I had my first blood draw today and my blood counts are good!  The port needle didn't hurt at all, so I'm pretty happy today.   I am feeling like my old self, finally.  Just wanted to let you all know in case you were wondering...

I am off to get my hair cut this evening, but I have been advised not to color it by the nurses.  I guess I'll be walking around looking like peppy le pew with bi-color hair here shortly.  That's if I don't lose it!  Yall please pray I don't lose it, I really don't want to.

My Mom told me about a funny website today:  http://imtooyoungforthis.org and here are several things on there I find hilarious!

And this is a throw pillow - ha!!

Until next time - love yall!

Is it really Monday already?  Weekends are never long enough!  I'm at work today, but I decided I am tired of condensing manuals, so here I am writing on here.  I have felt weird all day, and am yawning out of control, but I'm pushing through it and will most likely stay until 5.  They say a week after treatment is when your blood counts are at their lowest, so I am guessing that's why I am dragging today.  We will see tomorrow - my first blood draw from my port is at 11, hopefully they don't send me straight home!  

This past weekend, Ben and I decided to go to the USC-UAB game in Columbia.  I had considered staying home, but I've seen enough of my house lately - so we went.  It was so much fun!  The weather was perfect, and we saw a bunch of good friends and family that we haven't seen in a while which is always a good time.  Ben's sister and her husband came down from Virginia, along with several of their good friends.  We also saw Chris and Laura's little girl, Raegan, who is such a sweet little thing!  It was so good to see everyone!  

So, all in all - it was an awesome weekend with one exception.  Note to self:  Do not attempt to walk all the way to Williams Brice Stadium, then walk up to the nosebleeds and climb 100 stairs after having chemotherapy.  You will pass out.  I almost did and got that funny feeling you get right before you do pass out - but somehow I didn't.  That was just dumb and I guess I think I'm superwoman, but hey, at least now I know my limits!  

I'll be in touch!

Love you all

Today has been a sloooooow day, I have been dragging all day but nothing a little nap won't take care of.  It seems to be coming in waves now, so there will be moments where I feel 100%, and others where I just don't want to get up.  You know that feeling you get right before you get sick, or catch a cold?  That's what I feel like today.  Not terrible, but not good either.  I stayed home from work again today, but I think I'll go in tomorrow just to get out of the house!

I want to bring attention to my Light the Night page - thanks so much to all of you who have donated!  I HAVE REACHED MY GOAL!

I would also like to bring attention to the Charleston Light the Night page for Team Kerri - thank you so much to Kristie Santora for starting this for me and everyone who will be walking in my honor.  Yall are so awesome!

Thanks again for the endless prayers and support - love you all!

Kerri

First things first, I survived the first treatment!  Yesterday was a double whammy because I had the port put in in the morning and chemo in the afternoon.  The port took about an hour to put in, and they did make me super sleepy which was good.  Ben and my Dad went to get me Chick-fil-a right after so that made me happy!  You all know anytime I can eat I am happy.  I felt better after getting something in my stomach - it was roaring like a freight train before they wheeled me in the radiology room.  I am so sore today - it feels like someone punched me in the chest.  You don't realize how much you use those muscles until someone cuts them!  The port is sewn into my chest wall and believe me, I can feel it.  It hurts to smile, it hurts to talk, and turning over in the bed is nearly impossible.  I have been trying to take Tylenol instead of the Loritab because that stuff is so strong and I would rather be coherent than just sleep 24 hours a day.  Its working ok and hopefully it won't be as sore tomorrow.

Ok, so on to the chemo.  They wheeled me to the next building where my oncologist is (pretty convenient!) and I got my own room which was nice.  They nurses began giving me an anti-nausea drip and then started the chemo.  I am on a regimen called ABVD which is 4 different drugs.  The A drug is the strongest of the bunch and its the one that will basically kill every cell in its path, make your hair fall out, make you pee red, and just make you feel terrible.  I got that one first and then on to the others.  I was thinking that I would immediately feel bad but I didn't at all.   After it was all said and done, it took a little over 2 hours.  The port is a life-saver, all they do is hook it up and you just sit there!  They can even draw blood from it which ROCKS.  I hate needles so this is just awesome!  I will absolutely endure some soreness if I never have come in contact with the idiots that can't put an IV in.  

So, all in all - it wasn't that bad.  I am wondering if this stuff will really hit me tomorrow - the nurse said it might wait a couple days to show its ugly face.  I am pretty tired today, but its nothing I can't handle.

I am going to try my hardest to make it to the USC-UAB game this weekend, its driving me crazy not being able to be with my Gamecocks.

Thank you to my awesome husband Ben, and my wonderful parents for being there with me yesterday - I love yall!

I will be in touch!  Until then, thanks for the comments, cards, flowers, emails, and calls - yall are too sweet!  

Love you all!

Kerri

The waiting is the hardest part

Every day you see one more card

You take it on faith, you take it to the heart

The waiting is the hardest part

Now this all went from me finding a lump just above my left collarbone to knowing I have cancer in about 2 weeks time.   I will tell you that if you think you've had roller coaster emotions before, try dealing with that.  At first they thought it was Cat Scratch Disease.  I wish! My ENT scheduled me for a CT scan (with an IV contrast I might add, almost passed out having that put in) to take a look at my head and neck.  I get through that and proceed to stuff my face with as much Chick-fil-a as I could buy since I hadn't been allowed to eat all day.  I get home and just get comfortable when my ENT called and said that I need to come into the office immediately.  I was like "NOW?, is there something wrong???"  Can you imagine driving over there?  I honestly don't remember it.  I don't know how I got there.  I almost threw up several times from the severe anxiety.  And through all of this, I was BY MYSELF.  No one was with me, no one to calm me down.  It was absolutely the most horrible day of my life.  He came into the room, calmly sat down and said this was most likely lymphoma.  I had several lymph nodes in my neck and upper chest that were enlarged, and he said that is clear signs of cancer.  I was in shock.  Meanwhile, Ben is about to board a plane in Dallas - he finds this out from me about 5 minutes before takeoff.  He cried the entire flight and you all know Ben hates flying. I felt so sorry for him.  Meanwhile, my parents are scrambling to get their things together and get to Atlanta as soon as possible.  I'm sure that was not an easy drive.  To make matters worse, my ENT schedules an emergency biopsy for the very next afternoon.  FUN!  So, they put me under on Friday, August 29th and take out the swollen lymph node in my neck.  Its Labor Day weekend - we won't know anything until the following Tuesday at the very earliest.  So, we tried to forget about it that weekend and just have a good time.  And we did.  I got the call that Tuesday morning, September 2nd while I was at work.  I had to hold it all in until my Mom came to pick me up.  That was a bad day.  Two days later we found out it was Hodgkin's.  And from there we have dealt with me having cancer.  Crazy huh?

I have found that those days when we didn't know what kind of lymphoma I had were absolutely terrible.  Even the days before when we just thought this was all a bad dream were the worst of my life.  I am not sure me, Ben and my Mom said 3 words to each other during those 2 days.  It was misery.  We just couldn't talk, if we did it was tears.  It's tough to celebrate when you have cancer, but when we found out it was Hodgkin's, what seemed like a thousand pound weight had been lifted off our shoulders.  We knew it was WAY better than Non-Hodgkin's.  We knew that it was a curable form of cancer.  Who'd ever heard of such a thing? Curable cancer?  Well I've got it.

I want to thank everyone who prayed for me and my family during those days - that was my greatest comfort and I truly believe my diagnosis was an answered prayer.  Its just unbelievable how many people come out of nowhere that want to help you and comfort you - people who barely know you.  It makes you stop and say "there really are good people in this world".  It's just amazing who calls, who sends cards, who sends emails to let you know they are thinking of you.  That means a lot.

So, here we go on this journey they call  "chemo" - lets just hope my body can handle this stuff better than others.  

I start Tuesday morning, Sept. 23rd at 8 am.  I am having a port-a-cath put in at 8 am (another fun day at the hospital!) and then Chemo will start around noon.

Thanks again for all of the prayers - you have all been so good to me.