Hospital Today

Thought I'd better write about today's hospital visit, before I forget what's what..

Saw Dr P, who informed my that my bilirubin levels are almost back to normal now. Normal is 4-22. Mine's 24. Which, considering it was 250, at in January, is good!
We don;t know if it's because of the stent, or if the chemo's shrunk the tumours, so reduced the obstruction in my bile ducts. I suppose it's likely to be a combination of both.

While my bilirubin's gone down, other liver function results have gone up a bit, which could be cause for concern.
It could mean the capecitabine's not working as well anymore. Or it could be something else that's affecting it.
It's not great that they've gone up anyway. Liver scan's been ordered.

Over the past month or so, I've been having pain in my shoulder too. We know there are bone mets there, so it's likely that they're worsening too.
I'll be having a few blasts of radiation on my shoulder, to hopefully help with the pain.

Dr P's also referring me back to Nottingham City Hospital, now we know the Lapatinib/Tykerb trial's still open (for now). I just hope I'm still eligible for it, and I manage to get there before the trial closes.
While I was there, I got my prescription for cycle 6 of capeciatbine/Xeloda.

Not much else to report today.. I'm tired from hanging around the hospital all day.
Dr P was running behind, which I never mind, because I know he doesn't rush his patients. He always has plenty of time for us.
Then I had my zometa infusion. They found veins to take blood, and for the zometa, first time, which is quite unusual for me!

Well..

I know it's been a while since I've written. And I apologise to those who've shown concern for where and how I am, and I haven't responded too.
I just haven't been well enough to spend time at the computer, let alone find the energy to write here.

After being woken in the middle of the night, a couple of weeks ago, with awful pains in my side, yellow eyes, and feeling particularly ill, I found out that my liver had begun to fail, and wasn't functioning well enough to take part in the Tykerb/lapatinib trial I'd been pinning my hopes on.

An appointment was promptly made with my oncologist for the following day, who started me on the chemo (Xeloda/capecitabine) that I could have started six weeks previously, had I not been waiting to get on the trial.
This chemo is in tablet form.. twice a day for two weeks, followed by a weeks 'rest'.
The Xeloda has given me stomach cramps, and a dodgy tum, for two weeks so far (and still counting). It's kept me up half the night, aswell as plaguing me during the day.

I was also sent for an ultrasound liver scan. The doctor doing the scan decided that the cancer in my liver hadn't changed much since the previous scan, before christmas. But that my bile duct was being obstructed by 'something', as yet unknown, hence the jaundice.
Tomorrow, I'm to have an MRI scan of my liver, to try and establish what's going on, why my bile ducts blocked, and if a liver stent might help alleviate the jaundice symptoms.

I've never known much about jaundice. I just thought it made you yellow.
And yes, I'm yellow.. my skin, my eyes. Particularly my bald head.
What I didn't know is that it makes you feel so ill. Sick, tired, upset stomach, itchy, and just generally horrible.
I'm itching like a crazed woman. All my skin itches constantly. It wakes me up in the night. I'm itching all day. I have scratch marks all over me, made by my finger nails from the constant scratching.
I read somewhere that the itching sometimes drives people to suicide, and I can well believe it.
My onc prescribed colestyramine to try to help with the itching, but I'm not convinced it's working.

So, this is why I haven't been here. I haven't been anywhere. I've felt too ill to go anywhere. Apart from to my parents. I've now moved back to my parents house, because I haven't felt well enough to be by myself, or take care of myself properly.
I'd love to be able to go somewhere.. out for lunch, or even just out in the car (with someone else driving, obviously. Seeing as I'm not alllowed to do that anymore). But I can't even sit in the car without feeling horribly ill and exhausted. Never mind get out of it, at the other end of a journey.
I hate the thought that I might never be well enough to go and visit my friends at their homes, again.

I suppose I hate feeling that I have no 'hope', or future left. I feel that I've really had enough now, and I just want it all to be over.
The future always excited me. I loved planning things, and doing things.. holidays, what I was going to do for work, etc. I loved my job, before I had to give it up for this cancer crap. I'd always dreamed I'd have my own little witchy shop one day.
So many things I wanted to do, and places I wanted to go. I've never even been to the south coast of the UK.. always wanted to.
I wanted to go to Edinburgh again, and North Wales.
Now I feel that's all gone. I have no future to plan for, or get excited about, anymore.