Ports Out - Chemo In

On Monday, February 16th around 8:30 a.m., I arrived at Good Samaritan Hopsital where I was to be admitted for hopefully, my first successful round of chemotherapy, and for port removal.  My oncologist was going to set up the room for my ports to be removed before giving me my first round of chemo.  When I got to the hospital, all they had down for me was the chemotherapy treatment.  Needless to say, I was a little upset that the office had not called and made the arraingments for port removal.  Anyway, they went ahead and admitted me to the hospital, to a beautiful room on the 12th floor of the tower, around 10:30 a.m.  It was a single occupancy room and had wonderful views of the valley.

 

The nurse called my oncologists office to start working on the details of the port removal.  I waited until around 2:30 p.m, and the office sent over a resident to talk with me.  She had talked with my oncologist, who was in surgery all day, and he let her know that he was going to remove my ports in my hospital room.  He was going to be to my room around 6:00 p.m.   By the time 7:30 p.m. rolled around, I was getting worked up.  I had not had anything to eat or drink since midnight and they didn't put the IV in until 4:30 p.m. and had difficulty getting it in since I had gone so long without fluid.   I was having a mini break down out of frustration and was talking with the nurse, when my oncologist walked in.  I had tears in my eyes and told him that I felt that it was too late in the day to remove my ports... I was stressed out, and I knew that he too had such a long and busy day in surgery.  (He was removing my ports as a favor to me instead of having the hospital remove them.)  I just didn't know that it was going to be in my hospital room and at this hour of the night.  Long story short, he said that he could give me medication to put me out a little bit or he could just give me a local.  I was just wanting to get the ports out and opted for the local (this is what happens when you are tired and frustrated!!) 

 

The Dr. started on the port in my chest, and sure enough, my body had grown scar tissue around the port and he had a devil of a time trying to remove it.  I had over 15 shots to keep it numb as he continued to cut it out.  Finally, I was free of the itching port!!  Next, was the port in my abdomen.  This port was put in deep and was really stiched down.  I had more than 15 shots there as well and they attempted to dig to find where to cut the stiches that were put in.  Another Dr. came in to assist as well as four nurses.  One nurse went and got a little shot of morphine and put it into my IV while they were removing the port.  The lighting in the room was not as good a surgery room so they brought in a flashlight to help.  It was quite a trip and I felt every finger and instrument inside of me.  It took around 30 minutes to get the port out and stiched back up.  He said that he had never had such a hard time removing one of his ports before.  He had really stiched it in!  All in all, after the removeal of the ports, I felt pretty good.  Just knowing they were out was awesome and not feeling groggy from medication was worth the moments of pain and pressure.

 

The next moring, Tuesday, February17th, was the day for the chemo.  I was anxious, since I had had two severe reactions, but knew that I couldn't be in a better place if I had a reaction.  They pre-medicated me around 10:00 a.m. and then started the chemo drug, Taxoteer, around 10:30.  It was only about 5 minutes into the chemo treatment and I started reacting, again.  I was having severe back spasms so the IV was immediately stopped.  They contacted my oncologist and he came over about an hour later and signed an order for a new chemo drug.  He said that they were going to let me rest for a little while and then attempt the new chemo drug called Gemcitabine. 

 

Around 4:30 p.m. the chemo drug arrived and they started it in my IV.  I couldn't believe it ~ IT WORKED!!!!   They then added the second chemo drug, Carboplatin, and I tolerated it too!  I was so excited to FINALLY have my first chemo treatment, without reaction, and now I was on my way.  I know that it sounds silly, but I want to get on down the road with this journey that I am on and the only way out is through!!  I was released from the hospital on Wednesday, February 18th, around 2:30 p.m.  I didn't get sick while in the hospital.  I had the best medical staff around.  The nurses I had were exceptional in every way!!  I am so grateful for them and all of their efforts on my behalf. 

 

I have to have another treatment on Tuesday, February 24th.  This chemo regimen they have me on is I have a treatment on DAY 1 of Gemcitabine & Carboplatin and on DAY 8 I just have Gemcitabine.  Then I don't have another treament for 1 week.  That should be the week that I might feel more normal!  Then Round TWO will start.  I have to have 6 rounds of chemo, each Round is three weeks.  I have done pretty well with the nausea but NOTHING sounds good and I am more tired.  (That is why it has taken me so long to pass this info on!!) 

 

So for now, I am trying to remember this:  "I need to never borrow from the future.  If I worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, I have worried in vain.  Even if it does happen, I have worried twice!"  I am trying to take one day, one moment at a time and I KNOW, that with God, all things are possible!!   A.I.E.

Port Removal

Well, after much craziness in the world of cancer treatment, my oncologist has decided to remove both of my ports (I have one port in my chest and one in my abdomen). I met with my oncologist on Friday, February 13th, and he said that since he is not exactly sure what is causing the allergic reactions, and he can't rule out the ports, he is going to remove them. 

 

The last chemo treatment that was attempted on February 4th, they were only flushing the port with saline solution to prepare for pre-medication of chemo, and within 30 seconds of flushing the port, I could not breath well, had chest pain, my heart was racing, I felt like my face was going to explode and my eyes were blood red, so much so that you could barely see the brown of my eyes, along with an instant headache.  I thought that I was "checking out"!!!  All I could say was "help me" to my husband, while three people were trying to get me stablized.  They immediately gave me benedryl, put me on oxygen and gave me some sort of steroid.   It took over 1 1/2 hours before I felt that I was going to make it.   SCARY STUFF!!!

 

My oncologist thinks that there might have been some left over Taxol (chemo drug I am allergic to for sure!) left in the port from the first attempt at chemo, and when the port was flushed with saline solution, it broke the residue loose.  Or, I might be allergic to the metal and plastic that the port is made of.  He also thought that I might be allergic to the medication that they topically use before the chemo.  WHO KNOWS!!!!

 

Whatever caused the reactions, from here on out I will need to be closely monitored, so I will be having everything done in the hospital.  I am being admitted to the hospital on Monday, February 16th for the removal of the ports and if all goes well, they will start chemo in the afternoon on Monday, but most likely it will be on Tuesday, February 17th, where they are now going to use an IV drip in place of the ports.  

 

I am NOT sorry to see these ports go!!   The port in my chest has bothered me since the day it was put in. It pulls and itches and the skin on my upper chest, neck and face react by turning bright red (looking like a chemical burn) along with retaining fluids, each time they try to use the port. 

 

I want to thank all of you for the prayers, love and support that you give to me.  I feel it everyday!  I am hoping that I will finally be on the road to recovery.  I try to remember that  "FAITH is the ability to NOT panic".  I am working on that one!!!!   Stay tuned!

Another Reaction to 2nd Chemo attempt

My husband just talked to my mom a little while ago and the news was not so good.  She had another reaction again today while she was attempting her chemo treatment.  This time, the reaction happened before they were even able to give her any of the chemo drug.  She had the reaction while they were flushing her port with the saline solution.  I guess her reaction today was worse than the 1st one.  We are not sure what is going to happen at this point with her chemo treatments but I will keep everyone posted as soon as we know more information.  My mom and dad were even thinking that my mom might be allergic to the port itself since it is made of plastic & metal.

Thanks again for all of your love and support!

Jennie

Chemo Treatment - Take 2

My mom (Sheree) is set for her 2nd attempt at chemo therapy tomorrow morning, Wednesday February 4th.  As long as everything goes according to plan she should be home by early tomorrow afternoon.  We are all just praying that her body is able to tolerate the new chemo therapy drug better than her previous one and that she will have a better outcome this time around.  

As many of you know by now, her chemo treatments had been placed on hold for a while due to the allergic reaction that she experienced during her 1st chemo therapy dose.  The treatments were place on hold while her Oncologist & Heart Doctors discussed the best treatment plan and options for my mom.  They have decided to switch her to another chemo therapy drug that seems to be better tolerated by most people and they will only be giving her 1 dose every 3 weeks in her upper port only.  For now, they will be leaving the port in her abdomen alone for the time being.  The good news is she only has to go in 1 time every 3 weeks for chemo instead of the 3 treatments in 3 weeks like she was originally set up to do.  

I will be updating this blog for my mom until she feels up to do it herself.  I will do my best to keep the blog updated with information as soon as I hear anything as to the progress of the treatment and how she is doing.  Thanks again for all of your love & support for my mom and our family!  It is truly appreciated!!!

Love,

Jennie Sholley

Sheree's Daughter

1st Day of Chemo

Chemo is now on hold.  Can anyone say SEVERE ALLERGIC REACTION??  Well that is what I had.  Only 5% of the people taking TAXOL have this kind of reaction ~ I guess that I could never fall into the NORMAL catagory.  I think that my new nick-name is going to have to be ABBY (short for Abby-normal!).  (Please be prepared  when you read further for the full details of my adventure - it is more for me to recall at a later date).

 

I arrived at my doctors office at 8:30 for my first chemo treatment with some excitement to finally get started so I could get finished, and fear of what was to come.  It was explained in our chemo training meeting that there are four recliner chairs where the patients sit to receive their chemo treatment and a couch and some hard chairs where those who are accompaning you may sit.  A relaxing atmosphere it was to be. 

 

We walked into the room and it was TOTALLY FULL and not relaxing in the least.  They had two more chemo treatments set up on that day than usual, so I was seated in one of the HARD chairs and they went to find another chair so my husband could sit by me.  We were seated just inside the doorway.  The nurse who was administring the chemo came over and started right to work on hooking me up for my chemo treatment.  I thought, boy am I going to be able to sit in this HARD chair for the full 4-6 hours of treatment?  There was not a choice in this matter.  Needless to say, I was a little worked up.  Also, my fear of a reaction was foremost in my mind.

 

The nurse got the pic line right in, so that was a relief to me.  Then started the flurry of different drugs being put into the pic line.  Benedrly and other anti-nausea drugs were put in and after about 20 minutes "Taxol" the chemo drug was started.  All of the others that were receiving their chemo drips were doing just fine and visiting.  I got to hear some of their stories.   Next week should not be as crowded because two ladies were receiveing their last chemo treatments (horray for them!!)  will would not be back.  There were three of us other newbies that will be taking their place. 

 

I really hit if off with a lady named Ruth, who just had the same surgery as me, but just three days earlier.  She also had the same Dr. as I did and now we were starting our chemo treatments together.  She has stage 4 ovarian cancer plus other issues.  Anyway, she didn't seem to be having any difficulty with her chemo and was about a 1/2 hour ahead of me on her chemo drip, so I was relieved to see that she wasn't having problems.  I felt that I would be okay.

 

About 15 minutes into my treatment I started having severe back pain and muscle spams.  I asked the nurse if this was normal and she said sometimes people have them.  She adjusted the pic line down to a slower rate and asked me to let her know when the symptoms subsided and she would resume.  After a bit, my eyes started becoming blood shot (like blood had been pored into them red).   I think that people thought I was crying, but I wasn't.   I was having really hot hot flashes, more like burning.  The nurse then turned on the fan and directed it to me.  After about 10 minutes or so, the back pain went away and she started the drip again.  She set it to go in slowly and I was able to do alright with it.  After a bit she increased the rate.  That is when I developed severe chest pain and squeezing.  I was definately worried about this because I am in A-fib and did not want to have a heart attack or stroke. 

 

The nurse just watched me for about 10 more minutes and the pain still increased.  She then closed off the drip line and said she was going to move me to one of the chairs to watch me more closely.  She started moving the roller system that had the drip line attached and forgot to ask me to come with it. I tried to get the nurse to stop and wait for me, but it was too late.  Needless to say, I was still attached to the drip system and the pic came out.  It was like a finger reached down and flipped the pic line right out of my chest (no doubt one of my many guardian angels!!).  The nurse said that this might be a good time to use the restroom and then she would get me settled in the chair and resume.

 

I went to the restroom and when I pulled down my clothing, I noticed that I had the biggest hives ever all over my legs (fear immediately went into play!!).  I finished using the restroom and when I stood up I looked at my abdomen in the mirror and sure enough BIG HIVES there too.  I then lifted my shirt up to my breasts and they were TOTALLY RED - no skin showing at all.  I called the nurse in and she said you are definately having a reaction.  She took me back into the room with all the people and settled me down in the chair and went to talk to the doctor.  My doctor was not there because he was in surgery, so she asked the doctor that was there.  The nurse came back to me and said that I was definately "done for today".  (I got my get out of jail free card!!)  She also said that when my Dr. came back tomorrow, they would have a consult to see what my next step would be as far as future treatment.   She gave me another benedryl and said that I could sit there for a bit to make sure that the hives were going away.  They didn't want me to be to far down the road just in case I started having a worse reaction.  The hives started to fade, so we left around 12:00 to head for home.

 

We ate some lunch and then I rested for the afternoon.  Around 9:30 p.m. I started with a new rash in the upper chest area around my port up into my neck and chest.  I was worried that since the pic line just came out of the port that some of the chemo was still making me react.  I took some more benedryl but it didn't seem to do much. 

 

Today, January 15th, I called back into the office and spoke to the nurse.  They are going to call me in a steroid to help keep the reaction down.   The nurse said that she had spoke to the Dr. and they are going to start me on a different chemo treatment.  It will be done as in patient treatment at the hospital so that they can monitor me closley.   The nurse said that I am to see my heart doctor before they can proceed with any further chemo treatment to get clearance from him. 

 

I have my heart doctor appointment on Tuesday the 20th, and we will go from there.  The heart doctor is planning to set me up to shock my heart back into NORMAL rythum (don't forget that I am NOT normal, so I am hoping that this won't be another Abby moment!!).  It needs to beat properly to be able to pump the chemo throughout my body instead of it just sitting there in the heart and not pumping it out quickly.

 

Needless to say, I am glad that the surgery went to well.  Chemo is truly going to be the toughest part for me.  It is a setback, but they will get the right treatment that I CAN handle and I will hopefully be back on the road soon. 

 

I am still to blessed to be stressed and "I KNOW THAT IT WILL NOT BE EASY, ONLY WORTH IT!!"   I am so grateful to my WONDERFUL MOTHER for always instilling in me a positive attitude.  She always tells me "Sheree, remember A.I.E.,  Attitude is Everything!!!

 

Chemo Dates Set

I met with the woman who will be administering my chemo.  This was one of "HARDEST" days that I have had since all of this, for the reason I was told by my oncologist that I would have chemo once every three weeks.  I thought, that is great, I would not have to be driving to downtown Phoenix each week and I would be able to build back up my blood levels during the following two weeks.  NOT THE CASE.

I will be starting my first CYCLE of chemo on Wednesday, January 14th.  I will have chemo in my upper chest port the 1st day with the drug Paclitatel (Taxol) and will take 4 to 6 hours.  I come back on day 2, January 15th, for the next treatment in my abdominal port.  The drug that they are using is Cisplatin and will take 3-4 hours.  Then on day 8, January 21st, they will put Paclitatel (Taxol) in my abdominal port and put saline solution into my upper chest port to keep me hydrated.  This should take another 4-5 hours.  Needless to say, I had feelings of expectation and disappointment, along with a big helping of information overload.  I realized that I now have the chance of being three times as sick and feeling more than a little distraught.  The tears started to flow all to freely, right there in the doctors office in front of all of them.  Feeling embarrassed, I let them know that I knew that they are going to fix me up as good as new, but not without some pain and suffering on my end.  (I am allergic to so many things that I feel like I am definitely going to be put on chemical overload).  Not to mention the ongoing heart problems I have!  I know that it is not going to be easy, but will definitely be worth it!

I am set up to have 6 CYCLES of chemo.  Each cycle is three weeks long.  I will have chemo on days 1, 2 and 8 and then I will have 13 days off (except for blood tests and hopefully no hospital stays because of fevers etc. while watching my blood count).  The side effects from putting the chemo into the abdomen is a lot of cramping, along with bone, muscle and headaches.  The port in the abdomen is like a leech line.  Then the chemo goes into your abdomen, the tissue soaks it up.  It is then processed through the kidneys.  This is the best cure for ovarian cancer...more potent and highly successful.

They now have several ways to keep nausea at bay.  One of them being a patch that you wear.  It is called Sancuso.  I will wear it for the first two weeks, but don't have to wear it during week three.  I will also have oral medications to add if needed and pain medication for all of the aches and pains.  I am really hoping to not have to take them, as they really mess with me!!

"Boy, did I give you too much information in this blog post"!!  I just want you to know that I so appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers on my behalf - I am truly blessed to have all of you in my life!  Thank you in advance for your continued prayers.

I am so looking forward to the day that I am on the other side of this adventure, back to my normal life but with a new deeper appreciation for ALL things.  But for now, I am learning to replace my fear with FAITH.  The FAITH that God is always with me and will see me through any and all difficulties.  All I need to do is ask.  This I know for sure.  "BE CALM - CARRY ON"!

Oncologist Visit

I met with my oncologist for my three week check-up and had great news!  My body has healed up nicely and I am able to drive now (within reason)!  I feel like I got my "get out of jail free card"!  He also scheduled me for an appointment on Thursday, January 8th, for my chemo review and to set up my chemo dates.   I will let you know the dates soon.