The Port is In Place!

Steve had his 8th round of chemo this week and he’s pretty happy it’s over because he has a break and won’t be back to the infusion center for 4 weeks. Why the break?  He needed it for so many reasons and without it, going forward would have been way too hard. First of all, his CEA number is down to 11.  So that’s GREAT!  So if he’s going to take a break, now is a good time to do it since the number is still going down and the chemo is still working. But the real reason for the break is because he needs it physically and mentally.  Even with the reduction in the 5-FU, he’s still getting the mouth sores, but not as…

Today is a new day, and a day to look back and reflect on the year. A friend wrote something that inspired me and made me look at 2016 differently. My husband died, that was absolutely the worst thing that has ever happened to me. But I’ve grown so much through that, and I like who I am today. 2016 was a GIFT and I am thankful for that. I had Steve by my side for almost all of it…. that was not something we knew we would have back in June 2014. Friends I’ve known for a long time and a shorter time came together and became friends. And all my friendships grew, tremendously! I learned from my friends and family what it means…

Today began round 6 of chemo.   It was the fastest and smoothest one yet.  We had one of our favorite nurses Erin (she was actually our first so that maybe why we like her so much).  The port worked great and Erin got the IV in right away with a perfect blood return!  So we were off to a great start. Steve feels good today, his appetite is up and he’s just in a good mood.  He’s been unhappy the past week due to another sore on his tongue.  When he gets these sores he can’t eat much or even drink much.  So think about it, would you be miserable?  I know I would!!  So it was a tough week but yesterday he started feeling…

Today we met with the Oncologist to get Steve’s CT Scan results and his latest CEA number.  The appointment wasn’t what we hoped for last week going into the CT Scan.  Steve and I both had different ideas of what to expect and neither of those expectations happened. First of all I’m very happy to tell you that his CEA number is 21.  Last time it was 64 so this was a nice drop and we were very happy to see it so low. That was good. Next is the size of the tumors.  They’ve decreased significantly in both his lungs and liver.  Which is great news!  But, Honestly this is where I was surprised as I assumed that one of his organs would be…

The doctor called to tell Steve today that his CEA number is 12.  Last time it was 11 but the doctor says that’s still great and it will go up and down a bit, but doesn’t really mean anything.  So Steve was happy. Steve also noticed at 1pm today that his pump wasn’t working and we don’t think it pumped anything since we left the infusion center yesterday at 1pm.  🙁  So  now he’s hooked up until Saturday instead of Friday.  We weren’t very happy but nothing we can do.  Now we know to make sure it’s working like all the time.