The Blue Battle - a stage IV rectal cancer journey

Tuesday was my second chemo infusion but it almost didn't happen.  My white blood cell count (WBC) had dropped from a 7 to 1.9 since the first infusion.  The decision was made to proceed with chemo but the followup with a Neulesta shot on Thursday to promote bone marrow growth.  The side effect-bone pain :(  Also, I have to become more of a hermit and avoid places with lots of people and exposure to germs.  Hard to do when I work with students and the public on a daily basis. Today I get unhooked from the chemo pump and then receive the shot.  Also, on Tuesday I experienced an allergic reaction to the chemo.  I became very sleepy but also trippy feeling, couldn't speak very well or had to concentrate on my words, and lost bladder control.  Now, I must take some pre meds before chemo and while wearing the pump to keep that from happening in the future.  So far no noticeable hair loss but found out it might take another couple weeks to show up...

Hello from Nancy's older sister, April Cheadle! Many of you have seen the blue, Team Nancy 2017 shirt that Nancy was wearing in her last post.  Thanks to her thoughtful and proactive colleagues and students, these Team Nancy shirts were designed and are available for purchase to show Nancy your support! Follow this link to order your support shirt before the link closes on Sept. 1.   https://www.customink.com/g/atd0-00b4-640p Shirts are $14.71 The shirts run a little on the snug side, so you might want to size up. Here is youngest sister, Melissa Cheadle, sporting her support! We've seen friends and family encourage Nancy by wearing these shirts and taking photos to send to her!  Wear them on vacation, wear them at the gym, wear them with your animals, wear them in a special location you shared with Nancy...anything! You may have heard that not all cancer is pink...and the color for colorectal cancer is blue!  Build awareness, share your support, ge...

Yesterday was my first day of infusion chemo.  All was going well until the irintocan at which point I became very tired and not feeling well.  I pushed through to the end of that IV and am now wearing the pump until tomorrow.  Every few minutes the pump makes a sound and delivers some chemo to my body.  I have to wear it 24-7 so adjusting to keeping it with me all the time will be a challenge.  Today I am making an appointment to get my hair chopped off.  Thankfully it is long enough that I can donate it and then get it cut short so it hopefully won't be as traumatic when it falls out completely.  Later today I see my surgeon about the seroma and see how it is healing.  I am definitely feeling the impact of this round of chemo today.

Went in for chemo today prepared to get this next phase started.  About half way through the IV fluids to help with nausea, my oncologist pointed out that my shirt was wet.  Not only was it wet, it was gooey in a large front section moving around to the side and on my pants.  My incision decided after three weeks it would begin to ooze a pink goo!  This is commonly known as a seroma.  I did undergo a CT to see if there was enough fluid that needs to be drained manually.  Still waiting for those results.  Tomorrow I will return to the cancer center to try again for the chemo. Other new findings include the nodule on my lung is cancerous.  My oncologist will watch on future scans to see how it is responding to chemo and may need to have it resectioned in the future.  Also, a third chemotherapy was added to my cocktail in order to be more aggressive.  This one will cause hair loss so I guess it is time to bust out the hats.

On Monday I met with my oncologist and decided I will start with 12 cycles of chemo on August 15th. It is infusion chemo so I will have 4 hours of infusion at the Cancer Center followed by wearing a pump that will deliver chemo over two days. The biggest side effects to this chemo are peripheral neuropathy and cold sensitivity. Even though there is still a lesion on my liver we opted to just monitor through scans and see if it goes away on its own if not I will have it surgically removed after chemotherapy.

Did you know that drinking two cups of coffee a day can reduce the chance of colon cancer by 25%? Thank you to Corrie Smith for the great mug!

People frequently ask me how my diagnosis came about.  There seems to be a misconception that the body goes through a dramatic change and alarm bells go off indicating to the individual that something is wrong, that cancer has arrived.  Not so.  It is more like the frog in the boiling water scenario; slowly the water temperature is increased and the frog happily splashes around not aware of the impending doom until it is too late.  This is often that case with colorectal cancer.  It began with periodic loose bowel movements, blood here or there, gas pains; all contributed to a history of IBS as a child.  It wasn't until fall of 2016 that the bowel changes became so consistent that I mentioned my concern to my physician at my annual physical.  Thank God for Dr. Anghel; the first physician to listen and take seriously my concern.  What resulted was an appointment with the gastrointerologist who didn't even finish the case history before setting down...

So many of my supporters want to know what is happening in my cancer journey.  We created a blog in to keep everyone updated.  Please visit this blog for the latest updates and communications.  We will still try to answer private email and text as much as possible but please understand when we cannot promptly respond.