On a good note, I had my period again this month. I know TMI for some, but it means that my body is finally healing and getting the monthly injections to stop my cycle paid off. Although the 9 months without one was very nice, this is great news!
As I've been getting farther and farther away from the cancer recovery I've not given myself enough credit to just how strong I really am. It has taken me until May to finally take myself back to high impact for the duration of Jazzercise. Some movements felt odd and I'd immediately switch to low impact because I was worried I was doing something wrong now that I have implants. I finally realized that things may never feel "normal" again but that my body is okay with what I am doing.
To put this theory to the test I decided that I still wanted to run a 5K after all. Many of you know I was training to run the Capital City Commit to Be Fit 5K last year when I received my diagnosis. Last year I was looking for something new, and thought 3.2 miles at 32 years of age would be fun. Well 3.2 miles at 33 years of age is just as fun. Yesterday I ran the 2012 Commit to Be Fit 5K. My official time was 38:52!! My first 2 miles were around 11:15-11:30 but mile 3 came in over 13 minutes. I was definitely tired and a lot of mile 3 was uphill. But I finished! I told myself I'd be happy with any time, as long as I crossed the finish line, but I secretly wanted to finish under 45 minutes. In fact, Brian came down to watch me finish, and he didn't expect me to finish as early as I did. I caught him off guard when I came around the corner, and he didn't have enough time to react and take a very good picture of me about to finish.
I am very busy with the end of the school year, I have 14 out of 23 students graduating this year. And if that isn't enough I am also staying quite busy with the Scentsy business as the company just launched a separate company, Velata, which is Fondue warmers and chocolate. And of course I wouldn't be back to being me if I didn't have 100 things on my plate at once. Brian and I are in the middle of planning our October wedding.
I am so amazed at what I have been through this last year, both the good and the bad. There were definitely moments that I thought, I can't do this. But looking back, I don't really have any regrets. I realize I probably should have taken a little more time off of work for recovery, but those that know me well know I don't do idle very well! I continue to see my oncologist every 3 months, and my surgeon every 6 months, but look forward to the day when they both tell me I don't have to see them as often.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
And a year later..
I don't know how many people still read and follow this. I'm guessing not many since I really haven't had much to report lately. But here's a little update.
In January I was sent for a bone density scan by my oncologist. She wanted to see if I've had bone loss due to the chemo. Seems she went to a conference and they found good news with young cancer patients being on Zometa and a reduction of recurrence in the bones. She couldn't prescribe it without reason, hence the bone scan.
I went in for my 3 month follow up on the 9th. What should have been an easy appointment turned into a hellish day. I took a half day off work and went for a 1pm appointment. Around 2:30 I was getting antsy and talked to the nurse to see what the deal was, she assured me that my doc was with a patient and I was next to be seen. At 3:30 I was standing in the doorway to my exam room ready to flag said nurse down and tell her I was outta there when the doc came flying at me apologizing. So now I am 2.5 hours into being at the James. She tells me there has been some bone loss in my spine due to the chemo and wants to put me on the Zometa. It's an infusion I will need to have every 6 months for 2 years. So I head over to the infusion center where I admit to the nurses I was tired and grumpy and just wanted to go home. Since I had the port removed they needed to draw blood and start an IV for the infusion. Well 3 nurses and 3 pokes later we are finally good to go. One of the nurses took pity on me having skipped lunch (was going to grab something after appointment) and brought me Adriatico's pizza they had in the fridge. I finally escaped the hospital around 5:45. YIKES!! One of the side effects they warned me about was aches and said it might feel like the flu.
Fast forward about 17 hours and I was just starting to feel stiff and sore, so I popped 2 advil and attempt to go watch the St. Patrick's Day parade. After about 30-45 minutes I give up, I'm cold and I wasn't feeling very good. I crawled into bed and within a few hours had chills and the WORST body aches I've ever had. I had pj pants, a long sleeve tshirt, a fleece zip up, a sheet, a blanket and both halves of the down comforter on me and was still cold. Thanks to a gift from back in my college days, Brian heated up my "bed buddy" and I was good to go. I unfortunately had to cancel my Scentsy party that night, but my hostess took it like a champ and after dropping off all the essentials she ran the party herself. As soon as my advil would wear off I'd start in with the chills all over again. 3 Advil every 4 hours, what fun!! By 1 am I also added a sleeping back to the pile of things on top of me. It took many doses of Advil and 3 days before I was finally feeling better. I'm not sure I can do this every 6 months...I know there's a chance this could help but I don't know if the negatives outweight the positives.
On St. Patrick's Day I also celebrated the 1 year anniversary of having found my lump. This coming Saturday I will celebrate the 1 year anniversary of my diagnosis. That day is one I will never forget. I feel like my world was turned upside down. There have definitely been some good moments in the last year, but definitely one I will remember forever!
In January I was sent for a bone density scan by my oncologist. She wanted to see if I've had bone loss due to the chemo. Seems she went to a conference and they found good news with young cancer patients being on Zometa and a reduction of recurrence in the bones. She couldn't prescribe it without reason, hence the bone scan.
I went in for my 3 month follow up on the 9th. What should have been an easy appointment turned into a hellish day. I took a half day off work and went for a 1pm appointment. Around 2:30 I was getting antsy and talked to the nurse to see what the deal was, she assured me that my doc was with a patient and I was next to be seen. At 3:30 I was standing in the doorway to my exam room ready to flag said nurse down and tell her I was outta there when the doc came flying at me apologizing. So now I am 2.5 hours into being at the James. She tells me there has been some bone loss in my spine due to the chemo and wants to put me on the Zometa. It's an infusion I will need to have every 6 months for 2 years. So I head over to the infusion center where I admit to the nurses I was tired and grumpy and just wanted to go home. Since I had the port removed they needed to draw blood and start an IV for the infusion. Well 3 nurses and 3 pokes later we are finally good to go. One of the nurses took pity on me having skipped lunch (was going to grab something after appointment) and brought me Adriatico's pizza they had in the fridge. I finally escaped the hospital around 5:45. YIKES!! One of the side effects they warned me about was aches and said it might feel like the flu.
Fast forward about 17 hours and I was just starting to feel stiff and sore, so I popped 2 advil and attempt to go watch the St. Patrick's Day parade. After about 30-45 minutes I give up, I'm cold and I wasn't feeling very good. I crawled into bed and within a few hours had chills and the WORST body aches I've ever had. I had pj pants, a long sleeve tshirt, a fleece zip up, a sheet, a blanket and both halves of the down comforter on me and was still cold. Thanks to a gift from back in my college days, Brian heated up my "bed buddy" and I was good to go. I unfortunately had to cancel my Scentsy party that night, but my hostess took it like a champ and after dropping off all the essentials she ran the party herself. As soon as my advil would wear off I'd start in with the chills all over again. 3 Advil every 4 hours, what fun!! By 1 am I also added a sleeping back to the pile of things on top of me. It took many doses of Advil and 3 days before I was finally feeling better. I'm not sure I can do this every 6 months...I know there's a chance this could help but I don't know if the negatives outweight the positives.
On St. Patrick's Day I also celebrated the 1 year anniversary of having found my lump. This coming Saturday I will celebrate the 1 year anniversary of my diagnosis. That day is one I will never forget. I feel like my world was turned upside down. There have definitely been some good moments in the last year, but definitely one I will remember forever!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Wow has it been 2 months?
I just realized I haven't posted in 2 months and I apologize...but as the treatments have come to an end, there seems to be less to talk about. I will try my best to catch up on the last 2 months...
October 14th marks my graduation from Chemo. While I am very happy that is all over with it is also very bittersweet, as I had some really great nurses taking care of me and I will miss seeing them on a regular basis!!!
October 15th marked another finale in my life. After almost 20 years of waiting and more than 2 years of pain...I finally have straight teeth!! My braces came of the day after chemo and I couldn't be happier with the results. For those that have known me a long time, you know what an amazing transformation that was!
Right now the biggest obstacle moving forward is the discrepancy with the pathology. The original specimen that was taken during the biopsy came back weakly positive for Estrogen and Progesterone. The tissue that was dissected and tested after the tumor and breasts were removed were tested by a different hospital that I went to for chemotherapy. They are concluding the results were negative. This hospital is trying to make it seem like the original hospital isn't always accurate in their testing protocols. If the results weren't a huge factor in determining what the next course of treatment is, then I would just let it go. But there is a big difference between needing an anti-hormone for 5 years and not. There is a 50% reduction in recurrence with the anti-hormone medication IF in fact the tumor is fed by the hormones. The compromise to this is the hospital I go to for oncology is going to request the original specimen from the original biopsy and run their own tests to determine positivity or negativity.
I am slowly checking everything off the FINALLY FINISHED list of treatment and recovery. December 1st I underwent outpatient surgery to have my permanent (well 15 years permanent) implants put in. The surgery lasted an hour and then another hour in recovery and I was on my way home. I even managed a few phone calls to update my condition while I waited on Brian to fill my antibiotic. I was pretty groggy and it was suggested I take my pain meds for 24 hours, although I didn't really feel any pain, at least not even close to what I felt before. Although by 8 o'clock that night I hadn't eaten much, and what I had eaten wasn't too heavy and so the percocet made me sick to my stomach. Since I wasn't in pain, I went ahead and stopped taking them at that point. I switched to Tylenol Extra Strength in the morning and took those for maybe 24 hours after that. I went back to work a week later to wrap things up for the holiday break. This past Friday I met with the plastic surgeon for a follow up, and at this point in the healing process he said everything looks great. There are still some scabs along the suture line, but you honestly can't tell I just had surgery (again!) 2 weeks ago. However, because he did do some extra work on the inside, he wants me to follow my restrictions for another week and will follow up with him again in 2 months!!
I have an appointment after the beginning of the year to finally have my port removed. I was very okay with it going in, as I knew it was the safest route for my AC to be administered. But now that I've not needed it, I'm VERY anxious to have it removed. That foreign object in my body has been more stressful than all of the breast stuff combined. I've heard horror stories from other cancer patients on their ports flipping over, being knocked out of place, etc and I was soo worried I'd do something to it!
At one point this fall I was juggling appointments with 7 different health care professionals... I have my dentist and orthodontist, my primary care physician, my surgeon, my plastic surgeon, my oncologist and my ob/gyn. I am looking forward to the new year when my follow up appointments go from every few weeks to every few months.
I'm so happy to finally be able to start putting my cancer in my "past" file and this is clearing room for me to start planning my future. And what better way to look to the future, than to plan a wedding with my best friend? After waiting for a long time, Brian finally proposed last night and I of course said Yes! I look forward to spending the rest of my healthy life with him!
October 14th marks my graduation from Chemo. While I am very happy that is all over with it is also very bittersweet, as I had some really great nurses taking care of me and I will miss seeing them on a regular basis!!!
October 15th marked another finale in my life. After almost 20 years of waiting and more than 2 years of pain...I finally have straight teeth!! My braces came of the day after chemo and I couldn't be happier with the results. For those that have known me a long time, you know what an amazing transformation that was!
Right now the biggest obstacle moving forward is the discrepancy with the pathology. The original specimen that was taken during the biopsy came back weakly positive for Estrogen and Progesterone. The tissue that was dissected and tested after the tumor and breasts were removed were tested by a different hospital that I went to for chemotherapy. They are concluding the results were negative. This hospital is trying to make it seem like the original hospital isn't always accurate in their testing protocols. If the results weren't a huge factor in determining what the next course of treatment is, then I would just let it go. But there is a big difference between needing an anti-hormone for 5 years and not. There is a 50% reduction in recurrence with the anti-hormone medication IF in fact the tumor is fed by the hormones. The compromise to this is the hospital I go to for oncology is going to request the original specimen from the original biopsy and run their own tests to determine positivity or negativity.
I am slowly checking everything off the FINALLY FINISHED list of treatment and recovery. December 1st I underwent outpatient surgery to have my permanent (well 15 years permanent) implants put in. The surgery lasted an hour and then another hour in recovery and I was on my way home. I even managed a few phone calls to update my condition while I waited on Brian to fill my antibiotic. I was pretty groggy and it was suggested I take my pain meds for 24 hours, although I didn't really feel any pain, at least not even close to what I felt before. Although by 8 o'clock that night I hadn't eaten much, and what I had eaten wasn't too heavy and so the percocet made me sick to my stomach. Since I wasn't in pain, I went ahead and stopped taking them at that point. I switched to Tylenol Extra Strength in the morning and took those for maybe 24 hours after that. I went back to work a week later to wrap things up for the holiday break. This past Friday I met with the plastic surgeon for a follow up, and at this point in the healing process he said everything looks great. There are still some scabs along the suture line, but you honestly can't tell I just had surgery (again!) 2 weeks ago. However, because he did do some extra work on the inside, he wants me to follow my restrictions for another week and will follow up with him again in 2 months!!
I have an appointment after the beginning of the year to finally have my port removed. I was very okay with it going in, as I knew it was the safest route for my AC to be administered. But now that I've not needed it, I'm VERY anxious to have it removed. That foreign object in my body has been more stressful than all of the breast stuff combined. I've heard horror stories from other cancer patients on their ports flipping over, being knocked out of place, etc and I was soo worried I'd do something to it!
At one point this fall I was juggling appointments with 7 different health care professionals... I have my dentist and orthodontist, my primary care physician, my surgeon, my plastic surgeon, my oncologist and my ob/gyn. I am looking forward to the new year when my follow up appointments go from every few weeks to every few months.
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| A Few Months Hair Growth! |
I'm so happy to finally be able to start putting my cancer in my "past" file and this is clearing room for me to start planning my future. And what better way to look to the future, than to plan a wedding with my best friend? After waiting for a long time, Brian finally proposed last night and I of course said Yes! I look forward to spending the rest of my healthy life with him!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Mixed Emotions
I feel like I'm always apologizing to those of you who only follow my recovery through here. I am super busy with work and my side business and when I think about updating it's usually not at a time when I can sit down and do it! So here's updates from the treatment I had 3 weeks ago.
I have been having mixed emotions about everything "cancer" lately. At first I was happy when they switched me from Taxol to Taxotere because it meant putting some time in between which really has helped me recover better. However I wonder if the side effects are worse now than they would have been with the weekly treatments. I have been experiencing a lot of bone/joint pain, especially in my hips and legs. It has made getting down on the floor with the kids at school extremely uncomfortable. There have been many nights I couldn't have gone to sleep without the help of a couple Advil. Plus it's taken me a good week after chemo to feel back to normal.
Now as the last treatment draws near (this Friday) I am both unbelievably excited to be done and anxious to start putting this chapter behind me, but on the other hand I'm extremely scared. I've gone from seeing a doctor regularly to only getting to see her once every 3 months. Now it's going to fall on me to understand my body and alert someone if something doesn't seem right. NO PRESSURE!! She said there is no point in doing scans regularly because it won't see anything until it's already come back, and she said that only usually buys us a couple weeks before symptoms alert us that there is a problem. And she said it won't effect the way we treat any recurrence.
The other big stress is the fact that my current treatment hospital redid the pathology from the original tumor. The prior pathology indicated the tumor was Estrogen and Progesterone positive. This is why I was originally told by all the oncologists that I would need to go on Tamoxifen for 5 years after chemo. Now the oncologist is saying the new review of the pathology shows that the tumor was in fact triple negative. I had a friend of mine who is a pathologist look at all the reports and such and she said that the staining from the current hospital is correct. But honestly I don't understand any of that stuff. Brian and I decided I needed to follow up with my original surgeon to see what he thinks about this latest news, but honestly I just keep dragging my feet on making the call.
Last treatment also called into question my blood sugar. This time around I have to take the steroid morning and evening the day prior and the day of treatment. Well when they ran all the blood tests they did a glucose and mine was in the 350's. They gave me a shot of insulin and then sent me home with a prescription for a glucose monitor. I spent the rest of the weekend pricking myself twice a day checking the sugar levels. THAT SUCKED!! I pray that I don't develop diabetes because I don't think I can do that every day for the rest of my life. My fingers hurt and they bruised every time I pricked them. The weekend levels remained relatively normal. I will probably start testing it again tomorrow before the steroid and then while I'm on it to see what happens. I need to follow up with my regular doctor, but as I already have an appointment with her next month I'll just wait and discuss it with her then. The doctor's all seem to think it was a spike due to the steroid, but because it was so high they didn't want to take any chances.
On a positive note, I've gone back to my plastic surgeon and started having fills again. I've had 2 since I've been on fall break from school and will go back again next week for what will hopefully be the last. He said we are close to being done, after next week's we will re-evaluate things and decide what we are going to do. I've scheduled the implant surgery for December 1st. I know that puts me right in the middle of craziness at school, we'll just be coming back from Thanksgiving and getting things caught up before going on break for Christmas and the end of 2011. They said I should only need a week to recover, but you know me. I'm hoping to go back sooner. Just like last time, I'd rather be at work rather than sitting around doing nothing all day. I will be back on my restrictions for lifting and all that good stuff, so no laundry, no cleaning, no lifting, nothing over 10 pounds for 6 weeks again! Brian's going to LOVE that!!
I've been fortunate to have made it through most of my treatments without being sick. Unfortunately I caught a cold, most likely from work, and have spent my entire break sick! It started as a chest cold, and this week we've gone North as head congestion and a yucky throat thanks to drainage. Wee what fun!!
I have been having mixed emotions about everything "cancer" lately. At first I was happy when they switched me from Taxol to Taxotere because it meant putting some time in between which really has helped me recover better. However I wonder if the side effects are worse now than they would have been with the weekly treatments. I have been experiencing a lot of bone/joint pain, especially in my hips and legs. It has made getting down on the floor with the kids at school extremely uncomfortable. There have been many nights I couldn't have gone to sleep without the help of a couple Advil. Plus it's taken me a good week after chemo to feel back to normal.
Now as the last treatment draws near (this Friday) I am both unbelievably excited to be done and anxious to start putting this chapter behind me, but on the other hand I'm extremely scared. I've gone from seeing a doctor regularly to only getting to see her once every 3 months. Now it's going to fall on me to understand my body and alert someone if something doesn't seem right. NO PRESSURE!! She said there is no point in doing scans regularly because it won't see anything until it's already come back, and she said that only usually buys us a couple weeks before symptoms alert us that there is a problem. And she said it won't effect the way we treat any recurrence.
The other big stress is the fact that my current treatment hospital redid the pathology from the original tumor. The prior pathology indicated the tumor was Estrogen and Progesterone positive. This is why I was originally told by all the oncologists that I would need to go on Tamoxifen for 5 years after chemo. Now the oncologist is saying the new review of the pathology shows that the tumor was in fact triple negative. I had a friend of mine who is a pathologist look at all the reports and such and she said that the staining from the current hospital is correct. But honestly I don't understand any of that stuff. Brian and I decided I needed to follow up with my original surgeon to see what he thinks about this latest news, but honestly I just keep dragging my feet on making the call.
Last treatment also called into question my blood sugar. This time around I have to take the steroid morning and evening the day prior and the day of treatment. Well when they ran all the blood tests they did a glucose and mine was in the 350's. They gave me a shot of insulin and then sent me home with a prescription for a glucose monitor. I spent the rest of the weekend pricking myself twice a day checking the sugar levels. THAT SUCKED!! I pray that I don't develop diabetes because I don't think I can do that every day for the rest of my life. My fingers hurt and they bruised every time I pricked them. The weekend levels remained relatively normal. I will probably start testing it again tomorrow before the steroid and then while I'm on it to see what happens. I need to follow up with my regular doctor, but as I already have an appointment with her next month I'll just wait and discuss it with her then. The doctor's all seem to think it was a spike due to the steroid, but because it was so high they didn't want to take any chances.
On a positive note, I've gone back to my plastic surgeon and started having fills again. I've had 2 since I've been on fall break from school and will go back again next week for what will hopefully be the last. He said we are close to being done, after next week's we will re-evaluate things and decide what we are going to do. I've scheduled the implant surgery for December 1st. I know that puts me right in the middle of craziness at school, we'll just be coming back from Thanksgiving and getting things caught up before going on break for Christmas and the end of 2011. They said I should only need a week to recover, but you know me. I'm hoping to go back sooner. Just like last time, I'd rather be at work rather than sitting around doing nothing all day. I will be back on my restrictions for lifting and all that good stuff, so no laundry, no cleaning, no lifting, nothing over 10 pounds for 6 weeks again! Brian's going to LOVE that!!
I've been fortunate to have made it through most of my treatments without being sick. Unfortunately I caught a cold, most likely from work, and have spent my entire break sick! It started as a chest cold, and this week we've gone North as head congestion and a yucky throat thanks to drainage. Wee what fun!!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Rough Way To Go
Okay this weekend has probably been the worst weekend I've had yet during treatments. I woke up Friday morning with serious nausea and diarrhea. I wasn't able to eat more than 1 piece of toast and didn't really drink much but still headed off to chemo like a trooper. I told the nurse practitioner that I felt like I'd fallen apart from last week to this week, I was feeling pain, I wasn't sleeping and was just exhausted, oh and the upset stomach. She went ahead and prescribed a sleep aid for me to try to help and we talked about all the other issues I was experiencing. I thought the nausea might have been from something I'd eaten the night before so we figured it would work itself out of my system itself. Made it over to the chemo area where I was put through the same pre-meds I had just managed to be taken off of for 1 week. Of course I felt the benadryl "haze" immediately and it didn't take long for me to fall asleep. Well that was soon short lived as I was immediately woken up with a major wave of nausea. Thank goodness Brian was quick on his feet with the trash can. After spending some time emptying out whatever was left in my stomach they went ahead and proceeded with the taxotere and I was sent on my way.
I debated whether or not to still make the trip home this weekend to see the family, but instead opted to forget trying to haul the washer and dryer to dad's house and but to go ahead with the planned visit. I literally slept the ENTIRE ride up there. Brian and I went out to Applebee's for dinner, honestly NOT a good choice when you've still got a queasy stomach, they didn't even have buttered noodles on the kids menu!! Ended up with chicken tenders and fries, and they both managed to stay down. Had a great visit on Friday evening with the extended family and even made plans to go watch the OSU game with my sister and her friend the next day. Woke up on Saturday with more diarrhea and continued nausea, so at that point just decided to make the drive home.
I watched the first half of the game and then fell asleep at half time. Unfortunately my nap lasted the entire second half, but I was happy to wake up and find out we had won 42-0!!! Unfortunately the nausea has lasted the majority of the weekend. I hadn't eaten all day Saturday but was able to eat some dinner later in the evening. Yesterday I managed a few small meals but really didn't feel like eating. I haven't left the house in over 48 hours and haven't managed to do much outside of bed.
For those of you that know Brian and I well you know that I'm the one to takes care of the majority of the housework. Housework is at the top of my list of frustrations of living with cancer. Most days it's all I can do to make it through an 8 hour day at work but come home and cook, do dishes or laundry....not happening. Well since Brian hates doing housework, and I'm not capable of doing what I used to things are just falling behind....my big plan for this weekend was to get caught up around the house...I figured I had 2 days to pace myself and get things done. Fat chance!! So here I sit on the bed looking at the floor where some of the dirty clothes have been sorted and am trying to talk myself into sorting what's in the hamper and at least getting 1 load to the basement and into the washer. I'm SERIOUSLY considering hiring a housekeeper until I make it through treatments and get my life back.
Speaking of treatments...T minus 6 weeks until I have to walk into that infusion area and receive my LAST chemo treatment!!!
I debated whether or not to still make the trip home this weekend to see the family, but instead opted to forget trying to haul the washer and dryer to dad's house and but to go ahead with the planned visit. I literally slept the ENTIRE ride up there. Brian and I went out to Applebee's for dinner, honestly NOT a good choice when you've still got a queasy stomach, they didn't even have buttered noodles on the kids menu!! Ended up with chicken tenders and fries, and they both managed to stay down. Had a great visit on Friday evening with the extended family and even made plans to go watch the OSU game with my sister and her friend the next day. Woke up on Saturday with more diarrhea and continued nausea, so at that point just decided to make the drive home.
I watched the first half of the game and then fell asleep at half time. Unfortunately my nap lasted the entire second half, but I was happy to wake up and find out we had won 42-0!!! Unfortunately the nausea has lasted the majority of the weekend. I hadn't eaten all day Saturday but was able to eat some dinner later in the evening. Yesterday I managed a few small meals but really didn't feel like eating. I haven't left the house in over 48 hours and haven't managed to do much outside of bed.
For those of you that know Brian and I well you know that I'm the one to takes care of the majority of the housework. Housework is at the top of my list of frustrations of living with cancer. Most days it's all I can do to make it through an 8 hour day at work but come home and cook, do dishes or laundry....not happening. Well since Brian hates doing housework, and I'm not capable of doing what I used to things are just falling behind....my big plan for this weekend was to get caught up around the house...I figured I had 2 days to pace myself and get things done. Fat chance!! So here I sit on the bed looking at the floor where some of the dirty clothes have been sorted and am trying to talk myself into sorting what's in the hamper and at least getting 1 load to the basement and into the washer. I'm SERIOUSLY considering hiring a housekeeper until I make it through treatments and get my life back.
Speaking of treatments...T minus 6 weeks until I have to walk into that infusion area and receive my LAST chemo treatment!!!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Shortage?!?!
Received a call today from the nurse practiciner at the oncologists office. Evidentally there is a nationwide shortage of Taxol so I will no longer be receiving it. Instead I will be receiving a similar drug called Taxotere (spelling unsure). So instead of my weekly treatments at a lower dosage I will be receiving a treatment every 3 weeks at a higher dosage. This means that the Neulasta shots are coming back. I'm sure Brian will be happy to be giving those to me again!
I'm not really sure how I feel about this. It's 3 treatments instead of 9, Yeah! But that means the Neulasta injections are back, Yuck! Hopefully the Neulasta will help keep my immune system up while I'm working, Yeah! Will finish treatment a week later than originally expected, Yuck! And I'm hoping the side effects aren't felt more than they already are. This was something previously discussed with the oncologist when I started the weekly Taxol, if we did every other week there was more of a chance I would feel the painful side effects than with the weekly injections. I guess I'll have to decide how I feel after I get the treatment!
Just for something funny to add...Brian and I walked down the street to the field that used to have wheat in it to take pictures of the flowers now growing in it....decided to just pop a squat right in the middle of the flowers and let Brian take my picture...for those that haven't seen me in awhile, it's the first official BALD photo!!
I'm not really sure how I feel about this. It's 3 treatments instead of 9, Yeah! But that means the Neulasta injections are back, Yuck! Hopefully the Neulasta will help keep my immune system up while I'm working, Yeah! Will finish treatment a week later than originally expected, Yuck! And I'm hoping the side effects aren't felt more than they already are. This was something previously discussed with the oncologist when I started the weekly Taxol, if we did every other week there was more of a chance I would feel the painful side effects than with the weekly injections. I guess I'll have to decide how I feel after I get the treatment!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Taxol
I am sooo sorry I haven't posted in awhile, it just seems life is getting in the way!! I've been super busy now that work is back in full swing, and trying to get out and have a social life as much as I can. And don't forget the trips out on the boat with Brian!!
Okay so week's 1 and 2 on Taxol were quite interesting..They give me 3 pre-meds to make sure that I don't have an allergic reaction, and the nurse sits in there with you for the first 15-20 minutes with a "kit" just in case. The pre-meds are benadryl (I kinda miss that now that it's gone, it helped me take a few great naps both in the chemo room, in the car, and at home!!!), decadron (sp??) this was the same stuff I was taking in the pill form for anti-nausea with the AC but this was a larger dose via IV...my only complaint with this was the "burn" that came with it being injected! And the last was a pepsid...after 2 weeks of those drugs with Taxol and no reactions I no longer needed them with this past week's infusion. Oh there was 1 bad side affect with the benadryl, last week I had restless leg syndrome...I thought I was going to come unglued trying to sit in the chair reading my magazine!!
This week I was fortunate to have had Barb go with me...I wanted to give Brian a break since Friday's are supposed to be his day off and he was already scheduled to work from 5pm Friday to 1pm Sunday...we sat and visited and had a nice time. Even my nurse sat in the room visiting with us for a little while.
I went back to my surgeon for a 3 month follow up. He said everything looks good. He showed me how to do a self breast exam with the expanders in. Kinda creepy both he and the resident with him did my exam in the office, but hey I lost my modesty a long time ago!! I will go back and see him in November, then we'll go 6 months, and then it will be every year. He put me in contact with a gynecologist so that I can start having my ovaries monitored until I decide to have them out. I know the oncologist is hoping that will happen as soon as chemo is over, but I'm not quite on board with that yet. In the meantime I will have blood work and ultrasounds and be closely monitored just in case.
Fair warning to everyone reading this who sees me on a regular basis, thanks to menopause #1 I'm very emotional, don't be alarmed if I cry at the drop of the hat, and over something really insignificant. Just hand me a Kleenex and ignore it! :)
I noticed something kind of odd today. For some reason the ONLY place I won't go bald is to Jazzercise, and I'm not sure why that is. I usually wear a bandana when I'm there...today I was REALLY warm and should have taken it off but I couldn't do it. I don't know why that is, I'm very comfortable there, and most of the time I can start to feel like the old me there (except I still can't work out as hard as I used to), but I get lost in the music and usually walk away feeling much better after the hour. Strange that I feel I need to hide my bald head there....speaking of bald head, one of the nurses said I'll start getting a little fuzz grow back, but my hair won't grow back until the chemo is over...she described it like the fluff underneath a bird's wing.
Okay I need to wrap this up, I have dinner plans and then I'm heading out to say goodbye to a good friend of mine who is moving tomorrow. But please understand, no news is probably good news where this blog is concerned...if I haven't posted it means there's probably nothing new worth mentioning!
Okay so week's 1 and 2 on Taxol were quite interesting..They give me 3 pre-meds to make sure that I don't have an allergic reaction, and the nurse sits in there with you for the first 15-20 minutes with a "kit" just in case. The pre-meds are benadryl (I kinda miss that now that it's gone, it helped me take a few great naps both in the chemo room, in the car, and at home!!!), decadron (sp??) this was the same stuff I was taking in the pill form for anti-nausea with the AC but this was a larger dose via IV...my only complaint with this was the "burn" that came with it being injected! And the last was a pepsid...after 2 weeks of those drugs with Taxol and no reactions I no longer needed them with this past week's infusion. Oh there was 1 bad side affect with the benadryl, last week I had restless leg syndrome...I thought I was going to come unglued trying to sit in the chair reading my magazine!!
This week I was fortunate to have had Barb go with me...I wanted to give Brian a break since Friday's are supposed to be his day off and he was already scheduled to work from 5pm Friday to 1pm Sunday...we sat and visited and had a nice time. Even my nurse sat in the room visiting with us for a little while.
I went back to my surgeon for a 3 month follow up. He said everything looks good. He showed me how to do a self breast exam with the expanders in. Kinda creepy both he and the resident with him did my exam in the office, but hey I lost my modesty a long time ago!! I will go back and see him in November, then we'll go 6 months, and then it will be every year. He put me in contact with a gynecologist so that I can start having my ovaries monitored until I decide to have them out. I know the oncologist is hoping that will happen as soon as chemo is over, but I'm not quite on board with that yet. In the meantime I will have blood work and ultrasounds and be closely monitored just in case.
Fair warning to everyone reading this who sees me on a regular basis, thanks to menopause #1 I'm very emotional, don't be alarmed if I cry at the drop of the hat, and over something really insignificant. Just hand me a Kleenex and ignore it! :)
I noticed something kind of odd today. For some reason the ONLY place I won't go bald is to Jazzercise, and I'm not sure why that is. I usually wear a bandana when I'm there...today I was REALLY warm and should have taken it off but I couldn't do it. I don't know why that is, I'm very comfortable there, and most of the time I can start to feel like the old me there (except I still can't work out as hard as I used to), but I get lost in the music and usually walk away feeling much better after the hour. Strange that I feel I need to hide my bald head there....speaking of bald head, one of the nurses said I'll start getting a little fuzz grow back, but my hair won't grow back until the chemo is over...she described it like the fluff underneath a bird's wing.
Okay I need to wrap this up, I have dinner plans and then I'm heading out to say goodbye to a good friend of mine who is moving tomorrow. But please understand, no news is probably good news where this blog is concerned...if I haven't posted it means there's probably nothing new worth mentioning!
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