5-5-2022
Happy Cinco de Mayo! Lauren here, giving Chris the night off 😜
This morning I had my PET Scan. It was fairly simple. They took me back to a tiny room, pricked my finger to check my glucose levels and then injected me with a radioactive tracer where I proceeded to sit in a tiny room with the lights off for about an hour. The goal was to keep my activity low and my body relaxed, so I listened to a short story and meditated! Once that was done, I was taken for the scan. The machine was like the MRI machine, but slightly smaller and very quiet. The procedure was about 20 minutes long, I laid with my arms over my head and just counted to myself until it was over. If you count really slow for 20 minutes you can get to about 200, haha! The results will be sent to my oncologist, Dr. Vandermolen, and we will review them with him on Monday. Please keep your fingers and toes crossed that the PET Scan is clear – the goal is that the only thing that ‘lights up’ is the current tumor and that no other areas of the body have cancer cells.
The 2nd part of the day entailed ‘Chemo Class.’ I went into this very anxious – to have someone tell me all the shitty was I am going to feel over the course of the next 5 months just sounded daunting. It wasn’t half bad, thank goodness. The Nurse was so nice, joked with us, told us the ‘extremes’ and reassured me that anything I feel, to tell them, so they can find a solution to help get me through it. Fun fact about me, I HATE to throw up, I think I’ve thrown up less than 5 times in my life, I will do anything to not get to that point – so maybe to your surprise, my fear is not losing my hair through all of this, but throwing up! So, I’ll be taking all the anti-nausea meds and remedies I can get my hands on. Amongst ‘possible’ nausea, hair loss, loss of appetite, mouth sensitivity and a smorgasbord of other wonderful side effects that come with chemo treatments, the call was actually better than I thought. The Nurse reassured me that all of these side effects are just what could happen, not necessarily what will happen, so again, I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed for the lesser of the laundry list shared with us today.
Tomorrow is the port installation and then this weekend the goal is to get my chemo bag ready (full of coloring books, my iPad, a good book, headphones and of course snacks!), enjoy the weekend, go on some walks and try to laugh about the stupidness of Cancer!
OH! And if you come to see me over the course of the next 5 months, don’t be offended if I make you sit outside and we visit in the backyard – I’ve got to keep whatever energy I have to keep my body healthy to get through this! I promise you I’ll still be eating healthy, working and exercising when I can, its all part of my therapy, so don’t tell me to stop unless I’ve literally fallen!
All my love, thank you for checking on me, thank you for checking on Chris and keep checking your boobies!
Lauren
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ReplyDeleteYour army is ready to battle along your side! You/We got this🤍💪🏼
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