My Journey with Cancer

So Christmas this year was different ....... Everyone came up Chistmas Eve to the hospital and we ordered pizza and chicken wings (non traditional Christmas dinner) but it was perfect.  I got to watch Jackson, Noah, Owen and Maddie and Alyssa open there gifts from eachother.  It's so much fun watching there facial expressions when they open there gifts.  It sure was hectic in my room with everyone but I wouldn't have spent it any other way.  When the kids got antsy someone would take them for a walk down hall, all the old people on my floor loved seeing the kids, they said it brightened there day.   Christmas Day, my parents and Becca came up and Dan and Alyssa and we just had snacky foods for lunch.  It again was perfect.  Nothing about Christmas this year was traditional, but next year will be different.  My mom promised that when I get home we can have a big turkey dinner.  I know Dan will look forward to that lol.   On Chirstmas morn...

First I'll apologize for being so tardy with my blog lol.........since coming to Freeport it's been a huge adjustment for me mentally, physically and emotionally.  I got here Wednesday, arrived by Patient Transfer, bumpy ride that was lol......my mom was kind enough to ride with me.  When I got here I was put in a semi private room with a bunch of old ladies.  The lady that arranges everything was kind enough to boot one of the older ladies out of a private room and I got her room.  I kinda feel bad I took a little old 90 year olds room but oh well lol......I prefer private.  I think for the first couple days she kept thinking this was her room because she would wheel herself in lol!  First off, my room is nothing like the room in Hamilton, oh well.  Mom made my bulletin board brighter by adding colour to it and even brought me a stocking to hang off it.  Such a sweet mother I have.  I am glad to be closer to home, easy for family and friends...

Parents and Dan came down today.  My day started off with physio, standing up and moving my legs around to sit in the chair again.  I did it, even tho I was terrified.  My mind takes over and controls everything and I don't know how to stop it.  Any suggestions are welcome?   Once Dan got here he pushed me around in the wheelchair and took me down to see the Xmas tree.  I think he enjoys pushing me around, he just wishes he could do pop a wheelies lol!!!!! After my physio was finished my doctor came in to see me.  She took my 2 drains out and catheter.  Yeah I am no longer attached by Iva's, tubes etc etc.  The spot where I had the infection is looking good.  Majority of my staples are out. AND I saved the best for last ........ On Wednesday I'm being transfered to Freeport to start my rehab.  I'm excited but have some mixed feelings about that bc I'll have new physio ladies, doctors etc.  My fav doc even tho he waked me up eve...

Today started off with a little nausea ..... But once my nurse gave me meds for that I was good to go.  I had my breakfast and watched Baby Story like I normally do lol.  Around 1030am, physio came in, there goal was to get me in the wheelchair sitting and Dan could push me around on the floor.  I was so frightened and scared of this.  I have sat on edge of bed no problem, stood no problem, only today I had to stand and shift my legs with walker so I could get In line with chair.  So essentially I took baby steps with both legs to turn around, it was so difficult bc I haven't walked in over 3 weeks.  Once I was in the chair I then started feeling very anxious bc I was worried how I was going to get out.  Dan took me around the floor, ran into a few doctors who were so proud to see me up. It's a really bad picture and I can't sit at a full 90 degree angle bc of my restrictions.  And yes I'm sporting some sexy physio socks lol!!!!!! Anoth...

So I apologize for the delay in my blog ...... The night of my 2nd surgery I was so exhausted all I did was sleep.  The surgery now when I look back doesn't seem so bad, but at the time it was the most difficult thing I had to go through.  This was a minor setback in my physio bc I lost some more blood and my hemoglobin was very low.  I felt tired, weak, couldn't lift head up without feeling lightheaded.  This also set me back in my physio - which sucked bc I thought I was doing so well.  Turned out Saturday night I had to have another blood transfusion, just a few units but my body was trying so hard to bring the white cell counts up but it wasn't able to.  My doctor told me I'd feel so much better with the blood tranfusion.  Over the course of the weekend nothing exciting happened, physio does bug you and you don't have as many doctors disturbing you. On Saturday my bestie Amanda came up for a visit.  She pampered me lol ----- did my cuticles,...

Surgery #2 went better then expected.  They said the infection wasn't as bad as it looked on ct scan but they give it a good clean out and said the implant looks attached and well.  So that's positive news to hear. Oh and go me .... Even tho I was stressed about my surgery I still decided to go ahead with Physio yesterday.  Which Physio was impressed.  I ended up sitting on end of bed and stood up for a few minutes only.  It felt extremely more difficult this time but I think it was also because I hadn't eaten and wasn't able to drink.  But I did it and that is all that counts. And the wait continued, I think that made my anxiety worse, they had thought my surgery was around 3pm-4pm.  I wasn't able to drink or eat anything after mid-night before, which sucked.  These hospital rooms are dry so my mouth was dry and pasty until the surgery.  It was driving me nuts.  The nurse allowed me a few ice chips thank god but still didn't do the ...

Hmmmm where to start......today was a rough and emotional day for me.  Started off ok, had my breakfast and watched abit of TV.  Hubby came up around 10am, I always feel more at ease when he is here with me.  Around 10:30am my physio team came in......as much as they push me so hard I love the head physio lady Jodi.  She is amazing with me and makes me feel so comfortable.  Everytime they come in my anxiety gets bad, I need to somehow learn to overcome that.  They pull me into a sitting position on end of bed and then make me stand using the walker.  I don't know why I get anxious because every time I do it, it gets easier and easier.  Today it felt extremely difficult standing up, even tho my therapists told me that they weren't supporting me as much today as they normally do.  They said I did an awesome job, so I'll go with that. Last night was my first night sleeping on my new mattress, it's definitely much more comfortable then the othe...

Sooooo here I am in the penthouse hahaha......this is the new part of the hospital where I was before was in the old wing and you could definitely tell.  When the porter came to move me on Friday the 29th, he told me the room I was going to had an excellent view and was nicer overall.  So I've been here since Friday and a lot has happened.  First let me share my sweet setup. View from my bed Lots of shelving, I have my picture Alyssa made me hanging up along with a bunch of other stuff My setup with iPad and TV So where was I ........  Since I've been here a lot has happened.  I get woken up every morning by one of the surgeons on my doctors team.  I think he enjoys waking me up bc every morning he says something goofy to try to get me up.  There is constantly nurses, pain team, doctors coming in.  My doctor and I had a good chat.  She just keeps reminding me how well the surgery went, she ended up doing reconstructive bc ...

My days in ICU were alright I guess.  I spent a lot of time sleeping.  For the first few days my blood levels were everywhere and I ended up needing more blood after the surgery.  A lot of my time in ICU was a blur.  Saturday which was day after my surgery was Alyssa's first birthday.  I can't believe she is 1 already.  I did get to see her on her birthday which was nice, but I was tired and she was in a new place and got fussy pretty quick.  The morning of her birthday my sister in law and brother were kind enough to watch her and had a mini party for her.  See some of the pics below: She had a blast for her birthday and was totally spoiled.  Back to ICU days .... My doctors had thought I'd still have the breathing tube in a few days after surgery.  Everything went so well I was moved out of ICU by Tuesday.  I was moved to my own private room, it wasn't on the floor my doctor originally wanted me to be but it...

So the day had finally come ..... I have never been as anxious as I was that morning.  We were to arrive at the hospital for 6am on the Friday.  I had to fast 12 hours before the surgery so hubby and I decided to pig out on chocolate, candy and slushies lol!!!!!!!  I think I got about 3 hrs sleep the night before.  We arrived at hospital at 545am or so, I checked myself in like I was checking into a hotel.  They guided us downstairs and I was to wait for my name to be called.   Nurse called my name and took me back to prep me for surgery.  Dan wasn't allowed back at this time.  They asked me a bunch of questions, asked me to get changed into gown and then I was giving an Ativan to help relax me.  Finally Dan was able to come back and wait for me.  The anesthesiologist came in and went over risks of epidural blah blah blah ...... Already knew all that.  From here I don't remember much other then they wheeled me down hall in a stretch...

This is the day Dan and I got married .... Best moment of my life.  We decided to plan the wedding in 4 weeks, it was small and just family.  We decided if we didn't get married now it would probably be a few more years because of everything going on with me.  It was a nice, quiet get together.  The wedding happened middle of my treatment, so I was exhausted and in a lot of pain. More to come, trying to get caught up ...

I went through 5 weeks of intense radiation treatment.  I started August 19th and my last treatment was Sept. 20th.   Radiation wasn't as bad I thought it was going to be ..... UNTILL the end lol.  It started off with them tattooing me to plan where the beams would go, it was important to make sure they were consistent everyday.   I received treatment everyday Monday -Friday and had to travel to Hamilton for each treatment.  The treatment took about 10 min from start to finish. It took longer to drive there and home.  I have to thank Dean for driving me to majority of my appointments and my mother for watching Alyssa majority of the time, I don't know what I would do without there help.  Every week I'd meet with my radiation oncologist and she kept saying my symptoms would get worse lol.  She was right, as it got closer to the end I started to experience more symptoms.  My skin between thighs was red and burnt, very painful to walk.  Eac...

Where to start .... As some of you may already know I was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer in July 2013.  A Chandro Sarcoma to be exact,  this type of cancer either starts developing on the bone or as tissue and attaches to bone.  Mine is in my pelvis and attached to parts of the pelvis.   I have had cronic back pain and sciatica all throughout my pregnancy, in May of 2013 I noticed my one buttcheek was a little bigger then the other.  My family doctor sent me for an MRI and Ultrasound at Grandriver Hospital.  The results came back showing I had a large mass in my pelvis.  My family doctor thought it could be a large hematoma from having Alyssa.  I was referred to a specialist  in Hamilton at the Jurvenski Cancer Centre ...... The name of the building scared the crap out of me.  On  July 16th, I met with my specialist Dr. Ghert.  She examined me and within 5 minutes she told me I definitely had some type of sarcoma ...... W...