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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Gingerbread tradition continues

In December 2010, I wrote about our Gingerbread House party tradition. Well this year, while Nathan was visiting for Thanksgiving, we started the tradition for this next generation. The boys were a bit young at 2.75 and 1.5, but we all had fun anyway. They mostly wanted to eat the cereal, raisins and candy, so the Moms helped out a lot!
I have photos to post and will be back soon to do that!



Sunday, December 9, 2012

Back on chemo

I had a CT scan last month in November, after being off chemo for 4 months, due to the Shingles. The scan was not good news. My four lung nodules have all grown, my prior radiated chest lymph node is showing activity again, and I have a new mass in my abdomen near my liver. That was the most shocking to me, a new mass. 
I met with Dr. Movva, my Emory Onc and she gave me the bad news. We talked about different chemo drugs and she thought Sutent would be a good one to start. By the time I had all the pre-tests to start the drug, I already had an appointment with my new oncologist, Dr. Gina D'Amato. (Dr. Movva has since moved on to Fox Chase in Philly). She spoke with Drew and I for ~ 1.5 hours going over all my history. We talked about the possible drugs to try also. Since I had previously been on Temodar + Avastin and it had showed shrinkage,  then stability, we decided to try that combo again. It was a matter of the known (side effects and results) and an unknown. I know I will try Sutent next, sooner than later if the Avastin/Temodar don't show strong results. 
So I'm back on the pills for a week, then the infusion on the 8th day, off a week, then back on. So far so good. I did get nauseous the first night on the meds despite all the anti nausea meds I also took. Oh well, just my body reacting I guess.
I've also been battling a cold/cough for ~ 2 weeks now. (Carter had croup and I couldn't avoid it) I think I'll be calling tomorrow for an antibiotic to get rid of this infection. 
The other strange health issue I've had is a systemic achy swollen joint, sore muscle pain. I went to an Internist to test for what it could be and my SED rate was 75, normal is 30. The tests came out inconclusive for anything specific, so she referred me to a Rheumatologist. I'll be seeing him late January, as that was the first available!
That's the health update for now! Back to Christmas prep and parties! xoxo