The Blue Battle - a stage IV rectal cancer journey

Since I am nearing the half way point in my chemo rounds, I practically begged my oncologist to give me a scan.  I needed to know that the chemo was doing something, that all these side effects were worth it.  On Tuesday I had a PET scan.  In the cancer world we refer to scanxiety as the severe anxiety a cancer patient experiences before a scan.  My scanxiety was high!  Late yesterday afternoon I received my PET scan results in my online patient portal.  Unfortunately, I had just gone to the eye doctor and my eyes were dilated. One of my friends/colleagues was kind enough to offer to read the results to me.  The news: liver lesion has shrunk, a lymph node that had previously lit up on a scan was no where to be seen, and the lung nodules have not changed in size!  Yes I still have cancer in my body but now I know the chemo is doing something!  It mildly helps in the mental battle of sitting through chemo infusions and wearing the chemo pump fo...

This past week has been chemo #4.  Each chemo session is a new experience with new symptoms.  Frustratingly I still continue to have an allergic reaction during the infusion.  Even with trying new premeds and meds during the infusion, I still experience an out of body trippy feeling and inability to speak correctly.  I have a big appreciation for my chemo nurses who have to deal with people who are 100% sick every day.  This past chemo left me with over 24 hours of diahrrea, vomiting, and nausea.  Nothing stays in so tomorrow I will go back to the cancer center for IV fluids and hopefully stronger anti nausea meds since nothing seems to be effective.  The cats have been very happy to have me in bed today.  I had all four on the bed with me; I think they know if don't feel well.  Please continue to pray for overall healing but also specifically for healing for this current inability to eat or drink and get the nutrients I need.

this is a comic written by a man with cancer.  It is called Cancer Owl a d is based off real life experiences of cancer patients

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.