A few bits of news today...
Had my third-to-last radiation treatment and a doctor visit this afternoon. I was weighed and I've gained a kilo in the last week which is great, up to 47 kilos now, or 103lbs. This is a Good Thing for sure.
Also had the results of the barium swallow test from last Monday which came back clear, which is also good. CT scan tomorrow night, which is an important test for sure. Also my hair has started falling out a bit today. Maybe it won't all go, since I only have two radiation sessions left, but if it does it does, not much I can do about it, except buy a crazy wig ;-)
Love, P.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The Weekend
The weekend... went by fast!
Friday night - Theresa came over for dinner, we went to Wal-Mart on the way to take her home. Nice visit.
Saturday - appointment for haircuts for me and Dallas. I suggested we go to McDonald's for breakfast first... no opposition from him ;-) Egg McMuffin was very tasty and with my weight loss recently, the calories and fat really don't bother me! Got my hair cut quite short and am very pleased with it. In the afternoon a little walk over to the park.
Sunday - breakfast at Stella's with Dallas, Jodi, Dianne and John. Had pancakes, they were good. Nice to see some friends. A short walk around the block in the evening.
I'm sure looking forward to completing radiation. It has really knocked the stuffing out of me this time, but only four treatments left to go.
Love, P.
Friday night - Theresa came over for dinner, we went to Wal-Mart on the way to take her home. Nice visit.
Saturday - appointment for haircuts for me and Dallas. I suggested we go to McDonald's for breakfast first... no opposition from him ;-) Egg McMuffin was very tasty and with my weight loss recently, the calories and fat really don't bother me! Got my hair cut quite short and am very pleased with it. In the afternoon a little walk over to the park.
Sunday - breakfast at Stella's with Dallas, Jodi, Dianne and John. Had pancakes, they were good. Nice to see some friends. A short walk around the block in the evening.
I'm sure looking forward to completing radiation. It has really knocked the stuffing out of me this time, but only four treatments left to go.
Love, P.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Update - Thursday Frustration
So... all week we had been looking forward to further progress in the way of the CT scan scheduled for tonight...
When we got to HSC for the scan I had to fill out a form, as usual. The form asked what tests had been done lately, so I wrote down the "barium swallow" from Monday. This elicited a "hmmmm" from the nurse...
So apparently one cannot have a CT scan within a week of the barium swallow. Both tests use radioactive contrast and the remaining barium in the system might show up on the CT and spoil the results. So we got sent home.
This was actually pretty upsetting since we really felt we were making fairly rapid progress in the diagnosis of my cancer. The stupid thing is that the b-swallow and the CT are done in the exact same room by the exact same people and were scheduled at the exact same time. Obviously the CT is way more important to have done than the b-swallow so they should have known this and scheduled these the other way round. The nurse helpfully pointed out that "next time, we should be sure that the CT comes before the barium test" but it's a bit late now, and I think somewhat unreasonable to expect the patient to know this...
Anyway, new date for the CT is next Wednesday night. Grrr...
At least I got a nice chocolate milkshake out of it because I made Dallas stop at McDonald's on the way home. Plus after tomorrow the radiation will be two-thirds done.
Chin-chin!
Love, P.
When we got to HSC for the scan I had to fill out a form, as usual. The form asked what tests had been done lately, so I wrote down the "barium swallow" from Monday. This elicited a "hmmmm" from the nurse...
So apparently one cannot have a CT scan within a week of the barium swallow. Both tests use radioactive contrast and the remaining barium in the system might show up on the CT and spoil the results. So we got sent home.
This was actually pretty upsetting since we really felt we were making fairly rapid progress in the diagnosis of my cancer. The stupid thing is that the b-swallow and the CT are done in the exact same room by the exact same people and were scheduled at the exact same time. Obviously the CT is way more important to have done than the b-swallow so they should have known this and scheduled these the other way round. The nurse helpfully pointed out that "next time, we should be sure that the CT comes before the barium test" but it's a bit late now, and I think somewhat unreasonable to expect the patient to know this...
Anyway, new date for the CT is next Wednesday night. Grrr...
At least I got a nice chocolate milkshake out of it because I made Dallas stop at McDonald's on the way home. Plus after tomorrow the radiation will be two-thirds done.
Chin-chin!
Love, P.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Update - Wednesday
Just wanted to post a short update.
I'm now half done radiation - 6 down and 6 to go :-)
It's going pretty well I guess but I am feeling some side effects for sure. Very tired, kinda jumpy, still nauseous, etc.
Scheduled for a CT scan tomorrow night (!) that should give us a better picture of what's going on. Anyway that's it for now, off to bed.
Love, P.
I'm now half done radiation - 6 down and 6 to go :-)
It's going pretty well I guess but I am feeling some side effects for sure. Very tired, kinda jumpy, still nauseous, etc.
Scheduled for a CT scan tomorrow night (!) that should give us a better picture of what's going on. Anyway that's it for now, off to bed.
Love, P.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Tests Scheduled
So there are some tests scheduled now...
Barium Swallow Monday at 8am. Full-body CT scan Thursday evening (!)
Still feeling not very good, just really tired, likely a combo effect from radiation and the pharmacopeia of meds. I'm glad that the testing process is moving along relatively quickly, fingers crossed for the results :-)
Love, P.
Barium Swallow Monday at 8am. Full-body CT scan Thursday evening (!)
Still feeling not very good, just really tired, likely a combo effect from radiation and the pharmacopeia of meds. I'm glad that the testing process is moving along relatively quickly, fingers crossed for the results :-)
Love, P.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Some good news
Not feeling that hot tonight but the third radiation treatment is done, I have some new meds and we had some good news today.
The results are back from the bone scan that was done on Friday (June 10), and the results looked good, no masses that they can see in the bones. We were warned that this does not necessarily mean that there's no cancer, but an absence of weirdness in the bone scan is a Good Thing.
No date has been set for the next round of tests, but they will likely be scheduled within the next week or so.
Love, Pam
The results are back from the bone scan that was done on Friday (June 10), and the results looked good, no masses that they can see in the bones. We were warned that this does not necessarily mean that there's no cancer, but an absence of weirdness in the bone scan is a Good Thing.
No date has been set for the next round of tests, but they will likely be scheduled within the next week or so.
Love, Pam
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Man oh man
Dallas here with a mini-update... driving around last night in the flood I had a check-engine light come on in the (normally reliable) GTI... so off to the dealership first thing this morning.
My pleading for a loaner car to take Pam to her radiation today fell on deaf ears. However Gord has come through with wheels for us to borrow today, thanks be to the Gord!
As an aside, where do you think would be a good place to test the 0-60mph, quarter-mile, and top speed of a 260hp Acura CL? ;-)
My pleading for a loaner car to take Pam to her radiation today fell on deaf ears. However Gord has come through with wheels for us to borrow today, thanks be to the Gord!
As an aside, where do you think would be a good place to test the 0-60mph, quarter-mile, and top speed of a 260hp Acura CL? ;-)
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