Round 3 of Chemo Completed

I finished my third round of chemotherapy this past friday, July 22. My counts were good enough to receive chemo - they did, however, give me a shot to increase my white blood cells as a preventative. So I will be off from chemo this week (YAY!!!!) and will return to UAB Friday August 5 for a CT scan and an appt with my oncologist. Pending the results from the scan, I'm then scheduled to receive chemo that friday as well. Until then, I will probably be doing as little as possible, considering my energy level is pretty much zero. I am up to 11 tablets (5.5 grams) of Mitotane. They checked my Mitotane levels July 1 and I was at a 5.8, which my doctor said was the highest she's seen this quickly (the level will be checked again on August 5). I've had a lot more fatigue and dizziness the last couple of weeks, most likely attributed to the mitotane and probably the chemo. I haven't fallen, but I have to steady myself alot and it's harder for me to drive, partly because I'm on pain medication and I'm not supposed to drive while taking them. This past weekend was a little rough, concerning abdominal pain, but today seems to be better. But unless something comes up between now and August 5, we'll update everyone then and go from there! Thank you all once again for your prayers. Please continue to pray for us as we wait these last few weeks to see how these drugs are helping (hopefully).

chemo continued

I started my 3rd round of treatment this past Friday June 15. I spent the week in Tennessee with my parents, which was great, and headed to UAB on friday. My counts were good enough for me to receive treatment and everything went fine. Jason's dad drove up to meet us and after treatment I had an appt with my pain doctor. It was basically just a checkup to make sure the meds he'd prescribed were working. He gave me an RX for some refills on the oxycodone and ritalin and I'm scheduled to see him in 6 weeks unless something comes up.

I returned home to auburn friday and spent the weekend recovering from treatment. It wasn't too bad of a weekend, I was just exhausted and spent a lot of it resting and taking it easy. I felt a little nauseous a few times. It was not enough to actually make me sick, but luckily I had some nausea meds left from last year that helped. My stomach has been bothering me off and on but nothing more than usual.

As long as my counts stay up I'll receive treatment this upcoming Friday June 22 and then I'll be off until august 5th, when I also get scanned again. We will update everyone if something changes or something comes up. Thanks again for your prayers!! Love to all!!

July 1st Update and Upcoming Schedule

Carrie met with her doctor this morning and we have made some adjustments to her medicine. The Tylenol in Lortab has decreased her liver function slightly. It is nothing to be concerned about now. The doctor is switching her over to a low dosage of Oxycodone to help get her liver function back up. Carrie asked about the swelling in her feet and legs and it is a side effect of the Mitotane and will probably get worse as Carrie increases the amount of Mitotane that she is taking. (She is currently up to 8 tablets of Mitotane per day - her doctor did do blood work today to check her Mitotane level, but it takes a week to 10 days to get those labs back.) Dr. DeShazo prescribed Lasix to see if she can reduce the amount of fluid causing the swelling. This can cause her to become dehydrated, which the chemo can do anyways, so they were leery to put her on a diuretic before. But the doctor consulted with Carrie's endocrinologist and they both agreed to try the Lasix to reduce the leg swelling. She will take it as needed, just not on days that she has treatment. They will also put her on a potassium supplement, since the Lasix will naturally deplete her potassium. Carrie's counts were good. Her white count was a little low but not enough to keep her from getting treatment today. As a precaution, they gave her a shot of Neulasta after her treatment today to help boost her counts. As for her schedule for the next month, she is off next week and then will be back for treatment on the 15th and 22nd of July. She will be off the week after that and then have treatment again on the 5th of August when she will also have a CT Scan and meet with her oncologist again.

As always, thanks for all your thought and prayers. Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!