Brad & Noelle Koosmann & Family: A Week Off

On Tuesday, December 8th I headed back to the cities for my next study appointment (along with Ryan, Brad's cousin, Jodi's, husband, who drove me...thanks, Ryan!) I was feeling pretty nauseous that day, so I wasn't much for company for poor Ryan, but at least I managed to keep the interior of his vehicle clean, so thank goodness for small victories! At my appointment, my blood-work showed another big drop in my red and white blood cell counts, but an even larger drop in my platelet count...so much, that they had to halt me from the study for a week in an effort for my body to build the platelets (and other cell counts) back up. We'll adjust the dosage of the study drug and (with a hopeful good blood-work result) pick back up next week.

The past week-and-a-half has also kept us on our toes (or more accurately, has kept me curled into a ball!) We've managed to find a good pain medication balance, which has been wonderful because it means I've been able to sleep in my bed instead of the rocking chair (providing much better rest). Unfortunately, the nausea started coming into play a week-and-a-half ago, leaving me with a few days where I was hugging the porcelain throne for portions of the day. So, I started taking some of the nausea medication I had been prescribed, which helped a good amount (or at least enough so that I didn't feel like I was riding a roller coaster all day!) Unfortunately (again!) all of the added medication stopped my GI tract cold for a week. And nothing we did (more fluids, fiber, body movement, prune juice, additional medication, etc.) helped it start up again. Not fun. Really, really not fun. I will spare the details, but after a week of not being able to put much nutrition and fluids into my body, muscling through the lovely cramps that are a constant accompaniment to a stopped GI tract, and a couple more days of hugging our toilet, I finally had to go to the hospital to get things moving again.

The excellent news is that it worked and I could once again start eating and drinking (and I could un-clench from my ball!), and the fluids they gave me for dehydration gave me a good amount of energy back, to where I've been feeling much like my old self for the last two days.

And I've been appreciating the heck out of that.

We spent yesterday having a family day, where we visited some extended family from out of town, roamed around SantaLand, enjoyed a free Saturday matinee of How To Train Your Dragon 2 (complete with movie theater treats!), stopped by for a quick visit with Gene and Mary, then headed home for a pizza supper (thanks, Brandie!) All day long I would pause myself and say a quick prayer of thanks for the normalcy that was steeped in that day (including a kid melt-down over the clothes they had to wear and two wild, sugar-high girls who couldn't stop crazy-giggling after inhaling Skittles at the movie.)

So, now we're just enjoying the next two days before Brad and I head back to the cities on Tuesday for two days of appointments. Hopefully my blood-work will show improvements so I will be able to go back on the study drug (at a smaller dose that my body will handle better) and we will keep attacking the cancer in my bones and lymph nodes.

I hope you are enjoying this holiday season with your loved ones!