Had chemo #7 yesterday. Whee. Got back the results of my pulmonary function test and the DLCO, which measures something like diffusion of oxygen from lungs into the bloodstream or something, had gone down from 102% to 76ish%, meaning the bleomycin has been damaging my lungs. It's reversible and not uncommon. So the bleomycin has been discontinued, but I continue with the other three agents. Since this happens on a somewhat regular basis, results in the literature do not suggest that discontinuing bleo will negatively affect the goal of curative intent. Huzzah. Of course, there's the voice in my mind that's going "NOOOO what if that one was doing the most tumor asskicking?!!!!" but it's just the anxiety. And a girl's gotta be able to breathe, right?
We also talked to Dr. S about food. Basically, there is no good scientific evidence backing the neutropenic diet. Aaron did some research for me and was all ready to give Dr. S his sources, if he had any objections, but basically, he said I could have fruits and veggies as long as we follow good food handling procedure, which Aaron is kind of an expert in. I'll still be avoiding things like strawberries and raspberries because those suckers are impossible to clean, but yay for nectarines and marinated cucumber-tomato salads! He just said to introduce things gradually so my gut bacteria doesn't go nuts. I love my doctor. Seriously, he is so intelligent, reasonable, and personable. And, apparently, hard to get into. I feel so lucky to have him.
So, one less chemo agent. Nice. Makes things go a little faster. And a massage therapy student/intern was coming around and she gave me a fantastic foot massage. I think this is a thing that needs to happen every time. Had my first encounter with someone vomiting there. Honestly surprised it doesn't happen more often with how ill some of these agents can make you. I was able to stifle my urge to scream, run away, and hide in the bathroom. I do not handle vomiting, mine or any other human's, well at all. Thus far, I've been very lucky with my GI tract and haven't had any ::knock on wood:: vomiting incidents or much nausea at all. I love you, iron Devitt stomach. I am an extremely boring cancer patient, and it makes my caretakers (and me!) very happy. So far, it seems like the only bad side effect is this pulmonary stuff, but I've not had any clinical signs (like shortness of breath, etc). That test is just super sensitive.
Today I've spent a silly amount of time catching up on this site. I was so behind since I actually did stuff this weekend!
Sunday I went to a BBQ at Lauren and Chris's. Sarah was there and then a few other folks from vet school I'm less close with. Chris and Amy said I looked really good. People who haven't seen me since my diagnosis are always surprised I don't looks sick. I guess I'm surprised too. Oh! And I'm up another 4 lbs this week, now up to 165! Awww yeah, the steak and cake diet works wonders! But it was a fun BBQ without too much awkward cancer talk, which was nice. I was weird and brought a sammich because I don't trust other people's cooking and we plays Cards Against Humanity, which I never get tired of.
Sunday I went shopping at Off 5th, a Sak's 5th Ave Outlet store in downtown Minneapolis. My cousin Maria, who owns a bar in NYC, came out to visit for our grandpa's birthday bash (which I avoided because too many people, children, cats, old carpets, poor hygiene....lots of disease potential there for an immune compromised person) and she wanted to get together. I wanted to be antisocial, but she is so nice and so badly wanted to see me, so I agreed and am very glad I did! She and my cousin Maeve (whose mother is my Aunt Anne, who died from pancreatic cancer in December) met me there and we shopped up a storm! The were having some extra amazing deals and we all spent too much money but got some great stuff. Maria insisted on buying me a hat (she had bought me one in NY but it was like a Derby hat and she had no idea what I'd do with it. I suggested wearing it with yoga pants :P) and Maeve and I identical dresses in different colors.
Look how cute we are!
She is so tiny! She got her mama's dancer body, for sure. You can definitely tell I have an Italian booty! That dress fit us both so well, though. Plus, you can't say no to a $178 French Connection dress for $27.50, right? I also ended up buy a $258 theory skirt for $30, some AG jeans, and a darling Free People skirt. Definitely some good deals. Plus, it was really nice catching up with my cousins. They're such fun, sweet girls!
I think that's all I've got for now. I'm hungry but feel slightly off, so don't want to eat, but not eating makes the ill feeling worse so...bleh. Thank goodness for pretzels.
Oh! And I'll get around to answering the Ask Anything questions soon. Keep them coming if you have more :D
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