Lucky number 5

I had almost 7 weeks off from chemo which was kind of nice to not have to worry about chemo during the holidays. I did have 15 rounds of radiation to my right hip which started in December and finished early January. It dramatically helped with the pain I was having on my right hip. It got to a point where I was on pain meds arounds the clock and could barely flex my hip at some points. I am so glad I no longer have pain on my right hip. I have mild achiness on my left hip from the bone mets but nothing compared to how my right hip was prior to radiation.

MD Anderson decided I would be better to start the next line of treatment with traditional chemo instead of a clinical trial at this point. I had my first infusion of Liposomal doxorubicin on January 14th  which is now my 5th line of treatment. At the beginning of the infusion I got really hot in my face but thankfully it faded and I was able to tolerate it just fine. Overall, I did not have bad side effects from this chemo. Maybe slightly fatigued, little loss of appetite and one episode of nausea which Zofran quickly took care of that. This past weekend we celebrated my 36th birthday with my side of the family on Friday night at Bryans. Then we went out with friends Saturday night and celebrated again with Tom’s mom, sister and fiancé on Sunday. It was a really good birthday weekend.

I went to my oncologist a week after the infusion and had my labs checked. Unfortunately, my blood counts dropped just below where they like them to stay. So today I am having another transfusion of 2 units of blood. The new chemo is only given every 4 weeks which is a nice benefit compared to the last 2 regimens I had so frequently. My doctor will recheck labs in two weeks to make sure blood levels will be good for chemo the following week. If they are trending low there is a medication they will give me to help with my counts prior to the next infusion.

Praises

• No more right hip pain has meant I have slowly started to work out again as of last week. I have lost so much muscle over the past several months and it has been great to start doing very light work outs again.

• Tolerated new chemo well

• Thankful for great friends and family to ring in year 36 for me

Prayers

• Blood counts stay up so that I can stay on schedule with chemo

• Left hip pain be minimal so that I can increase my activity

• Complete healing, believing in God’s miracles for he is the greatest physician