After a difficult 3+ week stay in the hospital, I was finally deemed well enough to go home and recover in the beautiful fall weather. My recovery in Children’s had been focused on resting my GI tract and resulted in hospital-induced anorexia, so my appetite was/is certainly not 100%. However, I am grazing on small amounts of food and definitely trying to keep up my fluid intake. The pain in my abdomen has been much better – my partial bowel obstruction appears to be resolving itself.
It was really great to be back in my own house after such a long time, and I was so happy that I was finally able to spend time with my siblings. Rae and I made homemade apple sauce for the first time which turned out to be absolutely delicious, and was the first food my tummy kept down! I would say Alex let me help with some of his Math homework, but in reality he gave me a refresher lesson on dividing polynomials. I know most everyone is a bit sick of school by now, but I love learning and miss taking classes! Nicholas and I spent the majority of our time together catching up on Friday Night Lights episodes, which is our family’s new favorite TV series. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel well enough to go out with friends and I noticed myself to feel worse as the days continued through the week. This past Tuesday, pain in my back brought me to the ER and I was admitted to get things under control.
My back pain is difficult because it hurts when I stand, yet when I am sitting my back never feels properly supported. I first noticed the back pain this past summer and it had been getting progressively worse in the hospital but I figured I just needed to sleep on my own mattress. Unfortunately I suppose that wasn’t the case. The doctors are still trying to find the source of the pain. I’ve had X-rays, CT-scans and I am on the waiting list for an MRI. My pain medications have been adjusted several times and I think we’re getting close to a comfortable dose that I’ll be able to head home on.
Finally, my GI obstruction has healed enough that I can start my next chemo treatment. The chemotherapy I’ll be starting tonight is called Sunitinib – it’s an oral treatment that works to stops blood flow to the tumors so they cannot grow. I have wanted to start a new treatment as soon as possible because my most recent scans show that a number of new tumors have shown up in the time I was healing and my last treatment stopped. Old tumors have grown in size as well. This will be my fourth chemotherapy treatment.
I’m currently feeling well, drowsy from the pain medication and a little sore on my back of course, but well all the same. As soon as this pain is put under control from an oral dose of medication I will be able to return home. Thank goodness, because I wouldn’t want to miss Halloween J I hope everyone is enjoying the new school year!
