Radiation & Chemo Treatments Continue

Good Evening to everyone here "At Welcome To My Little Corner of The World"
Another day dawns and more treatments continue, as of today Thurs, 11-18- I have 17 more Radiation treatments and not quite sure of the amount left on the Chemo I should find that out when I see the Chemo Dr. on Tues. The chemo continues with a 6hr treatment to include Chemo for one hr, steroids for 20 min and another drug used to treat nausea. Now remember everyone is different and how they handle their treatments I have found out that receiving chemo for 5 days with Steroids is doing a job on my sleep pattern also in some cases it's called "Chemo Rage" and is not uncommon, so the next step get something to bring down the anxiety level..jeez always something to keep the ball rolling ! Soon the cure will be in sight.


I had to have a ct done this am then saw the Radiation Oncologist who suggested I get a chest x-ray cause my right lung (with the tumor) was congested well, thank God nothing showed I was allowed to go home, possible wheezing from the Pulmonary Fibrosis which we knew may happen.

So that's about all for today I will try to do better and keep you all posted.

Until we meet again my friends remember,

Inhale~~~123

Exhale ~~~~1234

Breathe Easy,
Sandy

More Tests

Good Morning to all here at "Welcome To My Little Corner Of The World" !

I know it's been a reallly long time since my last post, reason being is that I have been sick and in and out of the hospital, having tests after tests. First test a Bronchoscopy not a comforting test either altho, I was in la la land during the test however, the first part when they numb your nose and throat.made me gag a little yuk!
Anyway test was done and part of my lung was biopsied, results were inconclusive, so the Dr. could not make a positive diagnosis. More x rays to follow it's a wonder I don't light up at night from all of the radiation !

The next step a fine needle aspiration of my right lung and the Dr. went thru my right side to obtain the tissue needed for the lab. So now it's the waiting game again.

The following week I saw the Pulmo. Dr. for the results which came back positive for Large Cell Carcinoma. So now I need to see a Medical Oncologist for evaluation of the situation and then onto see a Cancer Specialist for treatment.

Here we are again faced with yet another challenge and by God I will take this challenge head on and keep you all apprised of the progress and treatments.

Now remember, everyone is different in their own ways with regards to their health, my situation is unique to me and may not be the same for anyone else.

Until we meet again my friends remember,

Inhale~~~123

Exhale~~~~1234

Breathe Easy,
Sandy

Recliner/Back Pain

Good Day to all here at "Welcome To My Little Corner Of The World"

Trust everyone is well and breathing easy these days.

Do you remember my last post on COPD Exacerbation and my last words were, that I didn't end up in the hospital..hmmm well the following month I bought a new plushy recliner and after a few days my back was hurting so bad I thought it was the recliner ! being that I was sitting in a reclining position as opposed to a straight back chair.....I had an appointment with my Pulmo. Doc the following week and guess what...yupper Pneumonia again ! My back hurt so bad I couldn't even take a deep breath without excruciating pain !

That same day I was immediately admitted to the hospital IV antibiotic, steroids, fluids, morphine for the pain. I had a C/T done again with contrast I guess the contrast part of it shows more than just one without.

It picked up another "nodule" behind my rib cage we'll keep a watch on that one. "It could be worse" is my motto and keep a positive attitude.

I also had a biopsy done and the "outside of the nodule" is negative for any cancer cells..."Great"
Sometime with in the next 3 months I will have another C/T done and take it from there.

You may remember a while back I posted on knowing your meds while in the hospital..it happened again the night nurse was emphatic that I did not have any night time meds and I assured her she needed to go check my chart again and low and behold she came back and said "Oh" you do have evening meds give me a minute and I will get them for you.

Now, imagine someone else who is not as outspoken as I am and would have gone without the nighttime meds. It is so important to keep a list of your meds with you at all times and show it again and again if needed to the Nurses and or Dr's.

Lastly, the day of discharge my regular Pulmo. had someone cover his shift and this "Dr." prescribed a med./antibiotic for me to take while at home. I had someone go to the pharmacy for me to fill the script. the pharmacist said that this med. will interfere with my heart medicine !
Wow, I sure was glad the pharmacist was on top of things, the pharmacist called the Dr. and his reply was well she will have to wait to see her regular Pulmo. I will make sure in the future that I will not let that Dr. near me.
I told my Pulmo. Dr. of the situation, nothing more need be said on that the situation as it will be addressed.

I hope this post will be of good information and watch the warning signs altho everyone is different as I mentioned I thought my back pain was from the new chair.

I should have called the Pulmo. right away "live and learn" We all have different ways of handiling different situations my best advice don't wait, it's better to be safe than sorry and spend a week in the hospital.

Until we meet again my friends,
Remember,

Inhale~~~123
Exhale~~~~1234

Breathe Easy,

Sandy

Acute Exacerbation with COPD

Greeting to all here at "Welcome To My Little Corner of The World" Where do the days go..Imagine yesterday was the first day of spring ! For some it is not so springy especially with the flooding and snow.

As usual I write my blog based on my own health sometimes it could be a while in between posts, that could be a good thing. Anyway last week I went to see my Pulmo for a check up he could hear wheezing and noticed shortness of breath..well after a few questions from him he determined it was an "Acute Exacerbation" with COPD. He put me on an Inhaler Xopenex HFA, Avelox 400 mg which is an antibiotic, continue with my regular inhalers and if necessary use the Nebulizer, and start of with 40mg of Prednisone and taper off till I am done with it. Also, continue with my o2 as prescribed 24/7.


Today I do feel better I am going to share some info I read on the Internet with regards to COPD Exacerbation I found it quite interesting.

In it's simplest terms, an exacerbation is a worsening of symptoms. In more in-depth terms, a COPD exacerbation can be defined as "an event in the natural course of the disease characterized by a change in the pt's baseline dyspnea,cough, and or sputum that is beyond normal day-to -day variations, is acute in onset and may warrant a change in medication in a patient with underlying COPD", according to the Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD)

The main sympton-of an acute exacerbation of COPD is increased breathlessness which is often accompanied by the following: increased cough and sputum production, wheezing,fever, chest tightness. Treatment is the same as I had listed above. I was lucky this time I did not end up in the hospital..it could happen. Let me know if you have any comments.

Until we meet again my friends,

Remember....

Inhale~~~123

Exhale~~~~1234

Breathe Easy,

Sandy

Power Outage/Oxygen Concentrator

Good Afternoon to all my friends here at "Welcome To My Little Corner of The World "

I know it's been a month since my last post and I have a few interesting tid bits I have to share with you.

Living in Florida can be a challenge with the crazy weather we have been having, ie: freezing temps., heat and humidity, more rain and more rain but the sun will soon shine.


Anyway what I found out is this...when we had the cold snap and the temps dropped into the low 30 our power went out! Imagine that lol we had no phone, no cable, no heat. So I called the power company on my cell and told them we had no power and of course I need the power to run my O2 Concentrator this is what they said I should do in case of future outages

...They will send me a letter to bring to my Dr. to sign stating that I am on 02 24/7 and do need the power. Once the Dr. signs the form and sends it back to the power Co. they will flag my account to be one of the first to be repaired.

I also do have two back up tanks from my O2 supplier that I can use if necessary.

The reason for this post is that a lot of folks probably are not aware of this service, the same applies for the Telephone Company I would suggest you do this before there is an outage just in case you do not have a cell phone.

Hope this information is helpful to all...

Until we meet again my friends remember,

Inhale~~~123

Exhale ~~~~1234

Breathe Easy,

Sandy

Thank You to all of you for your comments

"Welcome to My Little Corner of The World"
It has been a long road from 2009 to 2010 and optimistically 2010 will be a better year !
I wanted to take this time to "Thank" everyone who responded with kind words to my posts, it means and has meant a lot to me to know that you are reading and responding.

I have written personally from my heart and from my own experiences and some from other sources in hopes to help others understand this disease. Living with a lung disease can be devastating we all know that but we have to make the best of it and I hope by my posts I can help you do just that.

Let me share this with you, I have sleep apnea and my o2 is hooked up to the apnea machine well, this morning about 2am I woke with shortness of breath...what the heck it seems that the 02 somehow became detached from the apnea machine ! I took my levels using my pulse oximeter and sure enough they were at 84 Wow, so not to panic I put on my 02 nasal cannula, sat down and relaxed using plb Pursed Lip Breathing and after a few minutes my levels were up to 96 whew ! Panic is not the way stay~~ calm please stay calm even if you have to call 911 stay calm, getting anxious or scared will make it worse...remember breathe easy...~Inhale 123~ Exhale ~1234

Until we meet again my friends as stated above,
Inhale ~123
Exhale ~1234

Breathe Easy,
Sandy