Lots of Stuff Going On...

First of all, they told me that a Tumor Marker was a measurement to show the amount of cancer that is in my blood. Whenever my blood work is done, among the other test results, one is to show how my tumor marker is doing. Six months ago (when I was with Kaiser) my numbers went up and down on a regular basis, however, I don't recall it ever going over 120. Mind you, I don't really understand this stuff sometimes, and these are just numbers to me. However, after switching to Sutter and starting on Temoxifen we determined that it definitely didn't work for me and you can see how my numbers are doing by the following:

<38- u/mL (standard range)

5/19/11 - 98.1

6/19/11 - 162.3

7/18/11 - 191.9

Our next plan of attack is to go back on chemotherapy, but this time oral form. The new drug is called Capecitabine (also known as Xeloda). I will be on one week, then off the next, and so on. They are starting me with 3 tabs in the morning and 3 in the evening, then if my side effects are bad, they will taper it accordingly. Apparently the side effects aren't nearly as bad as the other chemo(s) that I've been on because other than mouth sores, he's only mentioned redness/soreness in the hands and feet. I may also lose some more hair, but that's no longer an issue with me. I've kind of grown accustomed to really short hair again. I should be starting on my new chemo this week, when it is delivered to the house.

Next, in case you haven't already heard, we're going to Michigan for a bittersweet vacation. The kids are already there (they went with their cousins & aunts/uncles) and we will be joining them this coming Friday. Since John could only take one week of vacation, we will catch up with everyone this weekend. Growing up, John's family would always go to Michigan for the summer and spend it at his mom's family cabin (actually located in Rose City, MI). His mom's grandfather built the cabin, so it has quite a family history. Unfortunately, we lost John's mom last year (and yesterday was the one year anniversary). She always wanted her ashes to be spread at the lake where she grew up and so we are honoring her wishes. We will forever miss "Nana" and it just doesn't seem real that it's been a whole year without her. So, as I said, it's definitely a bittersweet vacation.

To end on a happier note, yesterday I was invited to the Rivercat's baseball game to watch my friend Sonia throw out the first pitch. If you recall, I threw out the first pitch last year on her behalf because she was out of town. Well...I shouldn't ever trust her because she always talks me into stuff! Sure enough, they were short a gal and needed a "survivor" to take part in just a little celebration out on the field. I thought, sure, they're just gonna need me to stand somewhere and that's it...not. They actually had me run out with the pitcher to the mound and I had to stand there as they sang the National Anthem! I was in friggin flip flops and wasn't expecting to have to run, thank goodness I didn't land on my face...that would have been so embarrassing! Instead, it wasn't all that bad. At least the pitcher was cute :) Since I wasn't expecting to do anything other than support my friend, I didn't bring anyone, and John ended up working late. That's okay, it was just another day in the life of a survivor :) Thanks a lot Sonia, I can't trust you anymore! jk.

Peace to you all ♥ Love, Genie

Zometa Treatment...

Receiving a Zometa treatment right now, having loads of fun. When I was with Kaiser I would have my labs done two days before any treatment and that was the routine I was used to. Here at Sutter they haven't given me a routine yet and I came in for my treatment today and found out that I had to wait a while for my lab results (which ended up being a little over an hour). The nurse informed me that from now on I can just come the day prior to treatment and have my labs done in the office, awesome. That will cut down my Zometa treatment by half, which is great.

I see Dr. Rohatgi on Wednesday and I should be starting my new chemotherapy then. I'm still not sure what the name of it is, but I'm sure I'll find out then. He might have to also increase my pain meds because I've been going through those like crazy. My most recent pain started last night in my right hip and it throbbed all throughout the night. Although I'm not walking with too much of a limp today, it stills hurts to sit and get up from a sitting position. Hmmm, sure hope this goes away w/out the use of more radiation. Radiation always stalls my chemo and I'm afraid the cancer has been growing lately. When I get home I'll be able to check my lab results and confirm whether or not my tumor marker has increased.

The gal in the seat next to me will not shut up! Holy cow, she talks twice as much as I do! Since I can no longer concentrate, maybe it's time for me to say goodbye for now.

Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie

P.S. They just dropped off a tray with lunch on it! Can you believe that?! I had chicken, green beans, rice, peaches and coffee (which I switched for soda). Anyway, it was such a nice addition to everything else that I love about Sutter. AND...it didn't taste like "hospital" food either :) I can't wait until my next treatment, I'll definitely have to make it around lunchtime again!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:H St,Sacramento,United States

Reuniting with Friends...

Facebook has turned out to be quite an incredible resource for finding old friends from your past, and that's exactly what John and I did just recently with some pals from our Coco's days. As many of you know, I actually hired John as a server when I was in management with Coco's and our friendship blossomed over the years, and we started dating. During those days, we befriended some pretty wonderful people. Last weekend we met up with Norm Levee, Dawna & Bob Mencimer (and their daughter Jessica) in Old Sacramento for lunch. First of all, it's always wonderful to hear of other couples that have stayed together over the years, and so when we heard that Dawna and Bob were still together that was such a relief because we couldn't see either of them being with anyone else. As for Norm, he's always been the bachelor and so that wasn't quite a surprise to see him still single. It was great to see our friends, and we ended up chatting for over three hours, catching up on old times! Okay, maybe I did most of the talking, but still, it was awesome to see them. It's fun to bring up names from the past and to hear how everyone is doing nowadays. It's actually been 14 years since we'd been in touch and so we had a lot of catching up to do. On the other hand, it's hard to hear of the people whom we've lost over the years and those who aren't doing so well. Our love and best wishes go out to a fellow co-worker by the name of Heather who is unfortunately suffering some pretty serious health issues. Although I have my own problems to deal with, I would still never wish bad health on anyone else. Hang in there Heather, we're sending positive thoughts your way.

After John and I return from our two trips coming up, we plan to contact Dawna and Bob to get together again. Unfortunately, Norm now lives in Texas and so our visits will be seldom. However, he'll always be in our thoughts and prayers. We love them all dearly and it feels so nice to be reunited with some good friends.

Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Willow Rock Way,Sacramento,United States

It's Not a Diet I Would Suggest...

I recently looked over my charts from when I started this journey back in October 2009, and apparently I've somehow managed to lose 50.2 lbs since then! I sound shocked because I truly am. This is the first time in my life that I've been losing weight without trying and it's actually a nice feeling getting back into some old clothes. Of course I'm sure this weight loss has come from vomiting so much, so it hasn't necessarily been fun. Since I can't really exercise without pain and pure exhaustion, I can't tone my body and work on muscle. But hey, I'm just happy to be losing some weight. However, with this excitement comes a warning from my doctors that they don't want me losing too much more. Like I was told in the beginning, some of this body fat can actually help in the long run in fighting cancer, since there's more to work with when you have meat on your bones. Makes sense to me.

Monday is my last radiation treatment (this time around) and then after checking in with Dr. Rohatgi, I should be starting back on chemotherapy. This time he wants to try pill form (which I haven't done yet), but it will come in handy considering we're going on vacation soon and I won't have to worry about interrupting my treatment. He says it's one week on, one week off, and doesn't have as many side effects as the other chemo does. I don't know the name of this new drug yet, but as soon as I know I'll tell you (Luanne :)).

Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Willow Rock Way,Sacramento,United States

A Couple More Treatments...

I only have a couple more days left of radiation treatments, thank goodness. I can barely keep my eyes open these days and getting downtown by 9:00 for this last week has been hard. I nearly fell asleep in the waiting area yesterday (because they were running behind) and I would have succeeded if it weren't for this little old man talking my arm off! Ugh, just let me sleep already! Just kidding, he was sweet.

Although radiation doesn't hurt at all and only takes a few minutes (at least in my case), it's a bummer what it does to the skin. It actually discolors the skin and leaves it feeling sunburnt. They forewarn you about your skin and also about being so lethargic, but after doing this three times, my skin is pretty ugly in places :( but hey, it's taking away some of the pain and that's all that matters.

I hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July with family and friends.

Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Willow Rock Way,Sacramento,United States