I want to thank all my prayer warriors. I am eternally grateful for everyone of you!
My first two infusions have kicked my tail. I've had some nausea for the first 7 days. Then dizziness, shakiness and the fatigue sets in. I have spent a lot of time just lying on the couch watching HGTV. I have also been having one physical therapy session a week to rehab my new hip. Then I also do exercises at home the other six days. It hasn't been too bad. Just a little muscle soreness. I am currently off all my pain meds which is nice.
I received my results from my rheumatologist (Dr. Gn), she said that the ultrasound showed some nodules in my hands that would indicate rheumatoid arthritis except my blood work for that came back negative. She thinks that my immunotherapy drug caused my body to go haywire and attacked my hands and arms and made them swell up. Since the swelling has left my body currently she has started my on a three month round of Hydroxychloroquine. Apparently it takes that long to get into the body and start working. I have a follow up appointment with her next month to see how I am doing. I definitely don't want the swelling to come back. That was extremely painful.
My parents came to visit and we managed to get a week long beach trip in over the 4th of July. We went to Oak Island, NC. It was nice to get away even though I didn't feel so well. My aunt and cousin drove down for a day visit and it was really nice catching up with them too.
I had my third infusion yesterday and so far today I feel pretty good. I've managed to do some laundry and write this blog so I will take that as a big win!
Prayers:
- That I stay feeling well - no nausea, dizziness or fatigue
- That my white blood cell count stays up - I don't want to end up in the hospital like last year
Pic: Dinner with my parents, aunt and cousin in Oak Island - yes my hair started falling out after my second infusion so I shaved what was left before we went to the beach.
Here is a crazy update for those that didn't see my husbands posts on Facebook over the weekend. On Thursday morning I had an appointment for an ultrasound of my hands. I am still waiting on the results of that test from my rheumatologist. After that I went downstairs to get a left hip X-ray to see why I have so much pain. By the time I got home I had two doctors calling me to tell me to pack a bag for a hospital stay. It seems that I fractured my left femoral head back on April 26th. So I had been walking on a broken hip for a month! No wonder the pain was increasing every week that went by.
I didn't have a trauma that caused the fracture, so this is our and the orthopedist's best guess on how it happened. I got off the PET scan table on April 26th and when I turned right to head back to the entrance I got a catch in my left hip. I hobbled a bit and it seemed to work itself out. But as the days went on it kept getting worse. I did have a few micro fractures in that hip left from the radiation treatment for the bone cancer metastasis I had initially. The radiation had left my bones brittle and it just snapped. They originally told me I would have surgery Thursday evening but when they took new X-rays they determined the fracture wasn't acute (since it was a month old) and they set me up with a total hip replacement surgery on Friday.
Surgery went well and I was released from the hospital on Saturday afternoon, which was our 22nd anniversary. It has been nice being home to recover. I will start PT tomorrow. My pain has been fairly easy to manage so far. It is much less than before surgery. Haha!!! I also seem to be getting around really well already just doing the at home PT sheet they sent home with me.
I am still set to start back up with chemotherapy and immunotherapy on June 5th.
Prayers:
- That PT won't beat me up too badly
- Continued great rest and healing of my hip
Pic: Me after I got home on Saturday
Just a quick update. I finally got the date of my first infusion set. It's June 5th. I will be there most of the day receiving three chemotherapy drugs and one immunotherapy drug. I will receive these same drugs every three weeks.
I saw my rheumatologist (Dr Gn) and all the blood work she did came back negative. She is sending me for an ultrasound of both hands next week. Still trying to figure out what caused all the swelling and pain in my arms and hands.
Prayers:
- For my left hip pain to subside. Not sure what is causing it.
- For the next few weeks to be relaxing and restful as I gear up for chemotherapy again.
Pic: Kylie and I at the musical Hades Town a couple weeks ago.
