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.

Good News!

I spent the afternoon hanging out with Christy.  While I was there she got a call about the genetic testing. She does NOT have the genetic predisposition for breast cancer which means she may keep the right breast if she chooses, her girls and brothers are not any more at risk than before. :) Good news like this is always welcome.

Pet Scan results and Port surgery details

The PET Scan results came back today.  (The PET Scan was the full body scan to identify any cancer anywhere else in her body.)  The scan indicated no cancer anywhere else.  GREAT NEWS!!

This morning's surgery to place the port (for the chemo treatments) went well.  She went back to the operating room just after 8 am and it took about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  They wanted to put the port on her right side, and it went in with no complications.  Basically it was a very smooth surgery.

Currently she is really tired and in quite a bit of pain.  The meds and ice have helped her shoulder pain.  But she had to be intubated for the surgery, and now her throat is very raw and achy.  Talking is painful and she is very hoarse.

She is, however, very grateful to have it done and to be home and to have such good news about the PET Scan results.