Chemo Fun!

I love these ladies! Obviously one is my actual sister (maybe not obviously to all of you, she's behind me) and the other 2 are like sisters to me. They are our friends from Texas and it's wonderful to still be such good friends after 30 years!  We can go months-years without seeing each other and pick up right where we left off.

We may have been a little loud in the infusion room at times, which is why I'm glad we had Cyd for my nurse today. She's a bit of a fun, Park City, outdoorsy, let things slide kind of gal. She even stopped and joined in some of our awesome conversations! And added to them well :)

It's funny how fast the time went since we were all there together, catching up and having fun. We ate some Crown Burger and some cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. And it seemed to be over too soon. I honestly didn't even realized they were switching my chemo IVs. 

TWO MORE CHEMO TREATMENTS TO GO!!

Skin!

Taxol (my current chemo) is not a friend to my skin. You may not be able to tell from the picture, but the backs of my hands are on fire! They are so, so dry and they actually feel hot! Then there are the rashes on my arms, cute. Oh, and the split skin on my fingers. That feels good, especially when cooking and things get in there and make it sting. I bet you also like the black poison marks in my nails. 

I need some really good hand moisturizer! And I need for chemo to be done so that my skin can heal.

Another Chemo Day Done!

Today was a regular old chemo day. I decided to go by myself today. Sometimes it's just nice to sit and watch Netflix. 

I've been feeling pretty tired most of the time. Plus I've had bad sinus problems, that doesn't help. My feet are numb a lot of the time (neuropathy). But, I ONLY HAVE 3 MORE CHEMO TREATMENTS!!

Next week is my last long one and I have my friends/sisters from Texas coming to hang out for the day. I can't wait!

I was handed my schedule for the upcoming month. Looks like another heart echo and a mammogram. I'll be interested to see what the mammogram shows. I was absolutely able to feel a large tumor when this started and right now it's gone! I can't feel it and the doctors can't either. Apparently this chemo is working!!

I was also told which radiology oncologist they are recommending for radiation. They found someone at the hospital in Provo. His name is Dr. Clark. It's going to be so much more convenient to drive to Provo. I should be seeing him within the next couple of weeks but radiation won't start until around the end of June.

Surgery Scheduled (for real this time)

I receieved a call from my surgeons' office this morning and they said I'm officially on the surgical schedule for Monday, June 1st. I'm nervous about the 8-10 hr surgery and the 6 week recovery, but I think I'm much more nervous about leaving my kids during the 5 day hospital stay!! Maybe I should have accepted the anxiety meds that I was offered...

Hair & Taxol

So, Taxol has been a little weird in the hair department. With the AC my hair was just falling out in clumps, but a few hairs remained. And with the AC my eyelashes and eyebrows stuck around for the most part.

Now that I've been on Taxol, I see the hair that didn't fall out with the AC has started to grow. I don't think the rest is starting to grow in yet though. But my poor eyebrows and eyelashes seem to have all but gone. And again, I'm terrible with make-up! To draw them on just looks awful sometimes.

Five more Taxol treatments and chemo will be DONE!  I was told that my hair may stay a little thin during the year that I'm taking the antibody called Perjeta. But I hope it all comes back quickly! In the meantime, I'll stick with the wigs and scarves. 

Taxol Building Up

I thought all 12 weeks of Taxol would be the same. I finished round 6 today. Last week I felt a lot more tired, mostly on Thursday and Friday.  I had a bit of numbness in my feet and a little numbness and tingling in my neck and face.  After chemo today, my pinky toes are feeling pretty numb. Actually a few of my toes. I'll have to talk to my doctor next week. If they go ahead as planned, it can cause permanent nerve damage. I don't know if they'll decide to lower the dose or skip a week or just plow through. We'll see. 

During chemo today, I asked the nurse about the side effects. She said it's most likely the accumulation over the last several weeks. I guess that means it might get worse (fatigue and nerve problems) as I go through the next 6 weeks. At least it isn't nausea! Oh actually, I did have a bit of nausea last week and had to take zofran. 

Let's cross our fingers that the next 2 weeks are easier. My 16 year old got an exchange student from Belgium for us to take for a week! He gets here on Friday (I have to be at the airport at 11:00 pm to get him) and he leaves super early the next Friday. We need to be able to drive them around a bit and show them some things around Utah. Hopefully I'll be up for it. Hopefully his group will keep him pretty busy. 

Nothing Exciting

I realize I haven't posted an update in quite a while. I guess that's because there isn't really a lot to update. All the Taxol chemo treatments are the same. So for 12 weeks straight, it's the same old thing. 

I feel fine. Most days I forget I'm even going through treatment. Unless I do too much or push myself. Then I get tired quickly. I still get 2-3 days of leg and joint pain. It can get pretty rough sometimes, but it isn't constant and it's manageable. I'll take it over nausea as a side effect!!

Every third week's chemo day is a long one because of the extra doctor appt and the extra IVs with the antibodies. I've been lucky enough to have good friends and family members willing to come and keep me company for part of it.

Right now I'm trying to gather information about the upcoming surgery. Most women have surgery within a couple of weeks after their diagnosis. Because my surgery is after chemo, I have the advantage of wrapping my head around what's happening and making the most informed decision for me.  And more time to adjust to the shock and reality of it all.

About a week after my last chemo treatment, May 5th, I'll have another MRI. After that, I'll meet with my surgeons. At least I'll understand about the options they give me so that I can decide. Surgery will probably be the beginning of June. About 3 weeks later, daily radiation treatments will starts. Then I'll have an entire year of going up once every three weeks for the antibodies. It looks like regular trips to Huntsman won't be over until July 2016! Then I have 5 years of tamoxifen. I'm not sure how often they'll scan me to make sure it hasn't come back anywhere. I guess I'll find out.

The plan is constantly in my brain and I'm just moving through the actions, trying to keep things as normal at home as I can. I'm really ok though. I feel a little bad for turning down all the help that is offered. But I'll need it again when it's surgery time I'm sure.