Update 25

Update 25

Chemo infusions:  8 down, 2 to go?!!

Treatment #8 on Tuesday was hilarious because my friend Gina was in town to accompany me.  I talked so much and laughed so hard during the 3 days she was here that I am trying to rest my voice so my throat can recover!  I turned 36 on Tuesday and I know firsthand now how good a birthday feels after a cancer diagnosis; it was a privilege to celebrate it with my loving family. 

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Same old symptoms this week as last.  The neuropathy is still mild but not ever letting up and continuing to progress.  I'm having trouble gripping things, separating papers, opening packaging etc… In light of this, my chemo dose is being lowered by another 20% for next week, March 1st, and the week following that.  My oncologist in Lawrence feels like stopping at 10 treatments is probably the best course of action to avoid the neuropathy becoming permanent and that doing only 10 treatments instead of the original 12 planned won't compromise my outcome.  It looks like my last treatment may very well be the week of March 7th!  If this is the case, reconstruction efforts will pick back up in April and I'll most likely have another surgery in May or June.    

We have been dealing with this cancer nonsense since October and having the end of chemo in sight is a huge relief.  

I am more than ready to move on, but always keep in mind (when I'm reflecting on what we've been through and what is still to come) this line from Ralph Waldo Emerson "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."  

Update 24

Update 24

Chemo infusions:  7 down, 5 to go!

My infusion yesterday went well and it feels great to be closer to the end of chemo treatment now than the beginning! 

Because my neuropathy has been persistent and progressive (although mild so far), my chemo dose was lowered by 20% for my 7th treatment and will stay at that lower dose for the next 5 treatments.  (It isn't worth risking permanent loss of feeling in my fingers and toes in my particular case because my tumor was so small at the time of diagnosis and chemotherapy was only indicated because of my need for Herceptin treatment.  If my cancer cells had not been positive for HER2/neu receptors, oncologists would have considered my double mastectomy treatment enough. About 25% of breast cancers are HER2/neu positive.)  Links are in blue if you're interested in learning more. 

This week I enjoyed the company of my Aunt Mary Colette during my infusion. She flew in from Louisville to visit and brought with her the warm, fun-loving enthusiasm that everyone that knows her loves and enjoys about her.  She arranged for the hospital gift shop to have 7 balloons ready for my 7th chemo treatment! 

It was the perfect day for colorful balloons because Ian and Henry were off school and able to come to treatment with me for the very first time, something they have been really anxious to do:

They got to chat with my oncologist, meet several of my nurses, pick up the balloons from the gift shop and the pharmacist invited them to watch my drugs being mixed and prepped in the pharmacy lab!  It was a full afternoon, especially because the room we were in was so small. :) 

I'm excited to be taking a little less toxic drug into my system each week now and I'm wondering if the reduction in my dose will impact how I feel and how my body is reacting to treatment. 

Whatever difference it makes, I'm only dealing with it 5 more times, hopefully EVER!!

P.S. I still have eyebrows.  I don't know why, but I'll take it. 

Update 23

Update 23

Chemo infusions:  6 down, 6 to go!

I am so happy to be halfway through this process and at the same time I can't believe I'm only halfway through this process!  This cancer business requires some serious stamina.

Thanks to the makers of Benadryl, I was able to get a decent night's sleep after chemo infusion #5 and again this week after #6.  Previously, it was taking me all of Wednesday and most of Thursday to recover from getting only a few hours of sleep on Tuesday night- it really takes you down hard when your body is so short on healing, restorative resources.  I have felt so much better last week and this week with that extra sleep; I think Joe and my parents would all agree that I've been a different chemo patient lately.  I'm almost energetic. The timing couldn't be better right now as we celebrate a double birthday and Valentine's Day all at once. 

No significant changes this week- hard to tell if Vitamin B6 is helping the neuropathy or not.  It hasn't subsided and has possibly increased just a little.  It definitely didn't fade and then come back again with the next treatment, which is the pattern they prefer to see.  If it continues to persist and worsen, then my chemo dose might be lowered by 20% for the 6 infusions I have remaining.  Thanks to early detection, we have that option.  

Thank you for the love and support! 

Update 22

Update 22

Chemo infusions:  5 down, 7 to go!

I had a pretty good week after my last chemo session. The hospital has private rooms for chemo patients with comfortable chairs.  After my first session in a room with a window that was pretty cold, I started layering up on Tuesdays and it has helped tremendously to have a thermal layer beneath my regular clothes.  I prefer the ease of layering clothes over dealing with blankets that I would have to bleach or burn after letting them cross the threshold of a hospital…  Kidding!  Really, even without hair on my head this time, I was warm and I have good hats to use when I want them. 

Yes, the hair came off last weekend. The boys helped Joe shave off my pixie cut and the relief I feel from the discomfort of it falling out is indescribable.  I can't believe I'm going to reference Home Alone twice now, but remember when Harry's head is torched and he runs to the yard and buries his head in the snow and you hear the sizzle of sweet relief?  That was me rubbing Eucerin cream all over my scalp on Saturday. Were it sold in 10 gallon buckets, I would have dunked my head in that lotion in a heartbeat.  

The facial rash I have been getting was indeed spread around my scalp as I suspected and applying Benedryl cream has helped start to clear it up. You can still see some red bumps above my left eyebrow in this picture from last night:

Oops, wrong picture.
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​Here we go: 

I share some of these specifics because cancer seems to touch almost everyone, directly or indirectly, and you never know when another might experience the same symptoms and appreciate knowing what helped someone else.  I seem to have a new symptom layered on each week and this time it was neuropathy.  While unloading the dishwasher a few days ago I noticed a quick pain sensation when my fingertips would bump into a cup or a bowl. I started paying attention to my fingers and realized they were a little numb right on the very ends.  Vitamin B6 twice a day was prescribed to help ease the neuropathy and hopefully prevent it from worsening as well. My vision was good and stable this week thanks to the drops, gels and ointments I'm using.  Of course, all the drops, gels and ointments make my eyes a little blurry sometimes- hah!  What's life without irony?!

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My 5th infusion yesterday went well.  Infusions are predictable now and there's comfort in that for all of us.  We are almost to the halfway mark and looking forward to that milestone. 

Aside from my treatment we are focusing on Ian and Henry turning NINE YEARS OLD on February 12th!  They just asked yesterday when cards will start coming in the mail. They are excited for birthday greetings, bringing cinnamon rolls to share at school, a 5 day weekend that happens to start on February 12th and they have their fingers crossed for a birthday sleepover to celebrate (they chose new bed lofts for their rooms instead of a party).  Birthdays will be a fun distraction this month!

Thank you for thinking of us and caring about us, we appreciate it!