My Cancer Chronicles, Vol. 6: Happy Thoughts Needed

The Latest Updates

As I write this latest update, I’m sitting on our screened-in porch, relishing the 68-degree evening that has graced the DMV. After a day at the cancer center, it’s a blessing we aren’t taking lightly.

After last week’s slump, I finally have some good news — this was a really solid week. Starting last weekend, my nausea subsided enough that I actually felt like a real person. I had some (safely done) visits from my nearest and dearest and was able to eat real food for the first time in weeks. The good feels continued through the beginning of the week, allowing me to work a couple of mornings in between doctor visits.

On Tuesday (exactly two weeks after my first round of chemo), I saw the first signs that my hair was ready to fall out. My head had been weirdly tingly for days, so I expected it was coming, but seeing the proof on the shower floor was still a shock. A quick text secured me a prime slot with my best friends on this very porch to buzz the rest off this weekend.

On Wednesday, my nausea returned with a vengeance, but I was determined to go with Tim as he had his own surgery — a small procedure on the eustachian tube in his right ear. He’s been plagued by problems in that ear for three years, and I’ll be damned if my cancer gets in the way of his health. Unfortunately, I have been banned from driving for the time being, so my sweet mom acted as chauffeur and the surgery center provided a couch for me to rest on. The surgery went great and his doctor is hopeful that it will clear up most (if not all) of his issues!

We continued to visit the cancer center throughout the week for appointments and infusions, which is where we found ourselves on this gloriously warm Thursday. I had a hydration/nausea med infusion this afternoon with a visit from the infusion doctor for good measure. Unfortunately, my bloodwork revealed that my white blood cells have reached a “critically, dangerously low, almost emergent, level.” I was put on additional medication to prompt my bone marrow to create the missing WBCs, but — like everything else relating to cancer — it’s not as simple as a trip to my neighborhood CVS. The medication is only available at the hospital, it has to be pre-approved by insurance and I have to get two doses in before midnight Saturday for chemo to even be a possibility next week. So we’re under a tight deadline

Which leads me to the newest section of this newsletter …

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Weekly Prayer/Good Vibe Request

Now that I’m a more seasoned stage IV cancer patient, I have some specific requests for all of the prayers, happy thoughts and good vibes coming our way. It means more than you will ever realize, knowing how many people are out there rooting for me and my family. I’m a big believer in the power of positive thinking, and with all of our collective energy going towards the following thoughts, we just might make a difference. So, if you wouldn’t mind, please put the following out to the world:

1. Please let Katie’s medicine be approved and available for pickup by Friday evening.

2. Please allow Katie’s bone marrow to grow the necessary white blood cells she needs to fight infections.

3. Please get Katie’s WBC count high enough to move forward with her second round of chemo next Tuesday.

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Weekly Roundup

• Song of the Week: Juice by Lizzo (that’s the kind of energy we need these days)

• Cat of the Week: They were all pretty standoffish with our visitors this week, but Chrissy continued to be the world’s best lap cat, so she takes it home.

• This week, I’m grateful for: My mom, modern medicine, popsicles, and best friends who choose to spend their special days with me.

• This week, I could have done without: The hurdles it takes to get something simple — like a life-saving prescription. And anti-maskers. I have literally no shits to give people who try to impede on a human’s right to safeguard THEIR OWN FACE.

• How can I help? Visit the Meal Train for the latest requests. It’s not easy for me to ask for this kind of help, but I know that it will take a lot of pressure off my Mom and Tim in the next few weeks to have meals prepped and ready when we get home from the daily infusions/PET scans/chemo/doctor appointments.

Love and appreciation, always.

Katie

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