A Day at the Cancer Center

Yesterday I was scheduled to have the Pet Scan I missed while in the hospital all of January. They didn't make me fast for 3 days...just for 6 hours. It went much better although being in the MRI machine for over 2 hours was a bit nerve racking.

Good thing is the cancer is not in any other organs!  The bad thing is they are afraid radiation will make the Rheumatoid Arthritis cause the cancer to grow instead of shrink. They will instead start Chemo in 2 weeks and see how the tumor reacts. They are considering surgery if the chemo does it's job.

 The delay is because while in the hospital I picked up cellulitis.  For the past 6 weeks my feet and legs have swollen and turned red. I've been calling them my elephant legs. About 10 doctors and numerous nurses have removed my compression stockings, pressed on my feet and legs, put the socks back on and said I had very swollen legs...none did anything.  Yesterday morning I couldn't wear shoes or even slippers. It was very painful to walk on my feet and my knees were so swollen I couldn't get them over the tub edge to shower. It was time to make demands about the condition.

After all the tests had been done at the hospital, I had an appointment to see the oncologist. I removed my stockings and told him we could go no further until he took care of the legs. He looked at them with a purple light and decided I had cellulitis. I am now on an antibiotic but if it doesn't work fast enough he'll put me in the hospital for IV treatment.

Every person and every tumor reacts differently. The doctors have a general idea how it will go but they also expect things to fall apart when the patient has other medical problems. The way they are acting I think the RA has given unexpected problems in the past...we'll see how it goes. They did say the drugs they will be using will cause my hair to fall out....I'm prepared. I bought fun wigs, hats and even henna tattoo's. I just can't see myself wearing a chemo "rag" down to my eyebrows. I'd rather shock them all with a 70 yr. old lady and a fire truck red head of hair and big earrings!  I also bought some skull caps but they need decorating...like some fancy shiny pins or dangle beading.  

So this is my journey. When I have anything new to tell I'll post or you can ask me to post if I'm missed..smiling at that.  Most people are following my journey on Facebook so sometimes I do forget to post here. Lets all pray for spring! I could use some flowers right now.

Making the best of it......

because I'm alive and that's what counts!  Since spending 3 weeks in the hospitals I've improved a little. Sorting out the right medicines helped and just gaining back some strength.

I managed to make Dave a nice dinner and cake on Feb. 11th for his birthday without passing out so that's good. Today I went shopping. Thanks to all the stores for having scooters I am still able to do my own shopping again.

I am working on a wool cabin quilt for Dave. He has one he loves so I decided it is already 10 years old and has been pretty much abused and washed often so I want to make one and put it in one of those bags you suck the air out of so he will always have a quilt from Mom that he loves. Today we stopped at Goodwill because I am a row short. These quilts are made out of 100% wool skirts and ladies slacks. For some reason Dave gets a real kick out of having all these skirts covering him.

I was able to get 4 nice pieces. One still has the price tag on it. It makes me wonder why someone would buy expensive slacks and never wear them.

Tomorrow I am headed to Philadelphia to meet with the oncologist at the Cancer Hospital. This will help me to decide what to do. I still don't have the facts. This doctor holds the key to where we stand.

Some of you have sent me mail and links to watch. I haven't gotten to them yet. For whatever reason I just can't get my mind to stand still long enough to read. I'm hoping after seeing this doctor I can settle down some.

Thanks Rita for asking me to post or I might have left it go again. Give me a few days to talk this visit over with Dave and then I'll try to post again and let you know where I stand with it.