Bruce has cancer, too

We have a new problem which is why this writing is called “Our Battles with Cancer”. Bruce, my husband, had been having a little trouble swallowing at times that started back in November but didn't get to be a real problem until December. He finally went to a Gastroenterologist.He wouldn"t go until I was taken care of.  He had an EGD (esophagogastroduodenoscopy) & a tumor was found. He has Adenocarcinoma of the distal esophagus. We have seen Dr. Percent who will be his medical oncologist. We also have met Dr. Perkins who will be his radiation oncologist & he has had a PET scan but this is Friday May 30^th & we won’t know until Monday whether the cancer has spread. While I’m starting the 2^nd cycle of chemo on Monday Bruce will be meeting with Dr. Amontree another gastroenterologist who will be doing an Esophageal Ultrasound (EUS) on Bruce to further define the extent of his disease. I have felt really good this week. I even drove for the first time since starting chemotherapy.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go with Bruce. My sister Vicki will be driving me & my daughter-in-law Anita (married to Brannon my youngest son) will be going with Bruce. We have decided that Bruce probably won’t be getting the EUS Monday but just in case Anita is going. We are lucky we have family that is able & willing to help us out…even with barn chores. It is hard to ask for help but we do when we have to.

Start of week 2 of chemo

It’s been a long week. I have felt totally drained at times & perfectly normal at other times. I am not sleeping well & I have had to take Lorazapam to help with restless legs. I think that helps me sleep when I take it. Have not needed to take any narcotics to talk of…occasionally when the Naproxen doesn’t help with pain then I will so I can sleep. Well, its 9 AM & time to take my anti-nausea medication as this is Monday treatment number 2 of cycle 1.

Chemotherapy

Chemo was unreal. The actual chemo drugs as far as I could tell didn’t cause any problems but the meds Benadryl & Dexamethazone that I was given to prevent nausea & vomiting sure had an effect on me. My head was swimming or I should say it felt like my brain was water swishing around in my head. I had the creepy crawlies all over & couldn’t sit still. I was allowed to walk until the chemo drugs were started then I had to stay near my chair in case I had a reaction to the chemo. This was the start of the first cycle & there are 3 treatments per cycle. Every Monday I will go to the Cancer Clinic for 2-5 hours depending on where I am in a cycle. I will have a total of 6 cycles…18 treatments. The first week I receive Carboplatin (Parapltin) & Paclitaxel (Taxol). On weeks 2 & 3 I just receive Taxol.

NIght before 1st chemo

I thought that I would be starting chemotherapy by the end of the week but instead I got a mediport placed. Tye, my oldest son, came home for a long weekend & since it was also Mother’s Day weekend I was actually glad I didn’t start the chemo but now I am ready. Tomorrow is 5/13/2014. I am scheduled to receive chemo at 08:00. It is a little scary…I was told vomiting is not allowed. I have picked up prescriptions for 5 different medications for nausea. The expense for these meds was over $500. My insurance picked up half of the cost. How does one prepare for potential nausea? I was told I will probably feel really lousy. Its 03:07 & I haven’t been to sleep. Tye will be heading home in about 40 minutes. Once he is on his way to the airport with Brannon (my younger son), maybe I will be able to sleep a little but I’m not too hopeful.

Dr. Orr & Surgery

Waiting is so hard. Another weekend goes by. I hear from Dr. Ravid on Tuesday. It’s 10 AM & he says that I should receive a call from Dr. Orr’s office to schedule an appointment. I waited until 2 PM then I called Dr. Orr’s office only to be told that I missed my appointment time. I had been scheduled for 1:30… apparently Debbie had tried calling & I didn’t answer…I was apparently on the telephone with Dr. Ravid & didn’t realize that she had called & left a message. She said she would check with Dr. Orr to see when I could be rescheduled. She called back & scheduled me for Friday. I couldn’t believe that I was going to have to wait 4 days. I got so upset that I called Dr. Ravid’s office & he called me back. He was able to get me an appointment for the following morning. What a relief. I saw Dr. Orr, on 4/29/2014 (Bruce’s birthday & our 42^nd anniversary…what a way to celebrate), met Cami his nurse & now chemo nurse and was set up for possible surgery on 5/1/2014. I was scheduled to have a laparoscopy & possibly a laparotomy…it would depend on how much tumor was found. If there was a lot then I would just have the scope, followed by chemotherapy & debulking surgery later. If there wasn’t much tumor then I would havea laparotomy followed with chemotherapy. The laparoscopy is where the surgeon makes four small incisions &uses a lighted scope to look around as well as do different procedures. A laparotomy is where he makes an actual incision in the abdomen to remove the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tube & any tumors. I remember waking up & feeling my abdomen…I didn’t have a large incision so I thought that meant there was too much tumor to debulk, not good, but instead Dr. Orr actually was able to remove most of the tumors laparoscopically. I have both ovarian cancer & Adenocarcinoma of the uterus. Having a hysterectomy (removal of uterus)/oophorectomy (removal of ovaries)/salpingectomy (removal of fallopian tubes) has essentially cured the Adenocarcinoma of the uterus but not the Ovarian which is a pT3c (which means I have stage 3 Ovarian Cancer). I had the pleural effusion on the lt. side drained (fluid in left lung removed by needle aspiration). It did not contain any malignant cells. I was discharged home on 5/ 3/2014.

Frustrating Tuesday & Wednesday

Well, I didn’t get the records. Instead I was set up for a PET scan. I got the radioactive injection waited for the required time (2 hours) only to be told that the machine was down & I would have to go to another facility the following day for the test & would need to be injected again. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. The next day when I had the PET scan it was awful. I had to lay flat & was strapped down to remind me not to move. I got very uncomfortable to the point that I called out to the technician, who didn’t respond but fortunately; I only had a few seconds left. It had seemed like an eternity. In the future I think I would prefer to be sedated.

Our Battles Against Cancer

                                              Our Battles Against Cancer

I don’t know what is going to happen yet…what my diagnosis is but I’ve got the feeling that I will be starting the battle of my life. To start at the beginning…I thought I might have a partial bowel obstruction. For over a week I was having problems having bowel movements & couldn’t eat much. I would belch constantly.  I increased the water in my diet…although normally I try to drink 64 ounces a day. I drank an herbal tea to relieve constipation & also another one for cleansing…it went straight through but no stool. Then I tried Mag Citrate which I have recommended to many patients for constipation…again passed a lot of water but no stool.

I was having cramping in my abdomen & felt bloated. At times my stomach was so hard & painful that I couldn’t sleep. I finally went to see my primary care doctor, Dr. Joseph Ravid, who also thought I might have a partial bowel obstruction but it turns out that that wasn’t the problem. I had a CT scan of my abdomen.  I had ascites. I had almost 4 liters of fluid in my abdomen as well as bilateral pleural effusions…fluid in my lungs. My heart was mildly enlarged. I ended up getting a CT of my chest & another of my abdomen, this time with contrast. I got admitted to the hospital for the night so that I could have a paracentesis (stick a needle in my abdomen to draw out the fluid) the following morning. I received IV fluids, clear liquids & pain medication. The pain meds helped a lot with the pain but not with sleeping. I would fall to sleep within 10 minutes after getting the pain meds through the IV but then would wake up an hour later. No pain but couldn’t sleep. I did a lot of walking in the halls. Finally it was time to go to the radiology department for an ultrasound guided paracentesis.  I had almost 4 liters of what looked like lager beer drained off my abdomen. I lost about 8 pounds in 1 hour.

I felt a lot better. It was no longer as difficult to lay flat. I wasn’t as short of breath. I was a little sore but haven’t needed any pain meds since. The worse part though has just begun. It was Friday when I went to the doctor & I ended up admitted to hospital. I was discharged from the hospital on Saturday & now it is Monday night. I am still waiting & wondering if I am going to be in the fight of my life. It is most likely that I have a cancer even though there is nothing obvious on the CT scans. I’m not sure if the radiologist saw anything on the ultrasound (U/S). He did some pointing & the tech did some measuring. I have an increased density in my greater omentum noted on CT. I’m a doctor & I’m not even sure what that means.

I have decided tomorrow to go get copies of my records so I don’t have to wait any longer for the results. I will also get copies (CDs) of the CT scans & U/S. Thursday I will see my family physician for follow up. I have been talking with my brother-in-law who is an Oncologist…cancer specialist. Most likely I have Ovarian CA but if I’m lucky maybe Lymphoma.