4th Week, 2nd Treatment

So Monday I had my second infusion.  I got done a whole hour earlier than last time.  So that was nice!  The nurse said the next time I come, I could get done even earlier than this last time.  Its because the last drug that I get infused with has to be administered at increasing rates, and since I haven't had a reaction to it yet, I get to have it started at a higher rate than I have been starting it at.  WooHoo!
I went to work Thursday and Friday this week, it was nice to be able to get out of the house and help Jonathan with making some money.  Also, on Thursday I went to the Cancer Center to meet with Frankie and she buzzed my hair a little more and I got 2 wigs.  A blonde one and a red one.  I think Jonathan and I like the blonde one more than the red one.

This is the Blonde Wig.

This is the Red Wig.

Jonathan is in Spokane this weekend playing in Hoopfest.  His team is called Where's Waldo and he is playing with Brian, Craig, and Clint.  They have so far won one game and lost one game.  If they win the next one today they will play tomorrow sometime.  If they don't win though, they are done for the weekend.  I hope they do great!

Where's Waldo?

I love Brian and Clints new Hairdo!  They are lookin' good!

Kickball Tournament Fundraiser

If anyone is interested I can get you the information for the person to contact!

Third Week

This was the third week after treatment.  This week went pretty well.  I was able to go into work for half days in the morning.  It was nice to be able to get out of the house.  It was also really nice to be able to talk to people other than Hemi! haha
On Monday and Tuesday I went and watched Jonathan play soccer on the coed teams.  It definitly made me miss my teammates and playing thats for sure.  It was a bit chilly outside, so we will see if I go out to watch them again.  Jonathan is so amazing, he scored in both games!
Thursday I went to a class at the cancer center called "Look Good...Feel Good."  You watch a little video on what the class will talk about and then you get a little bag full of free make-up and then you get to put make-up on.  It was pretty fun!  The lady showed us how to make a turbin out of an old t-shirt and it actually looked pretty cute.  On Thursday evening I went over to my friends house and we had a little ladies night.  It was so nice to see them and kind of catch up and just be able to hangout with them!
The roots of my hair have started hurting and falling out already.  It had gotten so bad last night and this morning that Jonathan went and bought some clippers at the store.  He shaved my head for me.  He now says I have the GI Jane look.  After Jonathan shaved my head, he was amazing and sweet enough to go and shave his head the same as mine.  I'm going to post pictures to show the haircut before my first treatment and the haircut of today.  Next thursday I have an appt at the cancer center to get it completely shaved.  I'm going to look at wigs while I'm there too!  You can pick a wig to take home and wear during the cancer process.  Everyone thinks I should get some color that I would never do to my own hair....I think I will have to check it out.
So overall it has been a pretty busy week for me.  It has really gone by a lot faster than just sitting at home watching t.v. all day.  I'm going to have to do it more often that's for sure.

This is the haircut before going to my first treatment

This is the newest haircut.  We look like TWINS! haha

Week 2 of Treatment

Today is the 11th day from my first Chemo Treatment.  They (the nurses and oncologist) told me that the first 2 days after chemo are the ones that are the worst feeling.  I however did not think so.  This week has been the worst that I have felt so far...Don't get me wrong, I'm not feeling like I'm on deaths door, I just don't feel as well as I did last week.

I had a Dr. appointment yesterday with the oncologist (Dr. G).  It was a one week check-up  with lab work.  They took some blood to check my levels for everything and then I talked to the Dr so he could see how I was doing.  He also informed me of the following things that I need to pay attention to when my white blood cells are low:

1. No Fresh Produce, could have bacteria and I could get an infection.
2. No Fresh Cut Flowers, same reason as above.
3. Anyone that comes to visit HAS to wash their hands constantly.  We now have antibacterial gel all over the house!
4. No one with colds feeling any kind of illness or have come in contact with illness, can come visit.  I am to susceptible to getting an infection.
5. If I have a temperature of 100.4, I absolutely HAVE to go to the ER because I could have an infection.

Some of these things I have heard consistently every time that I have been to the oncologist, others were new information for me.  Which is good that I heard it now and not halfway through my treatments when I'm getting sick and I have no idea why!

I keep forgetting to ask the oncologist if there are any special things I need to be doing for my "puppy" Hemi.  I have just been washing my hands after every time that I touch him and keeping him off my pillow and stuff.  Hopefully that is good because he owns this house!  Jonathan and I are just allowed to live here since he needs someone to feed and water him. haha  We are also giving him a bath once a month around the time when my white blood count is the lowest.  If anyone has any other information about pets let me know! 

I love all the comments that I have received on here!  It is so great to see everyone keeping in touch with me!  Thanks you Rochelle, I was able to figure out how to let everyone post a comment and not just people with certain accounts.  So if you were one of the people having problems posting, that is now fixed, and SORRY! haha

First Timer

So today is my first time posting a blog. Yeah for me! Yet a little scary at the same time...I have wanted to start a blog for awhile now, just haven't really had the time to do it I guess.  Until now!  This is going to be a blog about everything that is happening in Jonathan and I's life, just a way to keep in touch with family and friends that we don't get to see or talk to all that much.  As a lot of people know already, I was recently diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Mediastinum B-Cell Lymphoma.  Yes, I have the big ugly "C" word (cancer).  What's even worse was that I went to the hospital because of symptoms on my 28th Birthday!  You can't imagine what it's like being told you have a large mass in your chest on your birthday of all days.  Not that any other day would be any better to have someone tell you that!  Monday (June 4th) was my first day of Chemo treatment.  It was a long and exhausting day.  Who knew sitting in a chair for 7 hours while drugs are being pumped into you, would be so tiring (all the people that have gone through this I'm sure).  The nurse just said, "yes it's hard work killing cancer cells!" She was definitely right about that.

My oncologist said that the largest diameter of the mass is 8cm.  That is massive for a tiny person like me to have sitting in my chest.  I am considered a Stage 2 because it is located in both halves of my chest basically.  The whole size of the tumor is about the size of an orange or the size of Jonathan's fist.  When I originally went to the hospital I went in because the doctors kept telling me I just had allergies (coughing a lot and really flemmy).  Along with those symptoms though came getting tired and having a racing heart just walking around and up stairs and being really clammy and just plain sick feeling.  So I decided to go to the ER to find out if it really was just "allergies."  That's when a bunch of tests were run and the mass was found.  I ended up staying in the hospital for a week after that.  I have had so many tests and procedures done on me that I would have never guessed I would go through ever especially only at 28! They say this type of cancer can be common for young women though.  Lymphoma is a cancer that they don't really know how people get it.  It's not really genetic and won't necessarily be passed on to future generations of little Carly and Jonathan's, if we are able to have little Nelson's later on in life.  It could be environmental or just the fact that my cells decided to go rouge and make cancer cells!

Anyways, as of today I'm doing well and resting a lot.  I hope I will be able to do a good job keeping everyone posted on the day to day happenings of what's going on during my treatment and recovery.  I will be going through treatment through September for Chemo and then I will have Radiation after that for 4 weeks.  I'm hoping my Thanksgiving I will be done with treatment and on the road to recovery from all the chemo drugs.  But that's just a hope, I won't be back to my full self for a least a year with all those drugs being pumped in my system I'm sure.

I look forward to hearing from everyone that wants to comment!  I really want to thank everyone that has helped Jonathan and I so far.  We really feel so blessed to have so many people care about us, words cant even express the thoughtfulness and generosity of the people in our lives.  Thank you so much!