Sunday, August 30, 2009

Update From Christi

Here is Christi's latest update! Keep praying.

I just returned from MD Anderson/Houston last night. As of Tuesday I've been back on the full dose of Sorafenib (my clinical trial drug) and I've been having tummy troubles. Loud rumbles... food gets "digested" way too fast... Not pleasant but bearable. I'm guessing that the return to a full dose just messed me up. I did not have this problem before, but bodies change and mine's been through a lot.

The Sorafenib has lived up to it's long list of possible side effects. So far it's given me a pink dotted rash on both my wrists (ichy, but not in the least a bad side effect as I was allowed to scratch and it wouldn't spread the weirdness), I'm tired, high blood pressure, tummy issues (as previously mentioned) and a certain weirdness with my feet that caused the doctors to half my dose in the first place. My heels and the balls of my feet felt and looked bruised. It hurt to walk on them without really good tennis shoes on and even then I had to limp. Along with this side effect came, what I can only describe as a rope burned feeling on the bend of my big toes and right thumb. They looked pink and purple and once healed a yellow callous remained. Strange.

Last night I began round 2 of Chemo (it's actually round 3, but the doctors call it 2 so we'll go with their scale). Adam picked me up from the airport and we debated dinner... I told him I honestly didn't feel well enough to have any so instead we went home and he and the Pea had some left-overs... I had my Chemo and Sorafenib. An hour later we were in bed (8:30... mind you I was on Houston time so it felt like 10:30) and I had to tell Adam to stop hugging me/cuddling because any pressure on my stomach was too unpleasant. I got up to get my anti-nausea medicine but thought it was more wise to sit on the bathroom floor for a while and will the nausea to pass... sadly the nausea won out and I spent some time leaning over the toilet... not fun.

So there you have it... as of last night I was indoctrinated into the club of cancer patients. So far it's been incredibly easy... bruised feet and all... but last night I felt like a cancer patient. This may sound really weird and that's okay, but it felt good. I don't like living in fairy tale worlds where everything is roses. I don't want to suffer for no reason either, but it's good to have a giant dose of reality. I'm going through something here and it's big and it's going to suck sometimes, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Just another reminder that I am not in control and that's a good thing... plus what girl doesn't want to lose another 5 pounds!?

Joking aside, the anti nausea med WILL be bumped up, additional home help might be employed for the next week or so while I am on my Chemo (it's a 5 day round at about 3 times the dose it was at during radiation) and I am grateful that the sickness occurred a full hour or more after I took my medicine because that means it had time to get into my system and none of it was lost.

As far as MD Anderson - they said everything looks good. Next MRI is on the 22nd of September and we'll know more then. For now it was obvious that my right side is weaker than my left... which coincides with a left brained tumor... they said that was normal as well and should just be watched, but nothing to worry about.

Still waiting on my hair to start coming back. Place your left hand on the top left/center of your head and that is the sad, bald area that I hide each day with a scarf... yes, it is the size of my entire hand. There's also a rather good chance that the hair won't grow back to it's full capacity... it might be noticeably thin... like balding thin. We're prayerful that this will not happen and that my hair will come back full force. Not a vanity issue, but a normalcy issue... I don't want to spend my entire life being ashamed of how my head looks.

So that's the gist. I apologize if any of this is "TMI" but I'm writing to inform and to chronicle my journey... I don't want to forget where I've been and what God has helped me overcome.

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