MARIO LEMIEUX FOUNDATION

This past week, Steve's aunt Patty and I dropped off $2500 to the Mario Lemieux Foundation from all of the HAVE COURAGE bracelets that were sold!!!!! 

Thaaaaank you to everyone who helped raise money and donated to the great cause!!!!!!! I'm so lucky to have so many great people surrounding and supporting me.  It's good to know that something positive can come from what can sometimes be a not-so-positive experience.  

Bracelets are still being sold at Redstone Pharmacy, through myself, and my LKS sisters will be selling them at the LKS Convention which is hosted in Pittsburgh this year (so the purple bands will be worn by pharmacy students/pharmacists across the country)!!!!  So.. if you would still like to buy a bracelet or donate, we will be taking another trip to the Mario Lemieux Foundation office again within another month or two!!  We already have a $400 check waiting for the next trip and we would love to add to it to make another large donation!!

On my way to a Penguins game soon after being diagnosed wearing my Mario jersey my lovely sister bought me :)


Thanks again!!! ♥

8 down, 4 to gooo!!!!

Yep, that's right... I am just moving right along with this countdown.  Phew!! It's been a good many days since my 8th treatment.. let's see if I can remember what happened.  Same as usual.. access port, premeds, chemoland.. but in addition to my regular list of blood tests, I also got my LDH tested.  LDH stands for lactate dehydrogenase.  Mostly every type of cancer (as well as other dx-- hypothyroidism, lung or liver dx, and megaloblastic/pernicious/Vitamin B deficiency amemia) are associated with elevated LDH, so while elevated LDH cannot be specific to identifying cancer, comparing levels at baseline and throughout treatment can be an indicator of decreasing cancerous cells.  My baseline LDH was 203 IU/L, and pre-tx 8, it was 113 IU/L, with "normal" (non-cancerous, healthy) values being below 177 IU/L.  SO this is great news for me!! ANOTHER blood test that confirms that the cancer is GONE GONE GONE!! :)  Another surprising blood test result that made me REALLY happy is that my neutrophils are up to 2.5!! Yes, that's right.. it's not a typo.. 2.5!!!!!! wooooooo.  While that's great and wonderful that I have super bone marrow, I am still being cautious and following strict neutropenic rules because who knows what my neutrophil count is now since right after the blood test I got all of the wonderful chemo pumped into me again.  It's too bad I can't access my port daily to do neutrophil count tests as easily as I can test cholesterol or blood glucose... it'd be nice to just prick myself, see what range my levels fall into, and eat/go places accordingly. I must say, I'm getting used to asking for VIP seating in restaurants when I feel good enough to go out to eat with friends (and I think they might be getting used to it too!! hah).

Sooo happy about my blood results!! (and fighting to keep my eyes open because we normally take the pics during premeds and this time we took the pic with 20 minutes left on my last chemo bag)

Oh, and can you tell that the chemo is finally catching up to my eyelashes and eyebrows??  I'm holding on to those puppies as long as I can!!! Only 4 treatments to go.. hopefully they can hang on through September!!!!!

Look at that!! Within normal range!! It's too bad I couldn't have a medium steak or some sushi riiiight then when my blood was taken before I started my next chemo tx and the levels had a chance of dropping again!! Oh well, September will be here soon enough.

(click on the chart to make it larger!!)

The side effects the few days after treatment were the same as usual.. and beyond that, I get tired throughout the day.  It's important that I get plenty of sleep, and I do.  I've been sleeping until I need to without alarms, and those are the days I feel best.  Rest is key in my feeling good and a speedy recovery between treatments.  SO on that note, Gooooooodnight!!

DONATE to LLS and MAKE CURES HAPPEN!!

My good friend Laura Krumenacker is running "Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Make Cures Happen Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon"!!! She is raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for lifesaving cancer research. 

Please

visit her page

 and DONATE DONATE DONATE to 

MAKE CURES HAPPEN!! ♥

7 down, 5 to gooooooo!!

Phew!! These treatments are just moving right along.  I never thought there would be a time when I would wish away summer.. but that's exactly what I'm doing.  One thing is for sure, I'm sooo glad this whole cancer deal is happening now when it's beautiful out versus winter when we had tons and tons of snow and the power was out for over a week.  The sun shining through the windows is making the treatments that much easier!!

Before treatment 7, I met with Dr. Marks for my monthly appointment.  Everything seems to be going smoothly.  I am responding well to treatment without unbearable side effects beyond the days immediately following treatment.  My neutrophils are in the neutropenic range, but are staying high enough to not necessitate Neulasta injections (I must have superman-like bone marrow!!).  My ESRs were in the 60's before treatment, and dropped within the normal range now (elevated ESRs are indictors of inflammation/cancer in the body).  Oh, aaaaand my PET/CT shows complete resolution with no remaining scar tissue from where the masses were located (most people with nodular sclerosing hodgkin's lymphoma has remaining scar tissue).  So basically, I'm kicking cancer's butt!! :)

updated neutrophils.. 1.3 pre chemo 7!! 

(click on image to make it larger)

Our main topic of discussion was the possibility of radiation after my 12 treatments of chemo are up.  After plenty of research, consideration, and discussion with other oncologists across the country, Dr. Marks said that if I were his daughter, he would decide against radiation.  For many many years, treatment for Hodgkin's included radiation no matter what.  However, the latest research is showing success in ABVD chemotherapy without radiation.  The ultimate decision is up to me and my family, but I definitely trust Dr. Mark's opinion.  There are many factors contributing to this decision.  First, my age... and second, how well I've responded to treatment thus far.  I am 23 years old and radiation at my age would lead to many other risks farther in life.  The location of my cancer is near my thyroid, heart, and breast area.  Exposing these areas to radiation would increase my risk to thyroid and breast cancer doubly as well as cardiotoxicity.  Risk for breast cancer for a woman my age is 1/8.  Exposing me to radiation would increase that risk to 1/4.  When you compare these numbers to the recurrence rate of Hodgkin's being 1/10, and considering how early in the treatment regimen my body responded to chemo, I think radiation is not for me.  Dr. Marks expressed if I was in my 30's, the decision would be easy.  I would get radiation.  But because I'm so young, I would almost guarantee myself breast cancer sometime in my life.  And that's a risk I am NOT willing to take.  My next PET/CT will be after my 12th treatment.  Then for the future, Dr. Marks will be keeping a very close eye on me-- I will be getting full body PET/CT's every 3 months to monitor any chance of hodgkin's reoccurrence, or anything else, for that matter.

Treatment 7 was roooough.  The treatment itself was fine-- huber, draw blood, premeds, chemo, reddish orange urine.. fun.  But on my way home I felt soooo sick.  I guess the pouring rain didn't help, roads were flooded, we had to take detours... terrible.  I've been nauseous after treatments but this was to the extreme.  Once I got home, I retreated to my princess bed and didn't get out for a good 16+ hours.   I was exhausted.  But thank goodness, after a few days, the sickness passed and I was able to get out of bed and sit in the living room. haha  baby steps.  I'm feeling better now and I am counting down these treatments!!  Let's just hope that the remaining cycles are a bit easier!