Travel and medical update.. apologies for this long post… but I want to write this as a record for myself (and my chemo addled brain) and also want to update many of you kind souls who encouraged me to JUST GO on my month long trip to in Auckland NZ.
Just to orient some of you who have been so supportive: I am the crazy mother who had her daughter up on a billboard in Times Square earlier this year.
The issue I am updating you on now is that I had a bad fall one week before the departure of my big trip. It was caused by my exuberant dog Toby who knocked my legs out from under me frim behind… I never even saw him coming!
I landed on my wrist, left hip and unfortunately my back. I felt well enough to jump up and yell at Toby in frustration as I instantly worried that my long planned for solo trip would be jeopardized by the fall.
Let me interject that I am so disappointed in this turn of events as just last month I enjoyed a “SURGE of GOOD HEALTH” as I called it.
On vacation in Maine, I Ebiked all over acadia national park and even climbed my fav small mountain to swim in the glacial formed pond at the top… yes at the top!
(If you like, Google Sargent Pond near Bar Harbor Maine)
I loved it so much I climbed and swam across the pond two separate times! I was amazed that it appeared that Verzenio at how vigorous I was able to be every day! … plus my 3cm lymph node on my neck shrunk back to just barely noticeable and I had all this energy and no fatigue! I had a good scan in June with stable disease and now had to have another one just days before I was scheduled to fly….to see if all was still stable… ir moving on to xeloda.
I had the PET scan on Tuesday and that night my oncologist of almost 20 years called with the great news that now 2 scans in a row showed NOTHING lighting up except for the darn lymph node and that was in fact much smaller.
All was well but for the dog knocking me over onto the hard road.
DARN! An urgent X-ray showed that I needed an MRI… The MRI was loud and long and horrible just like you all remember.
BUT if an MRI would give me reassurance that this back injury was minor and wouldn’t lead to paralysis after sitting too long on a flight half way around the world, then it would be worth it right?
I was surprised but THRILLLED when I got the news that MRI was normal.. no cancer and no fracture in my thoracic spine. My primary care doc phoned to tell me to enjoy my trip because MRI was good.
Only then did I finally pack my bags! It was the day before a month long trip! Who does that? Me I guess.
I flew off the next day (Sept 2)to California to spend 2 nights with a friend in LAW thankful this allowed me to break up the nearly 24hr of flights to Auckland NZ from Boston MA.
Los Angeles was like a furnace- over 100F both days!
Shortly after I arrived, my hubby called to tell me that the MRI folks wanted me to come back in stat… as in urgently… to do the whole thing over cuz they only looked at the top of my spine and not the lumbar region which is what I needed! Can you believe that? When they told me my “thoracic” spine was all good how would I know they didn’t do the correct area. So I just thanked them.
The MRI group called and gave me the all clear to fly… but they did so without without actually filming the body part in question.
The order got written mistakenly to not include the lumbar region. My primary care asked the radiologist if they could still “see” down there… but no luck and they then wanted me to come back urgently for a do-over.
Now I’m here in NZ and have some worrying tingling in my right outer fingers and right toes, I remain very uncomfortable. Yikers!
I am naturally concerned…so I got in to see in a physical therapist in the morning to assess…and may be able to get in for (another) MRI… this time of the much needed lumbar region.
I will be able to see my old oncologist at some point…but would like to have the scan first.
This tingling is worrying as my tumor was in my L-1 … my understanding is that is now a very weak spot in my spine.
I’m lucky to have Verzenio … I was on Ibrance for 18 months but stopped working… Dr wanted to try the sister drug before moving away from the class….
And so lucky it is working!
So unlucky to have a bad fall and then have a “medical misadventure” as such things are called here in New Zealand.
I used to think I liked all kinds of adventures… but not this kind. Thanks for reading along.
Your sister in this journey, all typos are to be excused and blamed on jet lag!
Beth
it's good that you have connections there to doctors and hopefully everything sorts out and the numbness dissipates . Also , thanks for the update
PET Scan Results
Bone scan vs. PET scan
Good pet scan results-
