Life is GOOD

HELLO EVERYONE! I am practically jumping out of my hospital bed right now...so much good news today. I woke up this morning with a smile on my face trying to "get pumped" for chemo...or as best as I could. Mom and Dad came home and I got dressed and we packed up to spend the next few days in the hospital for chemo treatment number 2! This drug I am getting is a high dose Methotrexate which drips for 4 hours, just for one day! We can expect to be here in the M-50 unit probably until Saturday so were all set to go with all the essentials for a few days in our suite (feels like it because it everyone here is amazing!). 


Like I said, this morning just continued to get better as we headed to the clinic around 11. It is a beautiful day and I'm wearing some of my favorite clothes...my Saint Louis Cheerleading shirt which we wear every pre-game when my team and I are warming up. I figured its appropriate getting pumped up for chemo haha. I am also wearing my KD green windbreaker because my sisters are with me always and a blue Saint Louis Billikens hat! Look good, feel good play good I guess...haha. We parked up on the top row of the garage because I wanted to see the sun for a few minutes before we went in. I decided because I was feeling so great to bail on sitting in the wheelchair to go up to the doc. So, I crutched the whole way through the tunnels and through the building up to my doctors office! I haven't done that much crutching since before the biopsy in St. Louis! 


More and more good news came to follow. They accessed my port and drew blood to see if my counts were okay to go in for more chemo today. After sneaking down to go get a burrito and chips and salsa from the cafeteria downstairs, we came back to incredible news. My blood counts have shot right back up to normal, super high numbers! I went from 0.00 neutrophils to 7.05! My white blood cell count went from 1.49 to 11.38! Platelets from 193 to 404! ALL GOOD NEWS! We were absolutely shocked to see how quickly I rebounded from being at the absolute lowest point I could be. Completely stunned. I am all back to normal numbers...or at least for a few hours before the chemo starts.


Were all checked in up at M-50, waiting on the pre-treatment fluids to begin which run for 6 hours. After the 6 hours, in comes the Methotrexate. That will drip for 4 hours and once it's out...in comes about 48-72 hours of fluids to flush it out of my system. It is extremely important to clear it out, fast. Another medicine called Lucovoren will be in the post-treatment fluids because it helps to make sure the Methotrexate doesn't stay anywhere.


We can plan on the chemo starting around 10 or 11 tonight. I guess I'm signing off until tomorrow. Through this experience, I've learned there are going to be good days, and bad days. But...the good days sure are sweet. Always remember to cherish them. Watching Ellen now...life is good. Hang in there everyone the sun will always come out again, keep your heads up and keep smiling. Much peace and love to all.


P.S. Here is a picture of me and my wonderful parents in our M-50 unit. Hairless and fearless. Game on.