Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Pooh, Results and T-Shirts!

Today was a great day...

I kind of screwed up...apparently, I missed a prednisone (steroid) pill either Friday or Saturday) and I am supposed to take the pariet with it. This might have been a problem because I was only to take 5 of the pariet (the main purpose of the pariet is to protect my stomach from the prednisone). So, we called the cancer centre to see what I should do - as per the usual, we left a message and they called me back about 10min later. Cheryl was on the phone and basically instructed me to take both pills and I can get an additional pariet before the next chemo session. No problem.

In addition - I asked about the constipation and she said that she would call in a different scrip for me. Great... (it later resolved itself) and then I asked about some of my results that were outstanding and got some GOOD NEWS (below is comprised of the conversation with Cheryl and a second conversation with Debbie - both are nurses at the cancer centre):

  • CT scan of my pelvis and abdomen were negative. This is an important part of staging because if there are inflamed nodes below the diaphragm, I increase a stage (I am currently a stage 2). Bottom line, this decreases my chance of increasing in stage.

  • CT scan result for my neck showed that the mass that was removed was completely removed - excellent! In addition, the lymph node that was swollen on the right side (below my jaw line) is still swollen...but smaller. Not sure what to think about this yet - but I will be speaking to Dr. Hamm about it at my next appointment.

  • MUGA scan - great. This means that my heart is good and strong for chemo.

  • Gallium - this scan is used to determine where the cancerous cells are. The scan showed positive results for activity in the sub-mandibular (same area where the lymph nodes are) area on left and right side - left greater than right. This means, to me, that there are cancerous cells in my neck area.

  • Spinal Tap / Lumbar Puncture - as far as the nurse could tell, the results show that the fluid is clear. This is good as it also plays a role in staging.

  • Bone Marrow - these results have to be interpreted by Dr. Hamm. This is also a big one in terms of staging. I won't know until I speak with her (November 2)

Then...the greatest part of the day...I received 2 packages in the mail from my cousin Kahley; 3 t-shirts with this logo on it:She made a whole bunch and is mailing them out to my family. Each shirt is customized on the back to read how they relate to me. Mine says "I kick ass"....Diletta's says "My husband kicks ass"....Isabella's says "my dad kicks ass"...how freaking cool is that!!!!!

I can't wait to post a family pic tomorrow with our shirts on.


One last note...I have been reading some positive thinking / energy books and was excited about what I read today. One of the chapters I read included a section on attitude and keeping it positive (this is something I have constantly been working on - for the past 6+ years). It also went on to talk about surrounding yourself with others who have a positive attitude and how that can make you stronger, but that you have to have the courage to expose yourself. This excited me immensly. The facebook group Don Patten created and my blog have opened me up to many many other people who continue to write me and share their positive thoughts and prayers.

This makes me stronger. Keep them coming.

Isabella Picture of the day:


Super

2 comments:

Bill Dicke said...

FANTASTIC NEWS JEFF@!

Wow. Getting one good bit of news in a day is good. This is good stuff man!

Dora and Dave said...

Excellent news on the tests!! A positive gallium scan could also mean inflammation/infection so don't think about it too much until you talk to the doc.
I agree with the positive attitude. You're lucky because with cutie Isabella around she makes being positive easy!!