A Trip of a Lifetime
It finally happened! The trip to Europe that Mike and I have been putting off for almost 10 years. We have been saying since we initially met that we would go to Europe together and it never quite worked out. Work, money, life always got in the way. I am absolutely blown away by how many friends, family, and people I haven’t met were willing to help us in small and big ways to make this dream a reality. All of you anonymous...
An Unfortunate Trend
Tumor markers bumped to 36 this week. They were down to 27, then crept up to 29, now a 7 point jump. One more increase and it is an official trend. Sad that my life hangs in the balance of these tiny little numbers. I am still technically in the normal zone (normal is 40), but I am tumor marker normal with visible tumors ( we alllll know I am not mentally normal). 😉 I haven’t been feeling well lately, so this wasn’t a...
The Next Chapter
After a summer of many fun adventures time has been creeping up on me. The little voice that kept asking me about work, whether I can do my job, the one where I worked so hard to get where I am, and be happy with my output if I did – the voice needed a decision (yes, I am hearing voices again). I am working out. My pain is in a better place, but I am not physically up to 9:00 to 5:00 (plus evenings, weekends and all the fun that...
Palliative Care and Dancing in the Rain
Monday I officially started my Power Program at Huntsman Cancer Institute. I have been counting down the days until I was strong enough to be able to join this program. PT and the shots of doom were prep and being off of the chemo part of my infusions certainly helps. 2 weeks ago I was huffing and puffing behind Mike trying to walk across the parking lot. Last week I completed my first 20 minutes on the elliptical that didn’t...
A Margin of Error
I got my tumor counts today. My oncologist knows I am hanging my world around these tiny little numbers. Mostly because I really want my current regimen to last a very long time. My counts went up by two points, which is within the margin of error. Funny that we seem to celebrate a DROP of two points, but an up of two points is no big deal. Which of course is the reality because tumor markers are only there to look for trends....
Anxious and Paranoid
As my next appointment creeps up on me, this week, I keep wondering what that turmoil at the pit of my stomach is… until I realized I am sick and anxious for those little numbers I will get on Friday. My tumor markers. I changed my schedule so that I now get my tumor markers drawn Thursday so that I will have them on Friday. We have found out through scans and progress so far that my tumor markers are clearly indicative of...