I’m looking at you, lymph nodes

It’s been a mostly relaxing four months since I’ve been back at work. We’ve been ramping up for a big event that took place this week, and I’m excited I got to be a part of it. In the meantime, I’ve been going in for my monthly Sandostatin shots. I’m continuing to have flushings, so last month my oncologist upped my dosage.

In the realm of recent tests:

My Cromogranin A has been going slightly up and down, but mostly up, each month. This is unsurprising since we already know there is still cancer in me. Going forward I’ll be tested every other month.

I had a CT scan on Monday. The good news is that all my organs were seen as “unremarkable”! The bad news is that one of my lymph nodes is slightly larger than it was on my last CT. It was one of the ones that lit up on the PET-DOTATATE, so we do already know it’s compromised. My oncologist wants to compare this CT to the one I will get in October before making changes to my treatments and/or seeing when more surgery will be necessary.

On Monday of this week, I had my annual mammogram, and they found a spot that needs further examination. Apparently I have “dense breasts” (an actual medical term) which makes imaging more challenging; a few years ago there was a spot that was of concern but ended up being nothing. This time around, of course my brain wants to scream “Now your neuroendocrine cancer has metastasized to your breast toooooooo!” and “Now you have breast cancer tooooooooo!” My younger half-sister did have breast cancer a few years ago and ended up needing a double mastectomy, so it’s not quite as far-fetched as one might think.

I’ve also been having a few light-headed spells recently, which are likely related to the fact that neuroendocrine cancer can cause blood pressure to fluctuate wildly (on a much bigger scale, this is what happens during carcinoid crisis, which I experienced a couple of times during my big surgery). I have a blood pressure cuff at work and at home now, to help me track these symptoms.

Fun fact: I’ve gotten so many blood draws at this point, I am dialed in with some tips and tricks that work for me.

• Ask the nurse to use the “juicy” vein on my wrist instead the inside of my elbows. Much less pain there, and they don’t have to fish around.
• Remember to relax my hand.
• Look away and wiggle my toes to take my mind off it.
• Ask them to count down “3, 2, 1” so I can focus on relaxing.

In other news:

• I’ve tried a couple of therapists, but haven’t really clicked with one yet. I know the value of talking things out, however, and will persevere. I have an upcoming appointment with someone new, so, fingers crossed!
• My new gynecologist approved me getting on hormone replacement therapy, which is great! I wasn’t sure I was a candidate because of my Factor V Leiden, but she says with the amount of Eliquis I’m on, the risk of clots is low.