I haven’t posted so here I go!  I went on the 25th to meet with my Gyno/oncologist for a Pap.  When I went she said that it was too early for the Pap because I had only finished my treatments on the 20th of  Nov. ….So she did a pelvic exam (basically just felt around).  She said that everything looked normal and felt normal.

All of my other treatments have been with my Radiation/Oncologist and I had only met the only Gyno/Oncologist at the very beginning of my treatment.  She is really nice…I like both my Dr.s!

So I guess that you can say that that was a good appointment.

My next appointment is on Feb. 25 and it is the PET scan.  They have to wait for 3 months to do either the PET or the Pap because the radiation will make the PET scan glow (which indicates cancer) and make the Pap come back with abnormal results.  So they like to wait so that they will get a more accurate result.  I will continue to see both oncologist every 3 months if my tests come back good!  The result that I want for my PET scan is NED (no evidence of disease)….

If there was evidence of disease I am not sure what they would do.  Hysterectomy, more chemo, more radiation?  Who knows …hopefully I won’t have to find out!!!

So many people battle cancer.   I am so sad that Lita Fullen, Amber’s grandmother just past away from Ovarian Cancer.  She was an amazing person…Cancer doesn’t discriminate based on how nice you are or how nice your family is….it just attacks.  I went to her showing tonight.  She was a fellow fighter and she didn’t make it….in the back of my mind it scares me.  Will I be able to fight it?  I so want to fight it and win….more than anything in the world.   Then just today I get word that another fellow fighter was victorious in her fight and is now cancer free.

I feel better than I have in a long time.  I am back to work full time.  My only things are that I am extremely tired in the morning and have a hard time getting up…don’t know if it’s the medication that I take or just that I am tired!  I sometimes also get a full feeling in my abdomen.  I have heard that these are all symptoms of Radiation.  There is alot of scar tissue and the damage to my lymph nodes can cause lymphodema….I don’t know that I have lymphodema…I am just self diagnosing haha….

Just wanted to give you all an update!  Thanks again for all your support, prayers and love.

I am so lucky to have you all in my life!!!

Love,

Lisa

Welcome 2010….Good Bye 2009!!!

What a crazy rollercoaster 2009 was.  I am feeling more like myself and there are sometimes hours at a time that go by that I completely forget about Cancer.  Then it comes lurking around the corner like a unwelcome visitor and I am once again reminded.  It will never be out of my mind for good….there will always be the next scan, test that will be coming.  I am struggling with what to feel or do.  I feel like I should be climbing a mountain or sky diving but you just go on with your life….am I in such a hurry to get back to the hum drum?   I am so happy that my tumor was gone but then I am scared to death for the PET scan…because what will happen if it has started growing again…or spread to more of my lymph nodes?  Just when I start to relax and forget about it…it is there.  The goal is to be normal again!!!….but what is normal?  I just want it to be gone forever!!!

I haven’t posted in awhile but it is theraputic so I am doing it.  Christmas was wonderful and I got to see my cousin Lonnie who lives in California.  Larry’s Mom was also in town just after Thanksgiving and we got to see her also which was really nice (she lives in California as well).  It was nice to see my entire family…I am blessed to have such a great family!

So am I happy to say good bye to 2009…Yes….it was a doozy!  I pray that 2010 will hold joy, love, health and happiness for all of us!!!

Lisa

Just went for my one month follow up appointment and my tumor is gone!!!  GONE!!!  GONE!!! GONE!!! :)  She said that my cervix looks normal and that if she hadn’t already known that I had a 7cm tumor before she would not even be able to tell that I had cancer!  Of course she is just looking at my Cervix through a speculum!

Cancer is tricky so I am not considering myself  in the clear yet…but this is very positive and good news to hear.  I have  and appointment with Jeanne Schilder who is my Gynecological oncologist that works in tandem with Dr. Cardenes my Radiation Oncologist…..I have an appointment with her on Jan 25th.  At this point they will do a Pap which will most likely show abnormal cells from radiation still….but they still do one as a base to compare and make sure there is nothing new appearing.  After that appointment I will have a PET scan in early February …..this is the test that makes me so so nervous!  The PET scan will show if there is cancer remaining in any of my Lymph nodes or anywhere else in the body.  Dr. Cardenes will get the results of this and hopefully it will be good news.  You can not imagine the anxiety that you feel waiting for the results of these tests….It is like standing in front of a loaded gun ….a little bit dramatic but you get the idea…..I don’t want to get to excited because you don’t know if you can take the news that they could tell you.  The last time I had one I had a full on panic attact the night before…then when I got a phone call from my Dr. on the next day  (which was a Saturday) I think my heart stopped when I answered the phone and was waiting for her to say what the results were….It turned out they were great results and then I could breath again….

That is when I realize that you just have to take everything day by day….today is a great day and I have great news and that is the only news that I will have all through Christmas!

Going to the Dr. Today was fun….I had missed them all.  It was like a little reunion.  Dr. Cardenes gave me a hug and told me that it was so good to see me looking so well and that she loved me…that was so sweet.  When I had to go get my blood drawn after I was examined I had my regular nurse starting to take my blood and then Bob one of the other nurses came over and pulled out a wad of money and was going to pay my nurse to let him draw my blood….he is always joking around and him and Larry always crack jokes!  Then Josie the lady that always draws my blood came over and she was like…nope I get to draw her blood.  We had the little room where you get blood drawn filled with all the people that have taken care of me and we were just all in there hanging out talking and laughing for like 15 minutes…..they are all so nice.  I got hugs from all of them so did Larry and then we left!

Well know that I have that over with I need to get into the Christmas zone.  I haven’t purchased one gift yet….and It’s too late to shop online!  I guess Cancer hasn’t changed the fact that I am a procrastinator!!!!

Have a great week!

Lisa

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone is doing well!  Let’s see …what has been going on?….I am feeling stronger and more like myself!  My legs are still really weak and I actually slipped on the bottom 2 steps of our stairway yesterday and landed on all fours on the ground….going down the stairs is harder than going up them….I didn’t hurt myself…just landed and was like”what happened!”…Kind of like how you feel stupid when you fall except nobody saw me except the dogs!  Ha ha…

I go back to the Dr. on the 15th so I have had some time to recoop after my treatments… Thanksgiving was awesome!  We went to My Aunt Mary’s house and everything was so pretty and the food was really good!  I was so happy to see my family and I got to be first in the food line…cancer has it’s perks!  Larry got to ride on my coat tails and go second.  We ate and then everyone always looks through ads for the Black Friday…this is the only shopping that I do for Black Friday….I have never gotten up early to shop….especially this year.

It is so weird that it is December already….when I started treatment  I was wearing Sandals and I missed the entire fall!

I was going to start going to work 1/2 days this week but it didn’t happen….my FMLA paperwork was filled out saying that I couldn’t go back to work for 60 days….so I have to get that fixed by my doctor so that I can go to work if I feel like it.  I am glad that it is flexible because there are just days where I am still tired.

Lauren had her first Orchestra concert last night and I got to go. It was really good…I have only been to Band concerts before now I get to go to both!  I missed Julia’s band concert because I was still really sick!

So that’s the update!  Hope everyone is doing well….hopefully I will get out and be able to enjoy the holiday shopping craziness….

Love,

Lisa

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  I am more aware this year of all that I have to be thankful for.  I have a wonderful family, I am on the road to having my health back :), and I have great friends!  Enjoy the time that you have to be together because you never know what tomorrow may bring.  Trust me….I know!

I want to take a sec to really Thank all of you for your prayers and cards and meals and everything that you have all done for us while we have been going through this….especially to my parents they adopted the girls for a couple of weeks when my blood counts were really low and they took great care of them and made it much easier for them not to have to be here when I was at my worst…..They have been amazing.  I also want to thank Larry….He has been so great and been there with me every step of the way….he is so special and I am so glad that I have him. I can’t tell you how many people that I talk to and they tell me they think of me everyday and are praying for me….that is so nice to know and it makes me feel really loved!

So have a great day tomorrow with your families and friends!  I can’t wait to see my extended family and to eat some yummy comfort food! Pray for me to have some turbo energy because we want to go to Muncie this weekend too….to see my wonderful family on that side too!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Lisa

Guess what today was my last day of treatment!!!!  Officially.  I don’t have to go back to the Dr. for 3 weeks, in which she will do an internal exam and then I will meet with Jeannie Shildler they Gyno Oncologist and she will exam me….and in 3 months I will go back for a PET scan to see if there is any evidence of disease….Hopefully there won’t be but if there is then they would probably do a surgical proceedure called extrafaschial hysterectomy…which is a less invasive surgery than a radical hysterectomy.  So I completed 5 Chemo treatment, 28 external radiation treatments, 1- 60 hour intracavity implant (internal radiation that included 4 day hospital stay) and a 4 treatment external radiation boost to my lymph nodes.

I have gone through things that I never thought that I would have to or be able to endure.  But you know what I did it and I am really kind of proud of myself!  Also, Larry, myself and my Mom are pretty well versed on Cancer and all the lingo that goes along with it….I can tell you all the acceptable ranges for blood levels…..I have learned tons about medications and what they are used for…and most importantly I am so excited to get back to living.  It is really weird because It’s kind of like you don’t know what to do with yourself….even though I am feeling better I am not completely well and they stressed to me that I need to ease back into my life and not over do it…..they said it would be 8 weeks before I would feel like I did before treatments….

So I am done with my treatments and am so happy!  I hope to return to work the week after Thanksgiving and just take it slowly.  In the meantime I am going to start walking and building up my strength so that I don’t get a case of chicken stick legs…gotta have some muscles on my legs!!! Plus I need to let my WBC count levels to go back up to acceptable levels.

Thank you all for your support and well wishes and prayers….I felt them all and really appreciate all your generosity and love.  I can’t wait for Thanksgiving…it is my favorite holiday!  Family and good food!!!!

Well,

I am going to go rest for a bit and then get up and be productive…for a bit…then rest for a bit….and so on and so on!!

I just got my bill for my hospital stay….guess how much?    $31,000.00  Just for 4 days!!!!!  Cancer isn’t cheap thank goodness for insurance!  Those bills make the other ones kind of nice and seem small….IPL, Gas, Water, etc….all decent….but not one bill for almost as much as I make a year!  Yikes!!!

Oh well I would pay monthly for any amount of time to be cancer free so bring on the bills…..they really don’t matter….I just want to be here to pay them :)  and I am pretty sure that I will be….I have a good feeling about my treatment!  I am very happy for it to be over and I am anxious for that 3 month mark when i have to have a PET scan…I may have to take some anti anxiety meds before that scan…they really can make you nervous!!!!

Hopefully my next posts will be about what I am doing not going through!

Lisa

Hello everybody….I am bored….and tired of being tired!  I want out of my bubble….it is unbelievable how sore you can be from laying in bed for 4 days straight…I thought I would never be strong enough to walk again…but I can again on my own.  I am trying to get up and get back into a normal routine…I try to have a task that I know I can complete and do it….right now those tasks are I am going to brush my hair, clean my face, brush my teeth….so that I feel like a person.  They are going to do 3 more radiation boosts to my lymph node to make sure that it gets completely treated.  I go on Tuesday @ 8:30 they are going to take my blood then we have to wait for the results and then we will see if I can get the treatment….after that I should be done for a little while…when I left the hospital my White Blood Count was at 1……which is really low.  Thus the bubble life…..

The brachytherapy treatment was so isolating and emotionally draining….It was probably the worst 4 days ever…It is not good to be alone and that treatment is proof…I have never been so glad to have my vitals checked because that meant that 2 nurses would come in for maybe 5 minutes…..Larry sat in the waiting room for like 3 hours so that he could sneak in when they checked me….he got to stay for only the 5 minutes…he said he didn’t care about getting radiated and he would sign whatever if he could just stay in there with me….I so wish that he could have…as soon as the implants were out my parents and Larry couldn’t get there fast enough…I was so glad to have my door open and to have people in the room with me.  I want to walk in there when I am all better and thank the nurses they were so kind to me and I dont know if I could do their job.  I can’t imagine going about normal everyday life….it has been so long that I think I have forgotten normal…or the normal me….how carefree just to wake up and have energy  and take a shower and go to work…or take the girls to grab dinner….go to Kohls..or be able to take care of my kids completely….I cannot wait to do these things again….I am tired of seeing the drab face in the mirror…the puffy cheeks and bags…I want shiny hair, a Florida tan I want to go to the grocery store!  I want to cook good meals…These are just some of the silly mundane things that you all do that I can’t wait to do again!!!!!  How long until I get there?  Who knows…..but I am doing everything in my power to make it back to that place!!!

I was looking over my antibiotics that they put me on and one of them is used to treat Antrax..wow….must be pretty strong stuff!  That’s good to know in case there are any Anthrax scares in the area…I am covered!  Haha…I have a whole buffet of medications.

Well I am going to try to get comfortable here and watch survivor on Demand….My left butt cheek is killing me from the 4 day bed extravaganza…and that’s the way I face to watch tv…I will have to get creative and maybe change directions of something….aren’t you glad I told you about my sore butt cheeks?  I am all about sharing!

Lisa

Hi Everybody….Just wanted to post to let everyone know that I am home and finished with the internal radiation….It was not fun….Here are a few highlights…..The power went off in the hospital at 3:00 am to 12:00 am the next night…so not only are you alone in the room but I was alone with no TV to watch….I had to have a blood transfusion because my Hemoglobin levels were so low…..I won’t elaborate on the rest…I don’t want to dwell on it…I did it….It’s done….I hope none of you ever have to do it…

Thanks to all of you that were thinking of me….Thanks to my Mom for letting me cry on her shoulder and Larry too….and the nurses….and the Doctor…..I cried just a little bit over the last couple of days…The nurses all took great care of me….I got to go under general anesthesia for the first time…that is crazy to wake up and have the proceedure be done…I was glad I was not awake…at least for the first 90 minutes out of the 4 days….

Today is Julia’s 14th Birthday!!!!!  Happy Birthday Julia….My WBC level is at 1 right not…so we are going to celebrate soon but she is with Grandma & Grandpa…so if you want to call her and wish her a happy bday go ahead!!!!

Getting off here…Glad the last 4 days of my life are over with…..

Love,

Lisa

Ok…I added some family photos to my Flickr….they range from 2002-2009….I can’t believe that so many people have read this blog…..Hi John Milspaugh!!!  I haven’t talked to you in ages!  I remember you teaching me that cool piano duet when I was little….and somewhere in a piano bench with all our music we still have the music that you wrote out for me! I also wanted to say Thank you to you all that have sent me cards…I have this journal that I keep that I write down what I eat each day…what medications I take each day and there is a pocket that is in it…I put all the cards in there and when I want to smile I just get them all out and read them!!!  I heard from Jenny Hemsley and It was so nice to hear from you!  You are right Katie, You and I were like sisters when we were little and I loved it when you guys would come over and play…which was all the time!  That was so fun…do you remember when we used to put that beanie on Katie and she would go crazy!    Anyways…I love to look at other peoples pictures so I just put some of the girls and some of our family stuff….so you can look…….anyways it is very heartwarming when you guys make comments on the blog or send me a note….it’s nice to know that you are interested in my journey!  Even some of you that I may not know…..I have found some blogs about other people’s cancer journey and you get sucked in….I want to know every detail because it’s nice to hear that others go through the same stuff!….Well I am getting hungry…my appetite is increasing…that’s a good thing and even better….the food is starting not to taste like metal and it’s tasting like it is supposed too!!!!  I have lost 20 pounds since I first found out in Sept. that I had Cancer…..Wow…I could give Jenny Craig a run for their money….but trust me I could have used to loose a few pounds but I would gladly go to weekly meetings rather than have cancer!

Oh yeah Thanks Jenna….she made all kinds of Yummy goodness for Halloween and shared with us!  I also had a beautiful bouquet of flowers on my porch waiting for me when I got home from the Dr. today….They are so pretty!!!  They were from my friend Stephanie and that was so sweet!  I am just so lucky!  To have all of you!

Love,

Lisa

I went to IU today for a blood work up and had to wait for about an hour for the results to come back..I had to wear a mask because my levels are low…..It was very attractive.  Dr. Cardenes told us to go upstairs and find a comfy spot and to come back down to radiology in about 45 minutes…So Larry and I found a quite couch where there were no people and I layed on the couch with my head in his lap and took a nap while we waited.

The results came back and the white blood cell count was lower than Monday….but my Magnesium levels had come up because I have been taking a prescription that they had called in for me….So Magnesium Good….WBC (white blood cells) not so good…nor are my platlettes…(blood clotting stuff?)….She told me not to do things were I could harm myself because I can bruise easy, get infections and if I would cut myself bleed more than usual….So see I really do need to be in a bubble….she also said that if I develop a fever I need to go to the IU emergency room right away!

So to remedy the low WBC count I got a shot of Neupogen today and I have to have it for 3 more days after today.  Then they are going to check my blood work on Monday to see if my levels are high enough to go through with the internal radiation on Tuesday.   Larry was going to be able to just give me the shot from home but when we went to get the prescription filled there were some issues….which have been an ongoing problem….first the pharmacist said it was kind of expensive….then he said he would have to order it and it would be there by 11:00 tomorrow….then when he tried to bring it up to see what it would cost after insurance…he said insurance doesn’t cover this and that I need a pre-authorization from my Doctor…well is it me or when a Doctor writes a prescription that usually means that she has authorized it?  I guess not…..Anyways the 3 shots would cost us $980 (somewhere in the $900 range)….So we are just going to go back to the hospital each day and get the shot….after insurance it would have been $398 …but we had a problem with another medication that I was supposed to have during my treatments that I didn’t get because it had to go through mail order and all this other stuff….and I have to have these shots…..I can’t wait on Anthem to figure out if they want to pay for it or not…..or figure out when I will actually get the medication….

I have heard more people complaining about just trying to get simple medications to help them deal with their illnesses…..I know that many elderly people also face these issues as we all will some day…..when you are dealing with illness it’s difficult enough…why do they have to make it harder!  I guess I need to pay more attention to the health care stuff that is being tossed around by the government….it will matter to us all one day…

What is Neupogen?

Neupogen is a man-made form of a protein that stimulates the growth of white blood cells in your body. White blood cells help your body fight against infection.

Neupogen is used to treat neutropenia, a lack of certain white blood cells caused by cancer, bone marrow transplant, receiving chemotherapy, or by other conditions.

My Doctor did say that that the drop in the WBC after treatment is not unusual and that many people encounter this before they finish their treatments….She said it was just a result of my treatment…since I have been receiving radiation on my pelvic region there are many large bones so many of the good white blood cells have been destroyed from the chemo& radiation …..they just need time to bounce back and since the radiaition is done they will begin to do that….along with a little help from the Neupogen.