Blood Transfusion & Hospital

This past Thursday, June 9, Felicitas was scheduled for her chemo treatment. Unfortunately, after her lab work showed that her blood counts were at a record low, the doctors decided she needed a blood transfusion instead. Understandably, she was pretty upset with this news. Once again, her chemo was going to have to be pushed back a week, therefore delaying her treatment. 


The following day, she had a fever, so Dr. Parker had her go to the emergency room at UCSD's Thornton Hospital. After spending around 7 hours in the ER on Friday, they admitted her into the hospital. Her fever spiked to 103.1 that night. She was given fluids and antibiotics to bring her fever down. Dr. Parker came to see her and told her she thought they'd need to keep her until Sunday to monitor her. 


On Saturday, Junior brought the girls to visit, but Felicitas broke out in a rash so she had them leave. It turned out she had an allergic reaction to one of the medications she'd been given. They ended up moving her to another floor where the doctors could monitor her more closely. They were concerned that her blood pressure was too low and she was having discomfort when inhaling. 


On Sunday, she was still having pain when breathing in. Her doctors performed a blood test to test for a possible pulmonary embolism (blood clot) in her lungs. Normal levels should be at a 240, but Felicitas' came back at a 371. After much debate between countless doctors on whether or not to perform a chest CT, Dr. Parker, who was out of town, sent two oncologists on her team to evaluate Felicitas. They decided that a chest CT wasn't necessary. There are several different factors that could have elevated her results from the blood test, cancer being one of them. They also tested for different bacteria, but fortunately, all the bacterial cultures came back negative.


This morning, Felicitas thought she would be getting discharged, but the doctors were still concerned with her inability to take a deep breath. Instead of a chest CT, they performed a V-Q scan (ventilation-perfusion scan), which studies the airflow and blood flow in the lungs. Results showed there was no pulmonary embolism! She was discharged tonight and is happy to finally be home with her family. 


She is scheduled for chemotherapy this Friday, if all goes well!

Chemo Week 13

Last Thursday, May 26, Felicitas received her first round of her new chemotherapy drugs, Adriamycin and Cytoxan. Her mom's dear friend, Marta Puga, who was in town from Seattle visiting her daughter at USD, accompanied her to chemo. On Friday, she returned to Moores Cancer Center for her Neulasta injection. Previously, she was receiving a Neupogen injection on both Saturdays and Sundays to help raise her white blood counts. Now, she gets one Neulasta injection the day after her chemo. This drug also increases her white blood cell count, but lasts for two weeks. She's definitely excited to have her weekends free again!


On Friday, the day after chemo, she was feeling ok, but by Saturday she was completely wiped out. She spent the weekend on the couch with her iPad. Her energy level was extremely low, she was feeling nauseas and it was difficult for her to do much of anything. Her doctors have put her on a new, stronger anti-nausea medication as well. By early the next week, she was feeling much better and her energy level had increased. 

Felicitas and Marta

As long as her counts are high enough, Felicitas will have chemo every other Thursday, from now on. So although she only has 3 treatments left, it will take six weeks to complete. The last time I talked with Felicitas, she was saying how excited she was to be almost done with her chemo. She mentioned that she remembers walking into the treatment center for her very first chemo appointment and what a long road she had ahead of her, and now in a few weeks, chemo will be complete! It's so exciting that she has almost finished this stage of her treatment! Now, she's beginning to focus on the months to come...surgeries, radiation and reconstruction. She's still as positive as ever, taking it one day at a time with a smile on her face. 


A couple of days ago, she received an email from the Director of Service Line Marketing for the Moores Cancer Center. They are launching their first issue of the Moores Cancer Center magazine and want to feature Felicitas on the cover and as the lead story! They'd heard what a phenomenal job she's done as a spokesperson and motivational speaker regarding her cancer treatment at Moores. She'll participate in an interview and photo shoot with a professional photographer! Her uplifting attitude and encouragement has, and will continue, to motivate others who are struggling through their treatment, to push forward and not give up. Love you girl! You're an inspiration to us all!