I'm Home

I know that some of you were wondering if I ever made it home and how the first week after treatments are going. Well, yes, I made it home. I am doing great actually. I am really tired and I have been feeling nausious every once in a while, but overall this treatment leaves me feeling better than any other treatment that I have had. I am still really sore from the port placement. It feels good, then I do stuff (like pick up the house or the boys) then I am sore again. It feels weird to have a foreign object in my chest! I think these treatments will go well. I felt the worst on Monday and Tuesday while I was getting them. I wish that I didn't have to be gone for a week at a time, but I guess it is better than the alternative choice.

I just want to give a quick thank you to everybody who helped last week while I was gone. The list was endless, and I appreciate everything from everybody! It took almost an entire community to keep my house (and the boys) in order while I was gone. I really do appreciate everybody's help and prayers through this whole thing! I couldn't imagine going through something like this with very little support!

I will keep posting as things change. My next week away will be Feb. 16.

Heather

UUUGGGGG

Hello everybody! I began my treatments this week, my body isn't doing so well with them. Yesterday morning I had a double port placed and it is super painful. I have been falling asleep halfway through my treatments of Reolysin and feeling pretty groggy the rest of the day. I have been getting horrible headaches, vomitting and fevers. I guess that I feel like I have been injected with a virus (which is exactally what it is). My hopes are high. I hope I am not feeling like this after I get home! The doc said that today and tomarrow will be the worst days for me. I have always got all of the side effects from medication though. I am not sure if the pain (from the port) or feeling yucky is worse.

My hopes are high. I am trying to stay postitve. Nancy is here with me. She is doing a good job of acting like a mom! She has been making me eat (I have no appetite), helping me shower and being very supportive. She has been making me laugh too. I am thankful to have all of you in my life! I couldn't imgine doing this without everybody's support!

Keep praying you know it works!
Heather Shannon

I thought that I would continue to post here since there have been a lot of changes in my cancer lately. I have been taken off of the study drug that I was on because my tumors have grown too much. This is not always bad becasue they only grew a few millimeters, but that is enough to say the drug was not working. I will begin a new study on 1/19/09. The doctors will be injecting me with a virus that attatches itself to cancer cells and hopefully kills them. This is called the Reovirus. I will be getting a port placed on Monday morning and my treatments will begin a few hours later. I will be very sick (nausa, high fever and flu like symptoms) but I will feel better shortly after my treatments. I will be required to have the injections for 5 days in a row every 4 weeks. All proceedures will be done in Ann Arbor.
I am just thankful for everybody's support and I am thankful that there are options. When I was first diagnosed, the options (for treatment) were very limited, now there are a few.
Feel free to leave me a comment. I will continue with updates if I know that people are reading this.

Heather Shannon