Friday Aug. 30, 2013
I tried to make it through school today, but ended up sleeping in both of my first two classes and left school before the third one started. Went home and slept for 5 hours.
That evening, Bailey and her 2 roommates, Khills and Faith, came for a visit. We watched a movie that I slept through.
A note of thanks to Bailey, Khills, Faith, and Clara and Bailey from church who have all brought me goodies the past 2 days. I appreciate all of the nice gifts and sweet treats that you gave me!
Saturday Aug. 31, 2013
Bailey made breakfast for the family this morning. She, Conner and I played Nintendo Monopoly. It was fun to play a game with them. The 3 of us also went out for Starbucks. I still don't have much of an appetite. Mom bought me lots of goodies to eat. Dr. Morgan said to eat 5-6 small meals because I wouldn't feel like eating larger meals. My arms felt really hot and were red this morning when I woke up. I had a slight fever but that is gone now. I'm fighting an upset stomach now, so I'm done for today.
Thanks to Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Mankin from MSDLT schools for the meal they brought on Thursday and to Mrs. Sherer who is bringing us a meal today.
I plan on posting some pictures with captions this weekend, too.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Ready for chemo
Wednesday Aug. 28, 2013
Today I stayed home from school because my neck was really sore from the port surgery.
Thursday Aug. 29, 2013
First day of chemo. I went to IU North in Fishers at 9:00 a.m. When I went back into the room, all of the chairs were overwhelming. Seeing all the chairs and chemo bags really caused all of this to sink in. They put me in a separate room because it was my first time there...that way they could talk and teach us a lot. They showed us a video that explained chemotherapy and the side effects. Then two nurses came in, Kathleen and Beth, and they went through paperwork and other potential side effects. While this was happening, they accessed my port for the first time. I used numbing cream but then they also used a freezing spray that they call "Nurse Ethyl" to numb it even more. The spray was really cold, so I didn't even notice when they put the needle in the port.
Dr. Morgan came in and she talked to us. She told us that...
Today I stayed home from school because my neck was really sore from the port surgery.
Thursday Aug. 29, 2013
First day of chemo. I went to IU North in Fishers at 9:00 a.m. When I went back into the room, all of the chairs were overwhelming. Seeing all the chairs and chemo bags really caused all of this to sink in. They put me in a separate room because it was my first time there...that way they could talk and teach us a lot. They showed us a video that explained chemotherapy and the side effects. Then two nurses came in, Kathleen and Beth, and they went through paperwork and other potential side effects. While this was happening, they accessed my port for the first time. I used numbing cream but then they also used a freezing spray that they call "Nurse Ethyl" to numb it even more. The spray was really cold, so I didn't even notice when they put the needle in the port.
Dr. Morgan came in and she talked to us. She told us that...
- I'm stage 2 and she explained that I have the cancer cells on both sides of my neck as well as in my chest.
- I will not have radiation because my cancer is above the diaphragm.
- My chemo will last most likely 4 to 6 months.
- I will have side effects and gave me more info on this.
- I will likely have my white blood cell count drop and as a result could get sick; however I am most likely to get sick from my own bacteria, not someone else's.
- I will have good days and not so good days, will get nauseous, and will lose my hair. I even got a prescription for a wig, but, I'm planning on using scarves and hats more than a wig.
I watched them put the nausea and chemo bags and syringes into the tube to my port. The nausea meds they gave made me sleepy, but I fought through that so I could watch them give me my first chemo round and have a tasty Qdoba lunch. I slept on the way home and for about 2 more hours at home. I didn't have any appetite and ended up taking more medicine for nausea before the day was out.
Playing Catch-up
Sorry it's been so long, so heres an overview of what my week has been like.
**Monday, August 26
At school today, Michael H., a guy I have been going to school with since 6th grade, told me he read my blog. I figured people read it, but I guess I never thought my peers took the time to read it, so that was exciting do me.
I left school early for my post-op appointment with Dr. Biggerstaff. This post operation appointment was to check up on the incision site on my neck from the surgery to remove my lymph nodes two weeks ago. He wanted to make sure it's healing correctly...which it is! Dr. Biggerstaff said my wound was healing nicely, and just to watch and make sure the area continues to go down and not raise any higher up. At this time, it has the appearance of being swollen in the area as well as the actual scar being raised above that.
After the appointment my dad took me to get Starbucks which was super nice! I love myself a strawberry's and cream frappuccino!
**Tuesday, August 27
This is the day my port was put in. I left school around noon to go to the IU North, Carmel site for yet another surgery. Again, they had to work to get to a vein (using ultra sound). It was painful, but it wasn't as bad as my 2-hour blood draw when they had to use the ultra sound to find an artery. (My veins weren't cooperating that day.) While at IU North, I got my own room complete with a rolling bed...I didn't have to walk back to the surgery room like I did for my lymph node biopsy. Before the surgery, they showed us what the port looked like and how it was accessed. They ended up putting it in my right side away from where the first surgery scar is. Now I have 2 scars--one on each side.
**Monday, August 26
At school today, Michael H., a guy I have been going to school with since 6th grade, told me he read my blog. I figured people read it, but I guess I never thought my peers took the time to read it, so that was exciting do me.
I left school early for my post-op appointment with Dr. Biggerstaff. This post operation appointment was to check up on the incision site on my neck from the surgery to remove my lymph nodes two weeks ago. He wanted to make sure it's healing correctly...which it is! Dr. Biggerstaff said my wound was healing nicely, and just to watch and make sure the area continues to go down and not raise any higher up. At this time, it has the appearance of being swollen in the area as well as the actual scar being raised above that.
After the appointment my dad took me to get Starbucks which was super nice! I love myself a strawberry's and cream frappuccino!
**Tuesday, August 27
This is the day my port was put in. I left school around noon to go to the IU North, Carmel site for yet another surgery. Again, they had to work to get to a vein (using ultra sound). It was painful, but it wasn't as bad as my 2-hour blood draw when they had to use the ultra sound to find an artery. (My veins weren't cooperating that day.) While at IU North, I got my own room complete with a rolling bed...I didn't have to walk back to the surgery room like I did for my lymph node biopsy. Before the surgery, they showed us what the port looked like and how it was accessed. They ended up putting it in my right side away from where the first surgery scar is. Now I have 2 scars--one on each side.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Last Monday and Today
So I realized today how much has really happened this past week. At first it didn't seem like much until I was starting to write about it last night, and when I realized that everything is running together. Today my mom and I were even struggling to remember what day my oncology appointment had been. In a way though it is good that things haven't been more spread out. We are going to get this cancer out of me soon! There hasn't been too much waiting on anything.
***Flash forward to today
Monday was my first oncology appointment with Dr. Morgan (still loving the coincidence!...or fate). We actually had a small detour on our way to meet her. You see there is multiple offices that work through Indiana University Health (this is who we are working with to eliminate my cancer), and my mom, dad, and I went to the Central Indiana Cancer Center on Lantern Road. However when we arrived we were told that Dr. Morgan works at the big IU hospital in Carmel on Mondays. We then, of course, proceeded to the large IU North and Riley Hospital for children. Once there we had paper work to fill out (all three of us did that lovely work). Then we all went to meet my doctor. Dr. Morgan is super nice! She sat down with us and took a good long time; she talked with us from 4 to 6 and was super patient. I learned that Hodgkin's is not common, but is common for girl ages 15-30 and elderly people. I also learned that I don't show B symptoms...which is good. She also explained what chemo cycles are and what my next steps are going to be. I needed to have a PET/CT scan, blood work, heart and lung tests, and my port put in. She explained that a port was a device that would go inside my upper left side (near where my surgery was done), and what it does is makes it so that when they need blood or get ready to start chemo they don't need to always find a vein. They just stick the port and thats that! No more pain of finding veins! This became more exciting to me after I had my blood drawn that day...
After the appointment was over it was decided that I would get my blood drawn for the blood work right then. So my mom and I go into the area to get blood drawn, I sit down, they try my elbows then my hands, I get baby feet warmers to warm the back of my hands, they stick my right hand, the blood starts coming, then the blood just stops. I come to find out later that what happened is my vein collapsed. Then I started to feel really nauseous and my vision tunneled. The nurse and my mom laid me down on a reclining chair. While sitting there my hearing went fuzzy and my head began to pound. Then I threw up a little and began to slowly feel better. Due to hospital policy I had to be wheeled to the ER. Once there, a paramedic stuck my right forearm and my right elbow to try for some blood, but again nothing. Next an RN came in and did an ultrasound on my left elbow to find some veins. His stick was the worst! Once he put the needle in, he moved it all around trying to find a vein, but eventually he found something...but it wasn't a vein. It was an ARTERY! When he stuck my artery the blood rushed out...I could feel it on my arm, but I wasn't looking. Needless to say he filled all the vials with no problem. Now the only problem was stopping the blood. He removed the needle and had to wrap my arm really tight to stop the bleeding. I had to wait 20 minutes before they could take off the wrap, and it was so tight that my arm turned slightly purple! The whole ordeal with blood took 2 hours, from 6 to 8. By the time I got home it was almost 9!
***Flash forward to today
Today was a good saturday. I slept in, did my senior pictures, and went to work. Senior pictures were a little stressful at first. My mom wants to do them for me this year, and though, yes, I had my reservations at first, I see now that she did a great job. A lot of pictures turned out very nice. Now knowing this now didn't help me in the moment. For many reasons I was having a hard time with the picture taking. I didn't feel very pretty, I didn't feel like I was getting any good shots, I was mad that I wasn't having fun (seems strange right), I was worried that my pictures wouldn't look as good as others that I have seen, and I felt the pressure of being on a time restriction. My mom reminded me that if we didn't get a good shot then that we could always try again another day, but all I could think was that there was no time. This week is full of appointments, my weekend will be spent at Bailey's (which I am sooooo looking forward to), I don't know how hectic next weeks schedule will be, and at some point my hair is going to start falling out. So there was definitely a lot on my mind. However, after going to the fort ben area, taking pictures, coming home for lunch and to clear off the memory, and viewing the pictures we did have, I saw that my pictures were turning out and that put me in a good mood. So mom and I went back out after lunch and took some more shots at the Fort Ben area...and it was fun! God bless my mom though because she was patient with me the whole time, and she never got frustrated. Man I love my mom!!!
When I got home, I found a lovely box wrapped in silver wrapping paper and with a picture of my sister and I taped on the front. My sister sent a box home with my dad to give to me. It had lots of goodies in it...a box of pictures and bible verses from my grandparents, cookies from Faith (a roommate of hers), a note from Kills (another roommate of my sister...also not her real name, but its what we call her), a tervis cup with a table of contents of dogs on it, pictures, and a card from my sister. I also loved the big box that everything came int because I was able to also put the lovely gifts from my neighbor inside. My neighbor Mrs. Sue got me an iTunes gift card, lotion, cards, sleep wear set, chocolate, tissues, and socks. I am so loved!
When I got home, I found a lovely box wrapped in silver wrapping paper and with a picture of my sister and I taped on the front. My sister sent a box home with my dad to give to me. It had lots of goodies in it...a box of pictures and bible verses from my grandparents, cookies from Faith (a roommate of hers), a note from Kills (another roommate of my sister...also not her real name, but its what we call her), a tervis cup with a table of contents of dogs on it, pictures, and a card from my sister. I also loved the big box that everything came int because I was able to also put the lovely gifts from my neighbor inside. My neighbor Mrs. Sue got me an iTunes gift card, lotion, cards, sleep wear set, chocolate, tissues, and socks. I am so loved!
After pictures I went to work, and it was good. I saw lots of dogs in cars (I was working drive through), and I gave out a lot of pup cups. And, thanks to our cook Koro, I got two free chicken strips; mmmmmm they were tasty! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful group of people to work with, and my work has been so understanding. I am blessed!
So no new news, but an update on my day!
**Also the reason for my title (which will soon be changed)...
So I thought the ribbon for lymphoma was lime green. I found out tonight that lime green is non-hodgkin's not hodgkin's lymphoma. Hodgkin's lymphoma is actually lavender (purple). This is a really cool thing because lavender is my favorite flowers and one of my favorite scents! Cool coincidence right?! So I will be changing my blog title and web address soon. I will be sure to inform you all of the changes.
Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Friday, August 23, 2013
One Week
One week ago today I found out that I have Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and since that week so much has happened. The first thing I did was cry. I don't know if I was crying because I was sad, or more because I was scared and didn't really know what Hodgkin's meant for me. I also cried because my parents were crying, and seeing them upset makes me upset.
A lot of my Friday consisted of telling people...of course there was lots of fun watching "Suits" with my dad, visiting the Strayer home, and going to Coffee house (a friday night activity at my youth group). I went to my school, Lawrence North High School, to tell my counselor; I talked with Sarah while I was at the school; my mom went into Dairy Queen and told a manager (yep, my job is working with ice cream!); my mom, my dad, and I told my brother and sister; I Facetimed my friends Jaema and Alicia; I told Claire Strayer when I went to her house to hang with friends...I then told all of those friends (Clara, Hannah, Bradley, and Elija); and at coffee house I told Yanny, Becky, Austin, and Matt (my youth pastor)...some other people also found by either over hearing or hearing from someone I told.
So at this point I've told family (with the help of my parents), friends, my youth pastor, other adults in my life, and a manager...seems like a lot and it felt like a lot, but what I didn't realize is how many people I'm in contact with daily and how many people were left to tell.
***side note: Through telling people I saw how many people really care about me and love me,
Now, Saturday my mom told some neighbors, I went to the neighborhood cookout for a bit, and I then went to work and told my general manager Carl. Work was hard because my neck was still very stiff from the surgery I had on that previous Tuesday.
***back story: On Tuesday the 13th I have a biopsy done on my neck. They took 6-7 lymph nodes out of my neck to check for Hodgkin's. I will explain the whole discovery leading up to the surgery and more details on the surgery on the next post.
Those were just the first TWO days of my journey. So much has happened and so much will happen.
I will be continuing to go back and talk about the rest of my first week, but for the rest of this post I will just talk about today.
Today was a long day. I got up early and went to RadicaLN. RadicaLN is a group that meets on Friday mornings, and the purpose is to see LN as our mission field. We discuss passages in the bible, are given guidance on how we can lead a bible study, pray together, share trials and triumphs, and (hopefully in the near future) worship together. While there this morning I share that a real trial this week had been all of my tests (for the lymphoma). This led to why I was having test and eventually me sharing with the whole group about my Hodgkin's. It was so nice when Chris had us take a moment to pray from me; I really appreciated it (thanks Claire, Julia, and Chris).
After RadicaLN I headed over to the school, with Claire in my passengers seat. Once there I noticed that my oncologist Dr. Morgan (cool coincidence right?!) had called me, though she left a message and she was really wanting to talk to my mom. So I called her back to tell her that she had called me and not my mom. She called me back during my Etymology class, and my teacher Mrs. Campbell let me take the call. Here's what I learned:
1. I am stage 2.
2. I will be starting Chemotherapy Thursday.
3. The PET/CT scan showed a little activity in my chest and right neck lymph nodes (in addition to the left side of my neck, but we already knew about that area)
4. My port will need to be put in soon.
5. I may not need radiation after Chemo.
6. I will have from 4-6 cycles of Chemo. One cycle is a full day of chemo and then two weeks and then another full day and two weeks.
7. After two cycles (basically two months), I will have another PET/CT scan to see where I'm at to determine if it will be 2 or 4 more cycles.
Now of course this information needed to be relayed to people who were curious about my treatment plan and what not, so I texted and told some people, but didn't get around to everyone.
Today I also went to the LN vs. LC football game. It was tons of fun, though it made me really miss marching band when I saw them all performing at half time. The first half I stood by Camille, Brooklyn, and Pascal (spelling is unclear because he is a foreign exchange student from Germany, so I don't know how to spell his name...sorry). I met up with the band after they performed and hung out with them the rest of the game. I mostly hung with Aaron, Jaema, Alicia, and Kiara. At this game I also ended up telling my friend Nolan. Nolan is so sweet and tenderhearted and my news saddened him (which is totally normal). Now my timing should have been better...I thought he knew, but he didn't. So Nolan was pretty upset the rest of the game, which made me sad. I don't want to ruin people's nights. We talked after the game though and so I hope he's happier now.
So this is my first blog post ever...I will try to get better as I go. Sorry if it's rambling or uninteresting :) I will post more tomorrow on this past week and also an explanation for my blog title. For now good bye and God bless.
A lot of my Friday consisted of telling people...of course there was lots of fun watching "Suits" with my dad, visiting the Strayer home, and going to Coffee house (a friday night activity at my youth group). I went to my school, Lawrence North High School, to tell my counselor; I talked with Sarah while I was at the school; my mom went into Dairy Queen and told a manager (yep, my job is working with ice cream!); my mom, my dad, and I told my brother and sister; I Facetimed my friends Jaema and Alicia; I told Claire Strayer when I went to her house to hang with friends...I then told all of those friends (Clara, Hannah, Bradley, and Elija); and at coffee house I told Yanny, Becky, Austin, and Matt (my youth pastor)...some other people also found by either over hearing or hearing from someone I told.
So at this point I've told family (with the help of my parents), friends, my youth pastor, other adults in my life, and a manager...seems like a lot and it felt like a lot, but what I didn't realize is how many people I'm in contact with daily and how many people were left to tell.
***side note: Through telling people I saw how many people really care about me and love me,
Now, Saturday my mom told some neighbors, I went to the neighborhood cookout for a bit, and I then went to work and told my general manager Carl. Work was hard because my neck was still very stiff from the surgery I had on that previous Tuesday.
***back story: On Tuesday the 13th I have a biopsy done on my neck. They took 6-7 lymph nodes out of my neck to check for Hodgkin's. I will explain the whole discovery leading up to the surgery and more details on the surgery on the next post.
Those were just the first TWO days of my journey. So much has happened and so much will happen.
I will be continuing to go back and talk about the rest of my first week, but for the rest of this post I will just talk about today.
Today was a long day. I got up early and went to RadicaLN. RadicaLN is a group that meets on Friday mornings, and the purpose is to see LN as our mission field. We discuss passages in the bible, are given guidance on how we can lead a bible study, pray together, share trials and triumphs, and (hopefully in the near future) worship together. While there this morning I share that a real trial this week had been all of my tests (for the lymphoma). This led to why I was having test and eventually me sharing with the whole group about my Hodgkin's. It was so nice when Chris had us take a moment to pray from me; I really appreciated it (thanks Claire, Julia, and Chris).
After RadicaLN I headed over to the school, with Claire in my passengers seat. Once there I noticed that my oncologist Dr. Morgan (cool coincidence right?!) had called me, though she left a message and she was really wanting to talk to my mom. So I called her back to tell her that she had called me and not my mom. She called me back during my Etymology class, and my teacher Mrs. Campbell let me take the call. Here's what I learned:
1. I am stage 2.
2. I will be starting Chemotherapy Thursday.
3. The PET/CT scan showed a little activity in my chest and right neck lymph nodes (in addition to the left side of my neck, but we already knew about that area)
4. My port will need to be put in soon.
5. I may not need radiation after Chemo.
6. I will have from 4-6 cycles of Chemo. One cycle is a full day of chemo and then two weeks and then another full day and two weeks.
7. After two cycles (basically two months), I will have another PET/CT scan to see where I'm at to determine if it will be 2 or 4 more cycles.
Now of course this information needed to be relayed to people who were curious about my treatment plan and what not, so I texted and told some people, but didn't get around to everyone.
Today I also went to the LN vs. LC football game. It was tons of fun, though it made me really miss marching band when I saw them all performing at half time. The first half I stood by Camille, Brooklyn, and Pascal (spelling is unclear because he is a foreign exchange student from Germany, so I don't know how to spell his name...sorry). I met up with the band after they performed and hung out with them the rest of the game. I mostly hung with Aaron, Jaema, Alicia, and Kiara. At this game I also ended up telling my friend Nolan. Nolan is so sweet and tenderhearted and my news saddened him (which is totally normal). Now my timing should have been better...I thought he knew, but he didn't. So Nolan was pretty upset the rest of the game, which made me sad. I don't want to ruin people's nights. We talked after the game though and so I hope he's happier now.
So this is my first blog post ever...I will try to get better as I go. Sorry if it's rambling or uninteresting :) I will post more tomorrow on this past week and also an explanation for my blog title. For now good bye and God bless.
Psalm 94: 18-19:
When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.
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