The past 2 weeks, I have been incredibly busy! Between public speaking, sports games and chemo treatments I haven't had time to do a blog update! My apologies! Last Tuesday, I was very honored to speak at Cobourg Collegiate Institute's Terry Fox Run Kick off assembly. Even though I practiced my speech many times, it was challenging to read in front of so many students. I have been to so many assemblies just like this in public school not knowing I'd be standing on the other side of the stage one day. Speaking at the assembly made me realize that I'm not alone and that the fact that I am a young adult makes me very similar to Terry Fox. I'll be 21 years old this November and Terry started the Marathon of Hope at the very same age. I could not imagine running across Canada. I was very honored to contribute to Terry Fox's Legacy and to be apart of this wonderful fundraiser, I have included a video from my speech below and I hope you all watch and enjoy! Speaking of fundraisers... I am very proud of my friends in St. John's who took part in the Light the Night Walk in St. John's on Saturday September 23rd. Together my friends raised $350, in their very first fundraiser together! The whole event brought in over $110, 000! I believe this was the very first walk in St. John's and I am incredibly proud of my friends and the community! Seeing pictures of the event makes me feel so blessed that I have friends that will take time out of their busy lives and show their support to help find a cure to this horrible disease. My friends and I are still so young and I think we still struggle to fathom why this happening to us. I say "us" because it doesn't just affect me, it affects everybody in my life. I am so proud of them for coming together, and hopefully this event showed them that we aren't alone and that so many other people have been affected and want to find a cure. Its amazing to see what just a small group of people can do! Hopefully one day, we can all walk together in this amazing event! This Friday, I am very excited to be heading to Quebec to be apart of a "On the Tip of the Toes" foundation expedition where myself and approximately 10 other young adults from the ages of 19-29 affected by cancer will go camping! I am very excited to finally have a trip for myself and get a chance to meet other people who have been through very similar situations. I think this will be such an amazing opportunity for me and I cant wait to share my experience with all of you when I get back! Last Thursday, I had chemo #7! I cant believe how time flies! At the start I was more afraid of the time therapy would take than the cancer itself itself. Its already the end of September and I cant believe in just a few short months I'll be done treatment and hopefully be back in school! In this past few months I have learnt so much about Cancer. I have learnt how cancer affects everyone, the science behind it and how it has changed my life. I would keep going on but PLEASE watch my video from the Terry Fox Speech and hopefully you will learn a lot too! Now that I am right in the middle of Chemotherapy, the side effects are worsening. My muscle pains start the night of my chemo and then last for the next few days. I've tried many pain killers and most don't seem to help and unfortunately I have to let Chemo take its course. I have just started to use essential oils and they seem to help ALOT! Some people may say its just in my head and that it doesn't actually work, but if I believe it works and I don't feel the pain anymore, that's all that really matters. Recently, I find I am a little nauseous the night of my chemo treatment. I've been very lucky to not have any up until this point. My skin is still very sensitive and have found that certain material and creams can irritate my skin even more. Now that I am just over halfway, I just have to think that this will be all over soon and that these side effects are just part of getting better. AGAIN... PLEASE watch my video and I have also shared with you pictures from the Light the Night Walk in St. Johns. I can't wait till next week when I can share with you my experience from the camping trip!
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In my last post earlier this week, I was feeling a little bummed about not going back to school. Well, this week I just finished Chemo #6. At my doctors appointment we discussed a change in my treatment plan (no surprise there). Originally, I was supposed to have 4 cycles of Chemotherapy, meaning 8 treatments in total followed by a month of radiation. My Oncologist decided that instead of doing radiation, we would add another 2 cycles of chemo meaning 4 more treatments. This means at the end of this I will have 12 chemo treatments under my belt, so I guess this week was halfway for me. I hope to be done my treatment by the end of November. A PET scan is being booked to fully decide and set in stone what the plan will be for sure. This scan will show my progress and how my cancer cells are reacting to the chemotherapy. Multiple times, I have asked what the difference would be if I received just Chemo, just Radiation or a combination of both treatments. Studies have shown that for Stage 1 Lymphoma there is really no difference with the results. Your treatment plan just depends on what your doctor prefers and how you react to the certain treatment. For me, my body seems to be reacting well to the chemotherapy. Although, my treatment plan has been changed, I asked my doctor what was the likelihood of me going back to school for the winter semester. My doctor said he sees no problem with me heading back for a few classes! I contacted the school and they said there is no problem at all for me taking a few 4th year classes, and would be glad to see me back at school. This new plan would allow me to get ahead in my studies while being behind at the same time. This would also allow me to ease back in to school and heal my body before I heading back to sea for my long work term. So now my new goal is to be back in Newfoundland for the January Semester! I am so excited! Although this plan would be amazing, I've learnt to not hold my breathe and expect the unexpected. It's good to have goals but I still have to take everything day by day. It seems that each time there's a new change to my treatment, or a goal has been changed, I seem to take it easier each time. I remember when I first diagnosed, the littlest change or disappointment would make me extremely upset. Now I seem to just accept it and move on. There is sense dwelling on what you have no control of. The beauty of change is that you can set new goals every time. Thank you everyone, for their continuous support! Hopefully, I can get back to where I belong in no time! "A Smooth Sea Never Made a Skillful Sailor." This past weekend, my good friend Holly came to visit me on her way back to school in Newfoundland coming from out West. This Labour day weekend, I don't think I've laughed (nor drank) that much since I was diagnosed 4 months ago. For anyone who doesn't know Holly, she is very free spirited and is always down for a good time. Her energy and spirit is just what I needed. Holly made me forget about all my troubles and it felt like nothing had changed, like I was normal again. With summer coming to an end, I've started to feel down lately. End of summer means no more visits and no "back to school" for me. Holly was the last person to visit as everyone has now gone back to school. However; I'm so glad I had as much fun as I did. Having Holly here made me realize how much I miss Newfoundland, school and my friends. This summer I have been so blessed to have so many visits this summer from friends all over the country! I can not thank them enough for them taking time out of their busy summer to visit me. This weekend may have been the last visit but when I'm all done with this, I plan on taking a celebratory trip to Newfoundland even if its not for a long time but just enough to see everyone and feel normal again. As I mentioned before, end of summer means no "back to school" for me. Today everyone in Public school went back and tomorrow everyone from University starts their classes. I've felt this feeling before when I took a "Victory Lap" after high school. Everyone moving on with their life but you. However; last time it was my choice and I was working and taking online courses then. This time it is not my choice. Even though, I technically wouldn't be going back to school anyways because I would be on my work-term, It is still tough because this wasn't part of the plan. I've realized I can't change any of this and I just have to take this year and heal. For those of you dreading school, early mornings and late nights studying, please somehow enjoy them for me as I dream of going back to school and doing what I love to do. You never know when these things will be taken away from you. Walking into Chemo #6 this week, I've noticed a tremendous amount of physical changes. To start of, my hair is thinning more and more. I have even noticed that when I wash my face, some of eyebrows and eyelashes fall out. You may wonder if this bothers me. It honestly doesn't because in my head I'm thinking "It's about damn time!". However; what has been bothering me is my skin. To start off, I think I've finally found a bandage that doesn't irritate my skin but it has to be changed every 2 days. The rash on my arms that I had are finally starting to clear up. My scalp is still sore and red. The redness has reduced since using baby shampoo but my scalp gets sore when I put my hair up in a little "half pony tail". Even when sleeping, the pulling of my hair irritates my scalp. This is why I feel a head shave coming soon, not because of the shedding but because of the scalp irritation. I have also recently noticed my face and chest becoming very flushed. This can happen because of a number of reasons. One of the chemo drugs called Dicarbazine and the steroids that I take can cause your face to look flushed. I could have also come into contact with the sun but I haven't really been out in the sun. It could also be that the Dicarbazine drug is making my skin sensitive to my face cleanser. To hopefully solve this issue, I am now going to put sunscreen on my face anytime I am outside. I usually use the Neutragona, 110 SPF, dermatologist recommended sunscreen so hopefully it helps. I am also going to use a more gentler face cleanser or just use water from now on. I have also been experiencing extreme muscle pain at night, mainly in my neck and back as well as my hips and ankles. To the point I wake up crying, in the middle of the night. Unfortunately the only thing I can take right now is Tylenol. I am not able to take any anti-inflammatory's. I do find that hot baths and a heating pad on my back temporarily reduces the pain. Tomorrow, I meet with my oncologist for my regular check up and blood work, followed by Chemo #6 on Thursday. Hopefully, I might be able to get something for pain relief. Fortunately, I have had it pretty lucky and have been healthy enough to have visits and go out and do fun things with my friends during their stay. I think now that the visits are done, my body is saying its done holding up and giving out on me. Although these side effects don't seem too pleasant, these are all pretty normal side effects of Chemotherapy. Please keep reading my blog posts, I appreciate everyone's love and support! Take a look at all the fun I had with Holly during her stay here. We visited Primitive Designs in Port Hope where there are lots of cool statues and art pieces! She definitely gave me the boost of love, strength and happiness I needed as summer comes to an end! |
Author: Katie BarkerJust an average Sailor who battled Cancer and won! Archives
August 2018
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