My second to last day at Stanford was interesting because all I had to do was take pills. The doctors wanted to see if the infection got worse. I was no longer hooked up to the IV and I took a lot of walks up and down the hallways. I was even able to convince my gastric bypass roommate to take a walk and we did three corridors and she was exhausted. Rigdon and I sat in the healing garden which is very beautiful. It is lush with any kind of blooming flower for the West that you can think of. I am going to try to attach a photo or two. The massage therapist found me in the garden and massaged my neck as I sat on the bench. It was a wonderful experience. I have been trying to import photos of the healing garden to no avail.
The next morning I packed everything (which was not much) and waited for the Infectious Disease honcha, Dr. Ho, who had just arrived for her stint at Stanford. I had been in the hospital for six or seven days waiting for her opinion. She is also an autoimmune disease expert and the plastics team was there. Dr. Ho looked at me and my chart, as did the plastics team and then they went into the conference room. When Dr. Ho returned to my room she said I should stop taking Avelox and switch to Cipro. This really didn't make sense to me because I was already improving on the Avelox. So I went home with scripts for Cipro and the expensive drug, Zyvox and we went on our hunt for the pricey Ayvox.
In my case there is some tension among different specialists, General Practitioner, Plastic Surgeon, and Infectious Disease physicians, particularly the Infectious Disease specialist. She suggested I have the tissue expanders taken out, go for Chemo and then have the silicone boobettes inserted. I figure the expansion will get smaller and I'll have droopy skin. It has made me uncomfortable sometimes (I hate confrontations). However, the general practitioner, the plastic surgeon and the oncologist have all been open to any suggestions I have. I feel as if my opinions and feelings are taken into account, important to me.
When I left the hospital, I was told my platelet count was 250. I have never had a count above 154 ; if one is taking these strong antibiotics the count usually goes down, not up. I asked Dr. Gleber if she would order another count and it was 170 or so. I think the tech got tired of counting and just wrote down 250. When Dr. Gleber came to the house to check me out, she agreed with me that I should be on Zyvox and Avelox. Neither of us informed Dr. Ho, she really chewed me out during my visit to Stanford on Tuesday (14th) for switching meds, and not informing her. She said if I was going to make decisions without her input, why was I there? I felt like a school child being scolded.
The day before my Stanford Clinic visit to Dr. Ho, Rigdon and I went to a chemo-teach at the Marin Cancer Center. It was one on two (remember Rig) by a nurse who had a great sense of humor and I enjoyed the hour he spent with us. As we walked out we looked at the infusion room, large chairs with big arms were filled with women getting IV drips, reading, resting, sitting very still. Through expansive windows, there was a beautiful view of Mt. Tam. Cookies and juice were available. When we got to the car, Rigdon said it reminded him of a beauty parlor and I agreed with him.
The same day as the chemo-teach, I asked my oncologist, Dr. Jennifer Lucas, if I could postpone chemo a few weeks and get my implants put in? The meds upset my stomach and elimination and I don't know how long I can keep chipper under these circumstances. She said that was fine with her because my cancer is very slow growing and a month or six weeks would not harm the outcome of having chemo.
Now I have to go back a few days. On July 9th I visited the Plastic surgeon, Dr. Gurtner. I asked him if Dr. Lucas agreed, would he please put in the implants? He said he would. His intern, Mohammed Sayed, has seen me from the very first surgery, double mastectomies and his last day is July 24. I will be having the implants put in on the 24th. I told him he was fortunate to have watched a case so closely to its finale. He was the first person I saw every morning at 6:30 a.m. with the rest of the plastics team for a total of four. He gave me his beautiful white toothed smile and agreed with me.
Here is the plan: implants (whatever size fits in place of the tissue expanders) on Friday, July 24. Depending on how I do after surgery, I can go home afterwards or perhaps spend one hospital night and go home on Saturday. My daughter, Alexis, from Seattle is coming down Friday morning and will fly home on Monday evening. If I stay over that night she will sleep in my room on a rollaway as she did for the first surgery. My good friend Bill and his partner, Walter, are coming on the 25th. After Bill shows Walter around our area, Walter will be going motoring; Bill will stay here, help us out, cooking, walking Bubba and entertaining me. Bill was a Stegner fellow and has two books published. We became fast friends when he stayed with us in Palo Alto while looking for an apartment to use during the fellowship. He is meticulous about his writing and spends many hours/days fine-tuning and rewriting his literature. I am looking forward to his visit and so is Rigdon because it will alleviate some of his burdens.
So for all you folks who want to know when I am starting chemo, the answer is at least six weeks from now.
How am I feeling? I seem to have lost my joie de vivre yesterday when my whole body ached and my stomach was very upset and continues today. It is probably because of the heavy duty antibiotics. On the sheet inside the medicine box, it says tendonitis is a possibility. Maybe that is it or just my Sjogren's Syndrome acting up. Some of the low feelings are because I am realizing the severity of my physical ailments. I want to see my granddaughter, Mary, graduate from high school, no, college, no medical school. She is seven which means I will have to be around a very long time.
Our lives had been so pleasant with friends bringing dinner every other night, flowers, cards, e-mails. Our community is tight and very caring. I have a huge bag of get well cards from hither and yon. I have too many books to read and the constant support of women who have had cancer and their experiences. For most women, the road taken to cure or ameliorate her cancer is different. There are so many kinds of cancer and a lot of different modalities to keep it under control or cure(?) it. I am glad I can speak openly about my cancer and my feelings. When my Aunt Helen had cancer, my mother wouldn't tell me what was wrong with her. I was 6 through 8 years old when Helen was dying and there was never a whisper about her disease.
I also have to give HUGE kudos to Rigdon who says "we" have cancer and never gets grouchy about all he does for me and for the household. His care of me is loving and I will never forget his patience and his energy to get drugs and and anything I want, frequently involving a trip over the hill. The dishes are always done and since I can't lift anything between 5 and 10 pounds, he is close by to help. I had back surgery last year which involved a long recuperation and he was right by my side for that ordeal. He is a dear and loving spouse, I can't imagine anyone as great, giving and loving as he.
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