treatment

Good Day Today

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This is what I have been doing for the last few days, I have been trying to get as much loose hair that has decided to fall out. Luckily now I lose about 5 hairs a day and not a fistful!

Oh the other side of things, my hair is thinner but I can deal with that, I am sure it will come back again and be thicker again. That would be nice! I can tie up my hair a little bit and I guess I need to purchase some hair ties in order to actually use them! That will be an accomplishment as I have not tied my hair up in two years because my hair was not long enough until recently.

I did watch Now You See Me… I will not give anything away, but man, it was such a good movie. It kept me guessing and kept me intrigued. I also laughed a lot during this because the stunts are so cool as well as having likable characters. It is for sure a feel good movie filled with action, magic, and mystery. This has twists that keep coming up until the end. I guess it doesn’t help that I have a thing for Dave Franco… but anyways, it is a must see!

I got my blood drawn today and my counts are good! Blood is a little low, but it should be able to come back up by itself so that I do not have to get a blood transfusion. I no longer have to get my nightly shots so I won’t have to deal with them until after my next week of chemo… so two weeks! 

Man… I want to ask people (guys) if they would find that me having cancer would be a dealbreaker. I want truthful answers that might hurt, but it’s something that I really want to know. Guess I will ask some of my good friends who will be honest with me. And then I will of course have to post the results! 

Sinking Into the Summer Boredom

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First off, I did not end up going to the drive-in theaters on Friday. The guys who we were supposed to go with had to cancel due to family plans. However, we have rescheduled for this Friday. Also, tomorrow I am going to go to the movies with a friend from high school to watch Now You See Me. Sounds interesting enough!

Honestly, I am so tired of being home all day. I need to find another hobby and fast! Swimming an hour a day will not cut how bored I get. I mean, I have been playing Pokemon and have logged in about 53 hours in two weeks… Which I have to say is quite an accomplishment if you ask me. I really wish that I would not have to be in the hospital for one week out of every three weeks because I would have been able to have my job coaching, which I was offered by my college coach during Spring Break practice. Next year though for sure!

I have a great announcement! I guess there are some benefits to having cancer (for a second time at that) which I say with a big grain of salt. I would give anything to not have cancer, but since I have it I might as well go as much as I can with it. This includes scholarships and my trip to the Olympic Trials for swim last June. This time I am not eligible for a wish because I was already granted one the first time I was diagnosed. This time around, both my mom and my dad’s work have really helped me out. Two years ago, my dad’s work gave me an iPad2, which I did not want at the time but it has been a total life saver when I spent hours in the hospital a day (I was literally in the hospital more than I was at home). My grandma decided that she was going to send my family and I to Hawaii or Florida to celebrate my remission when it happens, as she did last year. I decided upon Florida because I have found my dream school in that state. Not only that, I love the tropics and on my bucket list is to enjoy a drink on the beach during Christmas. So, my family will be spending a week in Florida for Christmas- much better than the cold weather here in California! My dad’s work gave him an undisclosed amount of money to support our trip and my mom’s bosses are giving her their hotel credit that they have acquired by boarding their employees.

On the menu for tomorrow: waking up after hopefully finding a party tonight (which probably is not going to happen), getting my blood drawn, going to lunch, going to the movies, then swimming! The temperature will be down about twenty degrees, so much more manageable! For now, waiting til my best friend gets off work in about half an hour and seeing if we are going out, and if not, going to sleep with my kitty Panda! So goodnight!

Last Day of Chemo for Two Weeks!

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I am so glad that I am done with my chemo until June 16th. This will give my body a chance to recover from all of the horrible chemicals that have been put in it. I talked to one of my four oncologists today and we decided that at least at the moment, radiation is not a good option. Considering that I have tumor cells all around my left lung casing, the radiation would be given on my whole left lung, which is a vital organ that should not be highly radiated. It could potentially cause damage and have less function in it. Not to mention the possibility of getting another type of cancer from the radiation. So it was decided that until I get further scans done after a few more rounds of chemo that radiation is a last resort type of treatment.

In other news, my mom sent an email to Summer Sanders, who happens to be an Olympic Gold Medalist I met at Olympic Trials in Omaha Nebraska. My mom explained all that had happened with me, my accomplishments in swimming such as getting in the top 10 times in 50 backstroke for my school, getting second place in 50 backstroke in conference, making it to state, and getting an All American time in my 50 backstroke as well- all within a few months of training after two years of lazing around and getting treatment. And also relapsing. Cannot forget that big detail. But anyways, Summer Sanders sent me a video from a hotel she was staying in in New York- that very night that my mom emailed her. Talk about being a great role model! She really cares about her fans and cares about me as a person, she always made sure to see me every day while I was attending the Olympic Trials (watching, mind you, not swimming, it was my wish granted by Kids Wish Network). It made my heart feel very big to know that she cared enough to make a video late at night, not all dressed up, and was being completely real.

Today, the cafeteria was closed yet again so we had some amazing food trucks as our meal options. I was being a little piggy and ate half a catfish poboy sandwich, a cheeseburger with bacon, bbq sauce, and fried onion strings.. not to mention a side of fries! I am glad that my appetite is staying up because I have a certain weight that I like to stay in between, and that is 125-128lbs. If I go under it, I feel unnaturally skinny and weak, and somehow I have a feeling that during this kind of chemo that I am on will not make me lose weight, or gain it for that matter as I am going to be hopping back in the pool tomorrow at the earliest and Monday at the latest. I have to stay in shape so I can go back to school in the Spring and be in better shape than I was last time. I would love to accomplish some more of my swimming goals and get more best times to where I will be faster than I was in high school and in my first year of college.

Overall, today was a pretty good, noneventful day, watched The Hobbit in the hospital and was actually able to watch the whole team without passing out from Ativan. I have always been a sucker for the Lord of the Rings movies.