seattle for 2 and a half weeks. This is through Christmas. My name is on top of the list to move up sooner. I am suppose to go to Oregon this Christmas for my dad's 75th birthday. We planned a big party on Dec. 27th plus I got a call this last weekend that we are having Christmas dinner and gift exchange at my parents house. Pray there is a cancellation so my treatment won't interfere with these times.
God bless, Becky
The last week in Seattle the clinic keep me busy with appts. with various doctors on my team and attending a long term care class. Basically, I can't isolate myself and if someone in my home is sick, we just stay apart from each other. We have handy wipes to wipe things done often so germs aren't spread. I even put paper towels in the bathroom because I can't share hand towels. I plan on staying healthy.
I start my maintenance therapy on Dec. 16th. It will involve a 28th day cycle of Velcade and vorinostat. Velcade is the same drug I was given when I was first diagnosed and I did real well with it. It will be given to me the 2nd and 5th days of the cycle. I will miss my pick lines when they give me that. I will have to be hooked up to an IV for treatment. For those who din not see me I had a pick line in my upper right arm for 10 months. It was removed in Seattle and I was given a Hickman line in my chest. That was removed on Oct 29th.
Vorinostat is a pill that I will take for the first 14 days of the cycle. It is used for other types of bone marrow cancers but not in post transplant patients for myeloma. It is a protein inhibitor. I will be part of a research study of about 30 post transplant myeloma patients to see what effects this drug combination has on people after a autologous transplant. They want to see if by using this as a maintenance therapy if it will keep the cancer from coming back and increase the survival rate.
This last paragraph reminds me that when I saw my doctor at by release appt. and he is telling me all about the chances of this cancer coming back or that I am at high risk of getting other cancers, I told him I have a powerful almighty God who will heal me completely. I was impressed with his reaction. He actually agreed it could happen.
This blog is getting long time for me to go. Pray that I will do well with my maintenance therapy. Also, notice the start date of Dec 16. I have to go to Seattle for 2 and a half weeks. This is through Christmas. My name is on top of the list to move up sooner. I am suppose to go to Oregon this Christmas for my dad's 75th birthday. We planned a big party on Dec. 27th plus I got a call this last weekend that we are having Christmas dinner and gift exchange at my parents house. Pray there is a cancellation so my treatment won't interfere with these times.
God bless, Becky
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