A Long Week of Wait...and Then...

 Sorry for those who were waiting for a quick update...to say the least I was waiting right along with you.  And to add to that I found that the time in the tube on Tuesday, exasperated my pain in my neck that led to more pain down my left arm and left leg.  So, I spent most of last week resting and staying close to home.  When I did not heard from the oncologist by Friday morning, I gave them a call.  It turned out that I would not find out the results until Monday morning.  

So, I spent most of my week trying to keep myself busy in mind and did a lot of reflection.  I even recorded a few videos that I posted on my YouTube channel (I still cannot believe my Tornado Teen talked me into doing this.)  I also had the joy of celebrating my Sweet Guy's birthday.  He was so happy to enjoy breakfast in bed, a round of bowling & arcade with pizza lunch, then back home for his favorite dinner and a surprise LEGO cake.  A great way to pass the time while we waited for results.  

By Sunday, the weather became quite gloomy, so I said we would just have a do nothing afternoon.  By the time we were done de-cluttering the house and other putterings around the house, Michael said he wished we would not have so many "do nothing" days.  Haha!

Needless you can see that I just cannot sit still for long, even when I am in pain.  I just push through and rest only when I have to stop.  If I stay busy, I don't think about the pain so much.  I know it is there and stopped (or was stopped) when it was too much.  Really most of what I was doing had me sitting in a chair and was more about using my intellect and management skills.  I am sure my family gets tired of all my ways to keep us busy!  

This morning I woke up actually feeling much better...still painful but nothing like the last two weeks.  I could turn my head to the left and no problem with range of motion for my arm or leg.  How is that possible?  I really do not know because I went to bed with pain.  I must admit that the pain I had in my chest was very much still there so I still had concern for what Dr. Drengler would tell me.  

Since this meeting was meant to be a virtual visit, I was planning to set up in my mom's side of the house.  It easier to let the children have their space and my mom takes notes.  It has always worked well for us.  So, when I knocked on her door this morning, I was surprised to hear her already on the phone with a doctor.  It turns out that her results from her blood panel was ready for review.  It was a nice surprise to find out her cholesterol levels that had been such a concern just two months ago were now well below the level of concern.  I must brag a little on our essential oil regime that was started in September (when she first started having issues).  After just four months, her cholesterol went for 196 to 131.  She also had her LDL levels go from 127 down to 56!  That is so amazing!!  Even her doctor told her to keep up with whatever was working for her!  He had never seen such improvement is such a short time.  

She finished her appointment quickly and we waited for mine.  As we waited, I told my mom that I hoped my appointment would go so well.  Maybe all the pain I was having was just a pinched nerve or maybe I had walking pneumonia.  

I have learned that these days I should not try to guess what my body is doing at a cellular level.  It never seems to be what I am expecting.  And when Dr. Drengler starts out the appointment with "We have a lot to discuss." I suppose I should throw out any naive thoughts I have of understanding the whims of cancer!

So after all the scans of last week, this is what we have found out:

My cancer has decided to spread to new horizons...I now have cancer in the spinal fluid between two of the vertebrae (lombar 1 and 2) and a small amount of cancer on the lower bone (L1).  This was a little bit of a surprise and he told me that this is not the normal route for my type of cancer.  I am not even sure what that means anymore, since my cancer has not been "normal" from the start.  Haha!  He is sending me back to the radiologist (Dr. Zubyk) once again.  In fact, I already have an appointment to meet with her on Wednesday.  He also called back later in the afternoon and has decided that he wants a comparison MRI of my brain to ensure the cancer has not spread into my brain again.  

Along with this spread, it was also discovered that the cancer has spread into my lymph nodes.  I have cancer appearing in my lymph nodes in my chest and abdominal areas.  I asked if this is why I am having pain around my sternum, and he told me that this was not related.  I am not sure but when I looked at the lymph nodes in the chest and abdominal areas, it only showed the THYMUS, which appears to be exactly in the area where I am hurting!  And today when I showed my mom where I hurt, it feels like a bulge in that area and is painful to the touch like a bruise.   I just do not like the answer I got about this pain.  And I am having no pain in my abdominal area!  The final spread discussed was a small nodule in my right lung (upper right lobe).  Again, I am having no trouble breathing or pain in my lungs.  

I am so glad we are finding these spots when they are small.  However, we also have to have treatment.  So, I am not able to remain on the maintenance chemo treatment.  This is perfectly fine with me because it did not seem to agreeing with me any way.  I am back to the IV chemo treatments.  I will start this as soon as possible but I am not on the schedule yet.  I will do this for the next 12 weeks (3 day cycle on three week cycles).  At that time, I will have new scans done and we see if we can get back on track.  If the cancer has continued to spread, then we will need to move to treatments with in clinical trials.  Which means, we have not been able to find a way to get the cancer under control.  

The pain I have in my neck and most likely the pain on my arm and leg are one of two things.  I have a pinched nerve that occurred after the radiation I had to the neck in the first week of December.  The other possibility is that I have a chemo/radiation induced arthritis.  I will be meeting with my neurosurgeon to try to find answers to this issue in the next week.  At this time, I can continue to take pain medication for relief.  

SO...this is a lot of information.  I will be honest, it does not sound good.  BUT...I am not letting it bringing me down.  In fact, I have more energy today then I have in the last couple of weeks.  The pain has either reduced or my body has found a way to function around it.  The way I look at it is your body gets used to a certain level of pain and when the pain gets worse your body learns to adjust and adapt.  I have been given pain medicine and will take it as needed.  I will have good days and bad days.  On the good days, watch out world!  Here I come!  When the days are not so good, I pull back and rest.  

Through it all...God is good and holds me close...I am open to his plans!  

God's blessing to all!