Happy Holidays Everyone!

To all my wonderful friends and family. To all my amazing co-workers and everyone at Duke who has been donating vacation time to me. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and hope that you enjoy this time with your family and friends. Be safe, healthy, and have a wonderful time celebrating. Thank you for all that you have done for me this year. It is appreciated more than I can ever say. Thank you, thank you, a million thank yous. Let's look to 2010 for a fresh start!

Next Round Monday, December 21

So I am going to give it another go on Monday. Ugh. I had an appointment with my oncologist this past Monday and we worked out some changes that may help with all my side effects. She said I could take this week off, but no longer. I can't say that I am excited at the prospect of doing another round, but I know it is important to try and finish.

What is really frustrating is how much I've been suffering and the lack of communication with my oncologist about all that has taken place over the past 3 rounds. My doctor basically told me that I shouldn't have been suffering as much as I was and that it was "highly unusual." She said, and I quote, "When I say that you should be able to work during chemo, I really mean that," which is crazy when I think about how much I've been through over the past 9 weeks. So what in the heck was the PA telling her this whole time? And was my oncologist even reading my charts? And, what the heck is in my charts? All the phone calls we made? Where are they documented? I just don't get it. How could she NOT be aware of how bad this has been???????

But I digress. So Christmas week...I'll be going through chemo. Great. Happy $%#@! holidays to me.

Some good news, my sister and her family are coming to visit the week after Christmas. Let's hope the new regimen works and that I'm doing well the second week!

Kiel Donation Program

Thank you to all friends who have asked if they can donate time off during my treatment. I've learned that bi-weekly and salaried staff (that is non faculty or instructors) can fill out a donation form and turn it into their supervisor to donate. It seems pretty easy, http://www.hr.duke.edu/forms/kiel_donor.html, if you have the time to donate, my family and I would be very grateful. I am scheduled to be in treatment (either chemo or surgery) through March at the minimum, so any time you can give will help. Thanks everyone! You continue to amaze me with your generosity of spirit.

Big Decisions

As you may have noticed, I haven't been online in a while. That's because I've been sicker than a dog since last week. For all of you who know our dog, think sicker than Lucy after she's eaten a pound of Valentine chocolate and I've induced vomiting with a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide, sick. I'm pretty much a GI mess. It has been extremely difficult and basically my entire gastro-intestinal tract feels as if it has been obliterated. So, what does it mean? Well, for one it means some pretty nasty issues, that I really don't want to spell out in public. For two, it means I don't feel my body or mind can handle another round of chemo at this point.

We've got a call in to my oncologist for an appointment to discuss options. I have no idea what "options" there may be at this point. I'm scheduled to have 3 more chemo treatments between now and January 25, and I just can't do one more right now. Do I postpone? Do I stop? If either, what will that mean for my prognosis? I don't have any answers at this point. Will have to update more after I get in for a consultation.

I'm not planning on doing the December 14 round though.