Chasing Hope

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. If I wasn’t running to another appointment, I was waiting to hear from a doc about an appointment. In the long run a bit of progress has been made.
 
After Memorial Day weekend the docs were finally able to talk about me at tumor board. My chemo doc called to give me a recap. They all agreed that a round of radiation to my lung would be beneficial. Before I could start radiation, they wanted to rebiopsy the tumor to see if anything has changed. Okay… can we do the same test that we did last year? The chemo doc wasn’t sure yet and needed to call a few more people. She broke the news to be during my chemo session that the docs wanted to do a different test. Okay… what does that mean? Well, the tumor is very close to the center of my chest and the best way to get answers is to send a tube down my throat to snip a piece or two for testing. Ugh! This did not sound like fun. There was also a blood test that she wanted to do to see if the results are different from is pulled from the lung. All of this made my head spin. I agreed to the blood test but wanted to talk more about the pros and cons of doing the biopsy. She put a referral in for me to see the lung doc and I started waiting again.
 
The lung doc’s office called while I was in the middle of a nap and was hazy on who I was talking to and what about. Thank goodness for the app that tracks my appointments, test results and payments due. It helped make sense of my crazy notes. So off I went to meet with the pulmonologist. He is a very nice gentleman and took the time to answer all my questions. I had two options. Both were considered outpatient surgery, and I would have to be knocked out for them. The first option he would manually place a tube down my throat into my lung and manually capture the tumor tissue. The second option was using a robot to go down my throat into my lung and having the ability to snip multiple samples. They both had good and bad things about them. In the end the one that involved the robot was to have better results. I was still hesitant about the whole thing but wanted some answers on the tumor. I agreed to move forward with the robotic procedure if we could get it done ASAP. He said that wasn’t an issue, I’ll be added to next week’s schedule. Oh! But first I would need a CAT scan of my chest. CAT scans are easy peasy, I can do that!
 
While I was waiting for all the approvals to go through for the surgery, the approval for the blood test for the tumor was received. 5 tubes of blood were drawn and sent off to a specialized laboratory to work its magic. The more info the docs have to fight this battle the better. If only all my tests were this easy.
 
The weekend happened and I was able to score some time with the bestie. That made going into the week a bit easier. I figured that would get a call Monday morning about scheduling the biopsy. Well really more like being told when I needed to get there and to rearrange whatever else I had planned. First call was from the lung docs office. They are concerned that I haven’t done the CAT scan yet. Well, I can’t do a CAT scan until the insurance approves it. Oh! Let’s double check on that… it doesn’t seem like one was ever put in. Let me do it now. Ugh, okay. Referral went in and was instantly approved and they gave me the number to call to schedule it. I figured I’d better call and schedule it while I was thinking about it. Can I come at 6pm? Sure, why not. CAT scan handled, check.
 
Next the hospital called wanting to schedule my intake call for my procedure on Friday… Ummm what? No one has called to tell me that I have a procedure scheduled. Oh, whoops. The biopsy is scheduled for Friday, with arrival time of 10:30am. Okay, at least it is in the morning and won’t have to fast all day. Can they do my intake call tomorrow? Sure, why not. I Already have two appointments scheduled, what’s one more? We got the intake call scheduled in between the other appointments. Yippee! I finally got some uninterrupted time to get some work done. Yes, I know that I’m crazy to still be working. It is good to have something else to focus on that isn’t all about me.
 
I started Tuesday with a quick meeting with my Chemo doc. I filled her in on the biopsy just being scheduled for Friday. I’m guessing I can’t do chemo and a biopsy on the same day, and she laughed. Nope, I won’t being doing those on the same day. Chemo can wait a week. Not the way I want an extra week off, but I’ll take it. Nothing on my treatment plan is going to change just yet. There are new studies out saying that if the chemo is keeping the majority of the cancer areas at bay, and the spot that is growing can be treated with radiation, the chemo should be continued. There are only so many chemo options so I’m will to try anything. Next up is my intake call with the hospital and that was nothing but boring paperwork done over the phone. They wanted an updated EKG done before the biopsy and I laughed. I was going to the heart doc next. I’m sure I’ll do one there. Get to my heart doc appointment and yep the first thing they said is they needed an updated EKG. And I giggled. Day of appointments is finally done.
 
Wednesday I got a call from the Radiation doc’s office asking if I was available Friday to do a video call with the Doc. If it’s first thing in the morning, I can be. How about 9am?  That will work. Might as well fill the time before the biopsy, where I can’t eat or drink, with something productive. Thursday was a slow day of playing catch up and getting things organized for Friday. Friday arrived and my nerves started to kick in. Thank goodness it was time to talk to the Radiation doc so I could focus my energy elsewhere. The first question was when my next break from chemo was. Due to having to postpone treatment, my next break would be the first week of July. Perfect, she said. That gives us just enough time to do the mapping and get everything ready for radiation. Could I come in on the 24th for the mapping? Sure, why not. We went over the side effects I could have from the treatment and then ended the call.
 
My mom arrived shortly after I was done with the call to take me to the hospital. I don’t know why, but the hospitals are still not allowing anyone to accompany the surgery patient to the waiting room/prep area. I guess it’s a good thing I can entertain myself. The plus side about this surgery is they were able to use my port instead of having to set up an IV. My veins were so happy. Finally, it was go time. I was wheeled into the operating room and was asleep in no time. I then time traveled to the afternoon and was waking up from surgery with a bit of a sore throat and cough. We had a hard time at first regulating my oxygen intake, but after a half hour or so it was all sorted. I finally got a ginger ale, some crackers and the okay to go home. The hubs was waiting for me so I didn’t have to wait for him. We got home, I had some soup, and we just chilled the rest of the night.
 
The next two weeks were spent waiting for results and doing chemo like normal. As the results came in, my chemo doc let me know what was going on. Most of the results were the same as before, except it was now coming back saying I had an ATM mutation. ATM mutation? Am I going to start spitting out twenties? I don’t think that I would be mad at that. LOL Apparently ATM is a gene that they are just starting to do some research and studies on. There is a clinical trial coming up that they hope to get me in to. The problem with trials is they don’t always start when they say they will. So, we will wait and see what happens there.
 
Just like that it was time to start radiation on my lung. I was to go for 5 days. With Independence Day in the mix, it meant that I would go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and back Monday for my final round. Each session went as planned. It actually took me longer to drive there than the actual procedure.
 
I knew that radiation could make me tired, but by Wednesday I hit a wall. I had to work up the energy to do the mundane tasks. There was even a day where I had to take a nap after showering. I also developed a cough during this time. I now count coughing fits as ab exercises. On my last day of radiation I met with the doc. I was prescribed some really great cough meds and told to hang in there. The fatigue will improve with time.
 
Wednesday came and I wasn’t feeling any better, in fact I almost felt worse. I went into the chemo office for my blood draw and the nurse gave me one look and ordered hydration to happen after the draw was done. The hydration treatment worked wonders. I felt a bit like my old self. I was still tired but feeling a bit better. I made sure to keep myself hydrated for the next few days so that I would be able to continue with chemo. I showed up on Friday for chemo and my nurse asked how I was feeling. I told her that I was still exhausted, but at least hydrated. She said let’s get you hooked up to chemo, then I’ll go over your bloodwork. Once she dived into my blood work, she found what was wrong. My hemoglobin had dropped 2 points since my last blood work two weeks ago. This is the first time in 6 months that my hemoglobin was that low. She messaged the doc to let her know what’s going on and almost instantly the doc was at my chair. There is a shot I can do to help boost my red blood cells/hemoglobin, but the only way to feel better faster is to do a blood transfusion. I thought about it for 30 seconds and told her let’s do it. I couldn’t handle feeling so sluggish anymore. The nurses started doing paperwork and making calls and the next thing I knew I had an appointment Monday morning for a transfusion. I cannot speak highly enough of the nursing staff at my chemo office. They go above and beyond all the time.
 
Monday came and I received the transfusion without a hitch. By the time I was leaving a bit of color was back to my face. Now, two days later I feel so much better. Still a bit sluggish but able to shower without taking a nap. Here’s hoping we only go up from here.