Who would have thought that one day in December when I sat across this wonderful person at Kelly O'Bryan's Kamloops that he would move to Calgary and we would fall into a beautiful friendship!
Had I not been at Kelly O'Bryan's that day and had not striked up a random conversation with Michael Anderson I would have not had this beautiful soul in my life! I have never laughed so hard over random things and would have never seen a house turn into a giant smiley face!

I also would have not met Jon-michael Bertoli. Another amazing person that came into my life at the most perfect time!

Throughout the years people come and go. Breakups happen, those who say they love you leave you, those who say they cherish friendships lie. But I know that having these two amazing men in my life are going to be there forever! For better and for worse!
My two brothers from other mothers!
Also, to find out that Micheal's dad dated my mom in the 70's is so random and what a crazy connection! My mom and Jim were best friends with his parents. And now I'm friends with their son! Again, had certain things not happened we would not have met. Everything happens for a reason!
Thank you to JM for the awesome care package he had waiting for me when he picked me up!
I love you both to the moon and back!!!!

One down, two to go! 

FUCK CANCER! 

Ahhh the TBCC, my home away from home! Last year I was upstairs at the special services building and had a bed and room alone in the dark which I LOVED! I was able to get a great sleep for six hours. This go around I am in the chemo day care unit on the ground floor and kinda have my own room, more like a cubicle and instead of a bed I get a chair that reclines. Not bad, at least I can lay back but the sleeping isn't as comfortable. Oh well, I really am not complaining, just explaining! 

I took a chance on wearing the Fuck Cancer shirt and it was a hit! Who really can complain... We all feel the same about this nasty fucker!! 

My nurse today was Chelsea and she was great! The needle poke (yes, I'm on to poke #4) really wasn't bad! 

I was given benadryl which made me so tired and woke up a few hours later to the Paclitaxel being dripped into my body. That is the longest drug that I take. The second drug, carboplatin only takes half an hour. Yep I slept through that one too. I asked Chelsea if I had been snoring and she said no... But we all know that's a lie! I am my mother's daughter, we always snore! Right mother??? 

Then a 15 min drip of fluids to clean out the lines and I was done! 

So just like that I was done this round and so far feel pretty normal. Guess we will see what tomorrow brings... Crossing my fingers! 

I've also changed the settings on here so feel free to leave comments! 

Port time... Would have preferred the drink instead! 

On Tuesday, my wonderful friend JM drove me to the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of town to the new South Calgary Hospital to get my port installed. Beautiful hospital, felt like I was in a scene from Grey's Anatomy minus McDreamy and McSteamy. I didn't even have a chance to sit down before I was called to the next room and had an iv put in. Within minutes I was walking into the surgery room and being prepped for the port. The room was so state of the art! 

I didn't need to be put fully under but they gave me enough drugs to calm my nerves and make me feel nothing. Always a good time to be high as a kite under doctors supervision! Within 15 min.. I think.. It was over and I was in recovery where I sat for two hours. I was in at 830 and out by 11:15am. 

Now what exactly is a port you ask? 

Well since I have little to none veins, a port is inserted into my chest and a line is fed up to my collar bone through a vein and down near my heart. Basically now when I get chemo they just puncture the spot where the port is under my skin and voila! Ready to rock and roll! 

The first few days have been tough, sore.. But we'll worth it! Once completely healed I will be able to swim and not worry about infection because it is completely sealed under my chest. 

I love all these awesome new techniques that I get to experience. Painful or not, it pretty amazing what can be done! 

Ps: I'm up to 3 needle pokes :) 

The Final Countdown....

Went for my chemo consult today at TBCC (Tom Baker Cancer Clinic) and it looks as though the start date of my chemotherapy start Thursday May 7th. In a way I am excited, which I know is weird. I want to start treatment and get it over with sooner than later! I am NOT looking forward to losing my hair agin..but the thought of not shaving for the next 2-3 months is kind of a bonus!

My chemo cocktail with consist of Paclitaxel (the lovely drug that makes me lose my hair), Carboplatin and a new one add to the mix this go around, Bevacizumab.

I have been prescribed Aprepitant for the nausea which works AMAZINGLY as long as you take it BEFORE the nausea begins. Once the nausea starts, it is pretty impossible to get under control. So this is an important one!

Another drug I have to take is Dexamethasone which is a corticosteroid that prevents inflammation and allergic reactions.

Next on the list of goodies is Granisetron. This is also used to prevent nausea and vomiting. VERY IMPORTANT! Nobody likes a puker!

Last but not least is Metoclopramide. This is used to treat certain types of stomach problems that can arise during chemo treatment. It helps move things along in your stomach, increases your appetite, helps with heartburn and of course, helps with nausea. I think you can see the common theme here...you do NOT want to get nausea!

My last three treatments of chemo were the exact same except for the new addition of Bevacizumab so I am pretty confident that I know what I will feel like. I never had any issues with nausea and I believe it really has to do with staying on top of the meds they give me.
6 sleeps to go and the torture/healing begins....

PS: Had poke #2 today..I am going to keep track this go around of how many pokes I get...

My home away from home

Poke #2

Some light reading in the "Welcome to chemo!" package they give you

Just a little poke...

Today was the first day of poking. Before every round of chemo I have to have a CBC (Complete Blood Count). It helps  to diagnose some blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma. It tells if a cancer has spread to the bone marrow and also helps determine how well your body is tolerating chemotherapy. It provides information on your white and red cells and your platelets.

Normal Red Blood Cell Range: 38%-48%

Normal White Blood Cell Range: 2,500-6,000 Neutrophils 

Normal Platelet Count: 150,000-350,000

I used to be TERRIFIED of needles. And yes, I would get the old "But you have tattoos! How can you be scared of needles?" Well it's more of a mental thing..the thought of something sharp poked into my arm, wiggled around trying to find a vein just really made my stomach turn. 

Since June of last year I have been poked by nurses well over one hundred times. After my hysterectomy I was prescribed Lovenox for thirty days. It is a blood thinner given to patients after major surgery to prevent blood clots. I had to learn to inject myself every day and after a few times, it became second nature. The fear of needles was gone. (Except dentist needles, that fear will NEVER go away! Guaranteed!!)  

It's to the point now where I can tell the nurse which vein will work, which vein has a weird curve to it and which veins will cause issues. 

I will be getting a Port put in my chest on Tuesday which will basically mean that no more fishing for those troublesome veins. I will update more on what a Port is in the next posting. 

Who invited Cancer to the party???

This Cancer guy is really starting to piss me off..and yes it is a guy. I've decided.
It's like one of those friends that you delete off facebook yet they continue to send you friend requests. You then block them but they come back with a different email address and try to friend request you again! GET THE HINT!! I DON'T WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND!!!
No matter what I do and what hints I drop, he isn't going away. So the next step is to kill him. That should do it!
He has come back around after five months trying to invade my body and mind and enough is enough. The first three rounds of chemo and a trachelectomy scared him off but not good enough. He then crashed the party again and decided to invade my lady parts which resulted in me getting a hysterectomy. Thanks a lot "friend". He brought a few friends with him this time and they lingered around the party. Even after the party was over, we found them passed out in a lymph node or two. They sure partied hard! I have gathered my troops and we are ready to finish them off, make them extinct! I'm really hoping these two party animals that Cancer brought haven't hooked up and don't have little cancer babies in waiting...they won't know what hit them!

Ps: I have stage 3 cervical cancer even though I don't have a cervix any more but it is metastatic because it has spread to lymph nodes in my upper abdomen. That's all. Carry on.