Update!!

A much needed update

Well it's been quite a while since I last updated this page. So much has gone on and I believe you all deserve an update. I finished my first round of chemo and recuperate at my moms in Oliver which was great.
I went back to Oliver and Kelowna again and spent some time with friends and family, swam in the lake and made the most of my mini vacay. It was frigging hot but so worth it!!!

Giant Cedars Boardwalk Revelstoke BC

NOM NOM NOM!!!! 

 

Kal Lake

My friend Kristen's adorable daughter Denver! 

40 degrees, anything to cool off! 

Family campout at Mom and Jo's in Oliver BC

Even made time to hit up the Calgary Stampede

After I came back I had my PET scan and was hoping I would not have to do any more chemo. Well the chemo is working but not as quickly as they hoped. I did my second round of chemo and stayed in Calgary for that round.

Chemo Day

My view for chemo day

TBCC now offers a free service where paramedics come to your house and give you an iv of fluids to help ease the nausea. Lucky me got the hottie paramedic Colton!

Three days into my chemo my PICC line became very sore and I wasn't feeling good at all! My arm was extremely swollen. I went into emergency with a heavily swollen arm and was told by Doctor Dolittle that I had a minor skin infection near the picc site. Fast forward 9 days later and I am finally discharged from the hospital from having a gigantic blood clot a staph infection and being septic!! So much for a minor skin infection!!

My companion for 9 days.. Antibiotics and a giant syringe of morphine! 

The nurses on unit 42 were FANTASTIC but I was going crazy being in there! I had no choice but to get another picc line and it was horrible! They freeze you but you can still feel them piercing through your veins. Shout out to my amazing nurse Cailey who calmed me down and came with me to get it done!

Obviously not me, but exactly what it looks like getting a PICC line inserted. Not sure why this girl looks so happy.... 

I have been put on heavy antibiotics to tide me over the next two weeks and hopefully clear this up. In order for me to go home, I had to meet with the HPTP Clinic (Home Parenteral Therapy Program) and am hooked up to a machine 24/7 that continually pumps heavy antibiotics into my PICC line. It's a pain in my assignment cause I have to wear this gorgeous fanny pack all day all night and have tubes wrapped everywhere. Oh well, the price of being home!!

For the next 6 months I also have to give myself a shot of blood thinner everyday to make sure the blood clot goes away for good. All I can say is thank God for work benefits. The cost of the blood thinner is $197.00 a month and without benefit insurance it would cost me just under $1000 per month for the medication!!

While being in the hospital I met some interesting characters outside. I observed a group that would come outside between the hours of 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. to have their smoke and their tokes. I learned that the psych unit lets people out between those hours and I am assuming that is where those people came from. I don't understand how they are able to smuggle in gigantic glass bongs. Oh well whatever helps them get by! You also hear a lot of alarms going off, usually code Red on floor 2 which means someone on the "special" unit has started a fire LOL!!
I have to do 3 more rounds of chemotherapy and will be going back to my moms in Oliver after each round because it is easier to recuperate there than being here by myself. Once the chemotherapy IS done in mid September, I will have to do 25 rounds of radiation therapy. It will be once a day 5 days a week for 5 weeks. Lucky for me though they are allowing me to do my radiation at the Kelowna Cancer Center so I will be spending 5 weeks in Kelowna.

A huge relief and major thank you to Maureen and Randy for taking care of my fur babies and taking care of me as well :)

Not much more to update other than I really want this to end. Oh and I have one long gray hair that is growing on the side of my head and I usually pluck the grey but this one I am trying to keep as my little pet!
I also met a new wonderful friend at the Tom Baker who just finished way more gruelling intense chemo than me! She is an awesome support and I see a long forever friendship with this beautiful soul!

I also was sent this picture of a wonderful gift my good friend Alex Draper made for me! It is a light and I can't wait to light it up!! 

Thank you!!!!! 

I will not be going back to work until I am able to work full time so more than likely it won't be until end of October maybe November. I will try to update this page more and keep you all in the loop.
FUCK CANCER!