On Wednesday and Thursday, I received my last chemo treatments. I didn't feel well after them. Very lightheaded, weak, and other side effects.. I'm a little better today. I go in October for a survivorship visit with NP. In December, I start my maintenance plan. 

I lost blog posts when I switched to a new theme for website. I did copy some of my posts and reposted them here. 

I can't believe it has been a week since Tom and I attended the Amish event in the charming town of Shipshewana. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to because some days I had absolutely no energy. I am so thankful I was able to attend. Chatting with friends and meeting new ones was a wonderful experience. It was fun meeting some of my readers. I'll share pictures that my husband took for me. Also Tom was with me for part of the book signing I did on our forty-fourth wedding anniversary. That evening we attended an Amish dinner at Yoder's farm. Saturday we went on a carriage ride, then went swimming at our hotel's pool, and attended Mass. We picked up a pizza on the way back to Shipshewana (went to church in White Pigeon, Michigan) and attended the play, A Simple Sanctuary, at Blue Gate Theatre. We enjoyed the play that was based on a novel by Beverly and David Lewis and the actors were awesome!

On Tuesday, I will go to Jewish Hospital to have a P.E.T. scan. Then on Wednesday, I'll see Dr. Herms to hear the results. I have chemo on Wednesday and Thursday. 
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My daughter Emily took me to chemo on Wed. I was glad I could finally have the treatment. My IV stand is on other side of my purse. I had to get the IV in my right arm. She couldn't get a vein in left arm. Chemo is hard on the veins.  It was the fourth week by the time I could have chemo. It's been stressful. The insurance had to approve the shots and so I had to play the waiting game until that happened. I was told that the insurance company likes to wait to see if the patient's white blood count will increase on its own which mine never did.  I finally had my white blood count up on Sunday when I was at Jewish Hospital. My treatment center is closed on Saturday and Sunday so I had to go to their treatment center at Jewish Hospital on the weekend. I had the shot on Sat. and on Sunday I didn't need it because my count was up to 1700. After my chemo on Friday, the nurse put an on-site injector on my arm. It was set for 27 hours and at 4:00 pm on Saturday, it beeped, then injected medication for 50 minutes. It will help keep my white blood count up so I can have chemo treatment in August. I was relieved when I could remove the patch and the whole thing. It kept flashing a green light every several seconds for the whole time. Emily said it looked like dental floss. LOL 
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First, I'll share a great occurrence that happened this week. My agent Lesley and I had a nice chat yesterday. She told me about her upcoming scheduled meetings with editors and publishers. She's going to the RWA conference this month and will pitch my new work-in-progress, HER MOTHER'S DECEPTION! ​

The bad news is I didn't have chemo AGAIN this week! I went to my appointment on Wednesday and my white blood count was only 260, so I had an injection shot of zavxio to increase my blood count. On Thursday I had another shot and my white blood count was 510. Then today my white blood count had dropped to 300. They don't know why my white blood count would drop like this after receiving the shots. I have to go tomorrow and Sunday for shots, so that I can hopefully have chemo next week. I haven't had chemo since the end of May. I didn't have pain today from the shot but yesterday I had severe pain in my left leg and left hip. 
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When I was at OHC last week and I had low platelets and a low white blood count, I couldn't have my treatment. At this time, the nurse practitioner Aimee (didn't see my usual NP, Lisa) said I would have it today, but I didn't. Aimee told me last week that even if blood count would be low that I'd have an injection and still have it. My white blood count was even lower today and platelets still low but higher than last week. Now I was told by Aimee that the insurance has to approve the injection and they wouldn't approve it yet but could have it next week. If still low, I'll have a patch to wear on arm and will have flu like symptoms for 24 hours from the injection. Insurance Co. likes to give it more time for white blood count to improve before they approve the injection. Then today Aimee told me that after I have the 6 months or 6 cycles of chemo treatment, that I have TWO more years of maintenance and go every other month. This is because my type of cancer does recur so I'll be in a maintenance program. I HAVE NEVER BEEN TOLD THIS BEFORE BY MY DOCTOR OR MY NP. 

I called the office to see if I could talk to Dr. Herms or Lisa but haven't been able to talk to either one. I can't believe this can be true. It seems like this is something I would have been told at the beginning or sometime by my doctor. Aimee said they have been doing this 2 year program for some time. I really do not want to have meds for two more years. I'm discouraged.
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