Long time

Sorry not to write for so long. I have been keeping up more with my Caringbridge site. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jennifermartin I'm sitting in the chemo chair right now getting my Avastin. Things are going pretty good. Have not had a seizure in quite some time. I have a MRI in a few weeks and hope that everything looks as good as it has been. I am so happy for the summer to finally be poking it's head around. I love the flowers and spending time outside. Finally! Now that my chemo has been lowered a bit my counts are not dropping as much so I have a little easier time between treatments.

For now I awate the MRI.

9 years and holding

It's been 9 years since my first surgery. OMG! 9 years!! I can't believe it! Nine years ago I though I would live 2 to 5 years and here I am. Whoo F-ing hoo!! It's amazing. I amaze myself at times. Like today. I got up and went to work, came home and went to kickboxing and now I am watching some TV. Yeah, hi, how many Brain Tumor patients can say THAT! I hope a lot ;) Love to you all on my anniversary.

No fun at the ER

I have a rash type thing going on on my legs that is actually petechiae. A symptom that my platelets are low. I noticed it at work yesterday and called my oncology nurse and she told me to head to the ER because I may need a transfusion. Holy SHIT! I headed out of work in a panic and tried to keep myself calm while I drove to the ER. This is the first time this has ever happened go me. Ugh! I called Todd and my family to let them know and my mom joined me in my 3.5 hour wait at the ER. Todd would be on his way in a flash if the situation was worse. Anyway... after all that, I waited for my blood levels and they sent me home with orders to repeat blood draw Wednesday. No transfusion. WTF? 3.5 hours. My doc was cute anyway.

Surprise for me

How do I say thank you for the most unselfish, unforgettable thing? I haven’t the slightest idea how.

April 6, an ordinary Sunday, Todd and I headed out to his parents house to have dinner with them. Nothing strange. Little did we know what was planned. As we left for dinner with my mother and father in law they mentioned that they had to stop at a function before we went to dinner. Todd and I didn’t think anything of it. We were still oblivious to the master plan. Bill drove us to Waldenwoods Golf Course and as we got out of the car I looked to my left thinking “that truck looks like my sister’s….. that van looks like Tim’s….” I didn’t have enough time to put together the coincidence before I turned the corner into the banquet hall and saw about 70 people yell “SURPRISE”! As I stood there in wonder and shock I heard my brother in law, Jason, talk on the microphone about how this is “your day”. I looked into the crowd and saw so many faces that I love; my family, my friends, my life. I saw people that have been with me since day one of my diagnosis. People who have been with me through the MRI’s, hair loss, nausea, and all of the downs. And, of course, now here to celebrate one of the best days of my life. As I went around saying hello to everyone and catching up with people I had not seen in years, I was having a great time. I thought what a great idea! My family and friends put on a benefit to raise money for brain tumor awareness in my honor. I was still oblivious!! We all sat down to a nice spaghetti dinner and had yummy cake and I got to talk to everyone again. Jason got back on the mic and made and announcement that made the whole night become clear. The benefit was for me and me only. I was presented with a check that will allow Todd and me to take a dream vacation. That was the second shock of the night! The night continued with door prizes and 50/50 drawings. We even danced to the great playlist Jason put together.

My sister in law planned the whole night! A night that my family and friends came together to give me a dream. A dream vacation to go to Ireland. I’ve been loosely planning the trip with my friend Klaudia. We had settled on a year and now it was time to save money. The money is no problem now. Through the kind hearts of the wonderful people in my life, we can now go. 2010 is the year!

Thank you everyone for what you have done for me and Todd. We will never forget the kindness expressed for us.

I could never ask for better people to be surrounded with in my life and through my journey. Most of all, I couldn’t ask for a better sister in law. Thank you so much Sandy for all you did. Thank you for being the one who made this all possible. I’ll never forget it.

Hit me again

I was at the Hospital yesterday getting my chemo. Today .. I am doing ok-ish. Just a little nausea so we will see how the weekend progresses. I have not lost my hair!! I did loose some from the radiation. So there is an area above my right ear that is bald but it can pretty much be covered by my longer hair. I'm pretty happy about not loosing it all especially since I will be in Florida in 3 weeks! Whoo hoo!! I'm ready for some sun and warmth and escape.

New Chemo time

WTF? Why do we allow our Drs to put this shit into our bodies? I've been on the verge of puking for 4 days now. I had my first treatment with the new stuff on Thursday and it wasn't too bad. Even Friday. So Todd and I took off up north. BAD mistake. Saturday was a different story. All I did was lay around and be miserable. Hell, I still am. I want to eat without the fear of vomit. That's all.

Trucking along

Treatment #6 - the final one is tomorrow. I made it! I am still holding onto my hair and also holding my breath that Thursday it doesn't fall out. It usually takes about 2 weeks. I kinda like my hair right now so I wouldn't mind it staying around. I got my daily anticonvulsant drug level upped and hopefully that will help with the seizures. I'm trucking along. 2/27 is getting very near and I have already started with a stomach ache. My nerves will be working overtime this next week. Maybe while I am at the clinic tomorrow I will go into the chemo room and see if anyone is on Carboplatin to see what they think of it. I need some Yoga. I also need some vacation. I get a joyful week off of work in a few weeks so that will be nice. Too bad it's without pay. Damn economy.

3 Today! WTF?

I have not had a seizure for WEEKS and now today.. 3. One early this am, one this afternoon and one literally just now. I had to wait till it was over to bitch about it. Damn. This radiosurgery better be working.

Met with oncologist today. He's putting me on Carboplatin and Avastin. I will start 2/27. Hope I don't yack my brains out like I used to on CPT11. That was the worst. I know I will be a wreck my first treatment but I will get through it. Just have to make sure the toilet is clean!

I feel fine today after my first radiation treatment. Hope to continue this way.

First Radiosurgery treatment

Here I am laying on the table. I wanted a picture of it. I can't see what it looks like so here I am. It kinds freaks me out to look at it. I mean, it looks like I could be being tortured at any minute. Actually it kinda was near the end. They had me strapped in that mask for an hour. My ass was asleep and the back of my head was developing marks from the mesh cup that my head lay in. My dad called me and showed up. He couldn't let his little girl do it alone (awwww). That was nice of him although I got to see him for about 5 minutes before I went back into the room. Ah well. It was nice. After the treatment I went to the waiting room to collect my dad and my mom was sitting there. Double surprise! Dad had to go but mom stayed for the doc appt. The doc wanted to see me so she went too. He explained to me that he wanted to do 6 treatments instead of 4. I'm not concerned. He knows what he is doing, right? So we went over some stuff that we had already been over but mom had some questions. I love the way he answered one of hers! She wanted to know what happens with re-growth - if there were to be any. The doc told her she should not worry about that. She should focus on what is happening now. I hope she heard him.

So the treatment was a snap. I laid there , got zapped and went home. I worked out - I actually did 2 classes and now I am home. I have to take my steroids and then I am in for some TV watching. The best part of my day? MY SISTER RETURNS HOME TOMORROW!!!!!!! YES! I can't wait to here her voice. It's been a long 2 weeks.

One more thing. I love this - my friend's son called me today to tell me he was thinking about me and hopes I get better soon. He's 8. How cute is that?

New journal

If you don't get enough of me here - try here!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jennifermartin