Christmas chocolates and a trip to the ER

Being diagnosed with cancer just before Easter meant that I didn't get to do my usual chocolate dipped eggs. For those of you who know me, you know that I LOVE dipping chocolates and especially Easter eggs! For Christmas I dip chocolates for my family, it's a tradition that my Grandma started way back! Now that she is older and not doing any candy making or chocolate dipping I have taken on the job of doing this for all my siblings, their kids, my mom's parents and a few of my Dads neighbors. This project is something that takes about 3 weeks. I got started with the process on December 3rd following one of my radiation appointments. It felt great standing over a hot stove taking in the yummy smells of candy cooking on the stove. The first day I was able to make all the caramel needed for turtles and homemade twix bites. The following day I made a large batch of caramel. The plan was to spend the following Saturday dipping with the help of my girls and husband. Saturday rolled around and after getting my oldest son off to a cub scout activity we began the long process of dipping. By the time my oldest son was back from his scout activity we were still up to our elbows in chocolate. My husband decided to take the boys for a bike ride to keep them entertained (and out of my hair) while the girls and I continued to dip. Following their bike ride they returned home to get gear for the skate park. About an hour after they had left to the skate park I reached a point in my dipping where I needed to take a break to get the next batch of candies ready for dipping. It was during this short break that I got a phone call from my husband asking what hospital emergency room he could go to with Bradley, whom he was sure had a broken leg. Being a Saturday our insurance was closed so I did a quick search on the internet and told him he could go to St. Marks. At this point I stopped getting ready for the next batch of dipping and left in my own car to meet them at the hospital. My oldest daughter came with me so she could bring my other son home in my vehicle. My son had an X-ray that confirmed he had a broken bone, actually 2 broken bones. He broke both the Tibia and Fibula, and because of the nature of the break the tendon at the top of foot stretched and broke the bone on the top of his foot. With a break like this they consulted with an orthopedic surgeon at Primary Childrens, and then decided it was best that he be transported by ambulance to Primary Childrens to be seen. The surgeon there wanted to be see him himself to decide if my son would need surgery. My husband drove our car and rode with Bradley in the ambulance.The ambulance ride was VERY bumpy, and after almost being t-boned by another car we finally made it to Primary's. They were quick to get us in a room, but the Dr. was slow to see us. Turns out that because the weather had been so nice that day there were a lot of broken bones and the only on-call orthopedic surgeon was busy taking care of other ER patients. The nurses were good to take care of our son while we waited. Sometime around 10-11pm the surgeon came in to take care of our son. It was decided to do conscious sedation, set the bones and put on a cast; no surgery. But because they were doing the cast so soon after the injury and with his leg swollen he would need to stay in the hospital to make sure he didn't get 'compartment syndrome', which is the leg swelling inside the cast and causing too much pressure resulting in insufficient blood supply to

muscles and nerves. This would require immediate surgery. By 2am he was taken to a hospital room and at about that time I drove home to get some sleep. The following morning I was awoken by a phone from my husband saying they were discharging our son and to come and get them. My son came home with crutches and some really good pain pills. He was pretty out of it for a couple days and didn't move a whole lot. I was able to go pick up his wheelchair as this was how he would be getting around for a while. 3 days after coming home from the hospital we went back for a follow up visit and everything looked good so they said he could go back to school. Our elementary school was great about getting everything ready for him to come to school in his wheelchair! My son was excited to go back, and truthfully I think he was mostly excited to show off his new wheels.  My son during all of this was a really good sport! My husband and I took turns in the morning getting him to school. After school I picked him up; the novelty of this was short lived for me as the school parking lot at the end of the day being a nightmare! My son has since learned to get around by scooting on around on his bum in the house. He hates using his crutches and the wheelchair in our house doesn't work very well. 10 days after breaking his leg we took him back in to get a new cast, the swelling had gone down so much he could wiggle his leg in his cast, which was very painful and not good. His new cast was tighter and went  higher up his thigh and was VERY PINK! He loved his pink cast! 5 weeks later (this past week) he was taken in for a shorter cast. His new cast stops just below his knee and is bright hunters ORANGE! :) He has a shoe he straps to his cast so he can walk on it. However he is very timid and doesn't want to walk on it yet. He's afraid it's going to hurt and his muscles are pretty weak. My husband and I keep encouraging him to try walking oh his leg, hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon! Tomorrow I'm sending him to school with only his crutches. Thank goodness for NO snow, right?!

Many of you were so kind to our son and our family during this whole nightmare! We are so grateful for the kindness shown to us! We loved all the visitors, love notes and goodies! Thank you for your love and prayers! My son still has a long road ahead of him but he is expected to return to his normal self! Next month we go back to get this cast off and then he'll wear a walking boot for about another month. If all goes well it looks like he'll be cast and boot free by the time I have my final chemo! Another reason to celebrate!!

Radiation Visit

Yesterday I met with the Radiation oncologist to get my mapping and tattoos done. I first met with the doctor to go over what to expect and side effects of radiation. My radiation appointments will be every week day at the same time. I will see the doctor only once a week to go over how I'm feeling and to see if we need to make adjustments in my treatment. Each radiation appointment will last about 20 minutes. Getting radiation is only about 7-8 minutes, and the rest of the time is spent getting lined up on the table and having several people (dr. and nurses) make sure I'm lined up correctly before they begin radiation. For the first 3 weeks I may not feel much different, but by the end of the 3rd week I may start feeling sunburned and tired. Once the redness begins it will only increase and get worse. I can use aloe vera gel, burts bees aloe after sun cream or a special radiation lotion. These lotions will only help relieve the burning feeling. I need to drink LOTS of water while going through radiation, as that will help with the burning and redness too.
I will have 25 radiation appointments, which is better than the original 30 that they had planned. That was good news!
Yesterday I had my mapping done so that the computer knows my body contours. I also received my tattoos, there are 4 in all, one under each arm pit by my side and two down the middle of my chest. The tattoos are little black dots and they're not very noticeable.


Side effects of radiation:
*Scarring of the muscles in the radiated area. For the rest of my life I'll have to do stretches to keep my muscles limber in that area.
*Lymphedema is increase by 1-2% (with surgery alone I have a 25% chance)
*I need to use hot pads when taking food out of the oven so I don't get a burn. Healing is harder on the radiated side after radiation.
*Carry less weight on the cancer/radiated side. Example- don't carry all my grocery bags in all at once in my arms, take multiple trips in instead.
*Wear gloves when gardening or working in the dirt so as to avoid a cut and infection on the cancer/radiated side.
*Treats cuts more seriously as healing will be harder.
There is a small chance of heart disease because of radiation. To try and prevent this they will have me take a deep breath during radiation and hold it for 20 seconds so that the distance between my chest tissue and heart are farther apart. While holding my breath they'll do the radiation.
*Radiation will make my skin very tight and brittle. Because of that there is a 25% chance that my reconstruction surgery may fail on the radiated side. There are some procedures that can be done to minimize this, but there's always a chance that my next surgery may not be a success.

My first radiation appointment is this coming Monday, November 24th. The plan is to do a dry run before they do the real radiation, so next weeks appointment will be both a dry run and a real radiation appointment. Next week I'll have radiation on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. They are closed on Thursday and Friday so I won't have another radiation until the following Monday, December 1st, which is also a herceptin chemo. If all goes as it should I'll get my final radiation on December 31st.

With each change in my treatment plan I get nervous. I've been told that radiation is easier than chemo, but I'm nervous none-the-less. Please keep praying for me! Pray that I can have the strength I need and that I will stay healthy! Thanks!

Herceptin chemo and a visit to the plastic surgeon

Last Friday I had my 5th Herceptin chemo. Only 6 more to go! I'm so happy that this chemo treatment is so easy!
My chemo buddies today were, my Dad, my brother and my oldest son. Three very special people in my life!

The wait wasn't too long to get back into the chemo room. Once we were settled into our comfy seats the chemo went pretty quick. My son was very attentive to our food and beverage needs. He loves the kitchen nook in the chemo room and was great at keeping up set up with snacks and drinks. We played Uno to pass the time. This appointment was the fastest one yet! My next 2 chemo appointments I will NOT see a doctor! I'll have my port accessed and then start the chemo right away. Sounds wonderful to me! By my next chemo on Dec 1st I should have started radiation, so I'll have a chemo and radiation back to back. I have my appointment scheduled in the morning so that I can have radiation immediately following the chemo. I'll know more about radiation this coming week...which leads me to my visit with the Plastic Surgeon.
I met with Dr. yesterday. He is happy with the way things looked, but wanted to do one more fill to make sure the skin was stretched enough. The fill was double what they have normally done. (The pressure is great and today I am sore!) He gave me the green light to get in for mapping for Radiation. Final surgery to remove the tissue expanders is usually 3 months after radiation ends, so we're looking at final surgery in March/ April. I asked if he would remove my port during the final surgery to save me from being under anesthesia two separate times, he said as long as I'm done with my port he can remove it. Today I was also given the go ahead to start driving again. 8 weeks of not driving was pretty hard! But those 8 weeks meant my daughter got to drive herself to and from school, which I know she has loved! Looks like it's back to riding the bus for her :(
I have no follow-up visits with Dr. I will see him again once radiation is complete.

I called to schedule my appointment for radiation mapping (getting my radiation tattoo's). I have an appointment for this coming Tuesday. Mapping takes a couple of hours. I'll know more about radiation and when my 1st appointment will be after this coming Tuesday.

I am currently going through physical therapy. I found a place close enough to home that I can walk to and from my appointments. I love the exercises they have me doing and my range of motion is improving a lot! I will continue having physical therapy until my range of motion is back to where it needs to be. They have me doing exercises at home and those exercises will continue during radiation to keep my muscles stretched and limber.

I am enjoying the tea's I received last week! And I'm loving the love notes I get in the mail! Thank you!

Surgery recovery and chemo update

Update on surgery healing first...
Many of you wanted to know why I was hosptalized last week. Here's the short answer: I had been weaned off a med that I should have not been weaned off of, which was causing my to be nauseated and throw up. Once we got that medicine back in my system (which took 48 hours) I started feeling better. I am currently feeling pretty great! Over that past 2 weeks I've been doing a lot of nothing! Just resting and taking pills. Recovering from surgery has taken longer than I though but I don't want to overdo it and end up causing problems in my healing. A HUGE thanks to my neighbors who've come over and helped with dishes, getting me lunch and helping with house work! It's hard for me to sit back and watch you all do this work for me! I want to be doing it myself, and I will be, ONE day!
Yesterday I stopped taking pain meds, which has been nice. I haven't needed any and can tell a difference in the way I feel by not taking them. I'm feeling more alert and great!! I am however not stopping with the anti-nausea meds. Those will stay on board for another week or two, or as long as it takes to finish filling my expanders.

Today's chemo buddy was my youngest brother. It was nice to have him along! He asked a very good question to the doctor today too! He asked about my 'total and complete response to chemo'. He wanted to know what the percentage was for a total and complete response from my chemo cocktail. The answer was surprising to me, it has a 65% success rate. That means I had a 2/3rds chance of a complete response. I feel extremely blessed to have been on the winning side of this percentage!

During chemo today my brother and I played UNO and I discovered that's a game I'm good at!!

I have an appointment this coming Monday to have my expanders filled again. Not sure how many times it will take before I'm filled up. Appointments for having my expanders filled can only happen once a week, and at some point they'll add more than just a few TBSP.

I met with a therapist last week to discuss lymphadema. I had my arm measure for a compression sleeve. I have the address to several stores in the valley that do fittings and make these sleeves, I just need to get in and have one done. I was also scheduled to start physical therapy in just over a week. This therapy will help me get my range of motion back. I'm scheduled to have physical therapy up at the Huntsman center, but I'm going to call my insurance and see if there is a location closer to home so I won't have to drive as far. Closer to home sounds much nicer, doesn't it?

Thank for for being my support system, my angels here on earth! I am blessed through your prayers and your kindness! Thank you for loving not only me but my whole family! My kids are blessed by your love. My husband finds much relief when he finds so many helping with the daily upkeep of our family! You are ALL so amazing! And I love you all!

Herceptin #3

I debated on whether or not to cancel my chemo for today as my surgery was just 11 days ago. The thing that helped me make up my mind was the fact that I'm tired already, and a chemo appointment wouldn't make it worse. So, with my mind made up and a plan in place for a nap after chemo I went to chemo. Today my chemo buddies were my good friend and neighbor Sarah and my Aunt Pam.
I felt nothing during the port access today!! Could be that the area where the port is numb as part of the mastectomy or due to swelling from the surgery. I am hoping that it'll be numb from here on out!

Today's treatment went by quickly, just long enough to enjoy visiting with my chemo buddies and my yummy sugar cookie.
After my chemo I met my grandparents for lunch. Not a bad way to end a treatment! I love how concerned my grandparents have been for me! They are so wonderful and I love them!

To all of you, thank you for the flowers, the text messages, love notes, phone calls, yummy meals and treats! This has been a very hard week! OR TWO! I have felt your love and concern for not only me but for my daughter as she was hospitalized at the beginning of the week! My family is forever grateful for you love and prayers! We are truly blessed to know each one of you!

The pathology report!

I can hardly contain my emotions! To say I am happy is an understatement! I am overjoyed! And I'm a blubbering baby! All for a good reason!
I got the phone call just a short time ago that my path report was complete. The results are that there are NO residual cancer cells AT ALL! ANYWHERE! They were able to locate the fibrous tumor bed on the left side and found no live cells. In total I had 11 lymph nodes removed, and of those, 5 showed signs of treatment effect, which means that at some time they were probably positive with cancer. But now? There was no live cancer cells there either! They found a fibrous adenoma in the left breast that was NOT cancerous, and a fibrous adenoma in the right breast (that we already knew about).
My cancer treatment will not change. I will finish healing from surgery, have my tissue expanders expanded and have radiation. Once radiation is complete I will start taking tomoxifen, and will take that every day for the next 5 years.

Was going through all this hell worth it? YOU BET IT WAS!!

Thanks for traveling this journey with me! Thank you for loving me and carrying me through my hard days!
I love you all!

New doctors AND hospital confirmed

Both of my new doctors are at the Huntsman Cancer Center. This is a VERY pretty building! Very plush and nice inside. I met with the plastic surgeon on Tuesday and the general surgeon yesterday. First I'll talk about the surgeon, as he'll be doing the beginning part of surgery. This surgeon's approach will be a little different than my original surgeon. He will do whichever surgery I decide to do, and I'm still leaning toward bi-lateral mastectomy. He will be removing  ALL lymph nodes on the side that had cancer, this is different than my previous surgeons plan. Remember she was going to take a few and check for cancer and only remove those that were positive? This doc believes that if he were to do that we could get a false negative because I've already had chemo. Not knowing which nodes were infected to begin with leaves us now knowing which ones may have cancer cells lurking. This news was very shocking to me. But now that I've had time to think about it I'm comfortable with the decision. The surgeon had not had time to review my imaging to see the before and after pictures of my tumor. He is going to have a radiologist review them and  get back to me on whether he thinks I'm a candidate for nipple sparing. If the cancer was to close to the edge then I will lose them. If it looks like I'm in the clear he will still do tissue testing during surgery from under the nipple to make sure there are no positive cancer cells, if there are then the nipples will have to go. Overall I thought this surgeon was nice and I think he'll do a good job.

The plastic surgeon Tuesday: I thought he was a nice enough guy. I'm going to have to get used to having a resident Dr. and extra nurses in tow though. That's how the U and Huntsman work, they are training grounds. He'll place my expanders and do all my follow up visits, which means I'll be seeing him on a weekly basis for a while. One week after surgery I'll have my 1st set of drains removed (there are two drains on each side), and then at the 2 week appointment he'll remove the last two. Around 3 weeks after surgery will be when they start filling my tissue expanders, and this will continue on a weekly basis until we get to where I want to be. Depending on healing time and how long it takes to fill the expanders will determine when I can start radiation.

Surgery was scheduled for September 15th. They'll call me the Friday before and let me know my surgery time and instructions. I can expect a one night stay at the 4 Seasons resort called the Huntsman Cancer Hospital, which means I'll come home some time Tuesday. The only reason I would stay longer would be if there were complications or I am having pain management issues.

The surgery info has been sent over to my insurance to be preauthorized. There is a chance that they won't cover a bi-lateral mastectomy. Dealing with the Insurance is a big head ache!! I should know something before surgery I hope!!

Depending on how I'm feeling I may need to push my September 26th chemo back a week. For that chemo I most likely will need a driver, but I'll ask for help when it gets closer.

I am enjoying having my kids back in school! I plan on getting my house back in order and organized better while they are at school and before surgery. Cleaning makes me happy! And feeling good enough to clean is awesome!

Thank you for your continued prayers! My journey is far from over! This next part is very scary for me! Keep praying for me, your faith and prayers will help carry me through this!

New doctor AND a new hospital?! Ugh!

These past few weeks I've learned my insurance didn't cover my plastic surgeon. There are NO plastic surgeon's at St. Marks that take my insurance! After talking with an upper management at my Insurance they thought they could work out a one time contract with the plastic surgeon that I wanted, however, I received word yesterday that they did NOT want to pursue the one time contract as there are other doctors at the University hospital that I could choose from. I kind of thought this may happen so I've spent time this week looking into the surgeons and plastic surgeons at the U. I had one doc recommended to me that does plastic surgery. I talked to ladies in my support group and several of them had him as their doc and they loved him. The good new is, he takes my insurance! Of the 3 surgeons he works with only 1 of them takes my insurance. I've made appointments with both docs for this next week. If all goes like I'd like, I should have a surgery date set by the end of the week, but if I had to guess, I'd say surgery most likely will happen the week of September 15th.
So with the new doctors comes a change of hospital. I'm not too excited to go to the U, but hopefully as the surgery date gets closer I can have a change of heart and attitude.

Herceptin #1

Quick update of what's happened since my last email!
A huge thank you to my family for putting together the Caramels for Christy night! I loved being able to visit with each one of you that came. And I especially loved all the hugs! For those of you who were there during the sudden down pour of rain, wasn't that awesome?! I have a pretty amazing family, on both sides, and I'm so thankful for all that they do to support me and help me out!

My surgery date is still tentative. The reason? The short answer is that I'm working with my insurance to find a surgeon and plastic surgeon that BOTH take my insurance and work at the same hospital. I am really hoping to have this resolved by the middle of this week. I may have to switch hospitals for surgery, but I'm still holding out hope that we can find a resolution that allows me to stay at St. Marks.
My MRI was on the 8th of August. It was just as nerve racking as I thought it would be. And to say I'm glad it's over and done is an under statement! My veins are pretty hammered from chemo so the IV didn't go too well. While the contrast was being injected my vein burst, which made for a fun bruise. While the MRI wasn't pleasant the results from it are INCREDIBLE! The lime size cancer tumor is completely gone! Which means there was a complete response to the chemo!! I got to see the results with my own eyes, and it was pretty cool! They showed me the MRI imaging from March and the one from the most recent so that I could see the difference. Just because the tumor is gone doesn't mean there aren't some single cancer cells left behind, so there will still be a surgery and radiation.

Last week I met with my radiation oncologist. It was a very educational meeting that explained why radiation after surgery is so helpful. Once surgery is over and I get the green light from the plastic surgeon I'll meet with the radiation oncologist again to get mapped out with a few very small tattoo's for treatment. Radiation could begin as soon as a month after surgery, but it ultimately depends on my healing from surgery. Back in March I was told I would have 30 treatments of radiation (5 days a week for 6 weeks), but it looks like it may only be 25 treatments (5 days a week for 5 weeks). Guess we'll wait and see how it all works out.

My herceptin treatment was last Friday. My oldest son was my chemo buddy. He loves going to my treatments with me. Maybe he should be a medical oncologist when he grows up...
My port access went very smooth and wasn't uncomfortable at all! Wahoo! That always makes me happy!
I met with a Doctor that I had never seen before. He's a retired doc that comes in occasionally to help out. My wait to see him was almost a 30 minute wait. My longest wait to see a Dr. We talked about my finger nails, which are showing signs of a reaction from taxotere. A couple of my nail beds are bruised and have fallen off. Not very pretty.

The herceptin treatment is much quicker than the original chemo appointments! And there are no nasty side effects! This past weekend I felt great!

Thank you for continuing to pray for me! My journey is not complete! I'm excited that the hard chemo's are done! That's a big relief! I know there are still hard days to come, but with all the love and support I continue to receive I know I'll get through it! Thank you for loving me and strengthening me! I love you all!

Chemo #6, The last of the hard ones!

After the most amazing family vacation I came home to have my last and final hard chemo! I'm so grateful to have had a vacation! We spent a week up in Jackson Hole hiking, playing in Jenny Lake, String Lake, going to a rodeo, riding Grandpa's motorcycle, canoeing at Colter Bay and canoeing from the Jackson Lake dam down to Cattleman's Bridge. The food we had was so yummy! The cousin and family time was wonderful! This was a much needed get away from reality and I'm so happy for the memories that were created!

Today amazing husband took the day off to be with me and drive me to chemo! I'm love having him with me! He is my ROCK!
My appointment was at 9am. I was taken back to have my port accessed pretty quick. I had a nurse I'd never seen do the access and it didn't go to well. It as pretty uncomfortable and then the blood wouldn't flow. She tried flushing it with saline and heparin, but it didn't work. She ended up having me lay on my back with my right arm behind my head. I made coughing sound while she flicked a syringe trying to unplug my port. I eventually started laughing because I sounded so silly fake coughing and that got my blood to flow. And to top it off my access needle was placed crooked. :(

My chemo buddies today were two of my great friends. My husband stayed for a while and then went home to get my 3 youngest kids so they could be there for the bell ringing! Ringing the bell was everything I hoped it would be! It was quite an emotional experience! I cried! I know I'm not done, but to be done with this part of chemo is so exciting! I'm ready to move on!

My MRI was scheduled for August 8th at 4:30pm. I'm going to call my family Dr. to get a prescription to 'chill' me out for this appointment. This is the test I live the VERY LEAST!! They will do a contrast IV and I will get to lay on my face for 45 minutes. Anyone want to take my place and do this for me?!

My herceptin chemo is August 15th and we will be discussing my MRI results. The herceptin treatment will much faster than the chemo I've been receiving. With the port access, visit with the Dr. and the drug administration it should only be an hour to hour and a half. Bradley will be my buddy at this appointment. He loves the cancer center! :)

After meeting with the surgeon and plastic surgeon earlier this month we set a tentative date for surgery of Sept 4th. This could be a one night stay in the hospital, but depending on my pain level it could be a two night stay. I am currently leaning towards a double mastectomy, but I'm waiting for the peace of mind that this is the right decision.

I can't say enough how much your love and support mean to me and my family! We couldn't do this without your love, service and prayers! It's true what they say, you don't know how many friends you have until you go through something hard! I hope that I am able to give something back to you as you watch me travel this path. And I look forward to the day I can pay it forward to someone else in need!

July 7, 2014

I made an appointment to meet with my surgeon. My husband and I will meet with her this Wednesday to go over my options and choices. I'm really looking forward to this meeting as I'm hoping to gain some peace of mind as well as become more educated so I can understand what's going to take place. I most likely will have to meet with her again after the MRI to go over it's results and confirm the plan of action, but I'm ok with that.

I am meeting with a fellow breast cancer survivor this week who has experienced surgery and just started radiation. I hope to gain from her experience some insight as to what I may experience as well. Strange as it may sound I'm looking forward to this meeting and our conversation.

Thank you for continuing to pray for me and my family! Thank you for loving and serving us! There is not a night that goes by that we don't pray for those people who are blessing our family! We are so grateful! There are times that I feel your love so strongly that I get emotional and cry. Your service strengthens my spirit and gives me strength to fight on!

Chemo #5

A big thank you to my sister-in-law for driving me to my chemo appointment!
Today’s appointment was pretty smooth. I was in and out by 2:30pm. My port access was done by a student, and was not too painful, but didn’t feel so great either. I’ve done my good deed for the year now. A students gotta learn somehow…
Today was the last time I will see my current Dr. He’s retiring at the end of the month. I am so happy to have had him as my Dr. What an amazing doctor he is! I met my new Dr., however I will only see him after I have my next echo cardiogram in 3 months. For my next nadir and chemo I will see the P.A. I’ve seen him for most of my nadir appointments and have really liked him. The reason I’ll being seeing the P.A. and not my doctor has to do with the volume of patients my doctor retiring had, there were so many they had to share patients around. For the ‘important’ stuff I’ll see the new Dr. and for the stuff the P.A.  can do he’ll do. I’m cool with that. 

*After my next, and LAST hard chemo I will make an appointment for a consultation with the radiologist. This is just an appointment to talk about radiation and what they are going to do and what I can expect. Within 2 weeks of my LAST and FINAL hard chemo I need to have an MRI done to see what’s going on in my breasts, and then within a  few days of the MRI I need to see my surgeon and discuss surgery. My oncologist thinks I’m a candidate for a lumpectomy because I’ve had such good response to chemo. He said to talk to the surgeon and get her feelings, this cancer was quite involved and big and she may not be comfortable doing a lumpectomy. To be honest I’m nervous doing a lumpectomy. I have a 12% change of getting breast cancer again whether I do a single or double mastectomy. Interesting that the percentage doesn’t change by doing a double mastectomy.
 *The plan is still to do the herceptin treatment 3 weeks after my 6th chemo and do surgery the following week. BUT, I need to see when the surgeon is available, so that’s just my tentative schedule. For my Herceptin treatments I will not need to see the doctor, but I will need to have a blood draw. I will also not have a nadir appointment. After my 9th treatment (My 3rd only Herceptin treatment) I will do another echo cardiogram and at my next herceptin treatment I’ll see my Dr.
*After surgery I will be given 3-4 weeks of healing time before radiation begins. They will be radiating the whole breast and it will be penetrating deep enough to get my rib wall and everything in between. The side effects of radiation begin to be uncomfortable around the 3rd or 4th week.

 My chemo buddies today were: My sister in law , my good friend,  and 3 of my kids. 2 of my kids only came to see the therapy dog Trent. Turns out my youngest daughter is quite the dog whisperer! Trent loved her and plopped himself on the floor for her to rub his belly, this lasted for quite a while. It was fun playing games and visiting. My husband joined us at lunch time and brought me the best Jimmy Johns sandwich! Thanks honey!! My good friend brought me a yummy chocolate raspberry cupcake which I ate after chemo. It was delicious!  

One of the highlights from today’s chemo was watching my friend Merna ring the bell! It seriously made me emotional! Before she rang the bell she could see I was almost done with my chemo so she waited. She came and held my hand while I received my nuelasta shot, which I think is the most painful part of chemo!! 

Thank you to those who have surprised me with flowers! To say thank you doesn’t feel like enough! I love the support, the encouragement,and your generosity! I love the text messages, the emails and phone calls! You are all the medicine I need to get through this! Thank you, thank you, thank you, and I love you all!

Chemo #4

These chemo appointments don't get easier! Knowing what to expect is nice, but oh boy do I get nervous!! Today's appointment was no exception. I'm so thankful for the text messages and emails of encouragement I received this morning! They were just what I needed!
Today my chemo buddies were: my Dad and my oldest daughter.
My port access was not painful at all! Happy, happy, happy!
I had my daughter come with me in the exam room so she could meet my Dr. and hear the Dr. discuss all my MANY questions. She said she liked him a lot! I'll see him one more time on the 26th and then he retires on the 27th. At my next appointment I'll find out who my new Dr. is and meet him if he's in the office.
Now for a run down of my questions and the Dr.'s answers:
Me: How long will I have my port?
Dr.: I see no need for you to keep it once your don't with the Herceptin chemo next year in March. So plan on it being removed once I'm done with that. (I like this answer!)
Me: Will I have the drug Emend as part of my chemo today?
Dr.: Yes. He was happy to hear my nausea wasn't as severe this last time.
Me: Are my odds increased to have cancer again because I've had cancer before.
Dr.: There is always that risk. Any new cancer, wherever it is in my body will be classified as Breast cancer because I had that type to begin with and any new cancer if most likely cells left behind that have metastasized. (I don't like this answer. I'd like to think I'm done with cancer for the REST of MY LIFE!)
Me: Who is my new Dr. and when will I meet him/her?
Dr.: I will see my current Dr. one last time on the 26th and he'll tell me then who the new Dr. is and if he's in the office I'll meet him.
Me: When do I need to call my Surgeon to discuss my surgery?
Dr.: Following the last appointment is soon enough. (My Dr. mentioned that because my tumor is gone I may be a candidate for just a lumpectomy. My surgeon is an advocate for complete mastectomies though. Doing a lumpectomy AND radiotion will achieve the same success rate at doing a mastectomy)(This leaves me feeling like I'm not sure what I'm going to do. My fear of having cancer again is HUGE!)
I'd love your prayers specifically on this matter to help me make this decision. It's a big one and one there scares me a lot!!

Anticipating Chemo...

Today I've had a lot of nervous energy in anticipation for my next chemo. It's hard to know what to expect when the side effects have been different after each chemo. I'd like to think it'll not be as hard as my first chemo. It's hard not knowing. This nervous energy is a lot like nesting when your pregnant, I'll be doing lots of cleaning and errand running :)

Hope you are all having a great Monday!

Chemo #3

I'm half way done! Hurray!
Had a great appointment with the Dr. He is retiring in June so the next chemo will be my last appointment with him.
Here's what was discussed today:
-The lump is still gone. There is NO sign of it at all! The chemo is still working. With that being said the Dr. sees no need to do an MRI. The fact that he can't find it means the chemo is doing its job. If there is any cancer lurking it'll continue to be killed by chemo and then removed at surgery. No MRI makes me uber happy! I hate MRI's.
-A new drug will be added to me chemo today. It's called emend, and will help with nausea. I was only told it stays in my body for 72 hours. We'll see how well it works.
-My blood count shows my platelets went up from 119 to 135, but are still lower than the low point they want me at. My red blood count, hgb and hematocrit are all still low too. My white blood count is still within normal.
-Before my 5th treatment (June 26th) I need to have an echo cardiogram to make sure my heart is still strong and not too stressed out. I'll schedule that for the beginning of the week to make sure the results are back in time for chemo.
-I need to keep up on moisturizing my nose after chemo to help with nose bleeds. I seem to only get them for about 10-12 days after chemo. The worry is that my platelets are low and they don't want me to not be able to control the bleeding. If it were to get bad enough they'd send me to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. I'd like to avoid that so I'll be diligent in vaselining my nose and using my humidifier.
-At my last chemo (July 25th), after I ring the chemo bell my doctor will walk me over to radiology to set me up as a patient. Radiation will begin about 3 weeks after surgery.
-Surgery will happen about 2-3 weeks after my last chemo, but my doctor wants to make sure I receive my hormone chemo before I have surgery so I won't have to come into chemo a few days post surgery with a hurting boob. With that being said I'll most like have my hormone chemo 3 weeks after my July chemo and have surgery the following week.


My chemo buddies today were, my dad (which reads- MY HERO!), one of my Mom's caregivers, my Aunt and my oldest son. Our time was spent playing games, eating suck on candies, visiting, and having my son get us free snacks from the kitchen area in the chemo room. My son loved meeting Trent the Therapy Dog! He loved being there and said it was fun. Fun must be relative to him. I don't view chemo as fun, but having good company makes it more fun!

Today I began paying off all the medical bills. I've hit my out of pocket maximum, which was reached quickly. Thank goodness for insurance!!

And because I haven't said anything, not because I've forgotten! I want to thank all those who came and supported me at the Race for the Cure! I had a total of 37 team member. 36 of them came out and walked! It was a day I'll never forget! And it's something I'll be doing again next year!

And last, I have to remind all of you of how much I love you! You are all so great at reminding me I'm loved and now it's my turn to tell you! I am blessed by your prayers, your thoughts and your outreaching on my families behalf! I pray that you will be blessed for your love and service!

Chemo #2

I was able to use my numbing jelly this morning. It seemed to help as this port access was the least painful.
Before chemo I saw the Dr. He did a breast exam and couldn't even find a lump. AT ALL!! That means this chemo garbage is doing its job! We talked about menopause, and it looks like having sporadic periods or none at all is normal. We discussed management for nausea this go around. I'm going to take my pill the in the morning before I start having symptoms to see if that helps me get through the day a little better. I still need to exersize each day despite my not feeling good. This can be really hard when I'm feeling my worst, but I see its advantages so I'll make myself do it! I gave a urine sample and it came back negative for a bladder infection, which means I was most likely passing a kidney stone last night. This morning I was already over it. They are going to culture out the urine just to be safe, but most likely it'll be negative still.
My friend  joined me for my treatment today to photograph all the fun, and not so fun. We waited for almost 30 minutes before I was called back into the chemo room. By then there were quite a few people in the room. It has about 18 chairs and I'd say they were a little more than half in use. My sister-in-law joined us as well and brought with her the most amazing treat! Homemade kettle corn! We played a game and gobbled down our delicious popcorn. My treatment began around 11:20 and I was done by 2:30.My friend from my 1st treatment was there and it was fun to see her and give her a big hug. Up to this point I still had no idea what her name was or what cancer she was battling. All I know is we connected the first time we met. She's one chemo ahead of me so it's nice to hear how she's handling it so I know what to expect. She is probably in her late 60's, early 70's, so her experience and mine may vary a little because I've got youth and great health on my side. I'm not exactly sure what drew her to me, but she's just one of those people I can tell is someone special. I hope to get know her better. I did learn today that her cancer is lymphoma, inoperable, and she only has to have 6 chemo treatments, and will have a 90% success rate. That's great news!
Tonight my husbnad and I were able to take the boys to their Literacy Night. It made me so happy being back in the Elementary school! I truly miss volunteering in the classroom and the teachers I worked with. Seeing other Mom's and people I know was great too!
My plan? I planning on feeling good tomorrow. I'll do whatever comes to mind, and have no set chores. If all goes like it did last time I'll start feeling crumby tomorrow night around bedtime. However I've heard the 2nd treatment isn't as hard. Let's hope.
As for updates? Once the yucky part hits the updates will be given by my other co-authors.
I do have a great setup for next week with people coming in to help feed me during the day while my hubby and kids are at work and school. I'm excited to see if that's helpful. I know so many of you want to do 'something', so this should give people that opportunity.
Feel free to send me a text. Talking on the phone is too hard when I'm battling the worst of it, so don't be offended if you call and I don't answer.
I've said it before and I'll keep saying it! Thank you for your love and support! I could not do this without it! Your prayers and concern are felt! I continue to be amazed by how many people have reached out to me. I am truly humbled and grateful! Thank you!

Side Effects and My First Chemo Scarves!

Two of the side effects I was told would happen have started to happen. Menopause and my hair falling out. The menopause may just be temporary while I'm going through chemo, or could be here to stay. Either way I feel too young to be dealing with this. There is a chance that my body will remember I'm young and I'll get my periods back some time next year, which means I'll get to experience going through menopause twice.
The hair loss? While it's not coming out in huge chunks it is coming out! Every time I touch my head. I sweep the bathroom every morning after I'm done getting ready. And the bathroom sink is covered with hair. At this rate maybe I won't need to shave my head until next week. However it starts coming out in bigger chunks I'll shave it sooner.  I thought I had prepared myself emotionally for this, but I'm finding myself a little emotional. Not to the point of needing to cry, but I feel unsettled.
I went and bought fabric today with my daughter to make a couple chemo scarves. I hope they turn out cute!

3rd Day Out

Three days since chemo and Christy is battling the side effects. Nothing that wasn't to be expected, but still rough: exhaustion, malaise, some nausea... She was still able to get out and do a couple of things today, like birthday shopping for her little guy and a small gathering at her dad’s house this evening. She had fun visiting with family, and then took a nap on the couch there when the exhaustion took over. If her body's reaction follows the standard trend, the symptoms will get worse over the next 2-3 days. Then she'll start to feel better. On a lighter note, her youngest son shaved his head this morning and her dad earlier this week. They are ready for her to join their club...

Chemo #1

The first part was meeting the doctor.  He did physical exam to measure the size of the tumor.  Then he invited Christy’s husband and Dad into the room and he explained what was going to happen, why they were doing what they were doing, what to do if there is problem and what will happen. The doctor was really nice and took all the time needed to answer any question we could come up with.  They will change her last treatment so it will be right after our family vacation to Jackson. Otherwise it would have been that week we leave for Jackson. 

• 10:30 am - Got to the treatment room and they started connection to the port.  It went really smooth and didn't hurt as much as expected.
• 11:20 am - Christy started her IV's with some steroids. 
• 11:45 am - Started the first chemo drug.  It is the one that starts with the letter "P".  It will take about 40 minutes.  Then we still have the "TCH".  I do not know if they are one at a time or all together.
• 12:20 pm - This is going to take a while. There are about 18 chair in the room and right now they are about half full.  Christy seems to be doing really good.  The nurse is really great.  It is the same nurse that gave the class yesterday.  We are still on the first chemo.  The nurse just spent about 15 minutes going over a stack of papers with info on everything that could happen and what to do about it. We have WIFI in the treatment room.  They have asked people to not use their cell phones.
• 12:50 pm - Started the second bag.  Two more to go.  They can't mix the chemo drugs.  Earlier they had a lady come thru with a therapy dog.  It was the size of full-size lab or poodle.  It was a mix, called a labradoodle   His name was Trent, about 4 years old and silver-gray color.  The lady who was with the dog was very friendly and it was fun visiting with Trent.
• 4:30 pm - Finished the appointment.  Since they give each chemo agent one at a time, it takes a while.  There is one of the drugs that they give in a larger amount and a little bit slower rate on the first appointment, so this should be the longest chemo treatment day of them all.  The future treatments should start around 9:30am and hopefully be done around 3:30pm.

The Good News:

• There are only 17 treatments total.  Somehow it came across there would be 6 treatments followed by 17 more.  The first 6 are the ones were she will get all four agents.  Then there are 11 more treatments with only two agents.  Making 17 total treatments.  That's a relief!
• They started the treatment with some strong steroids plus she is taking steroids orally for three days (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow).  They gave her some medication to help reduce nausea at the treatment center then sent her home with two more she can take orally.
• Christy was feeling very good when she got home and following her doctor's orders went for a 30 minute walk and was feeling great.  With all the steroids they said she may have a ton of energy for a day or two.

The Bad News:

• It is expected that Christy will start losing her hair by the next treatment.  We meet another lady who was there for her second treatment and had lost her hair.  It actually started falling out so much they just cut the rest off.  Those without hair were there with something like a scarf.  Christy did get a catalog with some pretty cool hats and wigs.  
• Her current doctor is retiring in June.  So when they happens someone else at the treatment center will take over.  Most of the contact is actually with the nurses and the one working with her today was very, very good.  I don't know if she will have the same nurse each time.

What's Up Next:

• Her next appointment is April 14th, a Monday.  They will draw blood and check how her bone marrow is holding up.  If it doesn't pass they will cancel the treatment and send her home.
• They will check it again at the first of the next treatment on April 24th.
• The next echocardiogram is in 12 weeks.

Even though it was a long day it went really well.  We left feeling very upbeat. I don't think any of us felt really drained from the experience.