Anything to Avoid My Homework

It's going to be a crazy week. I was supposed to get so much done this weekend since I had three days. Saturday, I felt like I was coming down with another cold. Sunday, I did some work, but everything seemed to take 3-4 times longer than I was expecting it to. Today, I was having the same problem and somehow the day just got away from me.

Last week I was unable to attend almost all of my classes because of chemo side effects. My last treatment really knocked me out. I could barely get out of bed. The cumulative effects, especially the fatigue, are awful. Ideally my last treatment will be my last treatment for a while. On Thursday evening, I am having an MRI done. We're doing an MRI instead of a CT or a PET/CT scan at the request of the interventional radiologist to get the more detailed picture. I am still a potential candidate for RFA (radio frequency ablation). I'll meet with my oncologist next week to go over the results and discuss my options.

On Friday afternoon, I went in for an urgent care appointment because I have a sore throat that will not go away. I was on antibiotics for 10 days, but that didn't make it go away. Well, they don't know what is causing it. They did a throat culture and I am going back in on Thursday morning to see my primary care doctor to get the results. I really hope that something turns up on the culture because my voice sounds scratchy and it hurts to swallow, to cough, or sometimes even to talk.

I'm falling asleep at the computer now so I guess I should go to bed. The rest of my homework will have to wait until morning.

She's Back

So it's been an appallingly long time since I have updated. Suffice to say, graduate school is more work than I imagined. It's also challenging and rewarding and I am really enjoying it.

I have continued to go through treatment while attending school. I have been getting Folfiri (Irinotecan, 5FU, Leucovorin) with Avastin since last June. I will have my 12th treatment tomorrow morning and I am hoping that I will have a scan scheduled in the next couple of weeks. If the scan shows shrinkage or stability, I am going to stop treatment and switch to a maintenance regimen of Avastin. I'm really depending on those results. I'm just not sure how much longer I can handle school and chemo. I may have to take a leave of absense which I really don't want to do.

Let's talk about fun new side effects. I have some fluid in my abdomen. Some days I'm so bloated that it hurts. I take diuretics when I can, but I have to be near a bathroom for most of the day. I had a short break from chemo over the holidays and by the time I restarted treatments, the bloating had gone away. Now four weeks later I look pregnant and have to wear sweatpants everyday.

Well, it's 5:30am and I should try to get a little more sleep before I head over to campus. I'd like to say that I'll post more regularly, but all I can say is that I am going to make an effort. And to those of you who sent emails and haven't received responses yet, they are coming... soon.