Medical Updates

The methotrexate hasn't hit me as hard this time, and I am so thankful. I'm exhausted as I was awakened frequently both nights. One of my awakenings was thanks to a doctor who woke me up to inform me that he was on the floor if I needed anything. "Besides my waking you up, is everything OK?" I was so out of it, I didn't even know how to respond. Mom heard the whole thing and was biting her tongue for all she was worth. After he left, I had fully awakened and then couldn't get back to sleep, so I had to take Adivan (anti-nausea drug that also helps with sleep). Adventures in chemotherapy.
I still have the thrush, so we're going to try another 5 days of anti-fungal medication. If it doesn't work, I'm stuck with keeping it at bay using the troche (like a lozenge) for the rest of my treatments. I'm hoping to get rid of it. It leaves a really gross taste in my mouth and makes eating that much more difficult 'cause things taste gross from it (especially water). So please pray that this will go away for good.
I have mouth sores again, but so far, they're not as bad as last time. They hurt, but I can still eat and swallow even though they are under my tongue again. I kept cold stuff in my mouth for 2 hours while the methotrexate was being administered, so maybe that helped some. Another prayer request - that these mouth sores will heal quickly, before the "big guns" treatment next week as that is when my immunities really drop and they could get much worse (like last time). (By the way, Lyndsey has a cold, so please pray that I won't catch it. She's very sneezy and has a runny nose...tough to stay away from those germs! God did keep the rest of us, perhaps with the exception of Ethan, from catching her flu bug she was battling last week.)
My eyes were wicked bloodshot this morning. They tend to get blood shot the first morning after treatment, but this was much worse and not fitting the same timeline. The dr. isn't concerned, and they aren't burning or dry. So, this is just a case of being unattractive. 8)
I do not need a blood transfusion at this point in time. My red blood cell count is still in the upper 20's, which will hold for a little while. Whew! Speaking of blood, I had a really weird experience with my port this time. The great thing about the port is that they take blood from it as well. I don't have to get stuck with a needle again; I barely even know it's going on. I guess that sometimes when I'm sleeping, the blood will go into the vile really slowly until I take a deeper breath, and then it gushes in. Well, this time when they were taking blood shortly after I arrived at the hospital, the blood just wouldn't come out. They tried having me take deep breaths, move my head (which affects the position of my neck where the tube goes through to the major vein), but it was just a trickle. At some point, I moved/relaxed just right, and the blood started flowing well. I was told not to move, and we got the viles filled no problem. It's kind of a weird feeling to know that blood is supposed to be coming out, but it isn't. As long as they stick me with a needle to retrieve it. You know how much I love needles.
Speaking of needles, I got my shot last week that shuts down my ovaries. (This is a HUGE needle, and I have to take it in the butt muscle. It's once every 3 months.) I was dreading getting it, but with God's help (and the EMLA cream), it was no problem. Thank You, Lord!
Dr. Choy and I had some lengthy discussion about the game plan from here on out. My body is indicating the toll of the chemo (frequent blood transfusions, mouth sores, ringing in ears), so they're going to ease up a bit. He's going to decrease the amount of 1 of the chemo drugs. Also, if my counts aren't right prior to an upcoming methotrexate treatment, we'll just skip it rather than putting it off a week and then resuming the regular schedule. I really feel like this is an answer to prayer in that I've been asking God to guide the doctor's decisions about my treatment.