Still smiling!

I'm on break now until August 2nd, woo hoo! Not feeling 100% yet, but things could always be worse! There isn't really much to update on right now, but Laura and her boyfriend are coming in TOMORROW so I will be busy for the next couple weeks and won't be able to update as much as I'd like. I will let everybody know the results of my PET scan as soon as I get them. The results are basically just used to see how fast my body is responding to the chemo. Nothing will really happen after I get the results unless I'm responding very slowly, then more cycles of treatment could be added on. But, keep your fingers crossed that everything will stay as planned! If everything stays the same, I will finish chemo August 31st, then I have radiation after that. The only number I've heard for radiation is 3 weeks.. but I'm not sure if that's definite yet or not. If so, I could be done with everything by October! But.. let's not get ahead of ourselves. Everything will be over eventually, and I will have long, gorgeous, curly hair!

Thanks to everybody who is still praying, and wearing my "Tori's Fight" bracelets.

xoxo,

Tori

"Keep chuggin' along, keep singin' your song"

Just a quick update.

Feeling much better now! No more throwing up, and I've been able to eat pretty normal compared to the first couple days. Everything is going smoothly. Still taking tons of medicine, and I'm back on my shot.. but not too much to complain about!

Tomorrow will mark the end of the half way point of chemo! It will be the last day of my 2nd cycle, then I have two left. Woo hoo! I also have another PET scan on the 29th to look at the progress. Let's hope those cancer cells are saying goodbye!

Brian, Carson, and Aunt Pam are here now, always good to see them! Laura and her boyfriend come next week, so these past couple weeks are staying busy! I will keep everybody updated as much as possible.

xoxo,

Tori

Yucky

Yesterday.. well, yesterday was absolutely horrible. The worst day I've had with the treatment so far. I got home from Columbia around 6 o'clock, and started throwing up almost an hour afterward and didn't really stop throwing up until everything in my stomach was gone and I fell asleep. Throwing up has always been something I hated doing, so I tried to hold it in as much as possible yesterday.. but it wasn't letting me. It was coming up whether I wanted it to or not.

I'm doing better so far today. Still a little bit of a weak stomach, and no appetite but, I don't feel as bad as I did yesterday. The doctor also prescribed me another nausea medicine that is a gel I rub on my wrists and it supposedly works immediately. So, hopefully with 3 different nausea medications, I will be able to keep it under control.

Big thanks to my mom, dad, and JP for being so supportive and helping me through yesterday.. and every other day of this journey. Also, huge thanks to Aunt Janey and everybody else who has gone with me to treatments. I am the luckiest girl alive when it comes to support and the amount of prayers I'm getting. I can't say thank you enough.

Day 3 of treatment tomorrow, then I get a little mini break until next Tuesday. Let's hope I start keeping all my food down, and I can stop getting to know the toilet.

Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers.

xoxo,

Tori

Fuzzy

Wellllllll, the rest of my hair fell out yesterday and now I'm only left with a little fuzz. Here's a couple pictures..

2nd cycle of treatment starts tomorrow. Wish me luck!

xoxo,

Tori

Cycle #2.. Coming right up!

Only a couple more days until my 2nd cycle of treatment starts, and boy am I dreading it! I'm finally back to feeling normal, so I've got to enjoy my last few days. My hair is coming out like crazy now. I'm shedding like a dog. It's very annoying, but I'm not looking forward to losing even the little bit of hair I have left. Don't think I can pull off the Mr. Clean look! :) And of course, I've only lost the hair on my head so far. Still have to shave my legs!

No more shots for now! My white count went from 1.4 to 25. How crazy is that?! I don't know how there is any way I could get sick now!

Just wanted to give a little mini update before I started my next cycle. Let's hope everything goes as smoothly as last time!

Wigs, hats, and scarves.

I am finally back to feeling normal. No weakness or nausea anymore. I do still get tired faster, but I'm not complaining about the naps. :) The only thing that has been hard the past couple days is losing my hair. I said before that they say it comes out between day 10-14, and mine came out day 13. I just rubbed my hands through my hair and about 10 strands came out in my hand. So, instead of having hair fall out in clumps, I just went ahead and shaved it. I cried, and cried, and cried while JP and my mom shaved my hair, but I'm okay with it now. It's just hair, right?! It takes some getting used to, but I'll get used to it and it'll all be grown back before I know it!

Everybody has been so, so, so supportive. I am so lucky to have such awesome friends and family. I am not always able to thank everybody as much as I wish to, so take this as a big thank you to anybody and everybody who is praying for me. I really appreciate it.

Mom has been taking lots of pictures, so I decided I was finally ready to show everybody my bald head. I don't have any pictures of my wigs yet, but those will be up as soon as I get some.

 Before.

During.

After.

Too sexy for my hair

Well, I jinxed myself.. my hair is gone.

1st cycle.. D-O-N-E!

My first cycle of chemo is done!!!!!! Yay!!!

Tuesday was a very short day. I was only there about an hour, got 2 medicines, checked my blood counts and I was on my way! My blood counts were good for now which is always good to hear.

I felt beyond tired today and had absolutely no energy. But that could be due to the fact that JP and I shopped 'til we dropped at the beach yesterday, and saw Eclipse which was very good by the way :)

I forgot to tell everybody when I noticed, but a few days ago I noticed that the original lump that started everything is now gone, which is an excellent sign! Well, it's not gone.. but it's not protruding out anymore. It may be still be protruding inward, but that will be something to find out after my 2nd cycle when I get more $16,000 scans. Ridiculous, right?

I'm now down to only taking 2 pills a day Monday-Wednesday and a shot every night. I would love to take 3 shots a day instead of having to take these HUUGGEEE pills everyday.  I am the world's worst pill taker. I break the pill into about 5 pieces and take one at a time. Except the other day I only broke it into 3 pieces, one being very square and pointy which totally scratched my throat and has been bothering me for the past 3 days. :/ That's my biggest complaint at the point. Also, my mom wants me to make a point that she is "doing very well with the shot and not using it as any form of stress relief." Happy, Mom? But, really.. she's been quite a good nurse.

My hair is still in tact. They say it takes about 10-14 days to lose, and it's day 10. So, it may not be much longer. But, the nurses Tuesday acted like I would have already seen some sign of hair loss, and I haven't yet.. so maybe it'll wait until next cycle? Let's hope so anyways!

I was supposed to be on my way to Indiana/Michigan right now, but unfortunately all of this got in the way. But, gotta do what I gotta do! Just me, my mom, and JP this weekend. PARTY! Haha, riiiiiight.

I won't be updating as much since I don't get treatment again until the 13th, but I will still throw in some mini updates in between now and then. Your prayers are still greatly appreciated!!

xoxo,

Tori