Year 2 check up results

So I have arrived back from Houston and finally had some time to update about my results! I still have yet to hear about my bone marrow biopsy I had on Wednesday (8/21/13) but I guess no news is good news :) 

On Tuesday (8/20/13) I saw my doctor and there were a couple of things that have changed since my last visit in 2012. My bone density scans came back and it looks like I lost some bone density in my spine (not quite osteoporosis, they call it osteopenia meaning my bone density is less than normal). That means that my vitamin D intake has not been enough as well as my calcium intake. So I have gone to the grocery and picked up a couple vitamins that will help me keep my bones strong since my body can't naturally do it anymore (thanks to menopause). I have been getting sun but I always put a lot of sunscreen on which reduces the amount of vitamin D my body can absorb. Talk about a catch-22 right? I need vitamin D to keep my bones strong but I get dirty looks from the doctors when they see I have a tan. I put the sunscreen on and sit under trees! What more do you want from me?! I live in Hawaii! It is very hard to avoid the sun! >.< So I guess this is the end of the year without pills (not quite a year but it has felt like it!) and now I will start setting reminders for myself :(. I am also setting reminders to take my hormone pills, cream and patch (that I change out every 2 weeks). Thank Steve Jobs for the iPhone! Without it...I fear what would entail given my lack of memory when it comes to taking pills. 

So, the hormones I am taking are to help get my body back into balance. They shouldn't give me any migraines like birth control does because with birth control the hormones are more than what the body produces to try and control ovulation. With replacement hormones they are just trying to replace what would normally be there if I wasn't in menopause. I'm excited to start them tomorrow and cross my fingers and hope for a decrease in hot flashes!

***BEWARE (father, this is mostly pointed towards you): Reader discretion advised. Female parts will be talked about and I apologize for any discomfort I may cause. You have been warned and may proceed with caution.

My other major issue I've been dealing with since going through menopause has been 

vaginal dryness. Chemotherapy has caused my eyes to dry up as well as my mouth (granted I can almost eat toast now without a gulp of milk with every bite) and it may be causing this dryness as well. Menopause definitely causes vaginal dryness and it has been giving me very painful bathroom breaks. With this being my biggest issue it was very important that I try to start the hormone replacement therapy in the hopes that my body goes back to normal and no more dryness. However, Dr. Ciurea thinks that since my eyes are still dry, my bone density has decreased and I have severe vaginal dryness that it may all be caused by GVHD (for those of you who have forgotten GVHD or Graft Versus Host Disease is when my cells and my brothers cells are not getting along and causing a ruckus). He wanted me to start tacrolimus again (the immunosuppressant I was on after my stem cell transplant) and the prophylactics (like Bactrim to help support my immune system when it is lowered) but after talking to my Gynecologist he decided to let me try out the hormones first for two weeks and if my symptoms don't get better then (after emailing them my results and talking to them) I would start the tacro regimen. The tacro is supposed to lower my immune system to see if the symptoms alleviate and then slowly come off of it in the hopes that my cells and travis' cells get along better (it's kind of like putting them into time out). It would be much easier if the hormones take care of the problem (less pills to take :D) but we will have to see in two weeks what the outcome will be! I just hope that my symptoms go away and I don't have to wince every time I go to the bathroom. My eyes are still way too dry to consider contacts or even lasix so it's a good thing I'm used to wearing glasses :) It amazes me that two years after my last chemotherapy treatment that my body is still working to get itself back to normal. I hope that something works! 

****No more mentioning of lady parts.....it is safe to read again :)

I talked to a fertility doctor in the gynecologic oncology center in MD Anderson about what I should expect when I start looking at getting pregnant. She is new to MD Anderson and it amazed me that a lot of her job right now is informing not only patients but also doctors of the treatment options when it comes to patients getting chemotherapy and radiation. When I was going through my egg harvesting my doctors didn't know much at all about the process, how long it took and where to do it. I am pleased that they finally got a fertility doctor in the hospital and they are actually running a clinical trial for those that are about to go through a stem cell transplant and want to try and preserve ovarian function. I wish I could have been a part of it (it's just two shots of a hormone before and after the SCT) if only to give them more data for their study. Now, if we could get the insurance companies on board with funding egg harvesting and  other fertility treatments to cancer patients then we wouldn't have such a big problem! After talking to the fertility doctor I have a better idea about what I should do when I move back to texas and the steps I need to take to make babies happen :) I know before I said that the doctor normally puts two eggs or embryos in at once in the hopes that at least one takes to pregnancy but in my case if I actually got pregnant with twins it would put me in a higher risk pregnancy (I'm already going to be a high risk pregnancy so I don't need to make it even more riskier). So I'll have three separate chances :) I hope I don't have GVHD because that would delay any forward motions of having babies so please cross your fingers for me that it's all just mean ole menopause! 

I had such a wonderful trip and I miss my partner in crime Kell Bells! (I've got a fever! and the prescription I have is for more Kell Bell!) Get it? SNL? Christopher Walken? No? Maybe someone will get that reference. :(

I am ready for school to start and very excited for my final semester!!! whoo!! I am taking 13 credits, so my first full-time semester since I've been back! I feel ready and capable :) It'll be a busy 4 months but I'm excited for it! 

Oh and with all this going on my doctor wants me back in Houston in January so don't worry Houstonians, I'll be back in 5 months! This time with Cassidy in tow :D Can't wait to be back! 

Well farewell for now but I will be back to update y'all on how the hormones are working for me! wish me luck!

Aloha!

My 2 year check up

Hey Y'all! Greetings from Houston, Texas!

I have come up from Oahu to Houston for my 2 year check up! Can you believe it has been TWO YEARS?!?! holy crap! It feels like it was an enternity ago but also surprises me how fast time flies when you are not in the hospital. haha. I arrived in Houston last Thursday afternoon and have been staying with my great friend Kelly (who was my nurse) at her apartment.

On Friday I had an appointment with a Professor at Texas Women's University to talk about the application process for their Physical Therapy program and to take a tour of the campus. It made me very excited for my future and help me know what they are looking for when I apply. I have two classes I need to take for their pre-requisites in order to apply and I need to start studying for the GREs again. I am planning on moving back to Texas (with Cassidy and Zoe in tow) and plan on gaining my residency there since it cuts the tuition for PT school by HALF. That way I can settle down, gain some experience at another PT clinic and breathe before I say goodbye to my social life for three years. Very excited!

After Kelly got done with work we hopped in the car and drove down to Austin (3 hours away). We arrived around 11:30 pm to Tom and Angel's house. Teagan (their 8 year old daughter) was still awake as she was very excited for our arrival. I love this family so much! They are wonderful hosts and always make sure I have a good time in Austin. On Saturday they brought home Kolaches for us to eat while Teagan was at an audition for a commercial. This was my first experience with Kolaches and I was very impressed with them. They are like manapua but Polish (I think?). I love how every culture pretty much has the same food but with different ingredients/spices. All the same concept....a type of bread stuffed with deliciousness. :) After breafast/the audition Angel took me, Kelly and Teagan to go get our toes done! Now, the last time I got my toes done was the weekend before I was diagnosed. Yes, in 2011. So it was much needed! Thank you Angel for that treat! After that Tom took me, Kelly and Teagan (Angel had a bridal shower to attend) to a wine bar/restuarant called Cru. My mother would have LOVED this place. They have "flights" of wine that allow you to try 3 different wines. I chose a Chardonnay trio and they were all so different from each other. Very cool! Once lunch (it was more like Linner) was done we went to watch the bats fly out from Congress Ave bridge at sunset on a boat. This bridge was accidentally designed in such a way that accommodates bats perfectly for their protection while they give birth to their pups. About 750,000 pregnant bats fly in and stay during the summer to raise their pups. When we saw them the baby bats are old enough to fly out to hunt as well so we saw 1.5 million bats fly out to go hunt. It was very cool! I think I got peed on a little bit but other than that no harm done! haha. Such a cool experience.

After that (this was a very long, but fun, day) Kelly and I went over to her friend's house for his birthday party. All of her friends had come down for their friend's wedding so I got to meet them all again at the house party. I had so much fun! Kelly has amazing friends and I am so happy that I got to see them again. We stayed up until 5 am (omg.) and was very tired the next day but it was well worth it! Such a fun day!

The next day we had brunch with Tom, Angel and Teagan and then around 4 pm started to head back to Houston. It took longer coming back because there was traffic and by the time we got home (sometime after 8 pm) we quickly went for a run (1 1/2 miles...go me!) and then relaxed in the hot tub. A great way to end a great weekend!

Yesterday (Monday 8/19/13) I had my gynocology appointment and PAP smear. I've been having a hard time dealing with my menopausal symptoms (like hot flashes and dryness)...let's just say they had to use a pediatric sized instrument for me. They referred me to their new fertility doctor at MD Anderson whom I am scheduled to see on Friday (8/23) morning before I leave to go back to Hawaii. My gyno prescribed some hormones (patches, cream and pill) that won't put me at risk for a blood clot. I am hoping that these will work and help me with my symptoms and put my body back to (almost) normal! Please cross your fingers and wish me luck!

Today I have a full day of appointments:
10:30 am: Blood test
11:00 am: Bone density test
11:30 am: Survivorship meeting for 2 years
1:00 pm: Dr. Ciurea (my stem cell transplant doctor)
2:00 pm: pulmonary test (lung capacity; I'm aiming to beat my last score of 101!)

So far I am very impressed with MD Anderson as all my appointments are ON SCHEDULE today! It is 12:45 pm now and I'm waiting to see Dr. Ciurea. My bone density tests takes a few hours to come back but I am confident that it will come back normal. I will start taking a Vitamin D supplement to help out my immune system (my blood test shows that my immune system has increased!) and calcium absorption for my bones to keep them strong. I got some info packets about what to expect for year two post-transplant and I learned that I still have 1 more year to watch out for Graft-Versus-Host disease until I won't have to worry about it too much. After 3 years it is less likely for me to get GVHD but I always need to be aware of it as I can get it any time for the rest of my life! So far my blood numbers look good but i'll update that again after I see Dr. Ciurea. After my appointments I will get back together with Kelly and we will hang out until I go to dinner with my Aunt Dorothy.

Speaking of which, I saw her mother yesterday (Aunt Drexel) who is 101 years old! She fell a couple months ago and is having to walk with a walker for the first time ever...and she HATES it! It was so nice to see her and I made her DAY being there with her! She is getting her strength back and I know that as soon as she can she will throw that walker out the window! Such a sweet lady and I am excited to be closer to her once I move back to Texas. I told her she has to live for at least 2 more years so that we can get to know each other more and so I can come visit more than just once a year!

Jan and Janet will be coming back from their trip to Canada a couple days early so I am SO HAPPY that I will get to see them before I go! Kelly and I have made dinner plans with them on Wednesday at Brenners on the Bayou...one of my favorite places! I am so lucky to get to see them :)

Speaking of Wednesday, tomorrow morning I am due for my bone marrow aspiration :( yuck. I think this is number 7 or 8. I have lost track and it is hard for me to count the little dots on my hips in the mirror. I hope it comes back clear! I feel pretty positive about it :)

Well it is about time for me to see my doc. I will update later today or tomorrow once I get the results back for all of my tests! Thanks everyone for your support!