I went to the City of Hope for my semi-annual PET scan this morning. As a confirmed claustrophoic, I can't enter the tunnel without a dose of Atavan. The problem is that it takes me an entire day to sleep off the anti-anxiety drug. Here's how my day went:
-7:30 am Arrive at City of Hope and strap on name bracelet
-7:35 am Thumb through Esquire Magazine. Read article (written by a woman) about ten things women find sexy about men
-7:40 am Tip the scales and visit the toilet
-7:45 am Take Atavan
-7:50 am Receive racioactive isotope through IV
-7:51 am SLEEP
-8:30 am Enter the PET scanner
-8:31 am SLEEP
-9:30 am Wake up and drive home with friend
-10:00 am Putter in garden, break fast with yogurt and blackberries
-11:00 am SLEEP
-2:00 pm Wake up groggy from sleep. Eat lunch. Run errand.
-3:00 pm SLEEP
-7:00 pm Wake up groggy from sleep
-11:00 pm Bedtime, but NOT SLEEPY
I've been running on two speeds lately - fast and faster - so it was great to have a day on the slow, slower and comatose settings.
Next week, I'll have my CT scan on Monday and my quarterly dose of maintenance Rituxan on Tuesday. Then the following Monday, June 16, will be an "evenlope day." That's when I'll review my scan and blood results with Dr. Forman.
ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: I experienced another postponement of treatment because of low blood counts.
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March 2008 - Sometimes I feel like a wig.
Sometimes I don't.
Up a tree and feeling on top of the world
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What does a writer do when she finds out she has stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma? She blogs. Because, as everyone knows, cancer sucks, but blogging rocks.
On January 26, 2007, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma (blastic variety), a rare, aggressive and treatment-resistant form of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
My team at the City of Hope decided to bring out the big guns - six rounds of Hyper CVAD followed by an autologous stem cell transplant. I bounced back after each round of chemo, but my blood counts didn't.
After four rounds we called chemo quits and started collecting stem cells for the auto stem cell transplant. The harvesting took three tries, two drugs and eight weeks, but I finally eked out the minimum two million stem cells.
After megadoses of chemo, I received my stem cells on November 14 and 15, 2007. I bounced back almost immediately. Best of all, I achieved complete remission from the Mantle Cell Lymphoma.
In January 2008, I was hospitalized for 11 days for chemo-induced pneumonia. I bounced back.
In the summer of 2008, my eosinophils (a component of the white blood cells) rose to dangerous levels and infiltrated my lungs and GI tract. My weight dropped to 105 pounds, and I was incapacitated for nearly three months. Once again, I bounced back.
I continue to make monthly visits to the City of Hope for blood tests and check ups, quarterly visits for maintenance Rituxan and semi-annual visits for scans.
I'm still in remission and have more energy than ever. And about that perfect purse? I keep looking.
Here are a few other things keeping me busy:
My food blog, Open Mouth, Insert Fork
My consulting business, A New Leaf Communications
The Orange Cat, a site for family fun in the San Gabriel Valley
A3M - Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches
YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley
IWOSC - Independent Writers of Southern California
On January 26, 2007, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma (blastic variety), a rare, aggressive and treatment-resistant form of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
My team at the City of Hope decided to bring out the big guns - six rounds of Hyper CVAD followed by an autologous stem cell transplant. I bounced back after each round of chemo, but my blood counts didn't.
After four rounds we called chemo quits and started collecting stem cells for the auto stem cell transplant. The harvesting took three tries, two drugs and eight weeks, but I finally eked out the minimum two million stem cells.
After megadoses of chemo, I received my stem cells on November 14 and 15, 2007. I bounced back almost immediately. Best of all, I achieved complete remission from the Mantle Cell Lymphoma.
In January 2008, I was hospitalized for 11 days for chemo-induced pneumonia. I bounced back.
In the summer of 2008, my eosinophils (a component of the white blood cells) rose to dangerous levels and infiltrated my lungs and GI tract. My weight dropped to 105 pounds, and I was incapacitated for nearly three months. Once again, I bounced back.
I continue to make monthly visits to the City of Hope for blood tests and check ups, quarterly visits for maintenance Rituxan and semi-annual visits for scans.
I'm still in remission and have more energy than ever. And about that perfect purse? I keep looking.
Here are a few other things keeping me busy:
My food blog, Open Mouth, Insert Fork
My consulting business, A New Leaf Communications
The Orange Cat, a site for family fun in the San Gabriel Valley
A3M - Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches
YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley
IWOSC - Independent Writers of Southern California
March 2008 - Sometimes I feel like a wig.
Sometimes I don't.
January 2009
Up a tree and feeling on top of the world
Cancer Banter
I can't die. I still have to find the perfect purse.
2 comments:
I am all for a nice nap, but it's a bummer to blow the whole day for one scan.
Could you listen to podcasts or books on CD or other programming during the scan? Could a friend come and play 20 questions with you? Would any of that help the claustrophobia?
This was my fourth PET scan, and I don't remember having so much trouble waking up before. I think the next time I"ll ask for a smaller dose of Atavan.
I have to do the same thing whenever I go under general. I have a long chat with the anesthesiologist about being half Japanese and a total lightweight in the drug department. That did the trick when I was under to have my Hickman inserted. Otherwise, I am unwakeable for 24 hours.
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