Thursday, May 24, 2018

It's been a while....

I haven't written for a while. Since I wrote last, I went to the Emergency room twice, received another round of Immunotherapy and 1 round of brain Radio Therapy. Since the 1st infusion of Immunotherapy, I had a lot of problems with shortness of breath, constant coughing and pain where the tumour was. Since it was and is such a new drug, the doctors couldn't tell me why my pain is happening and how to manage my pain. I had to do a lot of self-investigation and exploration, etc. I am still in some pain, but nothing like 3 days ago. So I'm hoping that I am finally getting all the serious symptoms more under control than before.

I had a consultation with my prime oncologist a few days ago. I was asking her about life expectancies, et. It was very sobering that she told me that if I had not checked myself into ER on March 13, and started chemo therapy right away on March 27, I would have passed away by now. I appreciated her honesty. Sometimes one doesn't notice how fragile life can be.

Since I'm looking at 1 family gathering milestone at a time as one of the milestones for my cancer journey, the next one coming up is my wedding anniversary this Summer. I hope I will be healthy enough to go out for a fancy nighttime meal with my husband to celebrate.

I'll keep working hard on my Cancer journey!

4 comments:

  1. I've been thinking about you and hoping to have word of how you are doing, Nicky. I'm sorry to hear about the severity of your symptoms and hope they continue to ease.

    You are so right that most of the time we don't notice day-to-day what a miracle it is to be alive. Anything can happen; none of us are immune.

    It sounds like you are very attuned to your body. That can be a great help in figuring out what's working for you to treat symptoms. Continue to take care of you, and know we are cheering you on.

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    1. Thanks for thinking about me. Being on a very new drug always has its risks. It's just that most doctors can't tell you what's going on! I think after about a week, I have finally found the right combination of different strengths of pain killers that would work for me for a 24 hour period. I do have to be careful that the painkiller is still a narcotic. Even at such a low dosage, I have to be very vigilant if I see that I need a stronger dosage gradually or not.

      Thanks for cheering for me!

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  2. Looking forward to a milestone such as a family gathering is a really positive thing to do...it keeps you moving towards a goal, one step at a time. And yes, life is fragile, and most of us take it very much for granted. Thinking of you

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    1. Thanks Sarah Liz! Having something to look forward to, or something fun to work towards is great. Thanks so much for thinking of me!

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