It's April Again...

...and you know what that means? I can't wait for this month to be OVER. Thankfully, my husband's birthday is nestled into the middle of the month, which at least gives me something to look forward to, but yeah, April can just get the f*** out. I was diagnosed with stage four cancer in April 2013. In April 2014, I had recently discovered that I was no longer NED and was taking a truly heinous mix of Irinotecan and Erbitux, which gave me terrible acne-like blemishes all over my head, scalp, neck and chest and also made my hair shed so much that I had to cut most of it off and it still hasn't grown back to my liking! I wound up in the hospital in April 2015 and then went home trailing my new oxygen sidekick, who stuck around for about 10 months. This month...this month my platelets have decided to quit cooperating entirely - which means I can't take my chemo! - and so Wells (my oncologist) wants me to have a partial splenic embolization in about 5 weeks. This means they're going to poke a hole in my spleen and then seal part of it off - like King Tut's tomb, but with medical glue. The idea behind this plan is that then my platelets will finally stop hanging out in my spleen, which must be difficult to leave due to the fact that I imagine it has a shag rug, plenty of tiny beanbags, a bunch of lava lamps, and a groovy late 60s/early 70s vibe.
In order to have the splenic embolization, I have to stop taking my Avastin for six weeks because it can interfere with surgical wounds and healing. Meanwhile, it's been over a month now since I had my chemo pills, and if that trend continues I'll just basically be hanging out while cancer cells proliferate in my liver and lungs. Yes, the sooner April is over, the better. The good news is that we're over halfway there!
In the meantime, just send vodka. And books.

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