Jennifer's Cancer Journey

Who doesn't love a surprise? Well...me! I like to always know what is going on and what is happening. It helps me feel a little bit in control of my life and let's be honest, right now, I have ZERO control of what goes on. I am at the mercy of MyChart and side effects. Color me happy! I got a good surprise. Nor sure how my big kids pulled it off without me knowing. It was probably because last week was a chemo week and it was bad...so very bad.  It was a typical Sunday of chemo week. I went home and went to bed after I agreed to attend a Mattress Firm dinner- tonight. Samantha and Anthony came by on a bike riding with their dogs break. We chatted about a game I ordered on Amazon a few weeks ago. Then they left and I went to sleep.  I woke up around 12:30 to use the bathroom. I saw Josh texted me about his birthday list. I almost responded, but it was only 10:30 his time and I didn't want to get into a text chat. Around 1am I heard someone unlocking the door. Nothing to be a...

 I am still in the learning phase of how MD Anderson does things. Basically, stuff just pops up in MyChart and you show up. The difference between MD Anderson and Methodist is how they schedule chemo. The only schedule them 2 at a time and I have a call with the doctor or PA every other treatment. This is good, because I had some questions to ask. They got answered the best they could. I am getting IV fluids when I disconnect in hopes of it helping me some. I am also getting another prescription to work on heartburn/nausea...at least it is supposed to. I have only tried Tums for heartburn and they don't work. I have cycles through so many nausea meds and they do NOT work. Speaking of nausea. I am at the point of infusion where I get hot, twitchy, itchy, and nauseous, so I am going to leave this right here.  What you see above is my schedule, so you know how and when to pray. the port flushes will be cancelled, but I can't do it in the app until they send me a reminder. I am se...

I put this on facebook, but felt like it should be here. S ometimes knowing the why behind things makes it better...well, not really. So many people have said FOLFIRI is easier than FOLFOX. This makes me wonder what is wrong with me. While I surely didn't sail through FOLFOX, this is just hitting so much harder this time. So, I did some digging and came up with this. I mean I really already knew, but I just hate feeling so darn bad! FOLFIRI’s main “tough” drug is irinotecan. Your body clears irinotecan using an enzyme called UGT1A1 enzyme. If you’re an intermediate metabolizer (I AM) → you don’t clear it as efficiently That means more active drug stays in your system longer Result: More fatigue More GI symptoms (constipation or diarrhea) More “overall toxic” feeling Sometimes more pain or inflammation-type symptoms So yes — being an intermediate metabolizer can absolutely make FOLFIRI feel harder than expected. Avastin adds another layer bevacizumab (Avastin) doesn’t feel like c...

 Quite a bit has happened since my last update. The hard part is that chemo literally knocks me out for almost a full 7 days, so I don't get around to updating.  Home insurance did their thing and the crawl space has been remediated!  God showed up in a very unexpected and big way and I also have 4 brand new tires. I have never had 4 new tires on my car at the same time. I am just still in awe and speechless about how it came about.  Last Sunday was Easter. I thoroughly enjoyed my morning, despite the fact that it was still physically hard. I find it frustrating that it was hard being as far away from a chemo treatment as I could be. I got to spend the rest of my day with part of the family AND the carrier of my first grandchild! Y'all, in case you missed it, Samantha is pregnant! I am over the moon excited, I just wish my body was as excited as the rest of me. For grins, here is a photo of all (but not all) of us. We will ignore Hannah's choice for Easter dress. LOL...