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my cancer story
Well, it is finally 1 1/2 years later, after a huge baseball size tumor was found in my left lung & 3 lymph nodes. I am still cancer-free, says my oncologist (YAY!!!), so this coming Wednesday I am getting my ports removed!!! Thank you all for your love, healing energies, prayers, & whatever else positive you have sent my way....it means the world to me, & I hope to continue being remembered by my friends & family. LOVE YOUZ!!!!
So I went for my next to last treatment yesterday. I got there a wee bit early, so I got started early. Only problem there is that the Novacaine to numb my port(s) hadn't had time to kick in good yet. *ouch* - but not too bad So they took my blood (couple tubes every time--think my blood must be sinkin' like the Titanic! lol) & in short order was called in to see my doctor (as scheduled). Talked to my intern & then my doc--they both agree that I not have chemo yesterday. Instead, I got two units (pints) of rich red blood cells--mine was almost rock bottom. No wonder I've felt so wretched for the past 2 weeks! So they put off my next chemo til next week--& I thought hmmmm. If they can put it off one week, I wonder if it would hurt anything to put it off for 2 weeks. My doc & intern said no, that would be OK.....SO! By gods, I'm going camping with my oldest & her family all next week!!!!!!! Just have to get help packing (thank you to my youngest for that help, Stefanie Nicole <3 ) Mo-Mo has an appt to be groomed tomorrow, & I need to get my fishing license for this year, etc. Hope I am up to this....but now that my iron level has come up a wee bit (I feel so much better, it's amazing what vitamins & minerals can do for ya--& what a lack of them will cause as far as sickness!) I feel MUCH better, so I'm gonna have a wee bit of fun this summer, anyway. Pls keep me in your thoughts & such--I may be a lil bit crazy, but I WANNA *LIVE* not just survive or exist! :D Catch yas on da flip side! Love you all!!!! <3
I have been busy as hell for the past week, and it seems that trend will continue in the near future. I thought I was having another heart attack last Thursday and was taken via my first ambulance trip to the hospital. Good news is, it wasn't a heart attack; bad news is, it's lung cancer--the tumor was pressing on my aorta. I have an 8.3 cm non-small cell squamous tumor on my left upper lung. It is rather....huge, to put it in the doctors' words. I also have it in 3 chest wall lymph nodes. I'll be having radiation 5 times per week and chemo once per week for 6 weeks beginning May 4. Please understand if I don't play my games like I used to--I'm not sure how I'll feel or what I'll be up to doing as I go through this. Thank you to my daughters, Rebecca & Stefanie, who have been with me every step of this new journey so far. Please keep us all in your prayers. <3
Today marked my 6th chemo treatment, I dunno how many radiation treatments, with 5 more chemo & 7 more radiation treatments to go. Here's to letting me make it through this final push to finish! \__/? At this stage, I assure one & all I do NOT feel up to running a marathon--or walking one, either. (Hell, I can't do marathons even on my best days anyway. lol) I sit here typing & pouring sweat. Is it that hot here? No, not even close. But, if pouring sweat is the worst of it, I'll take it....however, it's only one of the side effects--but it means I'm still alive, so I'll take it anyway. :) Today the numbers almost completely let me down. Confused? Allow me to 'splain, Lucy. They draw blood every week to see what my numbers look like--a CDC etc, checking Iron, hemoglobin, hematocrit, white cell count, red cell count, etc etc etc/ Although I finally got a port put in (yesterday) so they can just access one site to drawn blood, do treatments, etc., it's so bruised & swollen (& hurts like a mofu) that the lab tech drew blood out of a vein in my arm. That was the last vein to be used, it appears....every vein they tried to put an IV in this afternoon blew before they could even flush it. Chemo's done its job on my veins--feel like kickin somebody's butt over that one--they were bad enough as it was. lol I had to go to the hospital after radiation on Friday so they could rehydrate me. It worked enough that I didn't feel wretchedly horrible afterwards--I just still didn't feel great.I am exhausted today & have my job cut out for me in the week ahead--if my numbers get worse, they will either give me a transfusion or skip my chemo treatment entirely. I don't like either option, so protein shakes, beans, peanut butter, cream of wheat, vitamins, & whatever else I can manage to eat/take to help build my blood back up, I be doing it in triplicate! Damn! I was they had Neese's Liver Pudding here--great source of iron & I love the stuff! Overall, my ass is so tired it dunno whether its bored or punched, but with one week to go, by gods I'm hanging like hell--from my toenails....but, hey, I'm STILL hangin! Please pump up the prayers for this final week & building my blood up to finish this cycle & whup this crap's ass, pls!
As many of you may know by now (my youngest is well known for her enthusiam sometimes lol (LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH, BECKY & NIKKI!!!!) here's the scoop..... Let me first say that it hurts me to post this knowing some of my friends aren't faring quite as well as I am/have--but I'm still rooting for you guys who are fighting this horrible disease!!! <3
I had my CTscan last week & had to wait until I saw my oncologist yesterday to find out what it showed, i.e. if the treatments did their job or what else I was gonna have to do. The blood work showed I am still anemic but "not enough for a transfusion or any kind of radical measures like that." Otherwise, my numbers look good and have risen.
The CT scan showed that the baseball sized tumor in my upper left lung and the 3 lymph nodes that are involved have all shrunk! Chest wall lymph node was at 2.9cm when we started; it is now at 1.8. He said the big tumor had shrank as well and they expect it to continue to shrink. Although they will continue to check on me every few months for the next year, they consider me cancer free and in remission!!!
I still am asking for prayers....while the news I got was astoundingly fantastic, my cancer is still there, though smaller. Only with prayer, I feel, will those tumors turn completely into scar tissue and/or go away completely. WE CAN DO THIS ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!
Thank you to all my family and friends supporting me throughout this scary journey. I'ma shut up now before I start crying like a fewl. lol LOVE YOUZ!!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3
2nd chemo/8th radiation update for family & friends. Chemo went fine again today, as did the 8th radiation treatment. Some side effects are beginning to rear up, I suspect: I have extreme soreness and burning sensations on my tongue which is beginning to spread further on the tongue and I've noticed it on my upper gums as well. I have also developed ulcerated spots in places that will not be discussed here, but it would be far better if there was none to mention here, either. lol I have been eating like a hawg in season and have put on a about 10 pounds so far.....but I will be losing weight if I have to move to continuous ice, water, yogurt, & cold/smooth or or no food. Also, total and complete exhaustion is becoming a might bothersome.All in all, I am doing better than I thought I would, given the state of my health before this huge mass was found in my lung. Thank you to everyone who is keeping me in your prayer circles & thoughts as these days go by....I can't tell you how happy my heart is just knowing the support I have going for me! Please continue to keep the prayers/energy/light/reiki and positive thoughts/energies coming my way....I still have 4 1/2 more weeks to go. More updates next week, if possible!
Now for the updates. I am having an allergic reaction--have had hives & been itching like hell since Wednesday. I think it's the chemo, so I'm not sure where this will leave us--but tomorrow I'll call the doc & see wth he has to offer in the way of info, etc.. My 4th treatment this past week also brought some other changes--namely, my hair started falling out a wee bit more abundantly. Since I abhor trying to chew & swallow hair when I'm eating BLECH!, I decided on a remedy....my bday "do". (Remember I took a pic & it's posted on my profile when all this began several weeks ago? Well, here's the followup....)
I miscounted last update (so what's new? :x) Today, I am officially half done with 6 weeks (this was #3) of chemo & had my 10th (of 30) radiation treatment. I discussed the problem with my esophagus because it has gotten worse. I feel I have a balled up fist in my tummy & a big lump further up towards my throat (but not directly in it) that makes swallowing & eating, even when I feel hungry, extremely difficult--despite the med he gave me today that is supposed to numb my esophagus, etc.. Even drinking can be an issue, I have found....& most times virtually *everything* I eat or drink feels like I'm drinking high octane gasoline & has started burning like hell when it hits the lower lump & my tummy. It's def causing problems, but we gonna get this figured out because the numbers are dropping on my blood work too, despite my trying VERY hard to eat healthier, take in much more protein & iron, etc.. If the numbers keep dropping, they'll have to do a transfusion so they can continue with chemo. The problem at the nether end is because I'm eliminating toxins from my system, so I just need to handle things a bit differently while I'm on chemo--thas not a major issue.
All these are fairly common problems & others have, of course, run into them before. I'm not an anomaly by any stretch of the imagination....but at times, it dun make this whole weird ride any easier......however, we WILL continue this journey & see where it leads us--it's a place I haven't been before, & I'm along for the ride of my life, methinks. lol
Thank you for all the continued prayers, thoughts, healing energies, light, reiki, love, caring, compassion, & whatever else can be mustered to send my way. Please continue to keep me in your thoughts & whatever else you can.....I can't ever thank my family & friends enough for caring as much as you all do--it keeps me going!
Those who want to know, I had my first chemo & radiation treatments today. I *seem* to be doing fine--no adverse effects that I know of just yet. I'll keep my friends & family here updated each week as I go through chemo; radiation is a daily, M-F, treatment so I don't see posting it daily. Thanks for all the prayers--PLEASE, keep prayers/love/positive energies, healing thought, coming.....I need all the help I can get! LOVE YOU ALL!!! <3
Still have the hives, but now I have atarax to fight the itching. My doc suggested skipping chemo yesterday, which I vehemently opposed, so I had my whole day of treatment, as usual. It went very well--I ate & snored with the best of em. lol I have the radiation/steroid aftergloew going on today, so I'm radiant as usual. The throat thing still tries to threaten me, but the meds for that are working well enough it's not a big bother anymore. Overall, my weight is stable, my appetite is good, my bloodwork is staying fairly steady in good ranges, and I still feel amazingly well, all things considered. Please continue to pray for me and my family as we continue to go through this--your prayers are what's allowing me to continue all these treatments without the degree of nasty side effects that are so common
I start the next leg of chemo tomorrow. The doc said he would be changing out one of my chemo drugs for a different one. No clue why, but I will try to think to ask tomorrow. Please keep me in your thoughts & prayers once again that I can tolerate this new med OK, and that my iron & protein levels have come up so I can get my treatment. Only 4 treatments, 6 weeks, left to go before I find out if we've done any good.
So I went & had radiation today, then rode over to the oncology center for chemo. They wouldn't do my chemo today--my numbers were far too low, & it could have killed me. So it's two more radiation treatments, then off til July 19 for two more chemo treatments....IF my blood count is better by then, of course. Meanwhile....I feel horrible despite rehydration again today. I'm going to bed--can't sit here any longer.
I just got home from my LAST chemo treatment YAY!!!!!!!!! I did have to have the transfusuion, then last week I got the big dose of chemo & was informed that my white blood cells--which have been remarkably too high for over 20 years--are much too low. This makes it far too easy for me to get infections, soooooooo....I have an on-body-device which is attached (via needle) to my tummy & it will give me a shot sometime tomorrow afternoon so my white cells will increase. My red blood cells are decreasing again, too, so I have to get blood work done next week to check everything & see where I am as far as blood results, transfusions & shots. THEN, for those interested who keep asking me (THANK YOU for caring!).......I will go see my Oncologist in 4 weeks (Sept. 26) at which time he will "do some cat scans, maybe a few other tests to see where we're at". Only then might I know if all this has done me any good....& he will keep check on it every couple, 3 months, 6 months, etc. until & unless there's a reason to undergo more aggressive treatment(s). SO--YAY, I SURVIVED & THIS ROUND IS *OVAH*!!!!!!!!!
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Dazzle Cathy Jeanne Hyslop
LadySilverSplash LSS Dazzle DazzleZzz cybertown city mayor colony leader deputy colonycity blaxxun Dazzle_SS David Franklin Hammack Stefanie Owens Daughter Rebecca Curriden Nick Hyslop Brother Cathy Jeanne Hyslop  home: 315-802-4845; cell: 315-867-9384
University of South Carolina - Columbia Class of 2001 · Sociology · Columbia, South Carolina
Lenoir–Rhyne University Class of 1999 · Sociology/Psychology/Mathematics · Hickory, North Carolina
Central Piedmont Community College Class of 1984 · General Education · Charlotte, North Carolina
Central Piedmont Community College Class of 1984 · Liberal arts · Charlotte, North Carolina
West Charlotte High School Class of 1975 · Charlotte, North Carolina
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