Update on Things

I'm sitting here about to start my chemo session. I'm currently receiving some anti-nausea drugs. So far they are working. Here's hoping they continue once I get the real stuff. To bring you up to date this week:
Monday was the egg harvesting. I was totally knocked out. Also had the fun experience of walking into the operating room & putting my legs straight up in the stirrups. I sort of thought maybe I'd go in, they put me out & then they'd arrange me however they needed, but nope! Right up in there! The indignity didn't last too long, though, as I was out soon enough. After waking up they said they had 6 eggs. Now the thing I didn't realize was that after they get them out, they still have to mature before they can freeze them. I did not know this, so was quite shocked when I got a call Tuesday from one of the nurses that 2 of them had matured. Meaning 4 of them hadn't. So great. I went through all that for two eggs? To my great relief, my doctor called Wednesday and said that the remaining four had matured overnight. Phew! So 6/6 have been put on ice. 100%, baby! Well, really, only 50%. Ha ha ha. A little fertility humour there.

Wednesday morning I had a CT scan & a MUGA heart scan. The CT scan was interesting, mostly because they dye they inject in you makes you all warm in your crotch like you're peeing yourself. The nurse told me this, but she had a bit of an accent - from the islands - so I said "What?" sure I had heard her wrong. Nope, she laughed "It'll feel like you're peeing." Wow, ok. And sure enough, there it was. I felt a bit of warmth in the back of my throat & jaw, and some in my feet, but yep, it feels like I'm losing bladder control. Weird, because nothing else really warmed up. For the MUGA scan, they pull out some blood, attach it to a radioactive tracer, and let it sit for 1/2 hour to bond before putting it back into you and taking the pictures. The technician brought the syringe of blood back inside this thing that looked like an empty toilet paper tube with a stand. It was lead! To protect us! I hadn't even thought about that, but there it is. So everything turned out fine. The CT technician saw some "changes" in my ovaries, but my oncologist told him (her?) about the egg harvesting.

Quickie Update

Well, I did it. I managed to wake up at about 5am this morning. Hooray for me! Somewhat easier than that was having my eggs harvested. I just had to lie there & take an IV. It's quite a process they have there. Like an assembly line. Anyhoo, they got 6 eggs out, which I think is about average. I'm a little crampy, but not horribly so. They gave me some Vicodin, so I shouldn't be feeling any pain when I go to bed tonight. Yawn! Well, I'm going to go & break in the new heating pad my parents bought. The other one just died. Peeeer-fect. Thanks, stupid heating pad. Next step: CT & MUGA (heart) scans on Wednesday.

Ports & Egg Harvesting

This past week has gone really quickly. I had a port put in last Tuesday, which was an interesting procedure. Mostly because I wasn't under for it, unlike every other surgical procedure I've ever had done. I was totally out even for my wisdom teeth extraction! I was under sedation, but not so heavy it put me to sleep. I did try to fall asleep, but because I was being jostled around as the doctor was putting the port in, I wasn't quite able to get there. They also use a local around the surgical site, but you're still getting jostled. At one point I remember going "Ow". I vaguely remember someone saying "Give her more local." I was much more eloquent in my head than just "Ow." Like "Excuse me, doctor. I know you're busy, but perchance could I have a little more local anesthetic in the region you're operating on? I seem to be able to feel something more than I believe I should." Also: "Pardon me. I hate to be so fussy, I understand you're all very busy. I know I asked for a warming blanket upon my arrival in this chilly room, but I seem to have become overheated. Would it be too much trouble to ask for the blanket to be turned down? Thank you ever so much." came out as "Too hot." Ah well, I was never that . . . uh . . . good. With words. So it's in now & it's healing. My chest is all yellow on that side, so that's hot.

So now I have the port, so I hopefully won't get collapsed veins. Which I was worried about this past week because of all the blood I've had drawn for my various fertility treatments. I had blood drawn & vaginal ultrasounds on Friday 12/5, Tuesday 12/9, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 12/11-12/13. Apparently I, uh, ripened, a little quicker than they thought because they had me take the trigger injection last night at 8PM. They were very specific about that time. And I have to report to Rockville at 6AM on Monday!!! Man, that's going to be tough. And the procedure isn't even for a couple of hours after I check in. So this should be interesting. I guess they use the same type ultrasound I've been using the past week & a half, but it's got a needle attached. They go through the vaginal wall to retrieve the eggs. Things seem to be going well & I think I should have something like 8 or 10 eggs. But I'm not sure. Will report back later.

Last week, I also went to a 'Look Good...Feel Better' session. Look Good...Feel Better is a free service to women to help them (us) with the physical changes that accompany cancer treatments. It was nice. There were 3 of us - all for breast cancer. One of the other 2 had had chemo about a week earlier, but her hair hadn't started falling out yet. And what hair! Long and thick! Like mine. Beautiful! So we got some makeup tips, and some information on what we can expect from our skin. Apparently chemo is drying, so we got lots of lotions & moisturizers. And we learned the importance of cleaning your face twice a day, which . . . I should be better about anyway. We each came away with a little goody bag of cleansers, moisturizers, and makeup which were graciously donated by a bunch of companies. My bag had stuff from Avon, Revlon, Mary Kay, Aveda, Bobbi Brown, St. Ives, and several others (uh, I'm at the library, so I don't have it with me). Oh, I got 3 sample sizes (like ketchup packet-sized) of Udder Cream! I'm looking forward to smearing that on my . . . skin. Hm. Looking at their website, one of their products contains 10% urea. Which is . . . yeah, you know. Anyways, it was a fun & informative session. Everyone (er, everyone with cancer) should go to one - they have a version for men and for teens, too. After leaving the session, I had to walk through the lobby of the Cancer Center, where they were having a Christmas party for kids. Some were children of people who are patients at the cancer center, others are patients themselves. It was really sweet, but really sad at the same time. I mean, no kid should have to deal with this. I had to leave quickly, before I became the sobbing woman at the childrens' party.

I also went to an intro to chemo session at the hospital. They went through the logistics of chemo. You come up to here, check in, then they'll bring you back here. You can have guests, they have wifi (hello, live- blogging!), they have tvs at each chair. They provide lunch, if you're around then, but you can also byo. So, hey, it'll be like a little party in there. Except for the all the sick people. Man, we are always bringing things down!

Schedule for this week: Egg retrieval Monday 12/15, CT scan & MUGA Wednesday 12/17, and first chemo Friday 12/19. So I imagine my hair will start falling out after the new year. Siiiiiiigh. In that vein, look for an upcoming post about my wig shopping.