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!!