Chemo was a Bust and more cards

After napping today, I made a couple of more cards. I had 3 other great ideas, but only got to 2. The Faithful one is my favorite, but not sure it's going to count for this contest. They had to be in by midnight. I posted it around 11:30pm Oregon time. Guess they meant Utah time???? I spent too much time figuring out my source list. I should have posted and then added the source list later. Live and learn I guess. I'm bummed! But at least I have a really cute card! Check them out!

Faithful Friend Card

You Rock! Card

Today I went in for chemo, did my blood work (CA125 blood marker due back in 2-3 days), met with another doctor (Dr. Trubowitch), since my doc was on vacation or doing rounds at the hospital. The doctor said I look good and asked me some questions. She thought by the sounds of it, that this type of chemo may be responding. The Oxcillaplattin. The one with the brutal side effects (cold trigger, naropathy in hands and feet (numbness and tingling). She also brought up the genetics thing. She thinks it would be a good idea for my family (mom, kids, and brother & niece) to be genetically tested to see if we carry the Braca gene, which is prone to breast/ovarian cancer. It wouldn't do me much good now, but it could be proactive for my family members, especially my kids and niece.

My white blood cell count was up but my iron was a little low, as well as something else i can't remember. But I was given the "a -okay" to go ahead. So I infused with the Avastin first. And then the Oxcillaplattin. After about 30', I began to itch all over. And then I felt buzzing and tingling and tightness and throbbing in my head and ears. I then started to turn red and blotchy all over and I called the nurse over and asked her if what I got was what I usually get because I was experiencing things I had never experienced. She looked at me, noticed my really red ears and shut off the pump right away. Apparrently I was having an allergic reaction. One thing I've learned during this is that I am allergic to Benedryl. So they had to give me something else to counteract the allergic reaction. They hooked me up to the blood pressure machine and I was a little higher. They also hooked me up to an oxygen monitor and I was at 100%, but I was having trouble swallowing and I was panicing and freaking out on the inside, but shockingly stayed extremely calm during this whole thing. I just focused on reading, drinking my water and breathing. Pretty proud of myself for staying calm! The chemo phramacist came out and the chemo nurse went and talked to the doctor about how to proceed. They told me this is common, that patients develop an allergy to the chemo drugs. That your body can take so much and then it says "no more". She said it usually happens around round 6. This was round 3 for me. But I did 11 rounds of this stuff from Aug 2006 - Feb 2007. So it has accummalated in my system, making the side effects etc. worse now. I'm kind of relieved we stopped it, because I'm pretty concerned about the naropathy (numbness and tingling in hands and feet), especially in my feet. I'd rather have them feel dead like they were, instead of the buzzing. The buzzing hurts. And I dont' want to have it affect my hands. I need my fingers for card making!

Anyways, I had to sit there for quite awhile so they could monitor me. They sent me home with some allergy meds (not Benydryl) and no pump (with 5FU to infuse at home for 3 days). I'm trying to get in to see my doc asap so we can come up with another care plan. I don't want to wait too long because time/schedule is of the essence. I'm a little worried. It's a mixed blessing. Looks like I'll feel ok by Fri - Sun so I can go to Kaelin's soccer game, get ready for Laura's scrapbook sale and go to Kate's (late receptionist at HOTP) Memorial service/funeral. I'm sure there's some movie coming out to see too. And hopefully I'll be making/creating more stuff this week! I'm having fun! (But staying up too late).

Hope your Mondays rocked your world!!!

xoxoxox
Shauna