[Rich Z]

Andy,

No, that doesn't sound like fun at all. Honestly I was VERY worried about my second stent, as I was still on blood thinner and there was no mention of my stopping it prior to the stent insertion. I was scared to death that my arteries had been weakened (based on how easily I was getting bruised) and the artery was going to burst when they put in that stent. Which would have meant opening me up like a big clam shell, in a race against time before I bled out. There is nothing about heart surgery that even hints at being attractive and fun.

Hope you are going better, and will heal quickly and completely.

I seem to be doing OK. I wanted my cardiologist to cut back the dose on that Prasugrel blood thinner I am taking, but he was resistant to the idea. So I started cutting the tablets in half and taking only 5mg per day instead of 10. Until I found out that cutting the tablets was not recommended. Could not find any reason why it wasn't recommended, but thinking that I shouldn't buck fate, I stopped that practice. But I started taking the pill in the evening instead of the morning, thinking that the drug would dissipate somewhat over night, and during the day when I would be most likely the expose myself to bruising, the bruises wouldn't be as bad. I think it did help somewhat, but still, I bruise 1000% more easily than I used to.

Connie has switched to a different oncologist. She just was not comfortable with her first one. The first oncologist actually stopped treatments, and wanted to put Connie on Doxil, which is a pretty harsh chemo drug. Seemed like she was dragging her feet, wanting Connie to get an OK from her cardiologist, and it wound up going on two months with nothing happening. Connie was scared to death over what she had read about Doxil, so she wanted a second opinion from another oncologist. We actually tried to change oncologists at the original place (Florida Cancer Specialists) and it happened, but only for about a day, when somehow we got switched back. No satisfactory explanation for that from anyone. So we went elsewhere.

Connie and the new gynecological oncologist at Tallahassee Memorial Cancer Center seemed to mesh really well. Like two old friends talking. So instead of just a second opinion, Connie decided to just switch over. The new oncologist wanted Connie to finish up the cycles of the original drugs she was getting at FCS, so she is in the process of doing that now. Connie's last blood test showing the CA125 tumor marker score had risen a bit, after a consistent downward trend, so that is concerning. The new oncologist told us that this was likely to happen, because other factors can influence that score, but still, it did take a lot of wind out of our sails things things were looking really good. The last CT scan, taken in August (I think) didn't show any new developing tumors, so that was a good sign. I think there will be another scan scheduled sometime in December, so that will be "pins and needles" time waiting for the results.

Oh yeah, the new oncologist was shocked that the original oncologist hadn't put in a port for the chemo drug infusions. Those drugs can really mess up veins, and honestly getting yet another IV line put in every time Connie would go in for infusion was extremely stressful for her. So Connie decided to have that port put in, even at this late date. That was a bit painful and uncomfortable recovering from that minor surgery, but it has healed over pretty well now, but Connie says it still feels a bit uncomfortable. But at least it makes it much easier for the infusions.

Connie has been feeling mostly OK, under the circumstances. She has lost much of her hair, even using that DigniCap thing that is supposed to help. Probably she would be completely bald right now without it, so I guess it did help. Side effects haven't been as bad as we had thought. Very little nausea, probably from the anti-nausea drugs they give her. But she still gets an over all "just not feeling well" for a few days after the chemo. She is getting chemo every week this month, so there isn't going to be much down time for her. She is trying to keep food in her, even though her appetite will come and go. She is down to 105 lbs right now, but fluctuates up to 110 sometimes.

I got a prescription for Diazepam (Valium) from my Primary Care Physician back in May (before she left the network and struck out on her own) to help me get through the periods when Connie not feeling well puts cuts into my soul. I have to hold it together to be there to support and help her, so I can't be melting down over this. Honestly, though, it is really, REALLY tough.