Cancer in a Mitten

Endometrial Cancer: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Dear Cancer…

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I know I still need to work on the side effects post, however, I need to address cancer and put some things down in writing.

Cancer has taken away my uterus and therefore took away my ability to have children. I will never know what it is like to birth a child, or raise a child. I mourned this years ago, but the pain still hurts. I SO wanted to be a mommy. Thank you, Cancer.

Cancer has taken away my hair, 5 times I have lost my hair during to chemotherapy. Right now my hair is super thin and honestly, I’d rather it all fall out then my hair be so stinkin thin! I always had very thick hair. I don’t know what my new normal is yet as I am still in treatment.

Cancer has made me more aware of my body. This could be good but it’s not. I get a twinge of pain in a limb and I’m looking up the side effects for all my cancer drugs. My shoulders hurt, is that a side effect? My eyes are extra blurry, is that a side effect? The answer to both is Yes.

Cancer has made me move from my glorious bedroom upstairs to sleep and live in a downstairs bedroom (it’s more like a small office) because doing stairs is not something I want to do (sometimes I can’t physically do the stairs) and it is closest to the bathroom and the kitchen is not too far away.

Cancer has taken away my social life. I didn’t really have a social life, but now I totally do not leave home unless I have an appointment. I have missed many a family function due to not feeling well.

And finally for this blog post at least, Cancer has taken away my livelihood. I exhausted my Short Term Disability at work and had to go out on Long Term Disability. I cannot do my job with these side effects., When I post about my side effects it may make more sense.

Dear Cancer…you suck big time!!! And I am tired of you.

Till next time…..Heidi

Immunotherapy – The Next Treatment

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So, we left off in May of 2023 and my next chemo was scheduled for the next day with a CT scan later in the month. That chemo was my last one. The CT scan showed that the chemo wasn’t working anymore. Most, if not all, of the spots grew and a new something popped up in my abdomen or pelvis.

The next treatment to try would be Immunotherapy. Per The American Cancer Society, “Immunotherapy is treatment that uses a person’s own immune system to fight cancer. Immunotherapy can boost or change how the immune system works so it can find and attack cancer cells.” The American Cancer Society also offers a flyer on Immunotherapy if you’re interested.

Getting the Immunotherapy approved took a few months because the tumor that was removed in 2020 needed to be sent back in for testing. I forget what it needed to be tested for. If I remember later, I will post an update. Therefore, I didn’t start the Immunotherapy until September at least. I honestly don’t remember the exact date.

In early September 2023, I went back to work – strictly working from home. I really wanted to start the Immunotherapy before I went back to work because I had heard (reading in Facebook groups) that the side effects are horrible. And I really wanted to take the drugs and see if it’s as bad as I read, or would I be able to handle it. I didn’t get the chance to do that, unfortunately.

So, the Immunotherapy I am on are Keytruda and Lenvima. Keytruda is an infusion every 3 weeks like the chemo was before. The difference is that the Keytruda IV bag takes 30 minutes to get through. The side effects – for me anyways – with the Keytruda don’t seem that bad. But the Lenvima? That is a daily pill (actually 2 pills), and the side effects are never ending. At least with the carbo/taxol that I was on before, I knew that I’d feel awful for a couple weeks and then I’d get a week or so of feeling “normal” before it was time to go back in for another infusion. With Keytruda/Lenvima, though, the side effects NEVER END!

I am going to leave this here for now and will update soon with exactly what my side effects are. I would have finished this during the weekend, however, I was sick…throwing up sick. Meh.

Until next time…Heidi

I’m Still Here

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I will post here this weekend. I have a lot to update. I fell off of posting for a while…that happens to everyone, right?

I still have cancer. I’m still in treatment. I’m off chemo for now and on Immunotherapy.

More coming soon…Heidi

Chemotherapy Is Tomorrow…

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I’ve had my pre-chemo oncology appointment. I got my pre-chemo blood draw this afternoon. I am loading up with steroids to prepare for chemo. And…my next CT scan is scheduled for May 31.

I really thought this was going to be the last chemo for a little while, however, there’s another one in my chart. I am starting to feel like this is just life now – doctor appointments, blood draws, CT scans, and chemo.

This time around, I will be going in for a bag of IV fluids. I hope this will help me feel better sooner than I usually do.

I’ll write more this week.

Until then…Heidi