Warning: another scary photo of my stomach in this post.
Yesterday, Brett and I woke up at the crack of dawn and drove to Loma Linda for a post op appointment and another round of chemotherapy.
The desert is gorgeous at sunrise and you can see the windmills in the background too….it’s a peaceful drive.
First, Dr. R removed my staples and then I got my chemo shots:
My battle scar! It’s looking much better……and I still have a belly button (it was hiding under the staples)! It’s about a half inch off center now. The smaller incision was from the laparoscopy. The incision itself doesn’t hurt but it just feels like they took a baseball bat to every organ on the inside. I was in a deep sleep…..so maybe they did:
We weren’t able to get the blood results from yesterday until this morning……but it was the best phone call ever. My HCG levels are at 7,800…..they were at 17,000 right before my first chemotherapy injections. Before my hysterectomy they were 123,000. What does this mean? It means the chemotherapy is working.
Two months ago I’d never even heard of a molar pregnancy but that’s how all of this started. My family and I learn something new about it every day. Basically, a molar pregnancy results from over-production of the tissue that is supposed to develop into the placenta. The placenta normally feeds a fetus during pregnancy….but in my case it was feeding a tumor. The tumor became invasive and grew through the wall of my uterus which is what eventually caused the uncontrollable pelvic bleeding. I’m still in shock that I had a 4″ x 6″ tumor in my uterus…..but I think I’m even more in shock at how quickly it was able to metastasize to my lungs and liver. The good news is that these cancerous cells are very responsive to chemotherapy. I’ll continue chemotherapy until my HCG levels come down to zero and remain at zero for three consecutive treatments. Then I’ll have another CT scan to see if the spots on my lung and liver have gone away (because we are assuming those spots are from the molar pregnancy).
The biggest challenge right now is keeping weight on. I haven’t wanted a donut in weeks. Since my body thought it was pregnant, I weighed 158 when I was in the hospital. I’ve lost about 15 pounds since then. I’ve been mostly successful eating small bits of sourdough bread dipped in balsamic vinegar. I still don’t know what symptoms are from surgery and what is from chemo. I guess I’ll start figuring that out in the next few weeks. Highlight of the day yesterday: I sat at my computer for the first time in a few weeks!
My mom leaves tomorrow. So sad. She’s been such an great help this past week…..cleaning, grocery shopping, picking Boo up from school and getting her ready for bed……not to mention waiting on me hand and foot. So many friends have been bringing meals to help out which has been amazing.
My father-in-law is my angel. He has coordinated care and chemotherapy here in the desert at the Lucy Curci Center so we won’t have to drive to Loma Linda anymore. It will make things much more manageable over the next few weeks.
Now all I can think about are things I want to make. My list is getting longer by the day. I feel like I have 3 moms here: my mom, Lisa and Gicela. Anytime I get up and try to make something they say I’m overdoing it…..and usually they are right….but I’m so bored.
Thank you for your continued prayers everyone.
