Went to the girls' soccer games this morning/afternoon and then made some dinner - including homemade french fries! I love homemade french fries! They are totally worth the effort! (Although unfortunately I had to run to the grocery store last minute for a few things.)  Kay made a comment when I was making the dinner that it was good to have me cooking again.

As soon as we were finished with dinner Kitty, Kay and I ran to the church to watch the General Women's Broadcast. There were some good talks - although it is a little hard for me to sit in the church chairs for that long. The weather has been crazy that last few days with rain and cold temperatures! It is almost like we have skipped fall and got straight to winter!

Not too much to report from the last couple of days. I definitely feel really tired in the afternoons! Today my kids had piano lessons that I had to drive them around to for a chunk of the afternoon and I was completely exhausted by the time we were through!

Apparently I wasn't running 100% mentally today. I went to the grocery store in the afternoon to pick up a few things and when I got to the store, I pulled the keys out of the ignition and set them down so that I could write one more thing on my list and thought when I set them down that that was a dangerous thing to do. Then I promptly got out of the car and locked the doors using the switch inside the door and closed the door with the keys inside! I realized immediately what I had done. Luckily DH was working from home and I was able to call him to bring me the spare car key...

I haven't really had any issues with swelling today. I have had some stomach cramping, but other than that and being a little tired, I have been fine.

I decided to just take it easy today and try and get the swelling down in my leg. It did look better after last night's rest but was still a little swollen this morning. I did put on a compression sock after church yesterday and wore it until this morning when I showered. I am not sure if it helps or not.

I did several loads of laundry and just sat around chilling. After we had dinner we went for a walk around Oquirrh Lake which was a nice diversion. Overall I still feel pretty good and haven't been nauseous.

I went to the younger girls' soccer games yesterday and tried to just carry on as normal. Overall I felt pretty good yesterday  - probably just a little more tired than normal. I haven't really felt nauseous since my treatment which is a good thing.

I decided to go to church today but I'm not sure if that was a good call or not. My left leg started swelling up pretty bad while I was there and it was pretty swollen by the time I got home from the 3 hour church block. Then our home teachers came over and then we went to my parents' house for dinner. Overall I think I overdid it for my leg a little. I think some of it is the fluid that they gave me for the infusion that has pooled up in my leg again. It makes things pretty uncomfortable and doesn't look too pretty!

Had my first infusion this morning. I was given a bunch of premed through my port before the chemo drug was given. One of them that they give me is Benadryl and it knocks me how within just a minute or two of giving it to me. I told the nurse this before she gave it to me and then after she came and brought by some paper work to go over and I was having a hard time paying attention/staying awake. She asked me at one point if I was alright and I said that I was just getting really drowsy - I think she was completely surprised with how quickly it knocked me out. She came back later and said that I am a pretty light-weight if it takes me out that quickly! I pretty much just went in and out of sleep during the whole infusion while DH did some work on his laptop across from me. Other than that I was just tired the rest of the day and didn't do too much. We had a family in the ward bring us a meal that evening which helped as well.

I've been slowly getting back to normal activities but unfortunately my back/hip pain is pretty intense at times. It is making it hard to sleep at night. I finally broke down a couple of nights ago and took the stronger pain medication that they gave me after I left the hospital. It worked great and I was able to get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep!

Yesterday I met with my oncologist and we came up with a plan of treatment for me. I will be receiving chemotherapy treatments every 3 weeks with just one drug initially. We will see how the cancer responds to the drug and if we feel it is necessary, will add a 2nd drug and then move the infusions to 4 weeks apart. The thinking is that since my body responded so well to this drug the first time around, they are confident/hopeful that I will have the same outcome this time around.

DH came with me to the appointment and we were there for quite a while going over everything and also discussing managing my pain. They gave me some more of the strong medication as well as some anti-nausea ones for when I have my infusions. Right now I will be on the infusions indefinitely - as long as my body is responding well and it is keeping the cancer in check. They were unsure if there would be a need for another surgery because where the tumor is located makes it inoperable at this point. We asked why it didn't show up on the scans and they said that unfortunately that is common - the cancer in that location appeared to be somewhat flat and wrapped around a blood vessel which made it hard/impossible to see in the scan...

My first chemo session is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. I was initially thinking that they could do the infusions at the clinic near my house but they will want to see me before each infusion so it makes sense to just do the infusions downtown at the main building. Plus, they said that the main clinic is more setup to handle any adverse reactions or complications - which apparently with the drug that I will be on - tends to happen on the 8th exposure to the drug - which will be my 2nd infusion this time around.

They will monitor how my body is responding by monitoring my CA-125 levels as well as period scans - probably after the 3rd or 4th cycle.

So, wish me luck for tomorrow!!

Well, things are slowly improving and it is getting easier to do things. I still get pretty winded walking places but managed to go to both of my younger girls' soccer games this morning and then was able to sit through our adult session of stake conference this evening (2 hrs long). My biggest issue with going places is that I don't have a lot of clothes that are comfortable to wear for me right now. I still have quite a bit of weight/fluid/post-surgery stuff around my mid-section (I look pregnant...) so my clothes need to be really loose around the waist. I think with my last surgery I still had maternity clothes that I think I wore afterwards. Unfortunately I have been trying to lose some weight recently and have been getting rid of clothes that were too big.

Unfortunately my old back/hip/leg pain came back last night so I wasn't able to get a lot of sleep because I just couldn't get comfortable. I may have to start taking some of the stronger pain medications - which I have been able to avoid up to this point. The heating pad helps some with the pain. I finished both of my antibiotics today so hopefully whatever bacterias I had are gone now. My left leg - especially around the ankle area is still swelling up some and it is kind of annoying.

The last two nights haven't been too bad other than the fact that I have to get up every hour or two to use the bathroom! I think it is all the fluid that they filled me with at the hospital and that just happens after a surgery that just seems to want to drain itself at night while I am trying to sleep.

I wore a compression sock on my left leg most of the day yesterday and last night and my leg is finally going down in the swelling which I am grateful for. My leg and foot have been about double the size of my right and it has been quite uncomfortable. My left thigh feels bruised all over though.

Today I was able to get more done and am able to move around a little easier. DH went into work today for the first time since my surgery so I was on my own for the day. I had an appointment at the clinic not far from our house this morning to have some labs drawn. So I drove for the first time and didn't have any problems getting to and from the clinic. I am able to manage my pain pretty well and can tell when things are wearing off or if I have overdone things a little.

Happy Labor Day! I slept alright last night. I get up several times a night to use the bathroom or to take some acetaminophen. It is still hard to move around in bed and I feel bad if I move too much because I don't want to disturb DH's sleep.

My parents invited us over to dinner at their house tonight but I really didn't feel up to going so I sent the family and stayed at home. Other than that, not much to report.

Wow my bed felt nice last night. And it was so dark and quiet! I definitely missed that while at the hospital. My first night at home went alright. It is so hard to do anything - even roll from one side to the other while in bed. It is amazing how much you use. Your abdomen muscles without even realizing it.

DH gets to give me Lovonox shots (a blood thinner) every night like with my last surgery. They sent me home with 2 different pain medications, 2 antibiotics, an anti-nausea drug and a stool softener - although I had told the doctor that I didn't need that one since I already have some that I bought over-the-counter. So far I am hoping to only have to take the ibuprofen that they prescribed and then some over-the-counter acetaminophen for pain. When I left the hospital I was down to just taking the acetaminophen and occasionally some ibuprofen - especially at night.

I got up somewhat early today to get the kids up and ready for church. I will stay home today. I am holding off for a bit to allow my ab muscles to recover some more and my leg is still so swollen - I want to keep it elevated as much as possible.

I spent most of the day today just relaxing. Overall I fell alright - all things considered.

Saturday morning one of the doctors came in to see me and we talked about me going home later that day. She said that the CT scan looked good. I was switched to oral antibiotics and they want to monitor me on them for a bit before they feel okay releasing me. Also, apparently my white blood cell count was slightly elevated that morning so they wanted to draw another set of labs that evening and then let me know if i can go home after that. She said that they wanted to monitor me on the antibiotics for 24 hours but she could maybe be persuaded to only do 12. I asked her if they would remove my stitches before I left and she said that they could - usually they wait about 10 days and take them out at a nurses' flow-up visit, but since I have been here 11 days they could do it before I go home.

I was incredibly bored all day on Saturday... First of all there was absolutely nothing on T.V. worth watching so I read a lot and just sat around hoping that my counts would be good later that day. I took some time to start packing my things in hopes that I would be released.

So they came and drew labs at 5 p.m. and then I ordered some dinner and waited. The doctor apparently tried to call my room but I never heard the phone ring, so she called the nurse who brought me the phone. The doctor said that as long as I was feeling well, I could go home!! Yea!! I quickly let DH know and then the nurse started to make preparations for my check-out. She came and removed my staples - which hurt a little bit - and then she said they were preparing the check-out information that they needed to send home with me. Unfortunately we were now at the nurse change-over time so I would have to wait a while until the new nurse could come and go over the info with me and deaccess my port. And they also had to do a last round of vitals - blood pressure, heart rate, temperature and oxygen level.

DH and a couple of the kids showed up to take me home but we ended up waiting probably over an hour before I was finally able to be released. They had to send my prescriptions down to the university hospital because the pharmacy at Huntsman was already closed - and the one at the university was open until 9 p.m. I ended up sending DH down to get the prescriptions because we were waiting so long for the nurses. And he ended up making it back up almost to my room before I was finally ready to go.

It felt nice (and weird) actually putting on real clothes. I have worn a hospital gown for way too long now. DH had to help me with my socks and shoes - it is hard to reach my feet right now. Plus, my left leg and foot is incredibly swollen - we had to loosen my tennis shoe a ton just to get it on.

It was definitely nice getting outside for the first time in 11 days. The ride home was uneventful and as soon as we got there I had to say goodbye to my oldest who was on her way down to BYU for her sophomore year.

Thanks to everyone who helped out my family while I was in the hospital. I know we all greatly appreciated all of the love and kindness that we felt.

Friday morning I kept waiting for a doctor to come in and see me to evaluate how I was doing and answer any questions, and no one showed up - usually someone comes between 6 and 7 in the morning. I woke up pretty hungry and was dying to have something other than liquids - which just do not seem very filling. I finally asked the nurse about it and she paged the doctor and he gave the okay for me to try solid foods. Yea!!

When they finally brought the menu to me I ordered some toast and fruit and some scrambled eggs and sausage. The toast was overcooked, the eggs tasted pretty gross and the sausage was already giving me heartburn after just a couple of bites! Yikes! I think I am going to go crazy here on the hospital food.

I had quite a bit of diahrrea most of the day and felt like I was always having to get up and use the bathroom. There has been little to no drainage again today so that is good news. I have been trying to get up and walking some more but unfortunately need to stay close to the bathroom!

A doctor finally came in and saw me later in the afternoon and I am crossing my fingers that they will let me go home tomorrow. He said that the infectious disease team was going to come talk to me because I guess the ball is somewhat in their court as to whether or not I can be released. Apparently I have two different infections - one in the blood stream and a separate one in my urine. The urinary one is a common one so they are not concerned about that, but they are concerned with how I got the bacteria that is in my blood.

Just as the doctor was about to leave my room the infectious disease team came in and they asked me all sorts of questions and then looked at my abdomen and felt around it to see if I had pain anywhere - which is a silly question to ask someone who has just had major abdominal surgery... I guess afterwards they decided to order a CT scan on me to make sure that there was nothing abnormal that they could see from the scan. I was worried at first that they were going to make me drink the oral contrast - which gives me diahrrea - but they didn't. It was pretty quick - they just wheeled me down to the imaging floor and we were done in less than 10 minutes.

Friday night I did not sleep well at all for some reason. I slept in the same position as the night before but just laid there for hours at a time never really drifting off to sleep.  Plus, I kept having to use the bathroom too.

I felt decent overall on Wednesday but then on Wednesday night, I had a lot of stomach cramps all night long and a lot of heartburn and only got bursts of sleep of about an hour at a time. At one point I finally threw up a few times in a row and it was a nice bright green color - pure stomach acid. My abdomen is still draining a lot and that is a annoying to have to deal with all the time. Thursday morning I pointed out once again to the doctors that my left foot/leg was really swollen so they ordered an ultrasound of my leg to check for any blood clots. I also had an x-ray done of my abdomen to check my bowels and make sure that there was nothing that looked amiss since I still haven't had a bowel movement yet.

A vascular surgeon did the ultrasound of my leg and didn't see any clots, but then he went on to tell me why I have all of the swelling. He says that the beds in the hospital are horrible because they encourage people to sleep with their head and knees up. He says that especially when you are not able to be up and walking around a lot that the fluid in your legs doesn't get pushed back up to your core. When you are sleeping you should sleep completely flat with a pillow under your feet. That will allow gravity to help work that fluid out of the legs. A lot of the fluid too is from the fluid retention that I have because of all the fluids that I am being given plus the fluid build-up from the surgery - I look pregnant right now because there is so much fluid built up in my abdomen.

I try to FaceTime my kids most days and it is sad because they just want me to come home and I just want to be home too - the younger ones are having a hard time understanding why I'm still not home.

Overall I had a pretty good day on Thursday. I am still being pumped with a bunch of stuff through my i.v. - mostly antibiotics and electrolytes because my levels got really low. When my husband and daughter were visiting during the day he had me get up every hour to walk around. I ended the day with making 15 laps around the floor. I still haven't had a huge appetite for anything but I did order a few things off the liquid menu to try and was able to drink more of it than I have been up to this point.

The last couple of times I checked on my fluid drainage, it had almost stopped which I am hoping is a permanent thing! I have only been taking Tylenol today for pain.

So then last night I was feeling pretty good and when I was ready for sleep I got my bed into the totally flat position and laid down on my side and was actually able to sleep pretty good! I think I got about 3 1/2 hours until I had to be woken up for some medication and a Lovonox shot (to prevent blood clots) then (after getting up to use the bathroom and no drainage) I was able to sleep for another 1 1/2 hours when I had to be woken up again to be hooked up to antibiotics and labs. I then tried to go back to sleep but felt that my insides were a little unsettled so I got up to use the bathroom again. And this time I actually had a bowel movement (a lot of diahrrea). And there was very little drainage all night. I was going to go back to sleep again but my insides are feeling quite unsettled so I am sitting up waiting for things to work through my system.

So, definitely some steps in the right direction! I actually have a bit of an appetite right now too so maybe I can talk the doctor into allowing me to try food today.

As far as I know the things that are keeping me here in the hospital are bowel movement (which can be checked off now), I need to be able to tolerate solid foods and then the bacteria in my blood - they need to know that that is under control with the i.v. antibiotics until they can switch me to oral antibiotics and allow me to go home.