Back in Arizona

"The future belongs to those
who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

Eleanor Roosevelt








Wow, can't believe it is the 7th September and I haven't made an entry since the 19th August - been too sick. Here is a summary of what has happened in that time.

On August 19 we managed to get a taxi to Gmund railway station to pick up my cousin, Joke, and take her to her guesthouse. We then had a lovely lunch at a restaurant with an outdoor section on the lake. It was a pretty hot day. We walked back to our guest house, Heimgarten, where Glen and I were staying but I started to feel pretty sick on the way and my right leg was hurting. Feeling unwell was from the vaccine I had in the morning and I assumed the pain in the upper right leg and groin was somehow related to the trans arterial chemo embolisation I had in Frankfurt on August 6.

I was pretty sick for the next few days. Managed to have a good chat with Joke one afternoon and we did getto go out to a nice italian restaurant for dinner on the last night before she left on 23 August. We also had quite a bit of organising to do to make sure that all the medications I was taking with me were there and in correct amounts etc. It seems to always be a bit stressful at the end of the clinic stay to get it all organised. Glen went and bought a new suitcase for the medication as there was quite a lot and it is easier to organise getting it all through customs if it is in a separate bag with all the paper work included.

We flew to New York via London on August 24 and it was a very long day. We didn't fly out of Munich till 5:30 pm and arrived in New York the equivalent of 6 am the next morning although with the time difference it was actually about 11:30 pm in New York. The hotel room was fine except the bar fridge didn't work so I had to store some medications in the hotels main fridge downstairs. The hotel was located close to the East River but in a commercial area full of garages and warehouses. No room service or restaurant in the hotel - bummer. It was not very restful for me as I had to try and find places for breakfast and then get enough food to last me through lunch and dinner. It was also pretty hot and we had to walk a long way to find any place that sold food. Glen went to the Met and bought dinner back the second night. I was more tired when we left New York than was planned. I also had a head cold by then and still had not really recovered from my treatment at the clinic. I felt like crap.

The flight to Phoenix was pretty bad. It is about a 5 hour flight and we were lucky to have 3 seats but even lying down for a couple of hours I found it very difficult. By the time we got to Phoenix I was quite sick. It was Monday and it was a relief to see my sister at the airport and I pretty well spent the next few days either in or on the bed. My energy levels were appalling and I had severe nasal congestion and some nausea.

Meantime the pain in my leg was pretty persistent. I wanted to get some blood tests done to check liver function and see what my red and white blood cells were doing as I seemed not to be getting any better energy wise and had a general feeling of malaise. We went to see Dr Gottfried, who I had seen last time we were in Phoenix and he referred me for an ultrasound of the arteries of my right leg. The scary diagnosis there was a complete blockage of the Femoris Profunda artery. This artery supplies the femur, the knee, the hip and some of the large muscles of the thigh. The treatment would normally include blood thinners but there was a concern about potential bleeding in the liver where I had treatment for the tumours. In the end I was given pain relief tablets and we made an appointment with a vascular surgeon. The disturbing news about this problem was that 25% of patients with this require limb amputation. Yikes!

Then on Wednesday afternoon at about 2 pm I started to get some upper abdominal pain. I took some antacids and antispasmodics but it just got worse. I had used up my last two antacids so I emailed Paula to see if she could pick up some more on the way home. By this stage I was in a lot of pain and vomited some blood. This may not have been from my stomach as I was bleeding a lot from my nose so I may have swallowed some and then vomited it up. The nasal ulceration has been a problem since I started chemo in May. By the time my sister got home I was in agony and Paula and Glen took me to emergency at a hospital in Scottsdale. It took about another hour before I got the morphine and started to feel ok. By then I had been in severe pain for about 3 1/2 hours. The doctors were not sure if they were dealing with a gall bladder problem or a stomach problem. There was also the issue of my leg pain.

I spent 2 nights in the hospital and had ultrasounds, doppler, CT scans and an endoscope. I had intravenous antibiotics and drugs to reduce acid formation in the stomach. The conclusion, after several possibilities were discussed, was a case of gastritis. Other discoveries were that the Femoris profunda was not in fact blocked but that the femoral arteries on both sides had soft plaque causing narrowing of 40% and 50%. One of the drugs I am on has a side effect of creating high cholesterol so that could have been a contributing factor. The CT scan of the liver was very encouraging as it was reported as unremarkable - no sign of active or dead tumours!!!!!

By Friday I was feeling somewhat better and really wanted to get out of the hospital. It looked like none of the problems were related to my cancer or cancer treatment so it was going to be possible to claim it on travel insurance. A great relief as the first night with only one ultrasound and some drugs cost US$8,500. So the total bill was probably going to be over $30,000.

Since coming home from hospital I have been feeling much better. My energy levels are pretty good. Managing a half hour walk in the mornings and have been swimming during the day. the pool is finally finished so that will be great for my rehab. I am hoping to get my fitness levels up and with the finding of the plaque in my arteries, exercise has become even more important. I suspect I may have had a bacterial infection somewhere and that the intravenous antibiotics took care of that. Plus the head cold is finally abating so that would help with my feeling better as well.

I have postponed my chemotherapy which was due on the 3rd September and will consider doing it in a couple of days if I continue to do well. It will of course set me back again a bit but I am hoping it will only be the Epirubicin which will be a problem.

Meantime nature is as beautiful as ever - some of the cactii are flowering, the squirrels are visiting along with some migrating Rufous Hummingbirds. There is a lot of activity around the feeders as they sort out who gets prime position.

So surviving and thriving again after a short lapse in the thriving department.

Linda