Getting Ready for the Next Round

I spent a few hours on Friday morning at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale having my port-a-cath declotted. Essentially what happens is the body views the port-a-cath as a foreign body and creates a fibrin sheath over the catheter making it difficult for blood to be drawn. So after waiting for ten minutes without any results from the Heparin that was injected to declot the sheath I was given an injection of a stronger medicine (I am not sure what it was called but I am sure it was expensive) and was told to wait for another half hour. Thankfully the medicine worked and I was able to have my blood drawn for testing before my next treatment tomorrow. For those of you who don't know what a port-a-cath is, it is a small medical device installed beneath the skin in the chest. The  catheter is connected to a major vein usually near the heart and is used for blood draws and infusions for chemotherapy. Below are some pictures that may help give you a better idea:

After leaving the clinic my mom, Jim and I headed about an hour north to Payson, AZ to escape the desert heat and grab some lunch. It was a nice drive and much cooler up in the mountains although the lunch wasn't anything spectacular. 

These are some of the pictures that I took both on our way up to Payson and then on our way back to the valley.

I will be meeting with Dr. Reeder tomorrow for the first time since I began treatment and am anxious to hear what he has to say about my first round and the results of the chest x-rays that I am having in the morning. Following the meeting I will be starting the second round of chemotherapy, I will try and update my blog as much as possible this week but it will all depend on how I handle the treatment. But you better believe that I will continue to fight this thing with all of my strength! I also want to thank everyone for the comments on my blog wishing me good luck and sending prayers out to me. I may not respond to them all, but I do read them and truly appreciate them very much!!! One more week and I will be a step closer to recovery and Hawaii...