Toxoplasma Gondii ...aka cat poo parasite

Click the link and feast your eye(s) on all the FUN that is Toxoplasmosis.

"A single-celled parasite called Toxoplasma gondii causes a disease known as toxoplasmosis. While the parasite is found throughout the world, more than 60 million people in the United States may be infected with the Toxoplasma parasite. Of those who are infected, very few have symptoms because a healthy person’s immune system usually keeps the parasite from causing illness. However, pregnant women and individuals who have compromised immune systems should be cautious; for them, a Toxoplasma infection could cause serious health problems."

"In the human host, the parasites form tissue cysts, most commonly in skeletal muscle, myocardium, brain, and eyes; these cysts may remain throughout the life of the host. Diagnosis is usually achieved by serology, although tissue cysts may be observed in stained biopsy specimens. Diagnosis of congenital infections can be achieved by detecting T. gondii DNA in amniotic fluid using molecular methods such as PCR."

"The eye disease can reactivate months or years later, each time causing more damage to the retina. If the central structures of the retina are involved there will be a progressive loss of vision that can lead to blindness."

"Ocular disease is diagnosed based on the appearance of the lesions in the eye, symptoms, course of disease, and often serologic testing"

All of this information from the CDC website.

EARLINE IS TRYING TO KILL ME!!!

Dr. Shere called me today to let me know that the tissue sample and the vitreous fluid both came back positive for Toxoplasmosis.  

I have never been happier to hear news like that in all my life!!!

If I could have reached through to phone to give Doc a huge hug and kiss, I would have!!  I was ready to run out on the street and start passing them out to strangers!  Too cold, though.  :p

Seriously, though....getting that news from him just lifted so much of the *heavy* load of anxiety that I've been carrying around with me the last few months while we've been trying to figure out what was going on.  Progressively losing my vision in my left eye didn't help either.  I was having a hard time feeling that things were going to get better, and that possibility was starting to mess with my head a bit.  Who cares if I have cancer, I'm freaking going blind in one eye! 

So Yeah.

WHen he told me the results, immediately I felt a huge release of all those worries and anxieties and I was just so very very happy all of a sudden.  Who would have thought that I would be happy about finding out I have a colony of parasites living in my system that attacked my retina and blinded left eye!

I was ELATED.  Effing On top of the World, Looking Down on Creation ELATED!!

Yesssss.

So.  Next plan of action is to get me back on Bactrim, which will treat the toxoplasmosis.  I may have to be on it a bit longer with still being on chemo and then doing radiation after.  But that's fine.  I'll take that shizznit!!  It's going to kick those nasty bugs out of my system! 

So, I feel renewed!  Rejuvenated! 

I feel like a cloud has been lifted and the light at the tunnel is burning much much brighter now!!

Have a Happy Easter, Friends!  What ever way you celebrate, I hope you feel all the love, joy, and happiness that you all deserve!!

Blessings to you all!

Scary as F***.

I’m getting tired, friends.

Treatments are going well.  The only major side-effects I am feeling from this round of chemo is being extra tired and everything I eat tasting like it’s been soaked in vegetable oil first.  Oh.  And dry eyes.  Lots of dry eyes.

Speaking of eyes, things are not going so well in that department.  I have completely lost vision in my left eye…well, there is a small bit of vision in my upper left peripheral, but it is not enough to count as vision, as all I see with it is if it’s light or dark.  Up until yesterday, my right eye was doing okay except for some floaties that settle in my field of vision making it difficult to focus.  Today I woke up, and my eyesight in my right eye is covered with a white haze. 

There is *still* no clear idea as to what damaged the retina in my left eye, or why it has continued to get worse, or if it is going to do the same thing to my right eye.  I have been tested for several viruses, bacteria’s, parasites, but everything keeps coming back negative. 

So. My doctor has me scheduled for a vitrectomy tomorrow afternoon, so he can collect a larger sample of vitreous fluid.  The hope is that with a larger sample, there would be a better chance of getting more accurate results.  According to him, the testing for some of these viruses and bugs are not that reliable, so a false negative result is common.  That said, I have been on a variety of medications; anitbiotics, antiviral, and antifungal.  Just to cover all the bases and see if something would work, but nothing has.  It’s only gotten worse and worse. 

One of the concerns is that it may be a CMV virus that is resistant to the antiviral meds I am taking.  If they find that virus in the vitreous fluid, a sensitivity test will be done to check for viral resistance to medication.  It would be EXTREMELY rare that would be the case, but it’s still a possibility.  

The other concern is making sure the same thing doesn’t happen to my right eye, which with this morning’s appearance of the white haze, has me nervous. Not knowing what is really going on and not knowing if anything is going to turn up in the tests they run as me a little ramped up in the brain. 

I really don’t know what to do, to be honest.  How to think, how to feel, what to expect.  I knew that dealing with cancer was going to be a pain in the ass, but I was prepared for that.  I am not quite as well prepared for this.  

And it’s scary as fuck.