I am enrolled at Stanford! (kinda)

Hello all! I am going to try to write a blog post every week, or whenever I get a chance. I feel like it is important to update all my #camillestrong supporters!

Finals are over and I am back at home before school starts again the first week of January! This week has been never ending. Started the week off on Monday by meeting with my fertility specialist with my parents. My doctor was afraid that my egg count would still be low like it was a year and a half ago before I started chemotherapy but we decided to still draw blood and find out if my egg count would be high enough to retrieve eggs before the clinical trial and bone marrow transplant. A year and a half ago, I think my doctor said that my level for that certain hormone (for egg retrieval- but I forgot the name of it) was around 0.1 and they were expecting a 19 year old female to be closer to 2.0… so we were afraid that there was no use in doing the daily shots and freezing my eggs this year unless my blood results showed over 2.0

Unfortunately, we got the call on Wednesday morning that my blood results weren’t high enough and my doctor did not recommend the time, energy and money in freezing my eggs this year. I was heartbroken to hear this news but I know that God will find a plan for me to have children in the future.

Since freezing eggs aren’t going to work, my oncologist and her team decided for me to start treatment for the clinical trial this Monday... December 21 around 11am!! I am going to be getting an infusion for the first drug called brentuximab. This infusion should last about an hour. Then I will get the second drug, nivolumab, on December 28th. Today, my mom and I got to see where I will be getting treatment. My nurse warned me that I am only allowed to have two visitors at a time.. and if anyone visited me for chemotherapy they know that was an issue! I loved having visitors and I always had at least 5 people coming to see me… let’s just say my nurses were constantly frustrated with me but I need my #camillestrong supporters!! I know Palo Alto is a long drive, so we will see how this visitor rule goes :) 

            My treatment schedule looks like it will be 1 to 2 times a week for the first few weeks to make sure I am feeling and reacting okay to the drugs. Then I will get the two drugs together every other Monday until end of February.

            Still haven’t figured out a set plan for Winter Quarter at Cal Poly. I am enrolled in 16 unites (4 classes) and I hope that I can balance both treatment and classes. I need to email my professors over break to see if it is a possibility to be missing Mondays and possibly Tuesdays as I travel back to SLO after treatment.

            Throughout this week, my mom and I went to Stanford yesterday and Today for testing before I start treatment on Monday. I have been in contact with my coordinator for the trial so many times that I added him to my list of favorites on my phone! Lol! We have to talk almost every day so that he lets me know when and where my different appointments are around the Stanford campus. Yesterday I went to the wrong place two times because I was so confused. I know I will get used to the campus and schedule during my 4 months of treatment here!

Besides oncology appointments at Stanford this week, my mom also wanted me to meet with my orthodontist to make sure my teeth hadn’t moved since I had braces in 9^th grade. Well, lucky me.. my teeth have moved and I need to start Invisalign for 6 months. Just another medical thing to add to my list but Ill be okay! Just don’t make fun of me if you see me around talking with a lisp :)

Here’s a little bit of information about the trial  I will be a part of… I am only 1 of 3 patients at Stanford!!! And 1 of 6 around the country! I think that is pretty cool. http://med.stanford.edu/clinicaltrials/trials/NCT02572167

Can't take the PFT seriously!

Lookin' good with all my EKG cords

Planning the next 4 months of my
life with my trial coordinator 

My cutie Luna on my lap
 while I write this blog post

HERE WE GO (AGAIN)

            This has been a long week... not only is it Finals week at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, but I have also been home twice in the last 5 days!! As I start my first blog post, it’s Thursday December 10 at 7:35am and I am currently on the train going back to San Luis Obispo to tutor two third graders

tonight and finish up my last two finals tomorrow morning.

Ever since I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in September of 2014, I wanted to start a blog. I wanted to write down my memories and thoughts while I went through 12 chemotherapies so that I could look back at these memories later on in my life and better yet -my friends and family all over the world could see how I was doing.

            Well here’s my chance to actually do that, because guess what? I was just diagnosed as relapsed Stage 1A Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

For some reason, I’m not as scared as I was when I started this journey over a year ago. I have changed so much over these last 14 months and I know that I can beat this. This isn’t going to be easy but I already know that I have grown up in the BEST city in the world with the BEST people in the world because I have been blessed with so many #camillestrong supporters.

Since I finished chemotherapy on March 11, 2015, I have had appointments here and there to make sure I was officially in remission and that the chemotherapy was successful. In just 6 months we have tried to get rid of different areas that I have lit up in my PET scans with surgeries including tonsillectomy and mediascinoscopy.

Yesterday was such a long day... got home the night before from SLO around midnight after almost 8 hours of delayed trains and buses. Then spent all day yesterday at Stanford Cancer center. I am grateful that my parents were both able to take off from work to come with me to my appointment.

First off, I wasn’t too excited about going to Stanford and agreeing to do some sort of treatment there because of the commute… I hate long drives but I know that Stanford is one of the best medical hospitals in the country. I am grateful that we are just an hour and half from the best medical care!

Right when I got there, I knew this was going to be a “fancy” cancer place. There was valet parking and free massages in the waiting room!! As I walked in, I was greeted by every employee I saw as I walked into the lymphoma clinic. Right away, I had a good feeling about this place.

My mom’s friend from college sent me a few “adult” coloring books so I colored in the waiting room and doctor’s room as I waited to be seen by my new lymphoma specialist.

After 20 or 30 minutes of waiting, the door opened to not only one doctor.. but 8!!! Stanford is known to be a “teaching” hospital so the room was full of student doctors and interns. Right when they all got into the room I said that I felt like Ross from an episode of Friends.. only one doctor intern (who was very cute!!!) got my joke. Anyone else know what episode I’m talking about?? He has some weird thing on his butt so tons of doctors come into his room to inspect it lol. Get ready for some Friends references in my blogs because it’s the GREATEST SHOW EVER!

After talking about my past medical history, it was time to talk about what were the next steps… the time I had been waiting for these last few weeks ever since my surgery the day before thanksgiving.

            First off, my new lymphoma oncologist, Dr. Advani, gave me two treatment options before I would have to do a definite bone marrow transplant. Option 1 was to try chemotherapy again(at same place in Pleasanton) but this time with a different type of medication… Right when she said that I knew I did not want to go this path because I hated chemo. It broke my heart to lose my hair and have no energy for a few days after each treatment. I love being busy and on the go and chemo stopped me from doing my usual daily routine. Plus, after a few of my first chemotherapies, I started to have a lot of nausea during one of the medications. Option 2 was to go through a Stanford trial for the next few months. This would include going to Stanford almost every week to receive two drugs through my port-(my doctor made sure to tell me that Jimmy Carter had one of these drugs and he is now cancer free!!) My doctor said the trial should last until about end of February and then begin bone marrow transplant 3 weeks later. I don’t know too many details about bone marrow transplant yet… I just know that I will have to live at hospital, in a sterile environment, for at least 4 weeks. This won’t be fun but with the help of Netflix and Ellen episodes on YouTube, I can do this!!!! Also, I love having visitors but I know Stanford is so far away, so I won’t be expecting as many for this treatment.

            Now for the two hardest things that I will have to be dealing with…. First, is the issue of fertility. My doctor informed me that with the bone marrow transplant, I will most likely never be able to have kids. This was really hard to hear but I know that there are so many other ways to be a mother. Last year, before I started chemotherapy, I met with a Fertility specialist to try and freeze my eggs but unfortunately, I didn’t have enough eggs to freeze so we weren’t able to go through with it. On Monday, December 14, we are going to meet with this specialist again to see if it is a possibility again before the Stanford trial.

            Secondly, school. It was so hard for me to miss two quarters of my 2^nd year at Cal Poly SLO. Luckily I was able to not get too behind in graduating because I did 4 online classes during my 6 months of chemo and got to return for my Spring quarter. Well now I’m finishing up my 3^rd year Fall quarter this week and to be honest, I have no idea what is going to happen about school next quarter. Everyone keeps telling me that I need to focus on my health because school will always be there but it is still hard for me. So because of this new obstacle, I am going to try to stay in all 4 classes for winter quarter and work with my professors to turn in assignments online and miss a day or two of classes each week. We will see if this plan works.

            Since I will be spending so much time in Palo Alto for these next 6 months, my mom and I went to check out the Palo Alto mall right next to the Stanford Cancer center. (Shopping is my favorite pastime if you didn’t know) I was happy to see that they had some of my favorite stores!! Cant wait to spend some more time there on days where I need to spend the night in  Palo Alto.

                                   

Have a question about my treatment?? Please don’t hesitate to ask me via facebook, text or here!! I’m comfortable asking questions and I know I would be curious if any one else I knew was in my position.

Follow my CamilleStrong Foundation page or add CamilleStrong Chabot on facebook for more updates posted by my mom, Kerrie.

Here goes #camillestrong part 2….

P.S- Please excuse me if my blog is poorly written.. I just wanted to get a majority of my thoughts out about this experience. English and essay writing has never been my forte. Hopefully I can improve!!!

-C