SolandMonica.com

Well today was the second chemo for me in this new series.  Thank you, Sunshine, for going with me today!  I only had one drug today (Taxol) and am hoping that tomorrow morning won’t be too bad. I feel pretty good right now. They were able to use the port, and it was so much nicer than having to find another vein. It was only supposed to take about an hour to an hour and a half, but I was there for a little over three hours. They started late because I had to talk to the billing staff at the office.

I had received bills from them, but knew my coverage (I’d read it inside-out and upside-down, you know!), and that my insurance should be covering it all, so I didn’t worry about it. The bills were very minimal (under $100), so I just left it alone. I got a call last night from them and was told to talk to them this morning. I told them that my insurance covers everything except a $15 doctor visit co-pay. She checked it out again and ended up confirming that for herself. In the end, they are going to resubmit it to my insurance and told me not to worry about it. It’s never just one thing, is it? Good thing I know what my coverage is and that I checked it all out! Sometimes it just gets so ridiculous.

So here I am at home resting. I was pretty tired from the benadryl, and have been resting for a few hours. Usually I feel ok on the first day, it’s the 2nd, 3rd and 4th days that are the worst. Tomorrow morning I’ll probably wake up and freeze to assess how I’m feeling. Then, maybe, I’ll roll out of bed very carefully not to upset anything! 🙂 It’s always a guessing game. I sleep with anti-nausea medicine next to the bed. I am hoping that since I only had Taxol this time, it’s the other one (Avastin) that took me for a ride last time…here’s to hoping! I guess we’ll see.

I was encouraged today, multiple times, as I sat there getting chemo. There were three ladies, all named Barbara (felt like a sit-com), and one of them, Barbara #3, is going through chemo and surgery for the third time. She was so positive and funny. She told me about her husband who had some rare type of cancer and was hospitalized for 6 months, developed blood clots in his legs, was put on blood thinners, developed something in his brain, had brain surgery and is doing just fine right now. She said it’s all about the positive attitude. “If your mind starts to go someplace else, don’t let it!” she said. She is 64, but looks maybe 50. She said that chemo is her trick to staying young. Her own little slogan – so funny!

Then there was a guy there who has been having chemo for 9 years. Nine Years! He’s the happiest man and was joking that he was going to have to change his name to Barbara just to fit in around here!

Then I read an article in a magazine talking about Sarcoma and how more people are hearing about it and raising awareness about it. I learned that there are over 600 sub-types of sarcoma and that they all have such varying identifiers that it’s difficult to find what works for each one. The article stated that a family doctor on average will only see 2 sarcomas in his whole career! It said in the article that they are trying to find what works for specific ones, and for angiosarcoma, the newest thing is Avastin. That made me feel good about the treatment I am getting. The specialist that I saw at Cedar’s Sinai was quoted in the article as well as someone I’ve met on a sarcoma chat. It felt great to see that there is more being done to bring awareness to everyone about sarcomas.

So I was encouraged by all of those things and am trying my best to stay positive!

Thanks for praying and please continue to pray for those specific side-effects. Tomorrow will tell!

Love to you all,

Monica

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