Unexpected Events 2/20/12 Monday

This would be a picture of how many times my veins were blown on Monday when I went for my treatment.
Yep 7 times, 7 blown veins later.   This really stinks because it's official "my veins are shot" and can not take anymore IV's.  The chemo has damaged the veins and it's going to take more time for them to heal.
In the mean-time, I have 6 treatments left.  In order to finish those treatments, they are putting in another port.  This port will go in my upper arm and hopefully not be so bulky and noticeable as the one that was placed then removed from my chest area.   They thought my original port, was the reason my arm was swelling and part of the water retention problem, so they removed it back in November.  Guess what, I am still on water pills because my whole body is retaining water.     :0(
Unfortunately removing the port didn't help, but I have no regrets removing it.  It stuck too far out and was very uncomfortable.  I am hoping the arm port will be smaller and less noticeable.  I will have it removed in early June, after my last Herceptin treatment.

I go in Monday 2/27 to have the arm port placement done.  Kevin will be there with me.  He has to drive me home because they will be knocking me out completely.  I was hoping for just a local numbing, but that's not going to happen.  Surgery will be done at Memorial Herman Memorial City hospital at 9 am.
Then on Tuesday, I go to my oncologist to get my treatment done, that should have taken place this past Monday.
I will post more when the surgery is over.  For now I am looking forward to having a nice weekend with my peeps at the rodeo bbq cook-off........ then of course on Monday, it's surgery time.

xoxoxoxo
Sandy

2/17/12 Blood work

Well I went to Lab Corp this morning to do routine blood work before my herceptin treatment on Monday.  The girl had a hard time finding a vein, to which she kept digging around in my arm to find one.   This is after I already told her that my Dr has problems finding veins in my arms and they now have to put an IV in the back of my hand.  Apparently she was not trained or comfortable in doing the hand IV, so she thought with her expertise she would be able to find a vein in my arm.  Ha !  Well she did finally find a vein after about two minutes of moving the needle around over and over trying to hit a vein.  I have so much scar tissue from previous IV's when I had to get blood work every week.   Needless to say, she won't be getting a second chance on me again.  By the time I got to work I had a huge knot and swelling in the area where she took blood and of course bruising.
I am curious to see if my platlets, white and red blood cell levels have started to come up.  They have remined below normal even though I had my last chemo treatment on 10/13/11.
I will post results on Monday after my herceptin treatment.  
Come on June, that will be my last herceptin treatment. 

Have a nice weekend.

Sandy

2/14/12 - Back on the water pills

Well I tried once again to get off my water pills and I gained 7 lbs in 2 days.
I can always tell when it's not going well because my fingers swell up and I get this puffiness above my cheekbones.    So needless to say, I am back on water pills, not that I really ever got off them.
It's better than retaining water and being put back in the hospital again.  But the water pills really dry your skin out.  I can't put enough lotion on my arms and hands and I am now using a face moisturizer twice a day.
In due time, my body will decide it's ready.  I go Friday for more blood work to see where my levels are.
I will post those results next week if there has been any change.

2/13/12 - No Changes Lately

Look guys,,,,,,, I have hair coming back,,,,,,, finally !!!!   Hooray !
Hey, it's better than being bald! 

I have pretty much stayed the same lately.  Still on water pills to control the fluid retention, but that's a small price to pay for feeling much better and not being back in the hospital.
I will do blood work sometime this week, probably Friday since I have my herceptin appointment on Monday.  They want to check my levels periodically, especially with me on the diuretics for so long.
I try a few times a week to cut back the water pills to see if my body is ready and I always bloat right up.
So I will just keep trying and eventually my body will decide it's ready and the side effects from chemo will go away.  I would like to get off the diuretics as soon as I can, because of dehydration and my skin/face always feels dry and I knows it's from the diuretics.  I can't seem to get enough lotion on my arms and hands.

My hair continues to come in dark/thick and I have high hopes of getting rid of the wig in the next few months.  I plan to donate my wig to someone who needs one, but can't afford one.  I have the oncologist office working on finding someone when I am ready to be done with it.
Though my hair is coming in nicely, I am very impatient and have ordered the ovation shampoo to try and help move things along faster.  It's nice and thick but still doesn't have enough length to it for me to actually be able to shape it into a hair style.  But it won't be long and I will be able to do that, I am just very impatient and ready for the wig wearing days to be over with.