I’m still waiting for the call to schedule the PET scan. I spoke with a gal in the oncologist’s office yesterday and she said I should hear from the imaging place by the end of the week. I’m scheduled to have my porta cath flushed on Sept 8. . I’m guessing they will do blood tests that day also. I will have to go every 4-6 weeks to have that done so the port does not clot up. If all goes well, I should be able to have that removed next summer.
The only symptom I still have is the neuropathy in my feet. It is a difficult feeling to explain but the bottoms of my feet and my toes are mostly numb, however they also hurt when I walk on them. The oncologist said that might go away in weeks, months, or up to a year.
Big news is that I accepted a position as the Guidance Counselor at one of the middle schools in my district. I am waiting for HR to find a replacement for me in the classroom and then I’m off to my new career. I obtained my M.S. in School Counseling in 2000 and had intended that to be my ultimate job. But due to budget cuts, these positions are few and far between. So I will be out of the classroom, finally! I’m so looking forward to this new adventure! Lindsay went clothes shopping with me last week and I now have a completely new work wardrobe. Then we went looking for shoes and I ended up with four pair of work shoes. I usually HATE to shop for clothes and shoes, however this time I found lots of things I liked and that fit well. Huge thanks, once again, to Lindsay! She is such a blessing in so many ways.
That’s about all for now. I’ll update when I hear from the imaging center.
Hugs,
Dar
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Thursday 08/18/11
Saw the oncologist today and he will put through the referral for the PET scan tomorrow. He said it would take about 10 days to get approval and then another couple of days for the imaging company to schedule it. But I should be able to have the scan within the next 3 weeks. Then I will schedule an appointment with both the oncologist up here and also the surgeon at UCI. If the PET scan is clear, I don’t have to do any more chemo!!! And I don’t have to do any more until at least after the scan so I get a break for about 8 weeks. Whoo Hoo!
Hugs!
Dar
Hugs!
Dar
Monday, August 15, 2011
Monday 08/15/11
I had my “week-after chemo” blood tests today. The numbers are really down this time. WBC was 1.6 (normal 4.1 – 10.9) RBC was 2.49 (normal is 4.20-6.30) Hematocrit was 25.6 (normal 37-51) Hemoglobin was 8.4 (normal 12.0-18.0). And the fact that I have a cold right now is not good as my body does not have the resources to combat any infection. The oncologist gave me a prescription for an antibiotic that I will need to take twice a day. In spite of all that, I was able to have a delightful lunch with Martha and Heather and run several errands. I’m tired this evening so it will be good that tomorrow I will be home most of the day. I want to stop by Cristy’s, as it is her birthday tomorrow, and I want to drop off a small gift. I am scheduled for a massage in the late afternoon. I thought it would be a good thing to have the day before I head back to work on Wednesday. Shannon is in Albuquerque for a work conference this week, but Wes will be home after work every day so I’ll have company.
That’s the update for now. I’ll do another update after my appointment on Thursday.
Hugs to all!
Dar
That’s the update for now. I’ll do another update after my appointment on Thursday.
Hugs to all!
Dar
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Sunday 08/14/11
Started with a sore throat on Thursday night and now it seems to have turned into a chest cold. Lots of coughing. Yesterday Shannon and I went to Apple Valley to pick up my sewing machine. It is all cleaned and oiled and ready for another year of service. By the time we got back home, I was wiped out. I sat in my chair and watched shows that we had recorded over the week. My mind is full of energy and it gets frustrated with my body who won’t keep up. There are so many things I want to do but sometimes just walking to another room leaves me worn out. I guess this is my body’s way of asserting itself. One of the lessons this whole experience has taught me is that I must honor my body just as much as I do my head. Before I became ill I never thought about my body. It was like I lived from the neck up. Now I am forced to acknowledge my body’s importance and to pay attention to its needs. Such a tough lesson for me.
I talked to Lindsay last night and she has cautioned me to be open minded when we see the oncologist on Thursday. The gal that was doing chemo with me had been told by the oncologist that she would need 6 – 9 treatments. She had her heart set that she was done after the 6th one. But the oncologist wanted her to have 3 more. Although she was really disappointed, she did those additional three. She just had a CT scan and last week the oncologist told her she was cancer free! The oncologist told me 9 – 12 treatments. I have had 8 full treatments so far. Lindsay doesn’t want me to be devastated if the oncologist wants me to do more treatments. So although I so want to be done with chemo so I can get my life back, I am trying to psych myself up so if he does say I need more, I won’t be blindsided. We shall see.
I am having lunch with Heather and Martha tomorrow. Haven’t seen them since I have been off from work in January. Martha has sent me numerous text messages wishing me well, and Heather has sent me a card every week with news of her family. I am so fortunate to have such wonderful friends. I go back to work on Wednesday to a new classroom where all of my stuff is in boxes. Martha will be helping me to get the classroom in shape for when the students start on Monday Aug 22.
It appears that I already have 21 students on my roll. These students have a variety of cognitive and behavioral challenges such as autism, mental retardation, ADHD, among others. These students are in my Special Day Class where they are supposed to have small group instruction to help to remediate their academic deficits so they can eventually be moved into the general education classes. With 21 students in grades 4-6 and academic abilities that range from K – 4, and having only one aide, small groups are pretty much out the window. This has caused me no small amount of angst in the past. But this year my perspective has changed. I will do the best that I can to teach those who are receptive. I will set up a learning environment that will group students by ability and a schedule that will provide instruction in as small of groups as possible. And I will teach as I have always done. The difference this year is in the level of responsibility I will be assigning to my role. Believe me that I want so much to be able to reach each of the students in my class and see that they are progressing toward academic mastery. But I have come to realize that some students (due to a variety of reasons) will not be receptive. They have so much emotional baggage that they are unable to function appropriately in an SDC class such as mine. These students need much more attention than I am able to give with the high numbers of students placed in my class. I would love to be able to do counseling sessions (individual and group) with these students and try to help them with their emotional issues. But I am not there as a counselor. I am there as a teacher. That being said, I have taken myself off the hook for feeling responsibility for those students. I thank one of the administrators in my district for that. In a meeting we were all told that “we are not there to fix kids”. As much as that threw me for a loop when I heard it, I have come to realize that it is true, that I cannot fix all kids. Like the starfish story, even if I reach one, I will have made a huge contribution in that one child’s life. So the burden of responsibility has been lifted from me alone and shifted to include the parents, the students, the administration and the community. With that paradigm shift I am looking forward to my sixteenth year of teaching. I have the pleasure and honor of an amazing para-professional, Martha, who everyday goes way above and beyond. As a team we will do the best that we can for as many as we can.
The other thing I need to focus on this year is my dissertation. As soon as the district rolls over the students from 2010/2011 to 2011/2012 I can get the list of potential participants. I hope to start right away getting interviews scheduled. Then the writing can begin and the drafts sent to my committee. I’m going to have a schedule so I work on the dissertation each day for a specific amount of time. The chair of my committee recommends writing one page per day. I think that is doable!
I go tomorrow to have my week after chemo blood test. It’s gonna be a busy week. :)
Hugs to all!
Dar
I talked to Lindsay last night and she has cautioned me to be open minded when we see the oncologist on Thursday. The gal that was doing chemo with me had been told by the oncologist that she would need 6 – 9 treatments. She had her heart set that she was done after the 6th one. But the oncologist wanted her to have 3 more. Although she was really disappointed, she did those additional three. She just had a CT scan and last week the oncologist told her she was cancer free! The oncologist told me 9 – 12 treatments. I have had 8 full treatments so far. Lindsay doesn’t want me to be devastated if the oncologist wants me to do more treatments. So although I so want to be done with chemo so I can get my life back, I am trying to psych myself up so if he does say I need more, I won’t be blindsided. We shall see.
I am having lunch with Heather and Martha tomorrow. Haven’t seen them since I have been off from work in January. Martha has sent me numerous text messages wishing me well, and Heather has sent me a card every week with news of her family. I am so fortunate to have such wonderful friends. I go back to work on Wednesday to a new classroom where all of my stuff is in boxes. Martha will be helping me to get the classroom in shape for when the students start on Monday Aug 22.
It appears that I already have 21 students on my roll. These students have a variety of cognitive and behavioral challenges such as autism, mental retardation, ADHD, among others. These students are in my Special Day Class where they are supposed to have small group instruction to help to remediate their academic deficits so they can eventually be moved into the general education classes. With 21 students in grades 4-6 and academic abilities that range from K – 4, and having only one aide, small groups are pretty much out the window. This has caused me no small amount of angst in the past. But this year my perspective has changed. I will do the best that I can to teach those who are receptive. I will set up a learning environment that will group students by ability and a schedule that will provide instruction in as small of groups as possible. And I will teach as I have always done. The difference this year is in the level of responsibility I will be assigning to my role. Believe me that I want so much to be able to reach each of the students in my class and see that they are progressing toward academic mastery. But I have come to realize that some students (due to a variety of reasons) will not be receptive. They have so much emotional baggage that they are unable to function appropriately in an SDC class such as mine. These students need much more attention than I am able to give with the high numbers of students placed in my class. I would love to be able to do counseling sessions (individual and group) with these students and try to help them with their emotional issues. But I am not there as a counselor. I am there as a teacher. That being said, I have taken myself off the hook for feeling responsibility for those students. I thank one of the administrators in my district for that. In a meeting we were all told that “we are not there to fix kids”. As much as that threw me for a loop when I heard it, I have come to realize that it is true, that I cannot fix all kids. Like the starfish story, even if I reach one, I will have made a huge contribution in that one child’s life. So the burden of responsibility has been lifted from me alone and shifted to include the parents, the students, the administration and the community. With that paradigm shift I am looking forward to my sixteenth year of teaching. I have the pleasure and honor of an amazing para-professional, Martha, who everyday goes way above and beyond. As a team we will do the best that we can for as many as we can.
The other thing I need to focus on this year is my dissertation. As soon as the district rolls over the students from 2010/2011 to 2011/2012 I can get the list of potential participants. I hope to start right away getting interviews scheduled. Then the writing can begin and the drafts sent to my committee. I’m going to have a schedule so I work on the dissertation each day for a specific amount of time. The chair of my committee recommends writing one page per day. I think that is doable!
I go tomorrow to have my week after chemo blood test. It’s gonna be a busy week. :)
Hugs to all!
Dar
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Thursday 08/11/11
Day 3 after chemo and only mild side effects. One is that my tongue feels like it is burned and I have little ability to taste anything. But that is something I get every time after chemo and it is certainly not a major consideration. Within a couple of days, that will be back to normal. I started to have some of the lower extremity pain last night, but I’m not feeling any pain now.
CA-125 results came back at 14.8. It was just a bit higher than last time (12), but the PA said not to worry as the number will bounce around from time to time. She said I am still well within normal limits (2-35).
So I’m off to do some light house cleaning and then I’ll be heading into my studio to work on my current project. It sure feels good to feel good!
Hugs!
CA-125 results came back at 14.8. It was just a bit higher than last time (12), but the PA said not to worry as the number will bounce around from time to time. She said I am still well within normal limits (2-35).
So I’m off to do some light house cleaning and then I’ll be heading into my studio to work on my current project. It sure feels good to feel good!
Hugs!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Wednesday 08/10/11
Shannon and I returned home this past Sunday from a cruise to Mexico. The ship stopped in Cabo for 2 days and then to Puerto Vallarta for 1 day. We didn’t leave the ship once! I read two fun books that were almost 600 pages each and started several others (on my new color Nook). We played cards and just had a VERY relaxing week. It was a good break between the events of the past 10 months and the beginning of this next chapter.
I had chemo Monday 8/8 and the oncologist’s office was able to have the Taxol available. It was an uneventful treatment and so far I have no symptoms or side effects. I should have the latest CA-125 results sometime today. I’ll post when I receive that number. My hemoglobin was still down at 9.6 (normal is 12-18) so I needed to have another shot of Procrit so the anemia would not plummet after the chemo. I go next Monday for my week after chemo blood test to see how those numbers are doing. My white count will go from 2.2 the week after chemo, to what it was on Monday (3 weeks later) at 6.5. It is the anemia that seems to stay low. I am amazed that I am able to function so well at those low numbers and can only imagine how much more energy and vitality I will have when I am no longer so anemic! Look out! :)
Lindsay and I go to see the oncologist on Wed 8/18. The goal is to postpone more treatment pending the results of a PET scan that will need to be scheduled. If my scan is negative, then I will hopefully be done with chemo. I’ll keep you posted.
I was back into my sewing studio yesterday working on a project out of a magazine that Cristy and I have been challenged to finish by the end of this year.
I was awake at 1am yesterday morning so I got up and started doing some initial planning for the upcoming school year. I start back to work next Wednesday with 3 days of teacher only prep time before the kids start on Aug 22. I don’t feel that I am stressing about going back to work, just starting to get prepared a little at a time so that doesn’t happen.
I have also been reading about topics that relate to my dissertation. I will hopefully finish with all of the participant interviews by mid-October so the writing can begin in earnest. The intent is to have the bulk of the initial draft completed by the time my Ph.D. program reconvenes in January. Then I have a few months to tighten it up and submit the final draft in plenty of time to graduate June 2012. I not only want this to be a quality project, I also want to limit stressing myself out by pushing to finish before the June date. My mantra is balance, balance, balance.
Thank you all, once again, for your support, encouragement, prayers, and love. I know that they have been an instrumental piece in my recovery.
Hugs!
Dar
I had chemo Monday 8/8 and the oncologist’s office was able to have the Taxol available. It was an uneventful treatment and so far I have no symptoms or side effects. I should have the latest CA-125 results sometime today. I’ll post when I receive that number. My hemoglobin was still down at 9.6 (normal is 12-18) so I needed to have another shot of Procrit so the anemia would not plummet after the chemo. I go next Monday for my week after chemo blood test to see how those numbers are doing. My white count will go from 2.2 the week after chemo, to what it was on Monday (3 weeks later) at 6.5. It is the anemia that seems to stay low. I am amazed that I am able to function so well at those low numbers and can only imagine how much more energy and vitality I will have when I am no longer so anemic! Look out! :)
Lindsay and I go to see the oncologist on Wed 8/18. The goal is to postpone more treatment pending the results of a PET scan that will need to be scheduled. If my scan is negative, then I will hopefully be done with chemo. I’ll keep you posted.
I was back into my sewing studio yesterday working on a project out of a magazine that Cristy and I have been challenged to finish by the end of this year.
I was awake at 1am yesterday morning so I got up and started doing some initial planning for the upcoming school year. I start back to work next Wednesday with 3 days of teacher only prep time before the kids start on Aug 22. I don’t feel that I am stressing about going back to work, just starting to get prepared a little at a time so that doesn’t happen.
I have also been reading about topics that relate to my dissertation. I will hopefully finish with all of the participant interviews by mid-October so the writing can begin in earnest. The intent is to have the bulk of the initial draft completed by the time my Ph.D. program reconvenes in January. Then I have a few months to tighten it up and submit the final draft in plenty of time to graduate June 2012. I not only want this to be a quality project, I also want to limit stressing myself out by pushing to finish before the June date. My mantra is balance, balance, balance.
Thank you all, once again, for your support, encouragement, prayers, and love. I know that they have been an instrumental piece in my recovery.
Hugs!
Dar
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