Genetic Test Results

I forgot to post about my genetic test results. My blood relatives will be happy to hear that the test results indicate that my breast cancer isn't in the genetic category. Only 5-10% of cancers are genetic. The rest are either caused by something known, like smoking or sun exposure, OR they are in the unknown category. That's what I am. I'm the "we don't know what causes cancer" cancer. 

But I was BRCA negative. If it had been positive that would have meant that my sisters would have needed to be tested. Hopefully that means I'm the only one to have the bad luck. 

Aches!

I was tricked! I had treatment on Tuesday. I felt ok. Then Wednesday and Thursday I felt pretty good. Tired, but ok. Now it's Friday. It always hits on Friday. I have the worst leg aches! My legs and joints. My right knee specifically is killing me. Plus, I've just been so dang tired. 

Anyway, of course I jumped online and yep, it's a normal side effect of Taxol. Dang it. And the women in the forums say that it gets worse with each treatment. Um, this was the FIRST treatment. How is this supposed to get worse with each one?! A couple of the women said they even had treatment canceled it had gotten so bad. I'm going to hope that my doctor has something to give me for it. I don't know if it's muscle or bone or nerve or what. 

It's like I have the body aches that come with a bad flu. At this point I'd be happy to find out I have the flu so that it would go away. But I'm not sick. Just aches. Oh well. 

Taxol Time

I've moved from the "big gun" to the regular, supposedly easier, gun. I'll be getting treatments every Tuesday for the next 11 weeks (12 weeks total). I had my first treatment on Tuesday, February 17th. 

It was a REALLY long day. I had a heart echo and it was normal. I had an EKG and it was normal. So my heart is doing fine. Then I had labs and I'm anemic and platelets are low but I was ready to start my new treatment. 

I got the chair I wanted! Lots of room and a great view of the valley. Good thing because I was in that chair for 6 1/2 hrs! They started with the 2 antibodies that I have to take, Herceptin and Perjeta. I have to have them because my cancer is her2+, which is a protein that cancer attaches to and spreads (I hope I got that right). They had to observe me for 30-60 mins between each IV to make sure there was no reaction. Hence, the long seat time.

Finally they gave me the Taxol. I was really nervous because some people have a really bad reaction to it where they feel like they can't breathe! Luckily I had no reaction.

I love having chemo buddies. It really makes the time go quickly. My good friend Elisabeth, that I rarely get to see, brought me lunch and sat with me. It's fun to chat and the time really went quickly. Then my neighbor came and sat with me and drove me home. I have just had so much help and support. It's wonderful!

Round 4 = Booty Kicker

I was so happy to finish round 4 of the dose dense AC chemo. But this one has really worn me out! Nausea is up a bit, but exhaustion has been the bigger problem. I've been sleeping more than normal. And really just sitting around it seems. I'm very thankful for all of the help!

And it's been busy around the house. Parent teacher conference, with another one next week, Liam registering for his senior year, and we have a counselor meeting next week, then I'm starting to plan Gavin's birthday party... Just the normal mom life, only doing it with the stupid side effects. I'm not feeling so effective these days. I really hope that as soon as all of this treatment is over that I'll be back to my old self. My more motivated, organized, effective self.

And as always, no judging my writing. Tired, chemo brain and all.

Bye Bye Red Devil

Today was my 4 and final round of dose dense AC!! The Red Devil, aka Adriamycin, is all done. 

I have to say that I'm a lot more tired tonight than I usually am. I knew that this might happen. After your immune system takes a beating for 4 harsh cycles, each round can build on the last. My arms are tired just typing this! I was also told that my labs show that I'm anemic. That equals tired too. And life doesn't stop. There's homework, and parent teacher conferences, and senior year registration (I cannot believe we are registering Liam for his SENIOR YEAR!) and just life. I really just want to go to bed. But I also want to be as present as I can for my boys. They need as much normalcy as they can get.

Let's hope tomorrow's better. And let's hope that my new poison, Taxol, will be easier to take.

Port #2

I was able to get port number two placed bright and early yesterday morning. They told me to be there at 5:45 and it turns out that my surgery time was 7:30. So I have a lot of waiting to do.  It went smoothly but they had to put it on the left side because the blood clot on my right side was still there! Now I will just have matching scars on both sides of my chest.The only bad thing is that the surgeon did not want to leave it accessed for my chemo today. So I'm going to have to have a needle poke through my fresh port when I go in today. I hope that won't be a problem. Ouch!!