Busy Busy

Well, once again I have fallen behind in keeping you wonderful people updated with the wondrous thing that is my life...well, life anyway.

December 19 held another chemo. Pam M went to chemo with Mom and I. Once again, the blood work order wasn't logged in the system so that added a bit of time to the process. I was rather tired this time around during the treatment but I think that had more to do with the fact that it was 8:30 in the morning rather than having cancer. I like my sleep to last until at least 9. Once we got my blood tests done and the results arrived, we were cleared for take-off though the nurse commented that my white blood cell count was low and to take it easy with crowds and coming in contact with lots of people during days 7-10 (Christmas Eve and Christmas day, staying away from people would be so easy). We went through chemo without a hitch and we were home after only 4 hours, I think. We did stop for lunch and I got my Jag Tag for IUPUI classes in January. After we got home, I slept until 4:30 and had a bit of a freak out when I woke-up. I thought it was 4:30 in the morning and really confused for awhile, and then I used my brain and noticed that it was still light outside.

I look tired

The rest of the week was interesting. Grandpa had some dizziness problems and went to the hospital for a few days. He was home later in the week and is better but not perfect. My older sister Katherine came home Friday for the festivities. On Saturday we all got dressed up and host Christmas Eve dinner with the grandparents, my uncle, my great uncle and my cousin. It was yummy. We always have Chicken Cordon Bleu for dinner from Schwan's ( we love them). It was then dash away to church for the carols and message Christmas Eve service where the five of us plus my cousin lit the Christ candle for advent. I was the one lighting and almost took off my cousin's head with the end of the acolyte stick thing, it was longer than I had anticipated and the candles were tall and I am not (though with my beautiful red suede 3.5in pumps, I wasn't too short). I spent the service in the balcony with my cousin and uncle, trying to minimize contact with the crowd. It was enjoyable to sit up there because in front of us was a family I used to babysit for (cancer has gotten in the way of that because I can't hold babies while they are at the squirmy age and I'm not supposed to pick up toddlers). They were cute. After the service ended with a candle-lit "Silent Night", I stayed in the balcony while the sanctuary thinned a bit before going down to wish our friends a "Happy Christmas" (the British saying of "Happy Christmas" appeals to me for some reason, I don't know why but I almost feel as if being happy is a more genuine feeling than being merry, it is easier to relate to anyway. I don't know when I have ever thought to myself, "I feel merry right now", but I digress). We left church to go up to my grandmother's house for dessert. She made yummy sugar cookies with homemade icing and little sugar candy canes. Then it was home and bed.

Oh Christmas day! Mom and Dad went to church, because they are good people whereas my sisters and I just like to sleep. Katherine went for a run and while she cleaned up, I baked breakfast. We had cinnamon coffee cake, lemon poppy seed muffins, blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs with prosciutto and smoked cheese. We then opened presents. I am a fan of coordinated wrapping paper for each receiving member of the family. My paper was of blue ornaments. We finished and got ready for Christmas #2. We went to my aunt and uncle's house for Christmas with the Henns and "lunch". After presents and dessert, we went around the corner for Christmas #3 at my uncle's house for the Van Wyk festivities. We opened gifts and ate "dinner" and a second helping of dessert before somehow convincing everyone, even though half of the group hadn't seen the previous one, to watch Harry Potter 7 part 2. It was great. Then home and to bed.

I have no idea how I have filled the last three days but I assure you that I have done things...I think. If nothing else, it is Winter break, though this is the extended edition of Fall break for me. I have a few parties ahead and chemo a week from Thursday.

To all of you reading this: I hope you had a happy and/or merry holiday and I wish you a Happy New Year, 2012 had better be better. I know it will.

PS: You can find a blurb about the Purple Hair Party on page 13 of the Broad Ripple Gazette. Additional pictures can be found HERE.

Support

This blog entry is dedicated to those that have given words of encouragement, signs of support, thoughts, prayers, food and dyed their hair purple. Your support means the world to me.

Now, let's see, what has happened since I updated you all. The second weeks after my last chemo went by without much incident. I went to work at two different jobs. I went to the circus with Mom and Dad. At the circus we saw one of Dad's coworkers and his sons. As I have a rather purple head, I am quite recognizable and I heard one of the sons ask his father if I was the girl they had been praying for. It felt really nice. And the circus itself was super cool, though the $12 cotton candy with commemorative hat was not cool at all, even playing the cancer card to Mom and Dad didn't work. There was also a very nice Christmas/holiday party that weekend.

Of course the big event of the week was the "Kicking Cancer with Kelsey Purple Party" at Broad Ripple Hair Design (Broad Ripple Hair Design and check out their Facebook). They are the greatest people at Broad Ripple Hair Design. The salon was decorated with purple streamers and purple balloons and there was a sandwich board outside welcoming everyone to "Kicking Cancer with Kelsey". We had purple food: boysenberry jelly beans, grape soda, sparkling grape juice, grape gumballs, purple gummies, blueberry yogurt covered pretzels, "blue" corn chips, purple m&ms, and much more. Over the course of the afternoon and into the evening, we had 29 people get a purple streak in their hair. There were 3rd graders and high schoolers. There were parents and grandparents (no, none of my grandparents got a purple streak but that is totally ok). But most of all, they are all friends and family (not to sound sappy or sentimental or anything but it is entirely true).

Check out these great photos. Because there are so many photos I want to share with you, I am directing you to my Facebook album: Purple Hair Party

You might have seen me on the 6:00pm Channel 13 newscast that night or the next morning. Unfortunately, the video isn't online anymore.

Monday December 5, I had my 3rd chemo treatment. I met with my Doctor (and Mom and Dad) before treatment and when he felt my lymph nodes, the sounded very positive. It was also my first time using the port for my blood draw and chemo. I didn't put the numbing lotion on properly but it wasn't too bad being stuck with the needle. Our friend Becky sat with Mom and I during chemo and Dad went home. Everything went very well but again, we were there for 4 hours. I took naps the days after but it was less sleeping than compared with the previous chemos and even less meds. Friends did come to stay with me those two days, Christine and Cynnie.

Nothing else exciting has been going on, though, in the "Positives to coming home from London early because I have cancer" column I have added "Going to various Christmas open houses". If you didn't know, "Watching the season premier of Bones (and subsequent episodes) on a real TV" is also on that list. I like to find the perks in life, and if you have spent much time with me around a television, especially Thursday night, you know I like my Bones episodes, and NCIS for that matter. Don't stand between me and my shows.

That is all for now. I will try to be better about writing more but I just restarted the Harry Potter books so I have that going on, and I am supposed to be cleaning my room but that has been going on for about a week... Anyway...ttfn.

2 of 12

Another week, another chemo.

But before I had chemo, Katherine came home for a visit. It was really nice to see her and spend time with her. We went shopping, she cooked and we just generally spent time together. (She also got to see her other Indy friends and Butler people.) The five of us even went to church together, though it id take three cars. It was a good time all around.

Aren't we pretty?

This week was my second chemo treatment. It was another very long day, though for different reasons this time around.

We (me, Mom and our friend Wendy) had to be at IU Hospital at 7 on Wednesday. (I really dislike mornings, especially when it isn't for something fun.) We were at IU Hospital for my surgery to have a port "installed". A port is a small medical appliance that is installed beneath the skin. A catheter connects the port to a vein. Under the skin, the port has a septum through which drugs can be injected and blood samples can be drawn may times, usually with less discomfort and difficulty than a regular needle stick. The surgery wasn't bad, from my point of view anyway- you will have to ask Mom how it was in the waiting area. They used conscious sedation but I am pretty sure I fell asleep, though there is also an amnesia drug used as well. In recovery I learned that I don't take even conscious sedation well and I felt sick to my stomach for longer than anticipated but everything stayed down (not that there was anything to come up since I hadn't eaten for about 12 hours). Then came lunch (happy time! contrary to popular belief, I like food).

We walked over to the IUPUI Student Center to eat in the food court. I had fried ravioli and some french fries, it was all very yummy. We ran into Dad, he was doing a story on something and shooting it in the student center.

Then we went to the IU Cancer Center for chemo. They took a blood sample through the port and we waited for the results. The results and drugs arrived around 3, by which time Dad had gotten off work and joined us. The administration of the drugs went quickly and without problem.

Check out the sign Dad made for the car 

and the awesome shoes my cousin Kristen made 

(completely cover in glitter- inside and out).

Not the most flattering shot but you can't always looks amazing.

Mom, Dad and I came home. I slept, they ate and then I woke up and ate.

All in all this treatment went better than the first and the first went well to begin with. Thursday and Friday I slept less than I had before, I'm not sure if I was less tired or if I was less motivated to sleep. I've been running errands with Mom, cleaning my room (I know, I know, you thought that never happened, however, it is an ongoing process) and being social. The port and the incisions from the installation are quite uncomfortable. I am getting tired of wearing button-up shirts, I can't really lift my arms to put on a pull over shirt. My ribs don't hurt as much which is very nice but I am still having some back pain. Given the problems I could be having, I don't have anything to complain about.

I don't have chemo again until Dec 5, nearly three weeks. There will probably be an update before then. In the time between I am looking forward to a hair cut (not a shave, but something fun and different and shorter), Thanksgiving, a week of doing whatever I want and another Purple Party (there are still spaces available, let me know asap if you are interested).

Purple People

As many of you know, early on I made the decision to have fun with the possibility of hair loss as a result of my chemo treatment. Stage One of this part of the adventure was to dye my hair purple. Other people have joined in and gotten purple stripes to show support. Tuesday evening Mom, Kim and I went to Broad Ripple Hair Design (http://broadripplehair.com/home/). There ended up being 11 of us for a little purple party, 5 of whom left with purple stripes.

First- What I looked like in the beginning

Then I got a trim and style

And then we started bleaching

I spent a lovely time under the dryer

It was a great color

Everyone really liked it but Will, the owner, decided he could make me a better blonde another time.

Then we added purple

Of course, I couldn't see any of this part.

And then it was purple!

It doesn't photograph perfectly.

It is really bright and shiny, and very purple.

My Uncle sprayed his beard (temporary)

Sandy got a stripe

My Aunt did her swoosh

Emily, Kim and Mom got a stripe but had to be bleached first

Group shot!

(arriving soon)

Thank you to everyone who came out and supported me Tuesday night. An amazing thank you to Broad Ripple Hair Design for the amazing hair, amazing stripes and great people.

I'm sure you were wondering

I turned 21!
I drank some alcohol!
I survived chemo!

It has been a bit since my last post but I will get to that.

On Sunday, my amazing parents put together a last minute birthday party. Family and a few friends came over for food, fun, presents and cake. It was lots of fun to see everyone and reassure them that I am still regular smarty-pants happy Kelsey and doing well.

Monday was a busy day with a birthday breakfast with a friend, a trip to BR to see my previous teachers, birthday lunch out and then a trip to the dentist and a bit of birthday shopping (yay birthday coupons!). Mom, Dad and I sat down to a yummy dinner of leftovers (I picked leftovers for dinner and  did have a drink, Smirnoff Ice Green Apple Bite). I then put on my giant witch's hat and handed out candy to the "neighborhood kids". This is in quotes because many of our Halloween visitors are not from my neighborhood and quite a few are not kids but it is the nature of the holiday in Indianapolis. I also began to tackle to stack of birthday cards I received from Fairview members- I got around 40 birthday cards not to mention around 20 prayer cards. Thank you to all who sent them.

Tuesday night I went out for birthday drinks with a set of parents that I babysit for. We went to Northside Social, it was a lot of fun and a nice place and the drinks were good,

Wednesday was...fun. We arrived at the IU Cancer Center just before 9:30 for chemo. Jennifer, my doctor's assistant, met with us to start going through some educational information about treatment that day and for the next couple of months. We went back to the treatment area and had a "public" pod, I had to be near the nurses' station since it was my first treatment. I had a nice recliner to sit in while Mom and our friend Debra had regular chairs. Jennifer stayed with us for awhile longer and the nurse tried to get me ready for treatment. I have small deep veins so it was difficult to get a good one and I ended up being stuck twice. I received the pretreatment drugs without a problem but the nurse couldn't get a proper blood return so we added heat packs to my arm and moved it around a bit until the blood started flowing. Then the actual chemo drugs started. The first was a "push" (it's in a syringe that the nurse empties into the iv). Then came two drugs in 10 minute drips from the bag. Again the nurse couldn't get a blood return so we did heat packs again, flushed the iv a few times and moved my arm around a bit. The fourth drug burned going in so the nurse stopped it, flushed the iv and she started to change to flow speed and proportion of drug and saline. The burning went away and what was originally supposed to be a 30 minute drip became an hour. For this entire hour, my arm was wrapped with two heat pack and propped up on a pillow. During this entire...thing, I had planned on reading trashy magazines of my Mom's Kindle but the Art Cart rolled by and have you ever known me to pass up an opportunity for crafts. Nope. I attempted to make two mosaics, a plaque and a little box but once we started the fourth drug I couldn't use my left arm anymore and didn't finish either mosaic. Luckily the art lady let me take the raw materials home so that I could finish them later, now to remember where I put them...Anyway, finally by 2:30 we left the cancer center. I felt fine but was tired so I slept for the rest of the afternoon and woke up for dinner.

Thursday and Friday were days of rest. I slept a lot. A lot. Fortunately I didn't really have any other symptoms. There may have been some nausea but the meds took care of that. I did go out with Mom Friday morning to run some errands but that was to get out of the house and then I came home and went back to bed. Sleeping is the reason I haven't updated you since last week, but I think you can handle it.

Saturday was a more active day. I went over the 46th and Illinois to watch my friend run past in the Monumental Marathon in the morning before going out to lunch and a movie with friends. We saw Anonymous and I enjoyed it but I have a strong appreciation for suspension of disbelief. I enjoyed the theory but I don't believe it, it would be interesting of it were true but I think all of my English/ literature teachers and friends would disown me if I gave the theory credence. I also babysat Saturday night but was quite happy to come home and go to bed at the end of the day.

Today is more quiet. I went to church with Mom and Kim. There were quite a few people wearing purple- coincidence, I don't think so. It was really nice to see everyone and I didn't feel overwhelmed, and I didn't have to say the same thing over and over again about what is going on so that was cool. Now I am chilaxing at home with Mom, but I think another nap might be in order. Might as well milk it while I can, right?

Tuesday in purple hair day- get excited! If you are interested in a salon purple stripe in your hair, there is a purple party December 4- email or comment for more information.

Me, sittin in my chair, getting my last drug, sorting tiles to make a mosaic.

London Interrupted

Long story short- if you didn't know already- I am back in Indianapolis.

So here's the story from the recent beginning.

I went to London for my study abroad (if you haven't read about that, you can at kavanwyk.blogspot.com).  I got a cough and went to see a doctor about it after 3 weeks. The doctor I saw listened to my breathing and my explanation of events (a cough off and on since January, "cured" at the end of August with steroids) and decided that I had hay fever.  London has notoriously bad air quality and a lot of foreign pollen so it kinda made sense, except that the cough sounded awful. He prescribed a nasal spray, antihistamine and inhaler and wanted to see me again in two weeks. Over the course of the two weeks the cough got better slowly but surely. I went back to the doctor's office and met with a different doctor. She listened to my breathing and suggested a chest x-ray. We did two x-rays and the doctor noticed an infection in my lung and decided I should go to hospital.

I checked into Bupa Cromwell hospital that Friday (October 14). It was a very nice hospital, private so I had my own room. Mieke, a wonderful, lovely woman from my study abroad program (IES) met me at the hospital and was with me from the time I checked in until later that night when all my tests were finished. Friday evening I had a neck ultrasound, lymph node biopsy, ct scan of my neck, chest and abdomen and blood tests. 

Saturday morning saw another blood test but most of the weekend I spent hanging out in my room. Elaine, another woman from my program, came by on Saturday and spent time with me.

Over the course of the weekend and what became the week, I had a nice stream of visitors. Mieke was back Sunday and everyday during the week. Elaine came back and Hilary, also from IES, came a few times as well. I cannot speak more highly of the support I received from IES while in hospital and upon leaving hospital and returning home. They were also amazingly supportive of my mom and aunt, emotionally and administratively as we got results from doctors, phone calls from insurance and any number of things.

Back to my lovely list of visitors.  On Sunday, Juuso, my aunt and uncle's past exchange student, came by for a visit. Heather and Michelle, friends from my program, came to visit during the week as well.  I also received a visit from the English coworker of Tom Creveling (a good friend at home), she came with lots of snack food and reading material. My mom and Aunt Becky showed up on Wednesday.

Wednesday morning I had a brain scan. That was fun... Wednesday night I had surgery to remove a lymph node from the area under my right arm. The surgery went well and I came out of the anesthesia well, except for some nausea. That night the doctors began to prepare me (my body anyway) to fly back to Indianapolis for further tests and treatment.

Thursday, Mom, Aunt Becky and I went out for lunch. It was a really yummy burger joint. That night we were given the preliminary diagnosis of lymphoma, yes you read that correctly.  

Friday (now October 21) I went to my dorm and packed everything up, ate at My Old Dutch and used up some groceries for dinner- I made tacos. I had the chance to share the news with most of my new friends in London and was able to give away some of the stuff I had acquired- pillows, sheets, food etc.- that didn't need to fly home. We returned to the hospital for a final prep before the flight. 

We flew out of Heathrow early Saturday morning. Because of my lungs and not being able to walk distances, I had a wheelchair at each airport which expedited security and customs. The flight from London to Chicago was long but without incident. I was able to sit with Mom even though we had gotten last minute seats and our assigned seats weren't together. I walked a few laps around the economy section of the plane to keep the blood flowing every hour and to break up some of the monotony of the flight. We made a quick trip through O'Hare with my wheelchair- I don't think we would have made our connection without the wheelchair and the official pushing me. We did have time for a wonderful McDonald's snack before the flight. For the flight from O'Hare to Indianapolis, I was upgraded to first class thanks to another friend, Belinda Mulhern using her frequent flyer miles. It was a very nice flight and quick though it was the most difficult emotionally. I thought that I was okay with returning home and such but having it happen, I realized how sad I really was to not be in London anymore and how unromantic Indianapolis is.

Since being home, Mom, Dad and I met with Doctor Cripe from IU Health on Sunday to hand off the reports from London and the removed lymph node. On Monday night, Doctor Cripe confirmed the diagnosis of lymphoma and that it looked like Hodgkins. On Thursday we went back to IU Health and met with Doctor Azar. He spoke with us about Hodgkins lymphoma and the treatment I would be going through. It was also decided to have a second surgery to remove another lymph node to try to find a more definitive diagnosis. We arranged for my first chemotherapy treatment- Wednesday November 2.  Friday morning Mom, Dad and I went back to IU Cancer Center for surgery. From my understanding, everything went very well with the surgery and 3 nodes were removed. I am currently recovering well, just a bit of pain and tiredness. 

Also, tomorrow, Halloween, October 31 is my 21st birthday!!!! November 1 is my grandfather's birthday!!!! And November 2 I start my chemo treatment (exclamation points no being used here for obvious reasons).

On the positive side of things, on November 8 I will be dying my hair purple at a local salon. Kim and my cousin Emily are getting purple strands to show support. Miss Becky (from church) and Family have already used temporary colored hair spray for a supportive purple look. If you are interested in more info about the hair dying, email my mom at juli@iquest.net. 

Now you are up to date. It isn't fun news to share but life isn't always fun. I have decided that I won't be private about this disease and what happens as I go through it. This will be a place for me to tell my side of the story and how I feel about it. Mom and Dad might put together another page but this is from me.