Abraxane Today

I had an Abraxane treatment this morning and it went off without a hitch. I didn't get much work done, though. But that's okay. My blood counts were on the low end, but were high enough for treatment.

I then went to lunch with a friend - I had chicken noodle soup and because I had a cough (maybe from my bagel, which was plain white - I wanted multigrain as it's better for me), the soup was a great choice as it stopped my cough.

I just want to get over this cold.

I was supposed to make an appearance for dinner at the Longhouse this evening, but luckily, the guest (Tom Arviso, publisher of Navajo Times) had to cancel his trip, so now I get to stay home and rest. I feel guilty as I haven't been able to get to the Longhouse all term.

But then I remember that I've had at least 60 if not closer to 70 appointments since the term started in mid-September.

So, the rest of tonight, I'm resting.

Tomorrow, I am attending a workshop entitled "Psycho-Emotional Transformation" which will be taught by my acupuncturist. We'll be talking about Chinese medicine theory and will get some qigong moves and acupressure points to help patients unstick stagnant energy. I'm sure that I'll gain some energy from this session.

And, Sunday, more work on the grant proposal . . . it's due on Monday.

Overdid It

I am not sure if I've mentioned it or not, but about a week and a half ago, I caught a cold. It's been mostly a head cold with a stuffy/runny nose and then, a post nasal drip cough. I thought that I would get over it in a week or so. I didn't necessarily rest more, but kept doing my normal activities.

I had the second infusion of Abraxane for this cycle on Thursday. The steroids kept me awake until about midnight and I decided not to fight the sleeplessness. That night I only got about 6+ hours of sleep. On Friday, I stayed up until about 11 or midnight and woke up about 7:30 but didn't get up until 8. I putzed around, but then my folks and I spent the afternoon shopping in Albany and again stayed up until about 11 or midnight. On Sunday, I couldn't sleep in past 6:45 or so . . . then I was up late working on a proposal on Sunday and again, only got about 6 hours of sleep last night.

So, three out of the last four nights, I was only able to sleep about 6 hours. So, I'm worn out and that isn't a good situation to get over a cold. It was worse today - I had a headache and sore throat all day, in addition to the stuffy/runny nose and cough.

Silly me. I overdid it. I think I'm so happy that my tumors are shrinking and the treatment is working that I am beginning to operate "normally", i.e., that is staying busy, getting out of the house, doing work at all hours, running around, etc. Time to slow down again . . . so this week, that's my plan. To take it easy in the evenings. I have a social event Wednesday evening and on Friday, but the other evenings, I'm just gonna rest in my room . . .

Um, yeah, right. I'll let you know if I have been successful!

Am I Grasping at Straws? : )

I have been wondering, over the past week or so, whether or not the goose feather mattress topper I bought is causing this slight cough that I have. I bought this goose feather mattress topper on March 30, 2009, because my all natural latex bed is a bit too firm for my back.

I had my CT scan on April 7, 2009. Dr. K called me with the results with on April 14, 2009, in which they found lung nodules on my left lung. I began noticing a slight cough with a slight wheeze two days later, on April 16, 2009.

Lung nodules can be caused by a variety of things, including infections and inflammation.

Maybe, just maybe, I am allergic to that feather mattress topper. Maybe the continued exposure finally resulted in finally getting a cough a couple of weeks later.

Or, perhaps I have slight allergies to mold or mildew, which can be especially bad here in the mid-Willamette Valley during the winter months. Then, the feathers (which were sterilized) in the mattress topper made things worse.

Or, perhaps I'm allergic to dust mites and since it took a couple of weeks for dust mites to grow in the feather mattress topper.

So, respiratory allergies cause inflammation. Perhaps the inflammation caused the lung nodules.

How can I get to the bottom of this?

First, I took the feather mattress topper off the bed today.

Second, I just might take C.'s advice (the nurse who called me today) and make an appointment with my primary care physician and see if I can get tested for allergies as well as tuberculosis.

Third, maybe I am allergic to mold. There is some more mold growing on my bathroom ceiling.

I've never really been bothered by allergies. However, my mom is very allergic to a lot of things - she gets hay fever, she has asthma, she's allergic to animal dander and metal, as well as the sun. My youngest brother also has hay fever. My sister breaks out into a rash in the sun. Several years ago, during a particularly high pollen year, my eyes burned. So, I just may be susceptible.

In past years, I've gotten a cough that hangs on for weeks, usually in the winter time.

I also had a cough that hung on for a couple of months last summer, when I was doing radiation treatments.

If I do, then I think it's highly probable that the lung nodules are caused by allergies.

I'll keep you posted.

What a Great Nurse and Other News

You know, sometimes people tell me that they seek cancer services up in Portland and/or Seattle, as if the service here won't be as cutting edge or whatever. But you know what? I have always made a choice to have my cancer treatment here, primarily because I don't want to have to travel any farther than I have to and also because I do think I get great care.

Today is a case in point - the nurse (C.) I talked to yesterday about the CEA results said that she would be at the Infusion center today and if she had a chance, she'd call me with the CA15-3 results. Well, she called me this morning, after I went to a baby shower.

The CA15-3 was 19.7. I've had numbers below 20 (since August 2008) for nearly a year on that tumor marker test. That eases my mind because I think the CA15-3 might be more sensitive as a marker for cancer.

Here's the history:

Sept 2007 - 23 U/mL
Jan 2008 - 31 U/mL
Mar 2008 - 36 U/mL
June 2008 - 23 U/mL (started radiation that month)
Aug 2008 - 18 U/mL (week of August 4th)
Sept 2008 - 14.5 U/mL YAAAAAAY!!!
Oct 1 2008 - 19.6 U/mL
Oct 31 2008 - 15.3 U/mL
Nov 28 2008 - 19.5 U/mL
Dec 30 2008 - 16.0 U/mL
Jan 22 2009 - 15.4 U/mL
Mar 2 2009 - 17.8 U/mL
Apr 8 2009 - 19.6 U/mL
May 5 2009 - 18.4 U/mL
June 4 2009 - 19.7 U/mL

Remember that anything below 33 is considered normal.

Here's the history for the CEA:

1/2008 - 1.2 ng/mL
3/2008 - 0.9 ng/mL
6/2008 - 1.0 ng/mL
8/2008 - 1.1 ng/mL (need to double check this number, but it was in that 0.9 to 1.2 range)
9/2008 - 0.5 ng/mL
10/2008 - 0.9 ng/mL
10/31/2008 - 1.2 ng/mL
11/28/2008 - 1.2 ng/mL
12/30/2008 - 1.1 ng/mL
3/2/2009 - 1.4 ng/mL
4/8/2009 - 1.6 ng/mL
5/5/2009 - 1.9 ng/mL
6/4/2009 - 3.0 ng/mL

For the CEA, anything below 3.8 is considered normal!

So, I won't freak out too much yet. The nurse, C., thought that maybe I should go see my primary care doctor about what might be causing the slight coughing/wheezing that I have, to try to get to the bottom of whatever respiratory might be going on.

In other news, I ended up with diarrhea today. I doubled my dose of Tykerb today and another blogger I know would complain of diarrhea with Tykerb. I also had seafood last night - a couple of mussels and shrimp - and I don't know if my digestive system was bothered by that. It's wiped me out today, even though I think I had a good night's sleep. I was supposed to also go to my colleague's house for a party, but I think I better stay home and rest. Sorry, L. & J.!!

And, in other news, the garage sale was okay today. I think we had three cars stop by from 12:30 on, so I don't think it was worth it to have it until 4pm. But Scott and I earned over $100 today. Of course, we have a lot more we can sell . . . we'll see how we do tomorrow! Mom and dad were a great help and they even ran to the grocery store for me because of my digestive problems! They're great parents, aren't they?

A very big note of appreciation goes to C. for taking the time to call me with the tumor marker results today. I get great, personalized care!

Frustrated!

While still in good spirits, I have briefly cried in frustration a few times the past couple of days. I can't seem to fall asleep before midnight and then my sleep is broken up. I have been fatigued off and on for the past couple of weeks and almost constantly for at least a week now. I had a fever last Wed and Thurs, seemed okay Fri and Sat, then last night, after softball, I got the chills and I checked my temperature - it was 100.9. I checked it an hour ago and it was 99.9. I felt well enough to be running some errands and to get some things done at work. I must've overdid it. My assignment tonight is to rest and watch movies and color mandalas.

I have had almost constant chest congestion and coughing since early June. It's gotten worse the past couple of weeks. I've had shortness of breath while running the bases and also walking up to the cancer center for awhile now, too.

It could be allergies (they say the peak of the allergy season here in the Willamette Valley was a week or so ago). But I've never really had allergies before, but perhaps because my immune system is compromised at the moment, allergies are affecting me more.

The fever, chills, and achey muscles are something that Eddie and I picked up last week - maybe even while we were in Seattle, at the Seattle Center around all those people.

But the cough and shortness of breath seem to date to my starting radiation. Here's the NIH website on Tykerb side effects:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a607055.html

(Thanks to the Cheeky Librarian for finding me this information!!) Note the comment that if you have coughing and/or shortness of breath, to call your doctor. I have a call in to him.

Another site I found this morning said that one side effect is "interstitial lung disease". (Scroll down past the charts, just below the "decreased left ventricular ejection fraction" paragraph.)

I looked that up on the internet and apparently, this means that the tissue surrounding the air sacs in your lungs become inflamed (and may cause scar tissue) which makes it hard for the air sacs to fill with oxygen. I looked up other causes of "interstitial lung disease" (see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/interstitial-lung-disease/DS00592/DSECTION=causes and apparently, radiation to the chest and/or for breast cancer can also cause it.

Who knows? I hope it's not the interstitial lung disease. Let's hope it's just a temporary effect and will go away.

I just talked to my doctor's office. They want me to monitor the fever and if anything changes related to that, then to give them a call. They also suggested that I keep taking my chemo meds, but I'm going to write them off for today and maybe try to start them up again tomorrow.

In the meantime, wish me a good night's sleep, please!

Coughing and anxiety

Hello again,
It's been a tougher week than expected. I caught a cold while in Fairbanks - it was mostly just a cough. It started to get better last week, only to get worse again on Sunday, after my party. Because of the cough, I decided to cancel my trip to Washington DC to attend meetings at the National Science Foundation. I asked around and people reported that they might actually delay surgery if I'm not completely healthy. Thankfully, NSF very graciously told me that this was the right decision to make - and I'm very appreciative of their understanding. It's allowed me to rest while taking care of some minor tasks around the house.

The cough is frustrating - I hate having a cold and feeling tired! The last couple of days, I've started to feel some anxiety about the upcoming surgery - my heart starts beating a little faster and my breathing becomes shallower. To counteract it, I'm taking deeper breaths, but it's hard to completely relax because I'm both worried about the surgery and worried that it might not happen if I don't get better. And, my anxiety probably doesn't help me get over the damn cold!

I did participate in a teleconference for some of that NSF meeting and I must admit that I enjoyed it (although my neck and hand got tired of holding the handset to my ear!) and furthermore, it was a nice distraction. I didn't have any anxiety the whole time I was listening in on the meeting or making some comments. So, this makes me think that I need distractions to keep my mind off of things. Part of the reason why I enjoy these meetings is that I do think that NSF takes suggestions that I might make seriously - in contrast to what goes on sometimes at OSU. There are some things here at OSU where it seems like my opinion doesn't matter - mind you, it's not everything because there are situations at OSU where my opinion did help. Anyway, the teleconference was a welcomwe distraction. So, I guess this means I need more distractions!

Tomorrow, I meet with the surgeon, Dr. Faddis, to talk with him about what will happen next week. If there is anything new to report, I'll write another post! Take care. Love, Dee