January 5, 2012

Okay, so I've got a few things that I need to write about; but it's been so long since some of events actually occurred. I've been feeling so neglectful of this blog that my solution has been to ignore it. Of course, that's not helping the problem, so I'm finally repenting.

While preparing a recent Relief Society lesson, I realized that Joseph Smith recorded the account of the First Vision in the Pearl of Great Price about 19 years AFTER it occurred. If he can record something so important, so vital that long after it happened, I ought to be able to record far less trivial things a few months after they happened and not beat myself up about the time disparity.
With that in mind. . .

In the first part of January (the 5th to be exact), I had an eye exam. No real news there. I've had terrible eye sight and been horribly near sighted since the third grade. When the ophthalmologist's assistant asked why my vision was so bad, I really didn't know. My only theory was that I read voraciously when I wasn't allowed to go outside (too many germs for an immune system compromised by chemo and radiation). I'd usually read with the book propped on my chest, so I theorized that my eyes simply got lazy and got used to that distance, leaving me extremely near sighted.

When the ophthalmologist came in, I asked him if there was any truth supporting my musings. He quickly shut my attempt at logic down and said that our eyes don't work that way. So I asked him why he thought my eyes were so bad. He shrugged at first, then slowly responded, "Didn't you say you had chemo when you were 7? That's what did it. I'm sure of it."

I'd never connected those dots before, and I didn't realize how pervasive the long-term effects of chemo are. Chemo ended when I was 8 years old. Less than a year later, I couldn't see the chalkboard at school and was diagnosed with myopia. My eyesight has just progressively gotten worse since then. Thankfully, it's still correctable even though I need quite a strong prescription.

That exam got me thinking and feeling even slightly depressed as I realized how much chemo continues to affect me today--not to mention what the other three rounds of chemo I've had in the past four years will present in the coming years!

This was back in January, when I was still easily fatigued and on supplemental oxygen 24/7. Just having to carry around the extra 10 pound canisters of oxygen left me weak and exhausted. Now we're adding other things on to the list of chemo-caused issues. Drat!

No more restrictions!

I can eat what I want to. Go where I want to (including church, crowded places, and airplane travel). And I can basically resume life as normal (with the exception of having to drag oxygen everywhere until my lungs more fully recover).

Yahoo! Just in time for the holidays.

So now that I can attend Sunday School and Relief Society, it's Christmas Day and we're not having those. Oh well. Just one more week to wait.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My oncologist said something recently that made me stop and ponder.

I mentioned that I'm discouraged with how long it's taking to recover from the transplant. I'm still fatigued and needing oxygen 24/7.

She said she wasn't surprised at all. "After all, your body has a memory of what it's been through so it's healing from all three occurrences of cancer this time."

Wow! So my body this time is having to heal from chemo when I was 7 and 8 (MOPP and CCNU) and radiation, from chemo 4 years ago (ADV), and from chemo (ICE), radiation, and the tranplant with high-dose chemo (BCNU, Melphalan, Ara-C, and Etoposide).

Whew! No wonder I'm so tired!

100-day follow up is FINALLY scheduled for next Tuesday, the 20th, and I have only the following questions to ask, all under the category of "When can I. . .":

* Eat grapes and sushi?
* Stop leaving the room whenever vacuuming or dusting are being done and do them myself?
* Have plants and flowers in our house and work with soil?
* Swim and sit in a hot tub?
* Share hand towels with my husband?
* Stop having to wash bedding every week and towels every two days?
* Fly on a plane?
* Try food samples at places such as Costco?
* Eat soft-serve ice cream?
* Stop needing to wear a HEPA mask whenever I'm in a hospital or doctor's office?
* Shake hands?
* Sit in a room filled with people (attend Sunday School and Relief Society or eat in restaurants)?
* Pet our dog without having to wash my hands immediately afterward?
* Stop taking Acyclovir (anti-viral) and Dapson (to prevent pneumonia)?
* Start taking Crestor? Do I need to start taking it?

In addition,
* What can I do to increase my red blood cell count? Is a low level contributing to needing oxygen 24/7?
* What were the results of the PET, chest x-ray, and blood tests?

Whew! That's all.