Didn’t receive my 3rd Taxol treatment because I’m still sick and my chest is really painful. I’m having difficulty breathing – like I’ve suddenly developed asthma. According to the oncologist there is something called “pneumonitis.” (sp?) This is an infection of the lungs caused by the chemo treatments. However, a blood clot on the lungs will also cause many of the same symptoms I’m experiencing. So instead of chemo I find myself at the hospital getting a spiral CT scan to rule out the blood clot. If I have one I’ll be spending thanksgiving with the Dr. – not my first choice J. Never heard from the Dr so Ron and I spent Thanksgiving in NC with the family. Anya’s mom provided the whole meal so I just had to show up. Actually I don’t think I could have done more than that. The Vicodin seemed to help manage some of the symptoms so I could at least sit at the table and participate, but we didn’t hang around too long after dinner. When we got home I sent an email to the oncologist inquiring about my test results. I had also finished the 7 day antibiotic given to me for the previous weeks symptoms but seemed to be sick all over again. The Oncologist called on Friday and ordered a 6 day prednisone pack for me with a visit to her on Tuesday to decide whether I should go ahead with the chemo treatment.
Within a day I started to feel much better and continued to improve enough that I could go to the movies and dinner with the kids on Saturday. We headed back home on Sunday. Saw Physician Assistant Lyndsay on Monday and got the go ahead for the chemo on Tuesday. They had ruled out the blood clot so looks like I’m going to be treated for the lung infection with a daily dose of prednisone for the next five weeks. Not crazy about taking a steroid for 5 weeks but the alternative is not acceptable either. Won’t begin taking until the symptoms return – which they did on Friday – once again a low grade temp etc…. Felt much better yesterday – enough to go for a 20 minute walk in the apartment complex hallways. Hoping to be able to do that on a more regular basis. This week has been much easier than the last two and I’m hopeful that treating the pneumonitis will alleviate some of the heavy fatigue and sickness I’ve been experiencing.
One of the brightest spots in my week was Shannon delivering an “early Christmas present” from her family. They bought me a Vitamixer! I’ve been looking at it because it is a way to get whole foods and great nutrition but it is an extremely expensive machine and way outside our budget. I started to cry when I saw it – how do you say thank you for that! THANK YOU so much, Shannon and Ronnie, Wendey and Scott, Jen & Mike, Beth & Dre….you are just amazing people!
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