June 22, 2009
Diagnostic Procedures, Cats & Naked Biking
So it was an exciting weekend!
First of all, I had an AWESOME time biking nude in the Solstice Parade. It was an exhilarating experience and I am sooooo glad I did it! There were about 500 of us this year, which was first apparent after there was no room at the Palladium for the painting party. It is actually pretty difficult painting yourself and others when you are trying to dry your armpits with your arms to the side and when you keep "exchanging" colors with everyone who walks by you. I had to repaint about every 5 minutes. It was fun though to be amongst tons of people sharing paint and admiring their body art. After the painting area was cleaned up we gathered in front and spent about 30 minutes assembling for a group picture (impossible) and walking around photographing each other. I personally loved the girl painted like Pac-Man. Awesome ideas. Next year I will definitely plan better and work on my ideas- there were a few pitfalls (not getting there early enough so my base coat wouldn't dry, having my friend help me paint my planets when he couldn't draw a circle; leaving all my stuff at the Palladium so I had no clothes later..). After we took our group photo we all gathered for a short ride around Ballard- another area of town that wasn't expecting us. I didn't know what to expect but was greeted with honks and waves and simply stunned people. The coolest thing was that when we passed clothed bikers, we cheered and yelled and actually got two to strip right there in the street and ride with us! By the time we ended up at the parade I was so psyched up. There were people 10 rows deep lining the streets all cheering and waving and photographing us for like 10 blocks. It was awesome! We rode and waved back. When we got to one intersection, a group painted like cops stood next to the real cops and helped direct us on the route- it was hilarious. There was a guy in silver skateboarding in and out of the crowd and catching rides. When we got to the end a few of us circled back around so people could get more shots. It was like being a celebrity. After we were done I had to take a trip back to get my clothes and got a little lost. So that was also kind of fun- being the lone rider on a major street. After I got my stuff I spent the rest of the day in a sarong hanging with friends and enjoying the rest of the festival. It was all- around a great day! And don't worry, I will upload my pics if you don't have facebook! Here's an article in the local newspaper.
This weekend we also had some other news. My roommate's cat has been missing for a week. It was tough cause we had twice heard from the neighbors that a similar-looking cat had been hanging out in their yards. So excitedly we went searching, only to find from a neighbor that there was a dead cat under their stairs. Unfortunately it was our little Bandit- I guess he was probably hit by a car and then crawled . It was disappointing and sad. Especially since our neighbor's cute little dog was killed by a car a week ago. Sad week for pets :( My kitty is especially sad and acting weird.
So back to medical/cancer stuff:
Last Wednesday was my cardiac echo. I still don't have the results yet if you're wondering.. It was actually a pretty cool procedure. I just lay there on the table on my left side and the tech slid the ultrasound probe around my chest. I also had a 3-lead ECG. She let me see the screen which was amazing because I could see my valves clearly flapping around with each beat. I could see all the structures of my heart, and got to watch her measure the flow in each chamber. Very cool. She said that everything looked alright but of course the cardiologist has to read it.
Thursday was the CT scan. I forgot how long it takes! I was there for hours! First they give you two huge bottles of berry flavored chalk to drink (barium contrast). You drink the first one (choice of chilled or room temperature), and sit there for 40 minutes to let it digest. Then you drink number two and wait 4o minutes. The reason they do this is so that the first swallow gets to your small intestine and the second is still in your stomach when you get the scan. Anyways, then I get called for the scan, during which I get injected with yet another form of contrast. I lay down on the scanner and it goes back and forth beaming rays through me. Sometimes a little smiley face on the machine lights up to tell me to breathe or hold my breath (to raise my lungs to get a better image). After the scan, I have to go back into the waiting room for observation because some people react to the contrast. The whole thing took like 4 hrs.
Well that's it for now! Happy Solstice!!!
First of all, I had an AWESOME time biking nude in the Solstice Parade. It was an exhilarating experience and I am sooooo glad I did it! There were about 500 of us this year, which was first apparent after there was no room at the Palladium for the painting party. It is actually pretty difficult painting yourself and others when you are trying to dry your armpits with your arms to the side and when you keep "exchanging" colors with everyone who walks by you. I had to repaint about every 5 minutes. It was fun though to be amongst tons of people sharing paint and admiring their body art. After the painting area was cleaned up we gathered in front and spent about 30 minutes assembling for a group picture (impossible) and walking around photographing each other. I personally loved the girl painted like Pac-Man. Awesome ideas. Next year I will definitely plan better and work on my ideas- there were a few pitfalls (not getting there early enough so my base coat wouldn't dry, having my friend help me paint my planets when he couldn't draw a circle; leaving all my stuff at the Palladium so I had no clothes later..). After we took our group photo we all gathered for a short ride around Ballard- another area of town that wasn't expecting us. I didn't know what to expect but was greeted with honks and waves and simply stunned people. The coolest thing was that when we passed clothed bikers, we cheered and yelled and actually got two to strip right there in the street and ride with us! By the time we ended up at the parade I was so psyched up. There were people 10 rows deep lining the streets all cheering and waving and photographing us for like 10 blocks. It was awesome! We rode and waved back. When we got to one intersection, a group painted like cops stood next to the real cops and helped direct us on the route- it was hilarious. There was a guy in silver skateboarding in and out of the crowd and catching rides. When we got to the end a few of us circled back around so people could get more shots. It was like being a celebrity. After we were done I had to take a trip back to get my clothes and got a little lost. So that was also kind of fun- being the lone rider on a major street. After I got my stuff I spent the rest of the day in a sarong hanging with friends and enjoying the rest of the festival. It was all- around a great day! And don't worry, I will upload my pics if you don't have facebook! Here's an article in the local newspaper.
This weekend we also had some other news. My roommate's cat has been missing for a week. It was tough cause we had twice heard from the neighbors that a similar-looking cat had been hanging out in their yards. So excitedly we went searching, only to find from a neighbor that there was a dead cat under their stairs. Unfortunately it was our little Bandit- I guess he was probably hit by a car and then crawled . It was disappointing and sad. Especially since our neighbor's cute little dog was killed by a car a week ago. Sad week for pets :( My kitty is especially sad and acting weird.
So back to medical/cancer stuff:
Last Wednesday was my cardiac echo. I still don't have the results yet if you're wondering.. It was actually a pretty cool procedure. I just lay there on the table on my left side and the tech slid the ultrasound probe around my chest. I also had a 3-lead ECG. She let me see the screen which was amazing because I could see my valves clearly flapping around with each beat. I could see all the structures of my heart, and got to watch her measure the flow in each chamber. Very cool. She said that everything looked alright but of course the cardiologist has to read it.
Thursday was the CT scan. I forgot how long it takes! I was there for hours! First they give you two huge bottles of berry flavored chalk to drink (barium contrast). You drink the first one (choice of chilled or room temperature), and sit there for 40 minutes to let it digest. Then you drink number two and wait 4o minutes. The reason they do this is so that the first swallow gets to your small intestine and the second is still in your stomach when you get the scan. Anyways, then I get called for the scan, during which I get injected with yet another form of contrast. I lay down on the scanner and it goes back and forth beaming rays through me. Sometimes a little smiley face on the machine lights up to tell me to breathe or hold my breath (to raise my lungs to get a better image). After the scan, I have to go back into the waiting room for observation because some people react to the contrast. The whole thing took like 4 hrs.
Well that's it for now! Happy Solstice!!!
June 17, 2009
This week
I'm in a not-so-positive mood at the moment. I'm just crabby because I have been feeling bad and not sleeping well. And I'm getting pretty bored laying around all day- even if 70% of the time it's on the lake. At least I am getting tan. Yesterday I officially started my job hunt- I'm missing coaching so bad that I'm dreaming gymnastics. I hope there will be at least one team coaching position open, but I have to factor in the fact that I would have to work around scans and radiation AND clinicals. What a pain. I'm looking for nursing jobs as well, but it's the same deal with scheduling- PLUS the fact that I haven't really done clinical RN stuff in a year. I just need to get down and apply because at least I can start with options to choose from.
I decided that I'm going to be a painted cyclist in the Solstice Parade this year. I recruited some friends as well. For people outside of Washington, one of the Seattle artsy neighborhoods- Fremont- puts on a huge Solstice parade every summer, along with a street fair and "art cars" (cars decorated with the most random things) exhibition. One of the highlights of the parade is a group of at least 300 bikers who come out first- all in body paint and "au naturale," The painting jobs are usually pretty amazing, and people also decorate their bikes and helmets in streamers and paper mache figures. Last year there were two ladies painted like American flags, bumble bees on tandem, and a group of 3 Waldo's cycling around. I decided on a space theme and so tomorrow I'm going to buy some colors of textile acrylic paint. I won't say anymore about the experience until it's over- but this Saturday is the ride. Solstice is my favorite part about Seattle summer and this weekend should be awesome.
Well tomorrow is my cardiac echo and I will definitely report back on those findings as soon as I get them. As far as Thursday's CT scan- I'm not going to know anything until Monday's appointment with my gyn onc and I will report as soon as I know. (So no calling every second mom and dad!). I also should get my latest CA-125 count. Oh- I talked to the nurses and got the CT scan ok'd to include my neck. So now I can get a double check on the thyroid lump that's still there. The doc said it was just a lymph node and it isn't hard like a tumor, but I still want to be sure.
I decided that I'm going to be a painted cyclist in the Solstice Parade this year. I recruited some friends as well. For people outside of Washington, one of the Seattle artsy neighborhoods- Fremont- puts on a huge Solstice parade every summer, along with a street fair and "art cars" (cars decorated with the most random things) exhibition. One of the highlights of the parade is a group of at least 300 bikers who come out first- all in body paint and "au naturale," The painting jobs are usually pretty amazing, and people also decorate their bikes and helmets in streamers and paper mache figures. Last year there were two ladies painted like American flags, bumble bees on tandem, and a group of 3 Waldo's cycling around. I decided on a space theme and so tomorrow I'm going to buy some colors of textile acrylic paint. I won't say anymore about the experience until it's over- but this Saturday is the ride. Solstice is my favorite part about Seattle summer and this weekend should be awesome.
Well tomorrow is my cardiac echo and I will definitely report back on those findings as soon as I get them. As far as Thursday's CT scan- I'm not going to know anything until Monday's appointment with my gyn onc and I will report as soon as I know. (So no calling every second mom and dad!). I also should get my latest CA-125 count. Oh- I talked to the nurses and got the CT scan ok'd to include my neck. So now I can get a double check on the thyroid lump that's still there. The doc said it was just a lymph node and it isn't hard like a tumor, but I still want to be sure.
June 13, 2009
aaah so finals are over and now what...
Took my last final EVER today and passed! so the theory part of the program is pretty much done. All my classmates get to walk in graduation on Sunday- I'm really happy for all of them because of all the crap we've all put up with in the program- yet I don't think I can go to the ceremony. I'm still a little bitter that everything is taking sooo much longer for me- I don't get to walk until next years graduation- although I am scheduled to be done a quarter before that. I think it may be for the better in some sense, because I can ease my way back into clinical and will have nothing else to distract me. Clinical is what it's all about anyways. Seeing patents, diagnosing, etc... All that obviously needs some work, although I am getting first hand experiences all along the way.
For the past few weeks I have been noticing that I am having a lot of trouble climbing the hill from the beach and park to our house. It's not that steep, and takes about 1o min normally to walk home. Lately, however, i have had to stop walking five or six times to either catch my breath or because my legs were hurting. At the same time, I was having those palpitations that I talked about in the last blog. Well, today I had an appointment with my Primary Care PA for medication refills and so I mentioned this to her. She listened to my heart and verified that I had a harsh murmur on the left sternal border. (For all of you nursing crew- what's the differential?).
I have always had a hard time hearing murmurs- mainly because I have never really heard one, and secondly because of some post-infective hearing loss. I could barely hear it, but I knew that something was going on... The chemo nurses has asked me lots of questions about my palpitations but no one other than me had ever listened to my heart. In any case, she scheduled me for a cardiac echo- one more diagnostic test that I will learn about first hand to add to all the knowledge I've picked up this year so far. Basically this test is an ultrasound of the heart to look at its structure, blood flow, valves, etc.
So what could be going on with me could be three possibilities: 1.) I'm so anemic that my heart is working too hard to oxygenate my body. 2.) The paclitaxel or carboplatin chemotherapy drugs have cardiotoxic effects and may have damaged my valves. or 3.) I have bacterial endocardititis, an infection in my heart from my port-a-cath line.
I'm hoping for the anemia cause I know that already. I just have to wait and see if anything gets worse before Wednesday when I have my echo. Then, Thursday I have the big CT scan. Lots to look forward to (and lots of reasons for anxiety)!
For the past few weeks I have been noticing that I am having a lot of trouble climbing the hill from the beach and park to our house. It's not that steep, and takes about 1o min normally to walk home. Lately, however, i have had to stop walking five or six times to either catch my breath or because my legs were hurting. At the same time, I was having those palpitations that I talked about in the last blog. Well, today I had an appointment with my Primary Care PA for medication refills and so I mentioned this to her. She listened to my heart and verified that I had a harsh murmur on the left sternal border. (For all of you nursing crew- what's the differential?).
I have always had a hard time hearing murmurs- mainly because I have never really heard one, and secondly because of some post-infective hearing loss. I could barely hear it, but I knew that something was going on... The chemo nurses has asked me lots of questions about my palpitations but no one other than me had ever listened to my heart. In any case, she scheduled me for a cardiac echo- one more diagnostic test that I will learn about first hand to add to all the knowledge I've picked up this year so far. Basically this test is an ultrasound of the heart to look at its structure, blood flow, valves, etc.
So what could be going on with me could be three possibilities: 1.) I'm so anemic that my heart is working too hard to oxygenate my body. 2.) The paclitaxel or carboplatin chemotherapy drugs have cardiotoxic effects and may have damaged my valves. or 3.) I have bacterial endocardititis, an infection in my heart from my port-a-cath line.
I'm hoping for the anemia cause I know that already. I just have to wait and see if anything gets worse before Wednesday when I have my echo. Then, Thursday I have the big CT scan. Lots to look forward to (and lots of reasons for anxiety)!
June 10, 2009
CA-125 reading
I found this tonight as I was clearly procrastinating from studying for my final (at least this is medical!)
"in clinical practice it would appear reasonable to accept a confirmed (at least two samples) doubling of the CA-125 from a baseline value (with a minimum baseline at the upper limit of normal for the laboratory, usually 35 U/ml) as an indication of disease progression. Lesser degrees of change in the CA-125 value may indicate lack of response (so-called "stable disease") but should probably not be considered as actual disease progression in the absence of supporting data (e.g., new ascites, presence of a new mass on physical examination)."
also: "In addition, even when the same lab is used, a variation of up to 14% can occur in the same patient."
So blah blah- my CA125 needs to go up to at least 64-84 to be significant evidence of cancer progression. I'm way under that yay!
I also read that CA 125 levels can have a cut-off of up to 200 to be benign disease- levels >200 are almost always cancer. Ha to all those people who told me that my CA125 elevation of 412 wasn't much to worry about! It was hundreds over the limit!!!
Some lady on a blog had a pre-treatment level of almost 6,000!!!
"in clinical practice it would appear reasonable to accept a confirmed (at least two samples) doubling of the CA-125 from a baseline value (with a minimum baseline at the upper limit of normal for the laboratory, usually 35 U/ml) as an indication of disease progression. Lesser degrees of change in the CA-125 value may indicate lack of response (so-called "stable disease") but should probably not be considered as actual disease progression in the absence of supporting data (e.g., new ascites, presence of a new mass on physical examination)."
also: "In addition, even when the same lab is used, a variation of up to 14% can occur in the same patient."
So blah blah- my CA125 needs to go up to at least 64-84 to be significant evidence of cancer progression. I'm way under that yay!
I also read that CA 125 levels can have a cut-off of up to 200 to be benign disease- levels >200 are almost always cancer. Ha to all those people who told me that my CA125 elevation of 412 wasn't much to worry about! It was hundreds over the limit!!!
Some lady on a blog had a pre-treatment level of almost 6,000!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)