Deb's Update: February 27, 2007 7:30 AM PST

Okay guys, sorry for the delay in the update! Today is Day 1 for Cycle 1... yup, for today through Saturday I am taking more than 2 times the amount of chemo that I was taking during the radiation. Of course I have no idea how it will go since I just took it a minute or two ago! I figure that I may as well sit still, write emails or blog updates since I cannot eat for an hour or so... It's my relaxing time, look at it that way :-)

Interestingly enough, I had to take many, many more of my Temodar capsules than I used to take a month ago... thank God I had some left over because I wasn't taking them on the weekends. In a nutshell, okay, maybe NOT a nutshell, I haven't received the higher dose capsules yet!!! Yup, you guessed it, it's an ExpressScripts/Curascripts issue! I'll try to just tell you a quick summary of the last two weeks dealing with them... My med onc doctor sent in the Rxs to ExpressScripts two weeks ago so that I would have plenty of time to get the Temodar and Kytril before I had to take it. After all, I knew I needed the anti-nausea pills and a much higher dose..... So, I decided to follow my 'order' on the Express Scripts website. Huh, I only saw the Kytril. I know I love that and NEED that, but I figured I would call them (about a week before I needed the meds) to see if the Temodar was just not listed on-line. Talked to two people there a few days apart and the second person finally told me that I should have had my doc fax that to CuraScripts instead of ExpressScripts. Did I know that? NOPE. Did they ever tell me that the first day I talked to them because it was missing on the website? NOPE.

Okay, sorry for this long story, but here is the rest of it. I finally decided to talk to CuraScripts to see when I would get that Temodar that I so desperately wanted.... imagine that!? They had a week to go before I needed my new Temodar capsules. BUT, they said they had to ship by Thursday of last week so that I could have it in time to take it on Monday (of course this was not the real dosing date, but I figured I may get it on time if I told them that!). So, they of course had my doctor's office fax it to them again (on last Tuesday) and AGAIN on Thursday since they didn't get it for some reason. Guess what? THEY NEVER GOT IT according to them!!! I had a major, major drama call on Friday night since I didn't get the Temodar. I think I may be able to go into acting, ask my mom, she'll tell you! Okay, so in a nutshell, I still don't have the Temodar capsules but they should be here today by noon time per CuraScripts. I am guessing that I will have to make a call this afternoon.... stay tuned.

So, as you can see, there are lots of things that are keeping my brain working: ExpressScripts/Curascripts (in case you all need to know some day, it's the SAME company), the tons and tons of short term and long term disability details, and of course the Insurance company's 'stalling' and not paying any of the medical bills yet. Fun, isn't it? It's a busy, busy thing to keep up on.... no wonder I have to stay out on disability until I get this all running/functioning smoothly! Stay tuned.

Okay, let's talk about something positive........ I still have a scab!!!!!!!!! I'm hoping that it stays put at least until after I go to Cedars-Sinai to see Dr. Yu (my surgeon) on March 6th... I hope you guys keep your fingers crossed on that one and add that to your blessing if you don't mind :-)

Another positive thing is that my radiation oncologist thinks my hair will start to grow back in a month or so!!! YIPPEE.... I can handle another 4 weeks for the bald spots! I had my follow-up appointment yesterday and he was so impressed at how good the skin looked and since the redness and colored skin has vanished, he said the hair should grow back sooner than usual. I guess that some people's skin looks damaged for longer.... I'm excited that mine is doing great! I am wondering if it's because I followed the Hydrocortisone rules majorly (you can ask all my poor friends who were here and had to put it on my scalp while the hair was falling off...... they had to rub that stuff on my scalp 2 times per day...YUCK!). But, I do follow the rules when I am told what I should or shouldn't do :-) I think that's just like my Gram since that is what she did during her entire life... that's why she lived to be 94 years old! I'm sure she's happy to see me following the rules!!!

The pets are all happy, happy, happy to have their mom home and doing well! Of course my Radar decides that he needs to sniff the left side of my head (where my scar is) and he just does it quick and then runs out of the room to play! I'm guessing that he is just making sure that he doesn't smell the tumor anymore but he has to check it out. So, if he starts licking the area and starts behaving protective I am definitely going to get an updated MRI! One of my Briard friends said that no wonder his name is perfect: RADAR...He can probably find anything and everything!!! Of course he had a slightly tough few days after being home for a week (vomiting and diarrhea). But, we went to the vet, he's on the mend and the vet's guess is that he may have had a stomach virus from AZ and it was dormant until he came home: different food, different yard, different exercise, etc... He's okay now and is loving the rice, chicken, yogurt meals, but that'll change shortly...

I am doing just as much cooking for his meals as I am my own! Speaking of cooking, Margaret Rushing and I have been doing a lot of cooking together. She is helping me cook majorly healthy meals that will be good for my immune system. Thankfully Karin G. had sent me a wonderful book that has recipes in it so stay tuned if my immune system continues to be great and continues to make me feel great. Again, I'm following Gram's rules: 'you need to pay attention to the vitamins and foods that you need to eat when it will be good for your health'... :-)

Obviously my concern is losing weight so I will be paying close attention to that since I really don't want to be any skinnier as you can imagine! I did get a nutritionist name from my med onc doctor so I will probably go and see them in a month or so.... JUST to make sure I'm eating right!

Mom and her friend Helen were here this past weekend. They were on their way to Hawaii and stayed for a day and a half before heading to the island. It was a great visit and of course my mom had to do some home improvement stuff: she painted the vanity in the bathroom! She's unbelievable... she loves that stuff. I'm guessing that she is who I got my fun home improvement interest from! Of course she needed to check out the Doggie Dooley system to make sure I was using it "correctly". It's a majorly interesting item, I'll just keep it at that :-) If you're a dog person and want to hear more about it, just call me or send me an email... I definitely don't need to get into those details for everyone! Just one thing I'll say is that it's a good NOT SMELLY thing!!! Mom and Helen will be back for a day and a half on their way home from HI also so stay tuned.... I'm guessing that my vanity will be finished (painting) after their next visit! Oh, and another thing: Helen likes the Element!.... see, once you ride in it, you'd like it too :-)

Okay, it's been an hour and a half since I took the chemo so its time to eat! I am feeling good even though I had a much higher dose this morning! YIPPEE!!! Maybe it was fun for me to write the blog update and my body didn't even think about the high Temodar dose! I'll try to write as the week goes on just to let you guys know how it is going during Cycle 1!

Love Ya,
Debbie