Sorry It Has Been So Long

Well...it has been 2 and one half weeks since the conclusion of my radiation treatments. I was so happy that day (March 12). I have NO more treatments of any type. As of the 12th, and even on into the end of that week, the only side effects that I had been aware of was that my skin appeared to be sun burned and that some of my hair was falling out from the left-bottom portion of my neck. Even though I was done with the treatments the radiation was still working in my body. It had been building up throughout my 17 visits and would continue to work for about 2 weeks after. But as soon as we left for the desert the part of my neck that no longer had any hair became VERY burned. If you see me you will see what I am talking about. It was so burned (like a major sunburn) that it was almost black. By the second week, it seemed to be healing but the discoloration was still very apparent.

So as of now my cancer is GONE. I will just have to wait, pray, wait, pray, and pray some more that the periodic scans I complete over the next 5 years all come out clean. Five years, I believe, is the amount of time you must wait to become officially cured of Hodgkin's Disease. So from now until then it is a waiting game.

The girls and I have been on Spring Break since March the 15th. We were in the desert for a week and spent the rest of the time here in town. However, our vacation has now come to an end. We go back to school/work tomorrow. Wish us luck because now there is only one vacation day left between now and the end of the school year on June 20th. That is a long time!

We went to the Pancake Breakfast held by the La Mesa Fire Department this morning and then went and bought an oven. So, YES, we have an oven that works now!!! A pretty nice one at that. I only had to wait 2 and one half years. So I went to Target and bought a bunch of new bakeware and some cake and brownie mixes. I made the brownies as soon as I got home. Now we are gonna have to get a fridge, microwave, and dishwasher to match. :-)

Radiation Symptoms Appear!

Well, yesterday was the first day that I was able to feel that there was something not quite right with my throat. Today it has been very apparent. It is hard to describe the feeling. It kindof feels like a soar lump in the back of my throat. It seems to be irritated most when I am eating. The radiation tech. told me that the irritation will get progressively worse during my 7 remaining treatments. She also said that most people end their treatment in a whisper. Then it will take about 2 weeks after my treatment for the throat issues to disappear.

At least my sinus infection seems to be clearing up - FINALLY. To give you an idea of how sick I was and how horrible I felt,

The FLU invaded our house!

I have not posted recently because the girls and I have been really sick. This all started last Wednesday.

WEDNESDAY: I got a call from Ramon at about noon. He said that the school had called him telling him that Mina needed to be picked up because she was running a fever. So I rushed over since I was on my prep and picked her up. She stayed with me in my class until school was over. I worked on my sub plans for Thursdays and finished teaching the lessons so they could know what to do for the next day.

THURSDAY: I took Mina to the doctor in the morning. We layed in bed the remainder of the day and rested. I was not feeling that well either and my cough was getting worse. It was during the night that Sophia started running a fever of 103º + degrees.

FRIDAY: By the morning it was clear that Sophia was now really sick too. So it was Mina, Sophia, and I that stayed home. Again, we stayed in bed all day. We did not get up until it was time to pick Bella up from school. I was also pretty sick by this point too. I was also running a low grade fever.

SATURDAY: Mina was starting to feel better (I think because she had a birthday party to go to today). She was motivated to be well. However, Sophia was still running her 103º + degrees fever. It was not letting up. It would o down with the Tylenol but about very 5-6 hours it would be back. I was stil not well either.

SUNDAY: to be continued....

MONDAY:

TUESDAY:

WEDNESDAY:

THURSDAY:

FRIDAY:

SATURDAY (today):

My 2 month anniversary

Today is my 2 month anniversary celebrating the completion of my chemo treatments. Too bad I am sick. Well actually both Mina and I are sick. After visiting the doctors this morning, we came home and were resting in bed the rest of the day. We are both staying home from school again tomorrow. Having a cough brings back memories of the last time I was sick. It was back in April of 2007, with my last cough, when I had the chest xray in which my tumor was found. I am not going to post very much today as I don't really feel up to it...plus I still have to take a trip to work in a bit to leave my lesson plans for tomorrow.

More RADIOACTIVITY

Well, I now have 2 radiation therapy treatments under my belt. Today I was actually counting: 1-1000, 2-1000, 3-1000, 4-1000, etc. and here is what I came up with. When they radiated my from above it took about 23 seconds, the moving of the machine took about 43 seconds, and the radiation from below me took about 11 seconds. So, I think that my numbers today are more accurate than the numbers that I posted yesterday.

Well, Marina is sick. I had to pick her up from school at about 11am as she had a fever of 103 degrees. So I am staying home with her tomorrow. I am not feeling the greatest either. I have had a cough since last Thursday and today it has been worse. We both have appointments to see the doctor tomorrow. I'll let you know what they tell us. Either way. the radiation will continue so I have that appointment as well.

"RADIOACTIVITY"

Today was my first official day of radiation therapy. It was a piece of cake and went sooooooo fast. It took them longer to place me on the table correctly than to radiate me. The machine emitted radiation from over me for about 10 seconds, it moved positions (approx. 30 seconds), and then emitted radiation from underneath me for about another 10 seconds. So do the math, 50 seconds in total. The rest of the time again, was spent on placing me on the table and my changing in and out of the fabulous gown that I keep in cubby #6. I was told that the radiation will build up in the body. It is not until about 1.5 weeks into the process that the effects will become noticable. So I still feel fine. We'll see how I am doing by next week.

Palm Desert

The girls and I were in the desert for the weekend. This is the best time of the year to visit. We were there for our annual trip to the Date Festival and to drop off out tax papers. We went to the fair on Sunday and after we were able to squeeze in a trip to Teresa's. Even though most of us were not hungry, we couldn't resist ordering our favorite things. I was even able to squeeze in a trip to the mall that evening. Tomorrow is my first day of radiation. I am kindof nervous. Nervous that I will not make it on time. Remember. my apt. is at 7:45am. So I have to have all 3 girls dropped off by 7:35. Wish me luck!

T.G.I.F.

I am always glad when Friday rolls around, especially when it is sunny like today. Not as glad as I am for Saturdays but glad none-the-less. Well, I had my first radiation appointment today. They did not radiate me (well they did but just a little). They took a single x-ray with me in the position that I will be in while receiving radiation. It is just for the doctor to make sure that everything is aligned and precise. My "real" first appointment is on Tuesday. All 17 of my appointments are scheduled for 7:45 am so hopefully they will not interupt my teaching. I was told that I would be in-and-out of my appointment in about 10-15 minutes. That is once they call my name. Today I had to wait 25 minutes for them to call my name. The technician told me that the total radiation time is about 45 seconds each visit. So it is like having an x-ray that takes 45 seconds everyday (M-F) for 17 days. They also told me that I would not be RADIOACTIVE. I would hate to glow in the dark!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to you all! Today I had an appointment with my oncologist, Dr. Sweet. We did not have much to discuss other than the fact that he wants me to have an ultrasound performed on my abdomen as something showed up on my PET scan in my ovaries. He seems to think that it is really nothing to be worried about but wants to proceed on the side of caution. He also has put an order in for me to have some bloodwork done to see how I have recovered from chemo - since I have not had any blood work performed since the day before my last chemo. I will keep you posted on the results of the ultrasound once I have it done.

I did have an short conversation about education with Dr. Sweet and it turns out that his son will soon attend the school that Kim now teaches at. He did confess that he was unfamiliar with the names of any of the teachers that his daughter had while there. I was shocked and told him that he had 8 weeks (when I am scheduled to see him again) to learn the names of the teachers his kids have now because I would be quizzing him and he did not seem too enthused. I am usually an optimistic person, however, I have a feeling that he is gonna fail.

Once I was done with all of my doctor stuff I was able to spend some time at Rolando with the girls. I was a kindergarten helper mom before lunch and a first grade helper mom after lunch. I love spending time in their classrooms - not like I don't spend enough time in the classroom as it is. I was also able to squeeze in some time to buy two new scarves. I think I am addicated to them. I will be sporting one of them tomorrow.

Well, as I get ready to go to bed I just wanted to report that this has been a pretty good day. Not very eventfull, but good, actually GREAT. Hey, I am alive, free of disease, have an AWESOME family, and AWESOME friends, that's why everyday is GREAT. Ramon gave me some beautiful roses that smell amazing, the girls came home with a gazillion Valentine's, and I have been sitting here composing this post for about the last hour. That about the extent of our celebration. That's how our Valentine's Day went. Good night.

I've Moved Past the Blue Bandana

Please enjoy the picture that I have posted. Me, the girls, and my mom are modeling my new scarf collection. I've moved on to more stylish head coverings these days - to VERA BRADLEY silk scarves to be specific. James' girlfriend, Winnie, got me the 3 best scarves that I have ever had. I love them!!! After one of my students told me that I looked like a "chola", I knew that I needed to wear the bandana a lot less. Then I bought another great scarf last weekend at Ann Taylor and have another Vera Bradley scarf on the way that I ordered online. My greatest trouble I have had lately is getting shirts to match the scarves and hunting for new scarves to expand my small collection. But enough about fashion....

Well, I had my PET scan on the 28th of January and I had been awaiting the results. I finally got them yesterday when I met with my radiation oncologist, Dr. Shirazi. They test showed No Evidence of Disease (N.E.D.). I was sooooo happy. That means the chemo worked and the cancer is gone. So now comes the radiation. This is a precautionary treatment aimed at killing any remaining cells that were not detected by the scans that might still remain. I not only left the appointment yesterday with the great news but also with my first tatoo. YES, they tatooed me. Even though it is a small black dot the size of a freckle right in the middle of my upper chest, it still counts as a tatoo. Its purpose is to permanently mark the spot where the radiation will be directed in case I ever have to go through radiation again.

So, I have 17 days of radiation, starting Feb. 19. The radiation will take place M-F at 7:45 am. This is the only time slot they had that would not interrupt my teaching schedule. I am hopeful that it will go quickly so I can start to put all of this past me and focus on getting my hair to grow back. It is growing back but not as fast as I'd like. Hopefully I will have some length by Monica and Frank's wedding at the end of August.

My next appointment is on Valentine's Day (Thursday) with my regular oncologist. I am not sure what we'll discuss so I hope it will be a short visit. I am bringing my mini-shoebox of medications that were leftover from my chemo and hope that he can dispose of them safely. I am taking the entire day off and spending the rest of the afternoon at school with the girl's. They are excited.

Thanks to all those that continue to visit my blog in hopes that it will someday be updated. Well, today is the day. I have all intentions of posting more often but get caught up in my busy day-to-day life. I am sure that most of you understand. Right now I am doing great. I feel normal (don't look normal) but being as though I don't look in the mirror very often during the day I tend to forget that :-). I really feel as well as I did pre-chemo and pre-cancer. The radiation is probably going to zap a lot of my energy, give me a horrible sore throat (as my esophagus is in the field of radiation), permanently scar portions of my heart and lungs, but most importantly - hopefully make me 100% cancer free.

My Blue Bandana

If you had not noticed from the pics or from seeing me in person, my blue bandana is my favorite accessory. The bandana looks 1000% better than my hair that is in such sad shape. Now that my chemo is over I am wondering when my hair will start growing back. I still have hair but just not very much of it in comparison to what I normally have. Hopefully the new growth will start soon. Some of it still continues to fall out so I hopefully that will end soon too.

The girls and I went to the zoo on Saturday with Melissa and Rosa. Even though Sophia was semi sick, she was well enough to go and did not want to be left behind. We had fun and took some great pictures. Ray stayed home to work on the back yard. The deck is now gone and the tree has been cut down to make space for our new room addition. I will probably post a picture of what the yard looks like tomorrow.

I am still here!

I am 23 days past my last chemo and I am feeling great. Being done with my treatment right before Christmas was one of the best presents I have ever recieved. I had a CT scan at the beginning of December which showed the remaining enlarged lyphnode that I once had was now non-detectable. Woo-hoo! Boy was that good news. Now I have only one more scan. If that comes back showing N.E.D. (no evidence of disease) then I would begin my 17 days of radiation. So hopefully the END of my fight with Hodgkin's is near. How good it feels to be victorius.

I have a PET scan at the beginning of February. Before the PET scan a tracer is injected into your bloodstream (similar to a contrast agent in CT/MRI scans). The tracer is radiolabeled, meaning it emits gamma rays that can be detected by the PET scanner. This tracer agent is designed to bond with glucose (sugar) cells in the body. Cancerous (malignant) cells grow at such a fast rate, they metabolize more sugar than normal cells. If there are cancerous cells that still remain in the body, the tracer will bond to them, and the PET scan would detect them and give the doctor a glimpse into how its growth is slowed by treatment therapies.

I would begin radiation only if the PET scan found N.E.D. So, until then it is just a waiting game. At least I have been given a break and have a chance to feel normal again.