A Whole Bunch of Catch-up

So I had surgery on May 16th.  All the pathologies came back clean, no cancer in the lymph or any of the other tissue they removed.  I have healed up amazingly well.   I got set up and started radiation therapy on June 25th.  Did you know they give you pinpoint tattoos to help guide radiation.  As of today I am half-way through treatment and am doing really well.  I will be all done with treatment on August 2nd.

Getting Anxious

There is less than two weeks until surgery.  I'm looking forward to it being over with but anxious about the surgery itself.

It's been two weeks since my last chemotherapy.  I still feel tired and nauseous at times, bu overall am doing very well.  After my big meltdown over the fingernails and toenails I still haven't actually lost any of them.  This is a wonderful thing!  There are some issues with sensitivity, lifting and sometimes they are painful but it's great to still have them.

I am still working at my job.  I have decided to give myself a few days off before surgery and my chemo doctor gave me a doctors note saying as much.  So after the 11th I will have four days to relax, rest up and try to prepare myself for surgery.  This could be good or bad.  I have actually had a few panic attacks thinking about surgery,  then I take a deep breath and go  back to living my life.

I am really glad that Kira is doing really well.  She knows what's going on and is good about helping.  She has even tucked me into bed.  She tells me she wants to be a nurse someday  and is getting some practice in. Our little dog takes care of me too.  I spend most mornings in bed, for some reason I feel better in the evenings, and Iris stays glued to my side.  She follows me faithfully around the house and sleeps at my feet on the bed.

We Had A Party!

On my last post I updated you all on the technical side.  I forgot to mention my wonderful friends who made my last 2 Chemo treatments into parties. 

On the 12th I was lucky enough to have 2 friends come to visit while I was in Chemo.  Leonara and Renee sat and visited with me for more than 3 hours on that day.  We had a really good visit and I was able to catch up with two of my good friends.

On the 19th, my last day of chemo, I had 4 friends visiting!  It was a nostalgic blast back to the good old days of playgroup.  I always said playgroup was more for me than for Kira!   I have to thank Laurie, Karen, Megan and Jane for making this day wonderful!  We had treats to share and were able to catch up with friends we haven't seen for months.  To top it off Jane sent a wonderful meal for the family home with me. 

I so am blessed to have so many wonderful friends!  Thank you all!

All Done With Chemo!

So, time for another update.  As of last Thursday,  Chemotherapy is done!  Twenty weeks!  My fingernails and toenails are still hanging on.  A little lifting, but I still have them! 
 Surgery is coming up on May 16th at 1:30 PM and I am getting both nervous and excited.  It's surgery!  The only other surgery I've had is the surgical biopsy an the install of the power port for chemo.  The doctors will check the sentinel nodes (lymph nodes) to see if the chemo cleared out the cancer, finish the lumpectomy by getting some margins and take out the power port.  When she is done the plastic surgeons will go to work. One on each side.   They are giving me a reduction and lift.  Hopefully this will help with some of the neck and back problems.
Once I heal up from surgery I will have to get radiation.  More on that later...
Things are going well and I feel very positive.

Enough is Enough!

So with everything that is happening I have hung in there and endured, today I had a bad day!  I have lost my hair with a smile.  I look forward to  surgery in 8 weeks and accept that my nipples may die when they move them.  I have 4 more weeks of Chemotherapy and what made me cry today is that I am starting to lose my fingernails and toenails.  Stupid huh?
The toenails are no big deal.  But I am still working retail and the thought of working with no fingernails is just too much for me.  Arrgghh!  I am still crying over fingernails and I haven't even lost them yet. They are starting to lift and I just can't deal with it.  I feel so stupid!  As Mike just pointed out I haven't lost them yet! Why am I crying?  I think it's just the thought, or I just need an excuse to cry.  Probably the latter. 

My feet have been numb for 4 weeks.  the doctor dialed back the Chemo by 10% and I am getting feeling back in my feet. 

I had the consult with Surgerical Oncology and Plastic Surgeon.  I actually am really excited that the surgeons say no mastectomy.  Lumpectomy with a reduction and lift. So new perky boobies!  I think the reason the nipple thing isn't that big a deal is I have been prepared to lose them since the beginning. 

Putting my thoughts into words seems to help me work things through.  Good Venting!

Bandaids, Bubble Gum and Bailing Wire!

On Friday night I told Mike I felt like I was beiong held together with bandaids, bubblegum and bailing wire.  Friday night on my way to bed I shut off the light and realized I'd missed one.  I stepped down the one step I thought I was up on the stairs and hit the floor hard.... I was actually 2 steps up and I sprained my ankle.  No shooting pains, no broken bones right?
Going to bed wearing my customary night guard for TMJ, CPAP for sleep apnea, night cap to keep my bald head from getting too cold as well as ice packs on my propped up ankle, I felt like Frankensteins Monster.  Mike has been a trooper getting me through all of the emotional upheavals lately.
So after working for a few days I finally realized that with my compromised immune system and slower healing I should probably go have the ankle checked.  With all the pain medicine and such I am taking the injury could have been masked...  I went to the doctors yesterday.  He checked it out and said I needed a good brace for my ankle, but as a precaution let's get an x-ray.
This morning I got a call saying I have a broken toe.  No big deal they tape those together right?
Wrong!  It's the fifth meta-tarsal inside my foot, it looks like a crush injury instead of a simple fracture and I am not allowed to put any weight on it for a month.  This means I have to call in to work and possibly go on disability 3 months earlier than expected!  Can you say AAARRRGGGHHH!!!
Enough Venting! Plus side at least 5 days off until  I see the orthopedic surgeon for a second opinion on Monday morning.

What A Week It's Been!

Hello again and about time!  Tomorrow will be my 4th treatment of Taxol.  So far so good.  I had some reaction to the treatment the first two infusions.  Muscle spasms that felt like really bad menstrual cramps.  They stopped the treatments and gave me some Ativan.  Things got better and they finished up the treatments.  After the second time this happened they made the decision that I should get the Ativan to start.  As a result, Mike has put his foot down and I am no longer driving myself to or from Chemotherapy.  I have a wonderful bunch of friends who are taking me to my appointments and several Chemo Buddies, who come visit with me and make sure I let the nurses know what's going on.  In fact I probably wouldn't have said anything about the cramps if it hadn't been for my friend Laurie reminding me I was supposed to let them know if ANYTHING changed.
Last week I came down with a head cold that went into my lungs so I've spent the last 5 days in bed except for work.  Almost better but I need to get back to bed so they don't postpone my treatment tomorrow.
11 weeks of Chemo done, 9 to go!

Here We Go!

So, I have now completed 5 treatments, completely finishing the first round of medication and starting on the next.  The treatment will now be every week instead of every other.  I no longer need to get a shot the day after.  All in all things are going well. 
The new medication will last for a total of 12 weeks ending mid-April.  I have an appointment on March 2nd with my surgeon.  We'll make the decisions about surgery then.  She will also give me a recommendation for a plastic surgeon for reconstruction.
It has been a rough week or two, I'm starting to get really tired all the time.  I sleep a lot.  Our little dog Iris is so cute...  She doesn't leave hardly leave my side when Kira is at school.

Playing Catch-up... again

So I typed and typed during my second Chemo treatment and could not get my smart phone to upload... long and short of it a lot has happened.

The Genetic testing has started and finished... Great News!  The results are negative.  This means that I may not have to have a Mastectomy. We still need to have a consult with the surgeon and get her recommendations before I make a decision on the surgery, but things are looking positive.

On another note.  Last week I received a phone call from the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute ( Where I get chemotherapy).  Seems the company that makes the Neulasta shot has a grant program and will pay my co-pay for the shot.  This is amazing! Before insurance this shot is $2000 or more.  So I have to say I feel so lucky and blessed. Strange to say while I am battling breast cancer but true.

My hair is gone.  I was warned that I would mourn its lose and probably cry but I had so much fun shaving it off I have not cried.  My daughter Kira and I decided that I needed to have a mohawk, and not just a mohawk but a multi-colored mohawk.  So on the day my hair really started to come out I called my friend Karen and we went from hair to gone in about 1 1/2 hours taking pictures all the way.  It was a blast!

Three Chemo's down Thirteen to go!