First, the good news: Chuck is doing very well with his liver transplant. April 29 will mark the one year anniversary of his transplant at the Mayo Clinic. He's showing no signs of rejection, is off 80% of his medications, and his follow up tests and visits show him to be a super star. He's back to photographing birds every morning with my son, even in minus 5 degree weather, so that pretty much says it all. My avatar pics are of his birds.
Now for the bad news: I've mentioned before having a surface melanoma on my arm removed in October of 2021. An "in situ" mole of no consequence where all the melanoma 'was removed successfully'. This was a result of having a dozen beauty marks on both arms blow up like balloons after the 2nd Covid shot, grow scabs on them, and when the scab fell off, the beauty mark disappeared entirely. Except for the one. And all of it was not successfully removed after all, as a few cells must've escaped into my body and caused metastatic stage 4 cancer in my lymph nodes, liver, and bones. I went to the ER 3 weeks ago for excruciating pain in my left side where a CT scan with contrast was ordered. The cancer was discovered at that time, and I've spent the last 2 weeks in testing. The cancer is not in my brain, thank God.
The Oncologist told me there is immunotherapy available now for malignant melanoma. 2 types at once, administered via IV (no port) every 3 weeks x4. That's the goal. To turn on my immune system to kill off this cancer. 50% of immunotherapy patients are alive 2 years later. Idk what the percentage is at the 5 year mark. I've avoided doing research bc I'm overwhelmed enough already.
I'm having tremendous pain in my spine, ribs and liver, where the cancer is the worst. The Oncologist gave me some heavy duty pain meds and told me to wait it out until the IV starts kicking in to relieve my pain. He said I would live less than 2 months without treatment so my first treatment is tomorrow morning. The side effects can be gnarly and these infusions WILL kick my butt, he said. I'm ready, I think. Ain't no beauty mark gonna take ME down at 65! 😑
I'm useless at home, so Chuck is doing everything. Laundry, cooking, grocery shopping, driving to appointments. I have a housekeeper coming in to do the heavy cleaning and my stepson and his wife are cooking 7 dinners for us and bringing them by on Saturday. I have to make sure HE'S not overworked during this treatment process to where he gets sick. He's already overcome with worry and shock over all this as it is. I'll ask my stepson to repeat that meal making plan, too...they want to help & we need help.
We've had a lot to deal with the past year, and now my issues, which were there all along, just not apparent until recently. We wouldn't have been able to handle TWO of us sick at once anyway, so this is how it had to play out, I suppose.
The one bright spot I hold onto here is the dime I found on the floor of the ER room I'd been in ALL DAY where there was no dime on the floor. And when the gal was wheeling me back into the room from the CT scan, there it was. I kicked it across the floor to Chuck and he said, "what's that?" I said, "it's a dime from dad, telling me everything will be alright." He was speechless. Dad used to send me dimes all the time after he died in 2015, but stopped the past few years. I have a whole piggy bank full of them.
We can use all the prayers we can get right now, friends. I believe in prayers, in miracles and in signs from our deceased loved ones that they are with us in tough times. If you do too, please send up some prayers for Chuck and I right now.
Many thanks.
Tomorrow I taper down to 10 mg of prednisone. The headaches are worse at night, probably since that's when the least amount of it is in my body.
My home mortgage was sold to another lender for about the 5th time recently and now I have to set up payments again, etc for August 😣😑. What a pita to deal with this from my cell phone w Chuck supervising from the couch! I'd like to supervise for once while he takes over ALL THE HOUSEHOLD FINANCES! It must be nice to live in la la land with someone else handling all the bills! Ugh. Men. Can't live with them, can't shoot them. Too much togetherness the past 6 months has me ready to strangle the man 😂🤣
I hope that every slice of your yummy cake was enjoyed! 😊
Today I'll go get my blood drawn for iron levels and Valley Fever, just in case.
Darn side effects!
Your dinner sounds delicious 😋!
Happy Independence Day to you all!
I hope you all have an awesome Independence Day today Ladies
Glad you are having a good day..
May your dearest wishes come true!!!
The hopeful tidbit in your post today was as delicious as a Cold Stone ice cream cake. And crab legs... mmm... enjoy!
Process of elimination is the way to sleuth on in your situation. Remember to write that book about this odyssy once you're out of the tunnel.
What flavor is the cake?
May you harvest extra blessings today!
Plus, I'm feeling better today.....dizziness wise......when being on the 3rd day of the hateful prednisone taper, I should be feeling horrible according to past history. Maybe it's the Paxil, Idk? Or just a bday gift. Also, DD asked Dr C to order an iron test .....in all the 20k tests I've had, they NEVER tested for iron deficiency/anemia for which I have a lot of symptoms. Including spoon shaped fingernails, which is odd imo. I also asked him to run the Valley Fever fungus test (lungs) bc Chuck tests positive for it EVERY TIME since we were in Az and drove thru a hideous wind storm. BOTH of us. I had asked my PCP to run a test for me but she said no last yr bc I wasn't high risk. Now I am, hello? So based on PSs loved one having extreme dizziness coming from a lung fungus, that's my decision. Chuck takes Fluconozole daily, btw.
Nobody, doctor wise, is doing anything to help me or look further into this situation for me, so I'm doing so along w DD. Why not? We've tried every other frecockta idea! Along with IVIGs every month, too. Wouldn't it be crazy if this situation was the result of several smaller issues added together? Like low iron and a positive Valley Fever test? Probably not but process of elimination needs to continue before giving up, imo.
All that firework noise tonight, and the rockets red glare is to celebrate that you are free from cancer and still alive, and are still with us. 🇺🇸🎆🎇
That's all we got at this time, and will continue our prayers for complete healing.
God Bless you Lealonnie and the U.S.A.!
Have a really big bite of that Stone Cold for ussssss!
Wishing you many more happy and healthy birthdays in the years to come.
You’re very welcome. You and Chuck have a special relationship. You’ve been through and survived many difficult challenges. I don’t think either of you take the other for granted.
All of us have struggled during stressful times. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. No one has a perfect marriage where nothing goes awry.
I’m glad that Chuck was helped by the counseling at Mayo Clinic. I’m sure that he will benefit from counseling again if he chooses to go.
Have a wonderful birthday 🎂! Enjoy your cake! Hug and kiss your precious grand baby. It’s absolutely a beautiful day to celebrate.
Sending a bazillion birthday wishes and hugs your way today!