Did I say I was done listening to bad news and happy to get all my treatments started in my last post?

Well… it turns out treatment days are not so easy to endure! Can we go back to the good old days where I could just LISTEN to the bad news instead of experiencing it?? lol!!

Yesterday was a rough day. I woke up with bumpy, itchy hives all over me. I thought I was going to go crazy. I called the pharmacist to confirm it is an allergic reaction to my super duper drug. They confirmed it’s not a good reaction and one not so common, they told me to call my oncologist. I called and they were so concerned that they wanted me to stop taking the drug right away until they get a chance to see me in the afternoon when I go in for my first radiation treatment and calcium IV treatment. I reluctantly agreed, but inwardly I was crushed. I knew this drug is my best chance for survival. For non-smoking lung cancer patients, this drug works twice as effective as chemo. Without it, I am not sure if there is any reason to even try chemo. I calmed myself down before my despair could take me to a place of no return. I went back to bed and started my sleeping meditation of just being with my body whatever it is. I might have slept some. A couple hours later, most of my hives were subsided. Some of them were still there, but not itching anymore. I called the oncologist back, they said I could go back to taking my regular dose and evaluate when I get into the office. When I got there, they confirmed it’s an allergic reaction to the drug, but might be able to treat only the hives with an antihistamine like Allegra, so that’s what we decide on. Happy to report this morning I have no hives! One crisis averted!

The calcium IV drip was not painful at the time, but what it does for those of you as ignorant as me about medical things… although bones could look healthy on the outside, but with cancer or osteoporosis, there are lots of microscopic holes inside the bones, so what the medicine does is it seals the bones from the outside, then fills the holes inside. Pretty neat, isn’t it? Except it makes my bones ache all over as the little tiny holes are being filled in!! Every inch of my body… well, only places with bones are hurting. 🙂

As if that’s not enough, you know how everyone says radiation treatments are hard, well, it’s true! hahaha! About an hour after I got home, I had the most violent projectile vomit of my life! I think I threw up what I ate last Sunday!! No worries on constipation or diarrhea because there is nothing left in my system! lol! I am still dizzy and weak this morning. I know I should eat something, but really really afraid. I have no appetite. 9 more sessions of this… I am counting down!

Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes as always! Each of you reaching out with a kind word and a prayer gives me a little bit more strength to endure the unthinkable. 

A little bit of good news on such a dreadful post, even though this might be way too early… I have only been on Tagresso for 3 days, but yesterday morning (even with the hives) was the first morning I didn’t cough up blood since this whole thing started. I am coughing less this morning, so I take it the drug is doing its miracle work in my body moment by moment. 

We met with the radiation oncologist this morning. The doctor is so very nice and it’s good that she is next door to my oncologist, so they consult each other on every case very closely. They recommend I start with the most painful places like my spine and hips. See how I respond to the treatments and also give the drugs a chance to work for me without unnecessary radiation. They were able to map my spine today while I was there. Radiation treatments start tomorrow, it’s 15-min per session, everyday for 10 days (except weekends of course).

They said the treatments are not painful, I won’t feel anything. It’s not the kind of treatment that would immediately make me feel better either. The purpose of radiation is to kill the bad cells and allow healthy cells to grow in time. So, it might take a while for me to feel the effects of the treatment. Keep taking those pain pills is basically the message. 🙂 There are some side affects such as fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, etc. I get to keep my hair. Every time I expect to lose my hair, they tell me I can keep it! So, friends, please don’t shave your heads yet. 🙂

Tomorrow, I am also getting my first calcium IV shot to strengthen my spine.

All prescribed treatments are now in full swing. I am glad we are done with all the tests for a while. They have collected samples of everything from head to toe… except maybe a hair sample! LOL! Anyway, I am done hearing bad news for a while. Let’s get all these treatments underway and give my poor body a rest so it could heal from within. Sleeping all day sounds like a great solution to my problems!! 🙂

Two doctors appointments today and no good news to share.

The morning appointment was with the lung doctor. He said the brain MRI results came back. Brain tumors have been confirmed. There are actually multiples of them in different areas of the brain. It’s one thing to expect it and another thing to actually receive a confirmation of something much worse. I feel like life has punched me in the gut again.

The afternoon appointment was with the back doctor. She showed me the spine MRI that was taken earlier with the fractured disc. Now that we have the pet scan, we know there are cancer cells in there. She also showed me all the places pet scan showed cancer cells. There are 8 different areas in my bones alone. The only thing she could possibly do something about is the 1 disc if it helps at all. She wants me to see my radiation oncologist on Wednesday and see what they can do first. She doesn’t want to recommend anything that might interfere with the radiation treatment because that needs to come first. I will wait.

On top of all these, I have been taking a cough medicine that has hydrocodone in it. That’s the only thing that is able to somewhat control my cough. My lung doctor wrote another of the same prescription today because I am about to run out. Guess what the pharmacist told me, I am over my opioids limit for the year! What??? I am only a month into this thing. How could they be worried about my opioids intake at this stage?! The doctor’s office has to resolve that with the insurance company. 

I went out for a sunset walk and some tai chi outdoor yesterday. I love this time of the day. I know I couldn’t prevent darkness from falling, but I know in my heart the sun will rise the next day. I do feel sorry for myself sometimes and all the friends and family on this journey with me. It’s one gut wrenching news after another.  It’s just so hard on days like this.

The only family member doesn’t seem to be concerned is Oreo, one of my 3 cats. As I type all these bad news to you all, guess what he is doing?

I can’t help but smile. I adore him so much! At least one of us is not crying today. I count that as a blessing! And, yes, Mater Oreo, I will get some sleep! Tomorrow my super-duper-end-all-be-all drug will arrive. I need my strength for that! The sun will rise!