Sunday, March 10, 2013

It's GLOW TIME again!



Thank goodness my computer and cell phone automatically adjust to day light savings time. I just looked over at the clock and was totally confused. Come to think about it, who does that in cyber world? I would say it's enabling me to be lazy! 

This is going to be a quick blog entry.

My left arm (bone) has been giving me grief. I finally found out why I am in so much pain. I have a tumor in my arm! Can you believe that one? It feels like it's broken. 

I have to patiently wait while the Doctors figure out another plan of attack. When I left the hospital on Thursday I was all set up for Radiation. They started the process and simulation. I unhappily received 4 more tattoos to my left shoulder/arm. They gave me a schedule for treatment along with an appointment for a bone scan. I decided to try a clinical trial instead of chemotherapy. I had a plan Friday. Things always change. The Doctors are talking and that's alright with me. They don't ignore me, they know better! 
I am sort of on hold. Tomorrow morning I will find out my plan. Doing the radiation may disqualify me from the trial. We have to make sure this is done the right way. 

My goal is to get out of pain. 

Oh...Good news. The Pazopanib may have helped me. I am off the drug because of my high liver enzymes. But, my recent scans showed shrinking and stable tumors in my liver, lungs and pancreas. The tumors on my vertebrae and arm did grow. The news that my organs have no growth is great. 

I will let you know what I decided.  
How much Radiation have I had and why am I not a walking GLOW stick? 

2 comments:

The Astonishing FartMan said...

Hey MichelleOnLongIsland,

I'm soooo glad the Pazopanib is doing some good, but sooooo sad your arm is giving you grief. You are soooo tough. I wish you didn't have to be soooo tough. That's a lot of soooing, don't you think? That's life with cancer--extremes of pain and distress . . . and joy and happines, too, which is strange.

Reading your last post made me jealous that you have two sweet dogs to cuddle with. I love dogs, but am too alergetic to have them in the house.

My life is pretty boring these days. That's kinda nice. Work is slow, so I've started a little household project:. I'm making a desk for our laptop to sit on. It's going to have a sort of sleek industrial modern look--with stainless steel legs and a wood desktop and drawers. If it comes out okay, I'll take a picture and post it on my blog so you can see it. When I'm not lawyering all day long, it's fun to do something with my hands.

My other project is to lose some weight. I've put on fifty pounds since I first got diagnosed in August 2010. The steroids and the inactivity (because of CIPN--chemo induced peripheral neuropathy) made me balloon up nicely. The CIPN is finally easing up a little, so I gotta start excercising something other than my teeth.

Well, it's one month until my next scan, so I'm starting to get nervous. You know all about that. Every little twinge makes me think, "Uh-oh, what's growing in me this time?" I go a little nuts the month before scan time. How the heck do we put up with this anyway?

Thanks for giving updates on what you are up to. I love to hear your news, both the good news and not good, although I want it to be as good as possible all the time. I think about you all the time.

Mary said...

Hi Michelle - I just wanted to send a warm hello and hopes for less pain! Your friend Jessica mentioned your weblog in the Team Sarcoma Facebook group. What you've been through makes my sarcoma journey look like a piece of cake! It's obvious that you can make the best of nearly any situation, and I admire that so much. I know it's not easy. Take good care of you, okay?