Sorry I have been a little late on posting a new update. Everybody has been so great about checking in with me in one format or another (thanks to all this good modern technology and forums in which to communicate!) I have to say I feel truly blessed with how the chemo treatments went in round 8, and even here the week after round 8 with my low point in my counts. I have felt pretty much normal for the most part and the chemo hasn't given me any side effects to speak of. I have been a ton more active (walking in pool, and walking) and its helped my energy levels and how my body feels overall. I waited about ten days longer in between the 7th and 8th rounds then normal. I think this really helped my overall body feeling, and also allowed for some great time with family and friends in both Seattle, and Missouri.
It was great getting to spend nearly a month with all my sisters. People always ask me how I ever got along having FOUR YOUNGER sisters, and the four of them make that answer easy for me. Its actually really cool because each of them are great friends in their own unique way so its not like the Ramona Quimby effect that we all imagine with the bratty little sister! haha.
I go back to Houston on Aug 11/12 for a couple days to meet with Dr. Araujo and do another full body scan (pet/ct) and heart exam. I am done doing treatments in Houston for now, and will begin to do a smaller chemo plan at Siteman Cancer Center in St.Louis which will be about an hour per day for ten day cycles. That will start in mid August sometime. I will detail that plan for all of you once I meet with her in a few weeks. She has given me the names of the drugs that I will be taking and I thought you guys would get a kick out of knowing that one of the drugs is irinotecan aka "I ran to the can" Anyways that gave me a good chuckle when they told me about that.
I have been doing much better with my "anxiety" that I have shared with many of you, which was really my only issue during these 8 rounds of chemo. The last 45 days or so have been tremendously better with some of the racing thoughts, uncertainties, all those things. I have felt so much better about my healing and working hard toward moving back into being me again. I am going to do a separate post in the coming weeks as summer comes to a close in August detailing some of the great activities I have gotten to do over the summer, including the wonderful pasta feed/marathon weekend which we posted several pictures already.
I wanted to make sure everybody had an update on how I got thru that last round of the big stuff for now, and really I feel super. I hope everyone is having a great summer, its been a summer to remember in Seattle with temperatures, and St.Louis has been remarkably pleasant from its traditional hot and humid ways. The uplifting in prayer from around the globe has been so meaningful to me, I know the prayers are working so thank you for the commitment, and thoughtfulness. Talk to you soon!
Andrew
2 comments:
Your mental game is inspiring to me! Thanks for sharing about that part!
God is good,
Amanda Lawrence, Tyler, Tx (but Honolulu HI for now)
Hi Andrew,
I'm writing from StoryCorps, America's largest nonprofit national oral history project. I thought you and your blog readers would be interested in listening to StoryCorps' latest story to broadcast on NPR this morning. Sarafina Viviano asks her mother, Dana, about her work as a cancer nurse. You can take a listen here: http://www.storycorps.org/listen/stories/sarafina-viviano-and-her-mother-dana.
StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another's lives through listening. Since 2003, tens of thousands of people from across the country have interviewed family and friends through StoryCorps. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to take home and share and is also archived for generations to come at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Millions listen to the award-winning broadcasts on public radio and the Internet. Select stories have also been published in the New York Times bestselling book, Listening Is an Act of Love.
I hope you take the time to listen and share.
Thanks,
Amber Leigh
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