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Follow my unexpected cancer journey...the good, the bad, and the ugly!
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​CANCER CHRONICLES

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Bald Issues

11/21/2017

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If you remember from the beginning, I named this blog, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly".....I now introduce you to some more ugly! 

You have good days and you have bad days. Some days I don't come out of my room, other days I'm on the couch sewing all day with Brodie. The key is to enjoy your good days and realize there will always be bad days. 

Someone asked what the infamous cancer/chemo mouth sores look like...here's the best picture I could get that definitely falls under the ugly category, sorry not sorry. #ItsMyLife
I'm lucky to which I don't get too many and they usually don't last too long. I do however, have the fun bad taste in my mouth most weeks. Usually my week before chemo it wears off a little....and you eat everything in sight because you can actually taste it! Then chemo weeks come and your doomed...but of course you still eat because....well hello, a girl's gotta eat!

Finally, I wanted to talk about attempting make up when you're bald. Who knew this would be such a feat! First, when you have hair you know you obviously blend in your makeup to your hairline. Cough cough, well when you don't have a freakin' hair line thats a bit hard. You don't want to put make up on your head but you also don't want to have a visible color line change on your forehead. As you've read, I'm not a fan of wigs, but at least it helps in the makeup catastrophe. However, if I'm able due to the "occasion" I choose to be bald. Theres no feeling normal with cancer, being bald or with a wig on either. But I am more comfortable without it than with it.

Med update below...
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My levels have been the lowest they've gotten lately, which
A) means I never want to leave my bed
B) means I can't be around people and
C) means I have a chance of having to get a blood transfusion.
​He brought it up again yesterday after my red count was the lowest it had ever gotten. So fingers crossed thats not a going away present I get after my last chemo!

The clock is ticking! Only a few days left till my last chemo day and I couldn't be more anxious! I've been applying for jobs and so far have one interview so fingers crossed I'll be back in a school come the first of the year!
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Long Overdue Updates

11/5/2017

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As you've seen, I haven't updated in a while...for many reasons, but the biggest being my fingertips are still numb and tingly from chemo and everyday things such as holding a pencil, typing or even using my phone is much more tedious and difficult than you'd think. So theres my excuse, take it or leave it! 
Health updates:
I got my first "bad" news on my levels. All my counts were low which is probably why I was tired ALL the time. I was told I was basically on house arrest and not to be around anyone and was given a prescription to take if I got sick or a fever. Also, when you have a 100.5 fever or more you have to be directly admitted to the ER with my cancer (not sure if thats with all)....so it was another fun week in my room sleeping! Because my red count was still low last week it was brought up I may have to have a blood transfusion. I'm assuming this would happen Monday when I start my chemo round. TBD!
On the plus side, Monday is my 2nd to last chemo week!!! December 1st can't come soon enough!

On a work note:
As you know I have been teaching for VIPKID to make some money till I can get a teaching job again. The actual teaching part isn't bad at all, but the being on China time has been killing me! I pull all nighters teaching from 8pm till 8am (yes, 12 hours) then sleep as much as I can during the day. Not my preferable life situation at the moment, but beggars can't be choosers! I have already started to apply for AP and teaching jobs starting ASAP, so fingers crossed!
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Still in awe...

11/5/2017

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I tried to think of words to explain this day for weeks now and I am still speechless so I'm just going to put my Facebook post about it : )
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When you go to school to surprise your Beachers and get hugs from your BCE family and THEY surprise you with the school all wearing lime green and crazy socks, flowers, a million sweet notes, hugs galore, and even a get together with every past Beacher in the library plus Beachers parents! I mean, words just can't express how amazing not only they all are, but how great it was to be there, see everyone, and each and every one of those awesome hugs! I can't count how many parents came up to me to tell me my past sweet Beachers pray about me every night and always ask about me! Just Speechless...but definitely made my month and beyond grateful! Cancer definitely can't win when you have a whole school behind you 😉#BeachersForLife #LoveMyBCEFam
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    "You either get bitter or you get better. It's that simple. You either take what's been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you down. The choice does not belong to fate, it belongs to you."
    ​~Josh Shipp

             

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    When Cancer Comes a Knockin'

    Timeline

    On August 2, 2017, Brianna was diagnosed with Mediastinal Large B-Cell Lymphoma. Beginning Monday, August 14, 2017, Brianna will begin chemotherapy treatments. She will be commuting to Austin for 18 weeks to receive treatments. This site is set up as a donation page to help Brianna and her family cover medical costs and living expenses, as well as a one stop shop to get updates on how chemo is going and even buy a shirt or two in support!

    UPDATE:
    After getting her final PET scan to confirm the aggressive chemo did it's job, we got the news that it hadn't and that the tumor was still active when it shouldn't of been. Brianna is now undergoing radiation for 5 weeks, everyday in Austin. 


    UPDATE March 2018:
    Brianna begin having the same cancer symptoms as she did this past summer during spring break, except more painful this time. She was sent to get a CT scan which showed her cancer had returned. She then met with her oncologist who planned the next steps which include to do more chemo (a differnt regimen this time) followed by a stem cell transplant. 
    She thought she was done....she was done.....and now she is having to start the cancer journey all over again...including losing her hair that had just start growing back.


    UPDATE
    END OF MARCH - JUNE 25th
    ​(at the moment....things have yet to even begin apparently.)

    If I didn't feel like I was really dying or truly out of options to live....I do now. Remember  I was basically on our plan F and everything was just getting worse instead of better. I really thought I was done these last couple weeks and being in the hospital for another little week vacay. I finally updated by blog since so many people were asking, so you can read the detailed updates.

    October 2018 Update:
    Insurance has finally approved all of the CAR-T procedure and I will be getting my T-Cells retrieved from my body next week. (Oct 10th if all goes as planned)


    MARCH 2019
    The first post CAR-T pet scan showed the main mass has shrunk in size, even though still active. Hopefully, the CAR-T will continue to work its magic over the next few months before the next scan.


    To donate to Brianna's GoFundMe page, please make sure the donation is made on the GoFundMe Page found here:
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     https://www.gofundme.com/teambonnet
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