Surgery Date

Clay and I went to Little Rock last Wednesday to meet with the surgeon, (Dr. Stack) and the endocrinologist, (Dr. Bodenner) about surgery. I had another ultrasound as I thought I would, the cancer had not changed or grown since last ultrasound, this was our good news. We set the surgery date for July 30th, I think he was so far behind after being out for two weeks. It will roll around before you know it though. I was also scheduled to do my pre-op work up as well, this included an EKG and bloodwork, since I had several of the other test needed done recently I didn't have to do a whole lot of tests. There was a 10 page questioner that I had to fill out though. The surgery is still planned for a one day surgery, they ask that you stay in LR one night, then we can head home on Saturday when I feel like it. I am just ready to get this part over with, recover and move on to the next phase of treatment, I can't start my other chemo until after my surgery. With the delay of surgery it backs up me starting my treatment.

Summer Time

Where has the time gone? I can't believe it is already July, it has felt like July or August for awhile though, it has been so hot. I really don't have any complaints though, I am cold all the time, it is really too cold in the house for me so I like to set outside under the porch if I am not in the pool. Things have been going pretty good with me, still trying to build strength but I know it will still take some time. We will be going to Little Rock next week for a day to meet with the surgeon that will be doing my thyroid surgery as well as the endocrinologist . I will probably have to have another ultrasound but hopefully not a biopsy since they already know it's cancer. They will just compare the ultrasound with the one I had several months ago to see if there are any changes. They have tentively set up a date for surgery toward the end of the month but until we meet with them we won't know for sure, I will just be glad to get the surgery over with. Since the surgeon had been on vacation for two weeks I think he is backed up a little right now, this has also delayed starting my chemo treatment here, with my TSH level being up and some of my other counts Dr. Barlogie didn't want me to start treatment until after I had my thyroid surgery, a week or two after surgery I will probably start that. I just go from day to day because you never know when they might change plans or dates on you.

We will have the family over for the 4th to swim and cookout.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July.

Doctors Visit

Clay and I went to Little Rock on Monday, June 14th for my appointment with Dr. Barlogie. We met with him to get reports and results, I am thankful to say all scans, tests and etc. came back good. There were only a couple of things that needed discussing, my creatinine is still staying up too high, doc says drink more. I drink sooooo much as it is I don't know how I can drink much more but I will try. And then there is the issue with my thyroid, all along it has just been: we can just wait on it, there's no big hurry lets get the myeloma under control and then worry about that. Even though the thyroid itself hasn't really changed or the cancer my TSH count has started to elevate and he says it is time to get it out. He wanted me to start taking Synthroid in a lower dosage form for now, I'm sure the dosage will change later. It is probably a little earlier than we thought, we were thinking late summer or fall, but now it looks like it is going to bumped up to mid July. They are working on an appointment time now, the surgeon is on vacation till the end of the month or I would probably have it even sooner. So the plan was to start with my treatment at Highland next week and then stop a week before surgery. Things change everyday, I had a call late yesterday afternoon from LR, now they say don't start treatment next week, we will wait a week or two after my surgery, then I will start. This is all due to my kidneys, with the creatinine still being up and the filtration is still low, one of the chemo drugs doesn't need to be taken when I am having some kidney issues. Maybe after getting my thyroid out things will start to level out a little more. It gets a little stressful sometimes, keeping up with everything that's going on and everything you are suppose to be doing when they are changing things on you all the time, it keeps me on my toes. Your life is just kinda in their hands, I know that they know what they are doing, they just try to do too much at one time, they have so many patients and we all need something. So we are moving forward again to another phase of this process, I just wait till they call me with a surgery date. When I met with the surgeon a few months ago, he said it would be a one day surgery, so I will have it done and stay in LR a day or two before heading back home.

After thought: Clay and I did meet with Dr. Hey on Tuesday before Jeremy left for LR. he was going to research my issues but in the mean time he wanted me to have an ultrasound. This was scheduled for tomorrow but while I was in LR Dr. B wanted to have it done there and we would fax a copy to Dr. Hey, so that is what we did. Last year before I was diagnosed with MM they saw a mass on one of my kidneys so they just wanted to check that out. The report didn't show anything now. So that's a plus. My left kidney is smaller than my right, I don't think it's a problem though and my right kidney is normal.

The Trip To Little Rock

Jeremy and I headed out to LR about 4:45 on Tuesday afternoon, we drove straight there without making a stop. We checked in the apartment and then back in to eat dinner, there were only certain things I could eat or there were certain things that I could not have for my testing on Wednesday. I was pretty well beat so I took a shower and pretty much called it a night knowing it was going to be a long day Wednesday. We left the apartment the next morning at 6:15, stopped at Denny's for breakfast, I could have scrambled eggs and bacon and that was it. Jeremy enjoyed a little larger breakfast than that, he needed to keep up his strength for all the waiting he was going to have to do throughout the day. We arrived at the hospital a little before 7:30 to pick up my packet to start the day. First stop lab work then on to the dreaded bone marrow biopsy, it hurt more this time than it did last time, I don't really know why. We had some time to kill so we just waited in the infusion center waiting room till closer to time to go to the MRI area. I decided since I was in the area I would ask for a copy of my lab work that I had done earlier, since my WBC was so low last week I was a little concerned that it might be still down. After getting a copy of my labs a nurse was going over them with me and noticed my Uric Acid was really high, she wanted me to see someone before I left LR. I was unable to meet with anyone so I just waited and they called me on Thursday. Uric Acid is a kidney issue, my nurse that I deal with all the time from LR said I needed to be on medication that it couldn't wait until Monday till I was back down there. So meds were called in and I started taking them on Thursday. The one good thing was that my WBC was back up a little. So back to the rest of the day, we waited an hour past my appointment time for my MRI and then it took forever, they had ordered much more this time than last to be scanned. We were real close on missing my pet scan, this was the last test and I just wanted to get them all over with and hit the road to home. We finally finished up and walked out of there about 10 till 7. Jeremy and I drove through Chic fil la , ate on the road, it was an uncomfortable ride home, we did stop at Alma to walk around just a little then back on the road. We pulled in our drive at 10 pm it was just a real long day. Clay and I will go back to Little Rock on Monday to see the doctor and get the results of all my tests. My back has been so painful this time, I don't know why sometimes are different than others but I have hurt really bad, hopefully in a day or two it will work it's way out.

Not Much Change

We had a really good Memorial Day weekend, we didn't do just a whole lot but it was nice. I guess it actually started out on Thursday, Jonah needed a sitter that day, my sister in law Darcy came out to help me watch him. As I have said before he loves being outside so that means you have to watch him every second. We definitely got a work out that day but he was so much fun, he took to Darcy in a hurry. She had also brought breakfast so Jonah and Nikko got interested real quick. (our dog) Clay and I kept Jonah on Friday night so Jeremy and Adrienne could go out to eat for their anniversary. Saturday morning Clay and I went to the Farmers Market on the square, I bought some fresh cut flowers, they are always so pretty and cheap. We met Clays mom and his Uncle Randy and Brenda there, it was really good to see them, I hadn't seen them since I have been sick but they have kept up with me and have been in constant contact with me or someone else in the family. Thank you guys!!!!! We came home for awhile then back in to meet others for lunch, Uncle Tim and Peggy, Uncle Jerry and Myra and their son Carey. Jeremy and Jonah went with Clay and I. We all had a good visit, we hadn't seen any of these relatives in some time, Jonah got to meet people for the first time too. Clay and Andrew went fishing tonight so J & A & J and Kara & Shelby and I went to eat pizza. On Sunday J & A & J came over with their friends Nick & Jamie from church to swim. Andrew & Kara were here as well, we snacked in the afternoon and the four of them left and we kept Jonah, A&K stayed and we cooked out burgers and dogs. I really got my Jonah fix this weekend, but I can really never get enough.

Now that I have bored you with my weekend on to my health, I do have an appoitment to see Dr. Hey my kidney doctor on Tuesday, then we will leave for LR. Last week when I had my blood drawn it showed my WBC had dropped way down, it hasn't done this since I have been home, it has actually been climbing. It has been 4.0 or 3.6 or right around there but it nose dived to 2.2 last week. I talked to LR and they wanted me to go back in today to have it drawn again, thinking it was just a wierd thing, so I did but I guess it was real because today it is 2.3. This usually means that you might have been sick or ran a fever but I haven't had either. So the nurse at LR said today since I was coming down next week we would just run it again and try to get to the bottom of it. So that's where we are right now with the goings on with me. I am enjoying this weather, I have been in the pool a few times and I am really enjoying my backyard. Have a great weekend and I will update as I know something. There was more thing I did today that I almost left out, I also went in for a massage at Highland, it was wonderful, with the low back and shoulder pain that I have it seems to really help. It will last me about two weeks and then I will be ready for another one. Also I know some of you have tried to reply to my blog with no luck, here is my email address if you want to email me. Thank you for reading. barbarawdy@yahoo.com

Another Update

Just to keep up with what has been going on lately I'll try to post a few things. I feel stronger from even my last post, but I still get tired so easily. Still going in for bloodwork, last week I cut back to once a week instead of two. Little Rock had told me that as my platelet count came up once a week would be fine, it has been continually climbing until yesterday, then it dropped some. So I don't know if I will have to start back twice a week or just wait till next week and see if they will jump back up. I also have other issues as well, my kidneys aren't filtering they way they should, this has just happened in the last month. My filtration rate has dropped 50% from April to May. They want me to go back to my nephrologist, Dr. Hey to see what he thinks. LR seems to think this has nothing to do with M.M. but with everything you read either chemo or some of the meds I have taken cause something like this. But it may just be kidney issues and it will have to be dealt with, my dr's office is trying to get an appointment for me.

The weather ha been great the last few days, the pool water is warming up, I can't wait for Jonah to be able to get in the pool. I think he is going to enjoy the water this year, he sure loves his bath time. Kara came over yesterday morning to watch Jonah at our house while Adrienne worked a few hours and I would get to see him as well. He played inside and out, Kara pulled him in the wagon and then he helped push the wagon, I tried to get them to push me (Mimi). He had such a good time, but you have to watch him every minute, no getting in the pool before its time and for sure no falling in.

I will go back to Little Rock the second week of June for a day of testing, then we will see Dr. Barlogie the next week to make sure all is well and get my orders to start treatment at Highland Oncology (the last phase) of treatment. Of course this phase will last 3 years and then I will be done besides an occasional visit to Little Rock.

Nothing Much

Not much going on, I feel like I am gaining strength everyday even though I have a long way to go. I have alot of issues with my shoulders and back hurting when I do alot of walking, I just really get tired. We blame that on not having any muscle in my back, that was probably one of the first thing to go when I started loosing weight. I am trying to rebuild but it will just take time, I just want to rush things, I just want to be able to do anything I want but that is not possible yet. I want to be able to hold or carry Jonah but that isn't happening for a while yet. He is growing so fast, he loves to be outside more than anything, the last couple of times he has been over it has been too cold to go outside and that makes him mad. Yes, too cold, this crazy weather. I am so ready for it to warm back up, I stay cold most of the time anyway, most everyone else is fine but I am always cold, hopefully when it warms up I will get warmer too.