Thursday, August 12, 2010

Hello everyone!

I have finally gotten a new computer, my other computer has been down since January! Just shows how technical I am. Maybe you've all heard my cancer is back again after a year and a half remission - not a long one for the procedure I went through (they were hoping for around a four year remission - I was hoping for longer because I was young and healthy). Apparently my age is not helping me at all, actually it is worse that I am young. The younger you are when you get cancer the more aggressive it is. The older you are the "better" because it took that much longer for the cancer to appear.

I'll back up a little bit here. I was feeling pretty good in the beginning of the year and was last told my cancer was inactive. So I starting working out again and actually ended up where I used to kick box. I did one night of "light" workout and took it easy - I didn't want to be dumb about anything- I wanted to build up my strength again in case my cancer came back. Then the instructor told me he had started a women's fitness class in the mornings. I joined that instead for three mornings a week. It was a bit like boot camp, but I went at my pace. I had lost so much muscle during cancer that I couldn't run or do push-ups anymore. As time went on I got stronger and stronger. What a feeling - I even started sprinting again. In March my family went to Florida for our vacation and it was a good time, but I started having a bit of pain in my tailbone. I just assumed it was from sitting in the vehicle for so long. Everything is so easy to write off as something else or as nothing at all. I also starting getting some pain in the top of my legs going into the hip joints. At my next doctor visit she order two MRIs, one for the upper spine and neck and the other on my lower spine and hip area. The upper MRI was good, the lower one showed some cuts in the tailbone area. In April I started getting tired more often and the pain in my legs were there on and off. I stopped working out, but I regret none of these workouts. Actually I'm glad I could have the feeling of strength and having my "body back" to how I used to feel even for those short months. Also I am stronger again for this next round of cancer. In May I fell down the stairs on my back. I was extra sore for about a week and a week after that I had another doctor visit so I mentioned my fall. That day the doctor ordered back and hip X-rays. Of course nothing showed up. The end of May I got the flu which turned into a cold. This cold lasted all of June - that should have been another clue. In early June the doctor did another MRI on my left leg at the hip joint. Sometimes it hurt to walk or shave in the shower on one leg - the MRI showed cuts in the upper leg bone. The smaller cuts were 1.4cm and the biggest one was 4cm long. Basically I was told "don't do anything with impact or you'll break your leg". Now I'm allowed to walk, bike and swim - possibly yoga. I have a hard time getting my mind and body to agree on things. My mind feels like I could do anything and my body says "no" to everything! At the end of June I had my next monthly visit to Owen Sound and mentioned my month long cold. I ended up with chest and face X-rays to see if I had pneumonia. It turned out to be a sinus infection and antibiotics cleared that up - I felt like million bucks again. At the end of June my doctor did another bone marrow biopsy because my counts were going up slowly and I couldn't get rid of the common cold and I was getting more bone pain. The results showed my cancer was definitely back. It also took a lot longer to heal from the biopsy. It was very tender for a couple weeks. With the other biopsy's it felt like I had a good kick in the back, but the next day I was fine. Mid July I was sent to London for a second opinion for the type of treatment I would be taking to tackle this next round of cancer. My doctor in Owen Sound was on vacation and said they may start you on treatment right away if they need to. In London I was told my cancer was back and it was aggressive. This was on a Wednesday - by Monday I was starting chemo in Owen Sound. It's good that I can do all this in Owen Sound. Every Monday and Thursday I go to the hospital for chemo and I take the steroids the day of and after chemo. The steroids are the wonderful drugs that give mood swings. I can handle the cancer, but the mood swings of course affect the whole family - not always a pleasant situation. One round of treatment is two weeks of chemo and one week off. I'm into my second round already and have to do 8 in total. This chemo will make me very tired, weaken muscles and affect the nerve endings in my hands and feet. I will have tingling sensations or burning. So far I can't complain about anything. I'm not throwing up, I won't lose my hair this time, the tingling is not too bad and I can still get the kids to soccer etc. I usually have someone come in on Friday's to give me a hand with the house work.

At my last visit to the hospital on Monday there seemed to be a bit of urgency in the doctor. This treatment will only give me a year a remission - at 36 years old that doesn't seem like a lot. The doctor got on the phone with London and they don't know what to do with me. I think the next treatments I get after this may be in Toronto. London isn't aggressive enough and Toronto isn't afraid to do trials and transplants. As bad as it sounds - I'm young and stronger and could probably handle the treatments better than a 75 year. By the time I hit remission they hope to have my next treatment figured out and to start it right away. This means I won't have time to get strong in between. I may have to start swimming! Although my immune system is low and pools are crowded.

Anyway, I'm going to wrap this up. It's been a long day. I hope to keep the updates more regular now that you are up to date! I want to thank everyone for the continued support of thoughts, prayers, cards, cleaning, meals, flowers, help around the house and taking the kids out once in a while. It's all very much appreciated and is felt very deeply by us all.

Love from Pete, Sharon, Natasha, Heather & Shaun.

2 comments:

Albert and Chris said...

Thanks for the update, Sharon. Boy you have alot to deal with.
We pray for you all the time for you to have the strength, courage and grace to go through this. I hope you continue to receive all things that you need.
We might be up that way at Thanksgiving, just Albert and I and we might make a quick visit.
All the best with the treatments.

GvR said...

Hi Sharon.
Just found your blog...hadn't checked in a long time.
Thinking of you a lot and will be praying for you and your family.
Ger