In my last blog I mentioned that I was going to see a thoracic surgeon to see if we needed to do anything about the pockets of fluid that were walled off in my lung. He said my breathing was great and there would need to be a lot more fluid in the lungs before he would think about doing anything! I will go back in a few more weeks and do a chest x-ray to make sure there is not more fluid at that time. In the meantime, he said let's take that drain out! So, this morning I went in and had the pleural catheter drain removed. My skin sure will be happy to not have techaderm bandaging on 24 hours a day and I can now peacefully sleep on my left side without feeling the cap that goes on the catheter. The team that I see in Interventional Radiology is a great group and they say it's not a party if I don't have on a party hat as they wheel me into surgery.
On Friday I had my 6th round of Enhetru treatment. The treatments are going well but this week we had to play a new game I have called vein roulette to find the right vein for the infusion. Because I have had lymph nodes removed on my right side I can't have IVs on the right arm nor can they take blood pressure measurements on that side. I have always had a really strong vein in the crook of my arm that has provided me with over 10 years of blood draws, and IVs for any procedure like CT scans.
We had named him Vein Diesel. After my last treatment the area above Vein Diesel got hot, red and swollen and it felt like there was a rubber ball in there After talking to the nurse and Dr we determined that the vein was reacting to the chemo - basically getting a chemical burn and building up scar tissue. It took almost the full 3 weeks for it to heal.
So this week we knew we had to try a new site. It wasn't so easy. My nurse this week was Kristen - on her first try the vein kept dancing away from the needle - so bruise #1.
The 2nd try it went in easy but then blew - so bruise #2. They have a 2 poke rule so in came Rachael, who has been my nurse several times before, for attempt #3. Before this attempt they covered my arm with a warm towel and warm compress to wake the veins up! We had success on poke #3, hopefully we can find some good sites so they don't have to put a port in.
In the middle of all of these developments we have continued to get settled into the house, and we have welcomed visitors. Last week my sister in law and nephew came down to melt in our heat and we enjoyed some lake time and pickle ball.
This week I get to have my littles with me all week. The littles are my nephews Kalon and Grayson that I don't get to see nearly as often as I want. It warms my heart, and wears me out, having them here! They are the best distraction I could have.
If all goes according to plan we will continue the Enhertu infusions and do scans to check on progress for the forseeable future.
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