February 23 – March 14, 2012
Now back to our regularly scheduled program – plus a special, but unexpected guest, my Mom (aka Serafina or Mamma Morano)
Since my anti-climatic decision to keep my breast expander in and continue with full blown antibiotic treatment, I have gone through pretty smooth sailing for the most part. There was one interesting twist that turned out to be a non-starter and has some humour to it. While I was still on antibiotics and after a few weeks of having my “Power Port” installed ... (I feel like I should be called Wonder Woman or something given that I have a “Power Port” and have lines like: “ Yes Captain American, I have a Power Port, what are you packing?....”:o))... I acquired a new inflammation in the glands on the right side of my throat and my lower neck. As you can imagine, lots of fun thoughts starting running through my head: so am I rejecting my beloved “Power Port”, is the inflammation due to the “Power Port”, is this a sign of a new and wonderful infection that will further delay my chemo treatments, what did I do wrong this time, and so on and so on my mind went. Since I was visiting the wonderful nurses at that Fraser Valley Nursing Centre a few times a week for my awesome and very convenient home IV therapy (they did the things that I could not do with my home IV therapy, like change the dressing around my “Power Port” and change the needle for the “Power Port” once per week and change the tubing twice per week) I had them look at this new occurrence on my neck and they too were a little concerned. Since I was also having blood work done twice per week (Mondays at Royal Columbian Hospital for my Vanco levels, CBC or white blood cell count, haemoglobin, etc - you gotta like “Vanco levels”, it sounds like a really important and posh test to have, it’s like something exclusive that not everyone has - and Thursdays at Eagle Ridge Hospital for CBC/white blood cell count, haemoglobin, etc.), I decided to go to emergency at Royal Columbian hospital to get my neck checked out (Royal Columbian was also where I had the “Power Port” installed, so I was hoping the “experts” were co-located to help out if necessary).
After the obligatory emergency waiting period, I did get to see a nice doctor-in-training and then his experienced side-kick doctor. They confirmed right away that there were no blood clot issues, since my face did not go beet red when I raised my hands over my head – thank goodness for that huh? Everything else checked out from their initial look at me and felt that I just had some type of bum viral infection that should resolve itself over time. Well that was good news, but I also asked if they thought if the catheter part of the “Power Port” may have dislodged or move and may be contributing to the neck thingy. They thought, hum, that would be a good thing to check out before I was discharged, so they quickly ordered a chest/neck X-Ray to confirm if everything was still in order underneath it all.
The hospital was really efficient that day with X-Rays so I got in pretty quickly. I went through the obligatory change into hospital garb from the waist up and was shown into the X-Ray room by a really nice young female radiologist (when doctors see that you are 47 with Breast Cancer they say that you are young, however, the majority of the doctors, nurses, supporting staff, radiologists, etc. seem to be much younger than I am these days, so I felt like saying “thanks sweety “ (pretend I have a cane and have a scraggy, but sweet voice)). When they initiated the X-Ray, another nice young male radiologist with an Australian accent asked me if I had anything “installed” that they should know about. I said, why yes, I have a breast expander and a “Power Port” (you can’t even make this stuff up, breast expander, power port...). With this, I said to these two youngsters, you should call me “Lindsey Wagner” as I did not think they would know the reference. You wouldn’t believe it, but the young female radiologist did not really give me an inquisitive look or burst into gales of laughter, she looked at me and said “hey that is my name too”. I told her she was pulling my leg, but she said her name really was Lindsey Wagner, that her parents liked the name and told her all about the reference to the Bionic Women.... I told you, you can make this stuff up. If this wasn’t enough, as we continued with getting ready for the X-Ray, this young fellow asks with a straight face, what is a breast expander anyway? If I was a comedian, I could have come up with so much good material at the moment, but I, with my own straight face, told him that the bare bones facts, that it was a temporary implant to help me have a fake/real breast one day by expanding the chest muscles to a size of my liking. He proceeded with his duties without missing a beat – these young folk can either keep a good straight face and laugh later or they just don’t get the humour in all this stuff. I still can’t believe the “Lindsey Wagner” thing though – what a coincidence!
To bring the neck thingy to bed, I did also see my own doctor who was also getting worried, given my track record, but everything petered out as the inflammation went down and no fever seemed to really materialize.
This brings me again to the moment of truth again. All votes were finally in, my next chemo treatment could be scheduled (and was scheduled for February 23, 2012) while I concurrently continued with my antibiotic treatments, continued twice weekly blood tests and continued visits with my plastic surgeon and my infectious diseases doctor (while I really like and respect Dr. A, I really hate her job title – makes me feel like I should be quarantined or something). After a few more visits, both doctors thought the infection was completely under control. We all agreed that I should continue with the antibiotics for another two weeks, for added insurance and to be consistent with antibiotic protocol when a foreign body like a tissue expander is in the mix. So I patiently carried my IV pump with me 24/7 until March 7, 2012 (the whole infection adventure lasted a whole 46 days!) – I am now free, I am free. I was so looking forward to being “pump free that I had started having dreams about not be “connected” anymore. Also, I can’t tell you how much I was looking forward to having a shower without being tethered and really enjoying a “bald” shower (this is a 5-10 minute shower now that I did not have worry about washing, conditioning, blow drying and styling my hair). There had to be something good about being bald – always a silver lining.
February 23rd came and Todd and I went willingly to the Surrey Cancer Clinic for round #2. Nurse Donna was our lucky nurse this time. She was very competent, talkative and made us feel at home while I got my body pumped with cancer killing meds. She also made sure I understood how to get my new white blood cell producing meds (Neupogen) from the right Pharmacy.
The chemo treatment went along uneventfully (uneventful and unremarkable are two of my favourite words these days) and the anti-nausea medication seemed to be doing its thing keeping my stomach at bay. The day after chemo, I was to pick up the Neupogen and I was scheduled to learn how to self-inject it – yes, I am now a bonafide druggy. At first, I did not think I could do this, however I also knew that I could not rely on Todd to inject me with an needle given that he has a tendency to turn white and verge on fainting at the very thought or sight of a needle or anything medical – lord help us if he ever gets really sick himself! After some jitters, a helpful lesson from two nice and positive spirited nurses and the fact that I have a good padding of fat in my stomach area in which to choose an injection spot (just so you know, sticking a needle into one’s own fatty tissue does not hurt too much – good thing I did not get too skinny before all this started hey...), I was able to do the deed with some competence.
There are 7 injections (one per day) required between each chemo treatment to ensure my white blood cell count remains at a higher level where I can better fight any floating bacteria. I have now completed these injections, but not without a break after two injections where my white blood cell count ended up being triple the norm and where my potassium level dived. Everything was under control again after two potassium pills and taking a few days break from the Neupogen. We didn’t think everything would go as planned did we?
It is now March 14th, the eve of round three or my 3rd chemo treatment, and I have survived three weeks without a new infection – thank goodness for small miracles! In fact, other than some queasiness, an off taste in my mouth during the first week or so and the events with the Neupogen, I have had a good appetite, good energy, have been sleeping well and am able to participate in most activities around the house. I have been walking again as the weather permits, but I am not pushing it this time – I don’t want to tempt fate until I can prove to myself that I can get through 1-2 treatments uneventfully (remember uneventful is really good).
This concludes round two of eight and the winner is....
Carmela, Cancer Babe (with some help from heavy duty antibiotics and the self injected white blood cell maker - Neupogen).
Infection and other nasties, you can kiss my arse!!
My special, but unexpected guest:
If telling my story wasn’t enough, my mother, the wonder Serafina Morano (mamma Morano) will now be woven into this journey. Now being selfish is not a good trait to have, I would have preferred not to share this journey with my mom. As I mentioned in my previous entry, my mom has also been diagnosed with breast cancer. These are the early days in her diagnosis where she is going through “the routine” (wow, we are now a family that knows “the routine” – did not want to be an expert in this that is for sure, but I am hoping it will help me help my mom as she goes through this too). “The routine” is blood tests, bone scan, Breast MRI, ultrasound, X-Rays, etc. It seems that the cancer has been caught perhaps at earlier stage than mine (thank goodness), but we will know more in about two weeks when all the test results have come back. I am praying every day that the results come back as unremarkable (remember unremarkable is a good thing). I will interweave the parts of my mom’s journey that respectfully reflect what she is going through and relate to my own story. I hope I can do her and her experience justice as write these virtual pages.
Now onto round three....
PS: I detest and I am not good at being tethered, held back, restricted or being sidelined so you can imagine how well I loved the 24/7 pump experience as well as this overall experience....
