CT Results

Many of you have already heard what the results of my CT scan were, but for those of you who don't know...it was not good news that I heard today.

The chemo that I have been on for the last two months has not been working. The tumors that I have inside of me have grown. The doctor didn't say how big they are, but by the size of my belly, I would say that they have grown quite a bit. He said that my abdomen is swollen because of the tumor's growth, not any fluid or anything else.

I feel like I know my body pretty good and for the first month I think the chemo was working, or at least trying to work because I didn't really have any bloating and I felt pretty good. But for the last two weeks, I have been starting to bloat and just not feeling right. I honestly think that over the last two weeks is when these nasty little beasts started growing.

The new plan to battle this cancer is that I will be starting a new drug on Monday afternoon. It is administered byt giving me half an hour of pre-meds, then half an hour of the chemo, for a total time of an hour. Not too bad. I will get that same hour of meds for five days straight (a week), then I get two weeks off, and we start over.

The nurse told me that the doctor will see what happens week by week or round by round and decide as we go when I will get my next CT scan. It should be pretty easy to tell if it is working by how my abdomen reacts. I would guess that if it starts to go down the tumors will be shrinking.

The side effects are pretty much the same as all the others...possible hair loss, dropping of white/red blood cell counts, dropping of platelet counts, extreme tiredness, nausea, etc... As you see I started with the hair loss thing...I hope to keep my hair still. The nurse told me that the people that are currently on this drug that she knows now all have their hair. So I am hopeful.

I plan on receiving this chemo after school each day and I am going to try to go in every day as I have been doing. My principal and co-workers have been so supportive of me during everything. They were really wonderful today when I went in after my doctor's appointment. Everybody has surrounded me with their love and support.

I have been all over the map emotionally today. But, I am doing well. I have dried up all the tears I could cry and I am just ready to get started so my abdomen starts to shrink! I have faith in God that he is in full control and my life is already planned out. He knows whether or not this chemo will work and what the next weeks hold for me.

I know there are many prayers going up for me and I am so appreciative of them all. Specifically, please pray that this new chemo is effective in shrinking the tumors, that my white counts don't drop too low, and that my hair doesn't fall out. Thank you!

"For nothing is impossible with God!" ~Luke 1:37