It's been a while since I've written on here so I thought I would check in with everyone. Things have been going great. We've just been enjoying life and having a good time. I have been to Panama City Beach twice since my last appointment and this past weekend we visited Mark's dad and stepmom in Southwest Florida. I have felt great and have been spending my time just enjoying being with Allie. The highlight of my life this week is that my hair has started to grow back :) I feels weird to have the stubbles but for some reason I get so excited. It will definitely come out when I have the high dose chemo but it will be fun until then.
Today was our first trip back to Birmingham since the mobilization chemotherapy. We went for the pre-transplant scans and blood work. It took forever. My first appointment was at 0830 for a Pulmonary Function test. I have had many of these and so I knew what to expect. When we arrived I was pleasantly suprised to find out that I would also need an ABG (Arterial Blood Gas). We were taught in nursing school about how to draw an ABG and read the results. We also were told how painful these could be because the blood is drawn from an artery. I have never personally drawn an ABG but have seen many patients have these done. Needless to say, I didn't want to have it. After speaking my opinion to the poor Respiratory technologist, I agreed. She attempted my left arm twice. The 1st time wasn't that bad but the 2nd stick did it for me. I became dizzy and nauseaus and clammy. Almost passing out. I felt retarded because I couldn't take it but she said that it happens regularly. She didn't get any arterial blood unfortunately and didn't stick again. After I was over my episode, we proceeded with the Pulmonary Function test.
Next we headed to a different facility to have my CT and Chest XRay. This was the first time in my history of CTs that I have not gagged at the smell and taste of the CT contrast. This time it was purple and tasted just like grape kool aid. I couldn't taste a bit of the contrast. Who ever invented this type of contrast should recieve an award. I will definetely have all of my future CTs at this facility. The CT itself was a breeze. The worst part was the IV contrast because it makes you have this warm sensation all over your body. It makes you literally feel like you are peeing on yourself. I'm used to it now. I remember when I had my first CT years ago, I freaked out and just kept telling myself to breath. The Chest XRay was a breeze also.
We then visited the BMT Unit at the hospital to have labs and cultures taken from my Permcath and Medi Port. The nurse took 15 vials of blood!! I guess they need all of that info for the pre-transplant stuff but gahhh.. About that time my clinical coordinator Wendy came in and talked to Mark and I for a bit. She said that I would have to have the ABG done again. I wasn't thrilled at all. Mitzi, the nurse who took my labs, stuck me for my ABG. This time in my right wrist. She did a wonderful job and got it on the first stick. This stick wasn't that bad. I've had IVs that hurt worse. On another note, Wendy gave Mark and I a tentative calendar with a schedule on the upcoming events. Here's a quick rundown of events. I will have sign transplant consents on the 26th and my Medi Port taken out of the 27th of this month. I will then go back on October 3rd to have my other central venous catheter (Double lumen Hickman catheter) placed in my chest where my port was previously. I will start my 10 day stretch of high dose chemotherapy on October 4th with transplant sceduled for October 14th. I'm so ready to get all of this over with so I can put it all behind me and move on with life.
We ended the day back at the Kirklin Clinic where I had a MUGA scan and EKG. The purpose of the MUGA scan it to detect any suble changes in the functioning of the heart caused by chemo. The test consisted of recieving injections of radioactive substances and then lying in a machine and having pictures taken of my heart. The EKG was normal showing a silly Sinus Arrythmia. Probably because I was talking while he was taking it. Together the tests took about 2 hours so by the time they were over we were ready to go and starving!
We only hit a few minutes of traffic and stopped at Dairy Queen for food. Wasn't my 1st choice but Mark loves it. We made it home by 8pm. Once home Mark saw on Yahoo that there was a 3.0 Earthquake in Birmingham at 5:59pm CST. Thankfully we were home by the time it happened.
That's about it on my travels for now. Thanks everyone for the continued prayers and support. I'll blog again soon :)
*I found this quote today and I love it.....
"Cancer makes a woman out of you. After that you become a warrior" ~ Danita Vance
