Road Block...

It's been quite some time since my last post, so there is a lot to catch everyone up on!
I couldn't have been more blessed to get a job than when I did. My disability ended on January 31st and I was hired by the Roseville Chamber of Commerce on February 3rd. I know a “VIP” (you know who you are!) to thank for the heads up on the job. I am now the Events and Sponsorships Coordinator at the Chamber. I am really enjoying the job and the ladies I work with are great. I was going stir crazy towards the end of my disability. Actually, stir crazy is an understatement. I was nuts. I had WAY too much time to sit around and think. Just ask Nick… poor guy was getting nagged by my over active mind. I needed something to stimulate my mind and keep the gloomy cancer thoughts away. Thankfully for both of us, getting my job instantly gave me a clean bill of mental health. J

I’ve really lucked out when it comes to bosses. Jeff was a great mentor and friend at Catta Verdera and now I have two very welcoming and accommodating bosses at the chamber. About two weeks ago, I went back to procedural sedation and had my scar re-sectioned. Believe it or not, my incision from September 13^th still hasn’t healed. The doctor took a portion of the scar out and sewed me up with dissolvable stitches. The steri-strips (like band aids) they placed over the scar are still holding tight so I don’t know if the re-section worked. For all I know, the scar could start to bubble up again two months from now… let’s hope this is not the case.

I was very anxious to have my scar re-sectioned and healed before my next PET scan but that did not happen. I had my second post treatment PET last Friday. Yesterday around 6:30pm I got the call from Dr. Skilling. The results were in and they weren’t good. The cancer is still present in my body. Two lymph nodes were clearly positive. One is within the previous radiation field and one is just above the field. Both are very close to the two major arteries that go to my heart and close to my spine so a vascular surgeon will now be a part of my treatment team. Needless to say my mind was reeling. I called Nick immediately and he rushed home from dinner with his family to see me crying in a lump on the coach. He asked what I needed and I said McDonalds. If I’m going down, I’m having a cheeseburger before I go. J Nick’s mom, sister and son came home shortly after I satisfied my fatty, salty craving. I regretfully made the phone calls to my Mom, Dad and close friends before I passed out for the night. I have to say, in my heart of hearts I knew. I had been having pretty bad back pain for about a month. I know my body well enough now to know something wasn’t right. I had an overwhelming feeling that cancer was not done with me.

I went into work today and explained my new treatment plan to my new bosses. Not really the conversation you want to have less than 60 days on the job. Again, they were extremely understanding and accommodating. I’ll find out the exact plan tomorrow night, but what I know now is this: another surgery to remove the lymph nodes (unfortunately not laparoscopic) and six months of intensive chemo. This time my hair is a goner…  

I’ve said time and time again that I wouldn’t be able to get thru this if it wasn’t for my friends and family. Lucky for me, I have a new friend on this journey. Her name is Serena and we met thru a wound care Nurse at Kaiser. Serena was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer on Christmas Day last year. When I was in treatment before I purposefully did not seek out other cancer patients because I didn’t want to get scared by their chemo or radiation horror stories. I met Serena when I was hoping I was in remission. She was just beginning the process and I thought I could be of help to her. Little did I know how much she was going to help me. Being able to speak candidly to someone my age (she is 32) and in the same predicament about what I’m thinking, feeling and living has been priceless. I cherish all the time I get to spend with Serena. She is wise beyond her years. She has a blog of her own that I urge you to check out – christmascancer.com – Every time I read her blog posts I find myself relating all too well.

As I begin to kick over this new road block, I know I’ll have my friends and family by my side again. It’s just a road block or as Nick would say “A minor stepping stone” in my journey to kick cancer’s ass.

XOXO Britni

Negative CT!!!

Finally got an email from my doctor tonight... My CT scan was negative for any enlarged lymph nodes or masses!!! I'll get a second PET scan in two months. Hopefully those "two areas of concern" from the first scan will have dissapeared. My Monday night just got a lot better!!! Hope everyone is enjoying their night as much as I am!

XOXO Britni

2 Areas of Concern

Met my doctor on Tuesday to find out there are 2 suspicious areas on my PET scan. Both could be false positives, but they ordered further tests to determine what they are. I had a CT scan yesterday and am waiting to hear those results. If the doctor finds questionable areas on the CT scan, they will go in and biopsy the tissues. If they don't find anything questionable, then I will wait 2 months and take another PET scan.  So now I'm back in the waiting game. 

Woke up with a cold today. Hopefully that will go away quickly and I'll hear back from my doctor tomorrow. Cross your fingers for me!

XOXO Britni

Scan today!

Happy New Year everyone! I had a blast at the cabin and am now back home. Nick, Nicholas, Chloe and I did our best to enjoy what little snow there was. They built a ramp with the snow in front of the house so we didn't have to go far to have fun. While they were "surfing" down the ramp, I stuck to sledding on my behind. I attempted to surf down the ramp twice... Falling on my side 1 second after take off each time. Overall it was a great vacation. Very relaxing, just what the doctor ordered!

On the health front- I have my follow up scan today at 3pm! I won't get the results until Monday at 4:30pm. I'm nervous now and imagine I will be until Monday. I just need to stay positive and focused on good health. Turns out my infection wasn't staph... It was pseudomonas. After 10 days of antibiotics I had to go back in this morning and have the doctor re-open the holes. This time I received 3 shots of numbing medicine before he cut open the spaces. Now cleaned, they got packed with gauze. I have to go to Roseville every 2 days to have it re-packed. There is NO way I could do that myself. I was naseaous just listening to the doctors talk about it! My doctor did say he has never seen an incision take so long to heal. This is one of those situations where you don't feel good about being special! Other than my lingering incision issues all is well. I'll write again on Monday to give everyone the cancer free news!

XOXO Britni

Back to "Normal"

It has been almost 3 weeks since I finished both chemotherapy and radiation! My body has begun healing and I'm starting to feel "normal" again. I use quotations because I'm adjusting to a new normal. If you've seen me in person, you know I look completely "normal." Lucky for me, my internal organs are regenerating too. Any pain I have now is random. I get random joint pains, that were actually very painful for three nights. I've added calcium into my vitamin regimen and Aleeve helps take the joint pain away. For as good as I feel now, it feels like I was a normal 26 year old before the surgery and now I'm like a 50-something year old menopausal woman with joint pains and hot flashes! The only lingering issue is my incision. Three months since the surgery and the staples have not dissolved. Three bubbles appeared along the incision which resulted in a staph infection. They had to open and drain the bubbles and put me on a round of antibiotics. Two of the three bubbles are healing properly and one will have to be drained again tomorrow. Ugh... Hopefully this will be the last of my incision troubles. Until then, yoga pants or sweats it is. My post treatment scan and follow-up appointment are in January. The day is TBD, but I'll be sure to post when the time comes!

The weeks since the completion of treatment have flown by and I'm officially ready for Christmas! I leave Christmas night to spend four days at my dad's cabin in Kingvale. When I return, I've got to begin the job hunt. I have enjoyed every last minute of my time off, but I am ready to return to the working world. I'm searching for an Executive Assistant / Administrative Assistant position in the area. I've made a conscious decision to find a job where I can focus on that happy work/life balance. After six years in the Event and Food Service industry, I'm ready to transition into something new. I'm very thankful for my time at Catta Verdera. Whatever I do in the future, I know I can handle anything!

Off to finish wrapping presents! I hope everyone has a happy, healthy and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

XOXO Britni

Photos Galore!

My mom just helped me upload a TON of photos to www.theprincessandthec.com! We tried to incorporate all of the photos taken so far, but some are kinda blurry and some were VERY blurry. I apologize if a photo of you and I didn't make it to the site due to the blur! I hope you enjoy a glimpse into this crazy journey I'm on.

XOXO Britni

Holy "O"

Two days into week 5 and I'm exhausted. The cumulative nature of the side effects is true! I have to admit, I'm most comfortable when I'm lying in bed or on the couch. Overall, I am just wiped out. This past Friday and Saturday were the worst yet. The nausea was overwhelming. When I was in the shower on Saturday, my vision became blurry, I got dizzy and both my ears plugged. I got out and laid in bed for the rest of the day. I had to cancel my movie plans with Felicia because I just couldn't get over the nausea.  Things calmed down on Sunday. Just in time to have chemo again on Monday. Nick took me to chemo and radiation this time. I took Ativan to relax and drank lots of water on Sunday, but it still took two pricks to get into a vein.  My nurse actually put the IV in a vein that's in between my wrist and thumb.  My wrist is a bit sore today. It is hard open bottles.

  Chemo was definitely interesting. Besides entertaining ourselves with and angry birds battle, Nick and I had a front row seat to another patient being taken out of the chemo suite on a gurney. He was having chest pains, so they took him to the ER.  Oddly enough the building I go to for chemo is not considered the hospital (even though it's on the grounds of the Roseville hospital). So the nurses are required to call an ambulance just like you would at home. Six EMT's showed up (a little overkill?!) and took him out. He was a very cute elderly man who said "I'm still awake, I can walk!" After being convinced that the gurney is protocol, he hoped on. "Fine" he said, "but I'm not leaving here in a body bag!" Hopefully everything turned out well for him.

  I spoke with my chemo oncologist and got a prescription for what I'm calling the Holy "O"!  Tincture of Opium. That's right people, liquid opium. It's the last resort they can offer me to help with the diarrhea.  I'm supposed to take .6ml four times a day until the diarrhea stops. We'll see how long it takes! I thought it would make me loopy, but I actually don't feel anything. It doesn't even make me tired. I should say it doesn't make me more tired than I already am!  Tomorrow, I see my radiation doc, get radiation and then see my chemo doc. I learned too late on Monday that I could have switched to a higher anti-nausea drug, so I'll be reviewing my last set of IV's for chemo next Monday. Cross your fingers for me that the nausea doesn't knock me out again this weekend! It's time to begin the countdown; 3 more radiation treatments and 1 chemo! Hot friggin' dog! Once the treatments are over it will take 4-6 weeks for the side effects to go away. The radiation side effects- sunburn, inflamed organs/tissues, diarrhea, and fatigue- will take the longest to go away. Hopefully I won't need the opium that whole time! 

 So what about after treatment? I wait two months and then go back in for another PET/CT scan. The two month wait is to let my body rebuild after being torn apart for six weeks.  If the cancer shows up on the scan, then well decide what to do then. However, I know it won't!  That means it's back to living a normal cancer free life! I'll get a scan every three months for two years, then every six months for the following three years. At five years, I'll be medically cured!  Thanksgiving this week means yummy dinners with the families and the second year of black Friday shopping with my niece Brooke! We're doing it at midnight this year! 4am was brutal last year, and mornings are even harder for me now. I feel the best at night, so this Thursday night/ Friday morning should be a breeze.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite holidays. I look forward to chilly weather, crackling fires, hot chocolate, Christmas lights and family gatherings all year long! Thanksgiving is the kick-off for me, and as you can probably guess, this year is even more special. This holiday season is going to be amazing, I can feel it. 

I need to say a great big THANK YOU! to all of my mom's colleagues at Sierra College who participated in making me an unbelievably beautiful quilt! 38 people took the time to decorate a square before they had them beautifully sewn together into a quilt. It is an extremely touching gift that I will never forget.  Thank you again to everyone who participated. 

It's time to hit the sack. Big day of doctors appointments tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy your food comas! I know I will... I love myself some stuffing!  XOXO Britni