If it's not one thing...it's another!

Well it has been somewhat of a rough week, but it's ending on a good note.

Sunday afternoon, evening, and through the night I was having the same abdominal pains and nausea that I had about a week earlier that landed me in the ER.  So...Monday morning I called Dr. Morris's office and talked to Jean (my oncology nurse.)  She had me come in at 10 to be evaluated.  By then the pain had subsided quite a bit, but I was still nauseous.  She thought a lot of it had to do with my diet (lots of fresh fruits, veggies, and vegan food) and there being too much fiber in it.  These foods are hard to digest and are especially hard on my compressed digestive system, stomach, and bowels.  So...she suggested I stick to softer foods and things that are easy to digest.  She also thought I was dehydrated so she sent me down for a few hours of fluids.  By the time I left Estabrook at 3 I felt better, but not great by any means.  I had very little energy.

On Tuesday morning, I headed in for my blood transfusion.  This got started about 9:00 and we were there until about 2:00.  By that evening, my energy level was getting a lot better but my belly was getting very uncomfortable.  Since May, my abdomen has grown...mostly due to one of the tumors growing and then pressing all my organs in my abdomen to one side.  The doctor's have told me not be discouraged by this though because I have a very small frame, so it's much more noticeable on me than it would be on an average person.  In all actuality, on an average sized person you wouldn't even notice it.  Well within the last month my belly has gotten even bigger and I knew this wasn't because of my tumor growing due to the CT scan's I have had in the past month and there hasn't been a change in my tumor.  Therefore, I knew there had to be some fluid building up.  Well...Tuesday night I was absolutely miserable for a good three hours.  On Wednesday morning I called Jean and asked her what the chances were that I could get the fluid in my abdomen drained.  She said Dr. Morris would definitely sign off on it, but an Interventional Radiologist would have to approve it after checking how much fluid I have in my abdomen.  So I headed back to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon...I really just couldn't get enough of that place this week!  I first had an ultrasound done to check how much fluid was in my abdomen.  The Ultrasound tech thought by looking at me there was going to be a lot of fluid in there, but she said the ultrasound didn't show as much as she would have thought.  Side note:  I seriously looked as if I was 6 months pregnant.  Wednesday morning, my friend Tif was over, who is 6 months pregnant, and my belly was the size of hers.  Ok...so after the ultrasound I waited around for the doctor to read it and come talk to me.  When he came to talk to me he said he didn't think there was much in there (probably about 300 cc's)  and that he didn't think draining it would make much of a difference.  I politely disagreed with him stating that my belly has grown a lot in the past month and that I'm getting more and more uncomfortable.  He said, he would drain it if that is what I wanted, but he wanted me to know up front that it probably wouldn't make a difference.  I said, I understood what he was saying, but I still wanted to give it a try.  Well not only did we get 300 cc's drained out...we got over 1300 cc's drained!!!!  On someone my size, this is a significant amount of fluid and made a HUGE difference.  I am so much more comfortable and my belly has gone down some...now I only look about 3 months pregnant! :) 

SO...long story short...after 3 days in and out of the hospital I finally feel 100% and back to myself!! 

So what does one do when she finally feels back to herself?  She goes to Bonefish for some Bang, Bang Shrimp!!!  I still have yet to hear anything about insurance, so instead of getting stressed about something that is beyond my control, I'm taking matters into my own hands and controlling what I can.  While out to eat at Bonefish with my parents we decided we are done waiting on insurance and doctor's and headed down to Texas next Wednesday.  I will go knock on Dr. Janku's door if I have to and say, "I'm here and I'm not leaving...so let's get this treatment started!"  So today, we got our apartment all lined up and most of the travel plans.  My cousin Dan will be driving down with me and as he put it, "It will be like a rock tour, but with better goals."  For those of you that don't know Dan, he has a band McCarthy Trenching and also plays with many other bands.  So he's gone on many road trips/tours and prides himself on his interstate driving...I'm positive I'll get down there safe and sound.  We are planning to drive the entire way on Wednesday, as I have 3 appointments at MD Anderson on Thursday starting at 12:45.  Dan will probably stay a couple days and then fly back.  My Aunt Sherry is going to fly down and meet us in Houston on Wednesday and stay with me until Sunday, and my mom will probably fly down on Friday or Saturday and stay with me until Jerrid comes on the 24th.  So we're getting things figured out and so thankful for everyone's support and help through this entire process!

I'll continue to keep you posted!
Meighan