An Adventure

Today has been an adventure! I had my labs drawn this morning and then appt with Dr. Miranda at 11. We discussed the side effects from the taxol and my overall sensitivity to meds. Dr decided to decrease my chemo dose by 10% next round and see if that decreases some of the nasty effects. Also he added a new oral med called neurontin for me to try to help with the "pins and needles" and burning pain in my feet. My physical exam showed some abdominal tenderness, and my lab work showed an elevated white blood count. A too high white count indicates an infection or inflammation somewhere. Dr sent me immediately to have a ct scan done of my abdomen and pelvis. We didn't have the results of my liver enzymes at that point because of a problem with equipment at the lab. Anyway- nurse Leslie called a while ago and gave me results.(one of the perks of working for the Dr is that things move quickly- and you get results fast!). Ct scan showed a large ovarian follicle. This basically means that because the chemo has stopped me from ovulating, a follicle still formed to release the egg but no egg is there. We are not going to do anything about it at this time- basically just keep an eye on it and hope that it resolves on its' own. Leslie also gave me results of other labs. My liver enzymes have decreased some, but are still very elevated. I just heard from the Dr. And there will be no chemo on Tuesday. He is going to check my levels in a few days to see what's up. He is also going to do some research about why my enzymes are still so high.  I am truly receiving excellent medical care, and am so grateful for the technology that makes it possible! Thanks to everyone for your unfailing love and support!! ~ Melissa

*Two things to really pray for: liver enzyme level to go down and ovarian follicle inflammation to resolve itself.  I am so thankful that Melissa has a diligent and caring Dr.! ~ Nicole

Feeling Blessed

Today I don't have any new medical updates to share. I probably got a little wild and overdid yesterday so I am having a lousy day of paying for it today! Since I am mostly parked on my couch I am feeling reflective and sappy. I have a beautiful daughter that is counting the minutes until she is 16 and allowed to date ( I might add that several young men are also counting down!). As we have talked about Alexa entering the dating world and having fun getting to know lots of guys, I have been thinking about my guy and what "real " love is. Alexa is WAY too young to seriously think about this yet, but I wonder how many people are looking for a romantic Hollywood story and miss the true deep stuff. Not that romance isn't fun and important, and Tyler has done lots of fun romantic things for me over the years, but the real deal isn't always glamorous and exciting. The real deal is him setting the alarm multiple times during the night so the chemo doesn't sit in your bladder and cause burns. And then half dragging you out of your drug addled coma to the bathroom. The real deal is him reaching "pro" status on flappy bird because of the literally thousands of hours he has spent at dr appt's, in hospitals, and sitting by your side through every single chemotherapy infusion. The real deal is him learning how to empty drain tubes and draining all matter of putrid fluids out of your body -and never complaining once about the nastiness. The real deal is him shaving his head when you lost your hair- and him telling you how beautiful you are bald. The real deal is him becoming a protective papa bear about visitors coming that might have germs to make you sick. Even though you feel bad and hope he doesn't offend people, you know he loves you so much that he doesn't care who he offends- as long as you are protected. The real deal is looking back on nearly 20 years together, and realizing that even though he has been a source of frustration(as you are to him!) he has always been by your side. He has proven himself by stepping up to the plate when times got hard, and you know that God truly brought you together. I am so grateful every day for the not so sexy side of true love!! What a gift I have been given, and I realize that I must never take it for granted!! Thanks to all of you for listening to me ramble - I promise I will send relevant info next time. I truly am blessed!! ~ Melissa <3

Side Effects of Benadryl ;)

Today is a little better day. Thursday I received my neulasta shot at about 4 pm. At that point I still had just mild itching and occasional bouts of mild nausea. Then in the middle of the night I had major itching and pretty significant muscular pain. I took some Benadryl and Tylenol and then was out of it yesterday! I know that sounds ridiculous but I am super sensitive to meds- just 1 Benadryl and 2 Tylenol made me gorked for the entire day! I also had the bone pain from neulasta going on so yesterday was really not my best day. Today I have significant bone and muscle pain, but I at least know what's going on!! The itching has also settled down so that's great news - and the best news of all NO nausea this morning!! This is a huge blessing because the other chemo meds caused debilitating nausea/vomiting for days!! It's a trade off- muscle pain and nerve conduction issues vs barfing. Right now I'm thrilled for the no puking. I am scheduled for an appointment and blood work on Tuesday. Dr is keeping a close eye because this drug is in a different category and we are just not sure how my body will respond. Blood counts don't drop until about day 10, so I don't know if the "feel good" days come before that or what. I hope I get a few of them :)! I have so loved having a few days of feeling decent each cycle that I can enjoy my crew. I'm anxious to learn the pattern of this new drug. What a blessing that I now have only 3 cycles left!! I am forever grateful for all your love and support. After chemo is complete I have to wait at least 3 months before the next step of reconstructive surgery can happen. This journey still has a few more steps, but we have reached the summit!! We thank Heavenly Father daily for our rich blessings. We love you all and appreciate you so much. ~ Melissa

Melissa said she tried to take a picture to show the 7 little fuzzy hairs sticking straight up.  Not just prickly- like actual hairs!! We will have to wait a couple of weeks to see if these fall out or not. They are fun in the meantime though!! She also said to give a shout out to Tyler and everyone who helped with their roof! It is officially complete!! Lots of hard work was so appreciated!! They lost shingles in the crazy wind storm so the roof needed some help.

New Meds

Melissa said that she was jittery this morning and much of the night resulting in less sleep for Tyler. She also said that Dr. Miranda was awesome today! He wanted to make sure to take care of any reactions right away and was very attentive. She did some premeds to ward off side effects as much as possible. Melissa started at 11:30 and was done at 4:15. She did end up with mild itching and fast heartbeat. She said she is "so blessed and guess what? I have NO nausea right now (9:00 pm) -have had a little on and off but ZERO right this second!! Yay!" Tyler said that the treatment went really well with no real surprises. Doc told him that 40% of people have some kind of reaction to this chemo med. Melissa has been able to get just a little rest at home. She has a headache with some dizziness. The itchiness has not increased (just stayed about the same) which is, apparently a good thing. This drug has a longer half-life so she will not bottom out (blood count) for almost 10 days. Tyler says it will be interesting to see how she feels until then and I am wondering if she will get any days to feel well before she does the next round. Melissa wanted to make sure to let you all know how much she appreciates all of the support and prayers, which she knows are helping all the time.

Melissa has been nervous about the side effects from this drug but also excited to have less nausea and the possibility that her hair could start to grow back since 100% of people on the 1st meds lose their hair, but only 80% lose it on this med. Ever the optimist :)

Today's Treatment

My chemo treatment has been delayed until today at 11:30. Nothing is wrong- just logistical issues with orders being received in Salt Lake in time. It is kind of a bummer but at least only a 1 day delay. I had an appointment with Dr Miranda yesterday. We had a very in depth conversation about the new chemo drug that I will be starting tomorrow. It has a different set of side effects than the previous chemo drugs. There is a high likelihood of having a drug reaction so they are going to premedicate to try to prevent this from happening. I  took a very high dose of steroids at midnight last night and then again at 6 am. Then they will give me an additional dose via Iv prior to chemo. Dr will also be present while they give the drug so he can intervene quickly if necessary. Kind of scary but I'm glad that they are being proactive! Dr is also going to carefully monitor my blood counts- I will have labs done every week instead of every 3 weeks. This is one of those instances where you weigh benefits and risks carefully. Dr feels like since the risk of a cancer recurrence is so high, it warrants the unpleasantness of this drug. He will also be carefully monitoring my nervous system and neurological function as some of the neurological side effects can be permanent.  Yikes!! This is all spooky but I trust Dr implicitly. I also had a very comforting blessing Monday night so I feel at peace. Tyler will update you all after treatment. Dr thinks he will need a leash to help contain me after all those steroids!! Hope at least I will be good for some entertainment value!!  Thank you to everyone!! Your support truly means the world to all of us. I know that your prayers in our behalf have been heard and tenderly answered. Our God truly is a God of miracles!!

Feeling Better Than Last Week :)

I am finally feeling better. Still quite fatigued but much better than last week. I had my blood counts checked yesterday and they look good. I am still a little anemic but not too bad. My white count is high enough that I am legal to work for a few hours so hooray!! I worked this afternoon for 3 hours and feel ok. Plan is to work for a partial day both tomorrow and Friday. I have an appt with Dr. Miranda on Monday to discuss the new chemo regimen and our plan to manage the side effects. Then Tuesday is chemo day! I think that the plan is still to receive the neulasta injection the day after chemo. Then I will continue my Iv hydration and Iv steroids at home for 4 days. That has really been such a blessing! Tyler and Alexa are both becoming pros at helping me - I'm too weak to open packages and spike the Iv bag and such. We are all learning new skills :). I am excited to be headed into round 5 but a little apprehensive for the new drug. This round is definitely going to be a learning experience :)! Tyler will update after treatment Tuesday. As always a million thanks for everything. A special thank you to my long distance fan club. I am so grateful for the support of family and friends from afar. We have loved receiving cards, phone calls, packages, messages, and especially prayers. Please know how very much we appreciate ALL of you!! And thank you to my loyal and steadfast local supporters!! Huge love and hugs to everyone! ~ Melissa

 These pictures were taken last week when Melissa was feeling pretty rough! Her red eyelids and overall flushing was from the Adriamycin. She said she is now missing virtually all of her bottom eyelashes. Her right eyebrow is about half gone but the left one is mostly gone.

Normally this is the week Melissa would be able to attend sacrament meeting, but since it is general conference she won't get to attend for 6 weeks. She really looks forward to that tiny amount of freedom, even though she has to be careful not to get too close to anyone. It always makes me feel good just to see her sitting across the chapel and know that she is able to have that one hour. :) Melissa also said that her cooking is not so great now because she relies on taste so much and her "taste buds are jacked" so her family is "suffering!" Melissa is usually an amazing cook and that is something she enjoys doing. She never uses a recipe or any measuring tools, I can imagine that not being able to taste is causing havoc! ~ Nicole