Day 121 - Back to the ER

Today's ER trip is brought to you by my daughter, Elaina. What a special Mother's Day gift.

So after Friday's trip to Mt. Hood Knight Cancer for hydration and Neulasta, I was good to go. Saturday (Day 119) was a great day. I just had my normal bone and joint pain, but nothing to cause alarm. I did notice that on Friday, Elaina started getting a runny nose, so I made Elaina stay far away (well as far away as she possibly could) and made Brad take care of her. But that made no difference. I started to get a drippy nose Saturday evening. I thought that maybe it was due to allergies. It's hot here and everyone was out mowing their yards. Saturday I went to bed... only to wake up Sunday morning with a really scratchy throat. It felt almost dry. The sore throat didn't go away. The stuffy head came and went. Then came the shiverring while under my down comforter. I took my temperature and it was anywhere between 100.4-101. Time to call the on call oncologist. He told me that I should go to the ER and make sure there wasn't anything else associated with the fever.

So thank you Nancy for taking me to the ER and thank you Becky for picking up and watching the girls. I so appreciate it. I was at the ER from about 530-915. Ugh. What did they do in that time? Took my temp, gave me a liter of saline, swab for strep throat, 2 chest x-rays, a urine sample and blood draws through my port. The strep test came back negative. The x-rays looked good. And my white blood count came back at 57,000. So I was good to go. I was just concerned about the fever and since my temp was coming down and I wasn't shiverring, I figured I was getting better. I even got a little turkey sandwich while I was there. I was so hungry.

So the doctor wants to treat me as if I had strep throat, even though I don't. I have to take antibiotics for the next 10 days. Dr. Luoh's nurse called me this morning and asked how I was doing. I told her I was fine. She said that she was going to check and see if I needed to take the antibiotics for the strep. I haven't heard back from her. No biggie. I am just taking it until I hear otherwise. I believe there's no adverse effects between the chemo sucky and antibiotics.

Also today I got a call from scheduling. Apparently Brooke, one of the Nurse Navigators, remembered that I didn't like MRIs. So she got it okayed from Dr. Naik to cancel my MRI for tomorrow. They would just try to work off of the ultrasound and the mammogram. I told the scheduler to keep the MRI appointment because if they don't get what they need, then they will have to ask for one anyway. I figure I will just take an ativan while I am there. No worries. I just don't want to throw up while in the tube. I do, however, appreciate Brooke's kindness to try and not schedule me for that nasty test.

Here's what's up for tomorrow... MRI at 12, Mammogram at 1:20 and ultrasound at 2p.

Special shout out to my mom and Vern. Thanks for the wonderful basket filled with fruit, chocolate, cheese, crackers, nuts and more! Love you!

Day 118 - Hydration and Neulasta

Okay... I am now completely done with chemo-sucky and all that goes along with it (except for any sickness or side effects). After work I went in for my last hydration appointment. One liter of saline over the course of 1.75 hours. Then my last Neulasta shot... all 4mg of it. I am so happy! Now I await this weekend... and if it's anything like last, which I am sure it will be, I will be achy tomorrow and then a lot less achy on Sunday... which is Mother's Day! Wahoo!

Here's a picture of the $6000 shot: 

And here's a picture of the $6000 shot with $2000 of it thrown away:

When I got home this afternoon... I went to the mailbox and got the mail I was so waiting for... my last card from my Aunt Patti and Uncle Billy! Thanks so much for those cards. Again, they really meant a lot to me. I made it and yes, chemo-sucky is now over. And yes, I will be getting myself some new clothes... nice new tops that will be able to fit my brand new boobs!

Next week starts the endless tests for the surgery and doctors appointments. But I'd rather have those! Hee hee hee! I still can't believe that I made it past this point. I did it!!!

Day 117 - Round 8 The End!

Round 8... the final round of chemo sucky...

There is no internet connection here at OHSU for some reason. I don't know why, so I will write and then post later. Currently I am halfway done with my last treatment! Today has been so awesome. I never dreamed it would be here so fast. But it is and I am super duper excited.

So, I went in for my bone density scan. I had to strip down to just my panties and then wear one of those fabulous hospital gowns. Then I laid on a table while the machine took x-rays of my spine and my right hip. What they are looking for is how far the x-rays penetrate my bone. My spine looked great and so did my hip. No signs of bone loss. They only looked at my right hip because if they see bone loss there, then it should be throughout my whole body.

Then it was time to head upstairs for labs and meet with Dr. Luoh. I had to go pee really bad, so I walked back into the infusion room to get a specimen cup. Jon was back there and he has several specimens in his hand. I asked him if he can print up a label. He replied, "Can't you see I'm busy?" To which I retorted, "That's why God gave you two hands!" So he printed me a label. As I was leaving to go back to the waiting room, the starter nurse, Net, saw me and said that I she was just about to find me to start my line. Oh good... I got my needle and blood draw and then went out to wait for Dr. Luoh's appointment.

Got called in and saw Dr. Luoh. It's nice being the first patient on his list. Excellent. My appointment was done in 1/2 an hour. We talked about how this past go around was. I told him that it's good and that I didn't get sick at all. He was happy with that report. He checked my breast and said that it looks like the tumor is getting softer. We went over the bone density and the clotting test. He said that I am already ahead of the curve when it comes to the clotting issue... I guess meaning that I don't have any mutations, so we don't have to worry about blood clots. We talked about the next step and when I will be seeing him again. Looks like I will be seeing him in September. I said, oh yea, a summer vacation! We talked a little about surgery and lymph nodes. I asked him how long does chemo sucky stay in your body. He said that the medicine is in your body for about a week after. Then I asked him if I could get a picture with him since he took pictures of me at the beginning of treatment. So here is the result:

Me and Dr. Shiuh Wen Luoh

Following that, I went to go schedule my neulasta and hydration appointment. It was then Jon said he had a chair for me. It was 1030. Sweet! I got to start my treatment early which means I get to leave early! Maybe I'll get to stop and get a frappaccino.

I've been getting so many visitors today. Bruce Murdock (DJ for K103 radio), on his way home, stopped by to say hello. He stayed for about a half hour and we just talked about anything and everything. It was good to see him. Next, Jim Newman who works here at OHSU, stopped by for our last treatment. If you recall, we've met up with him twice before for lunch or just to converse. Today he bought and brought us lunch to celebrate. So flippin' excited. I had a cobb salad and the boys had a reuben. It was sooo tasty. Following that I got asked to be in a study. They want to take some of my tumor biopsy and search for DNA mutations. I don't know if I want to participate because it stays in my medical records. I wouldn't have to do anything or pay anything. Hmmm...

Bruce Murdock & me

Jim Newman, Brad and me

So I should now have about an hour left. I am so excited. Did I tell you how excited I am?? Very very very excited.

**** **** ****

Okay, now I am home. I go done with my chemo sucky at 2:40p... which was 20 minutes early. I was a tad bit disappointed as there were no whistle or bells or certificates stating that I was done with chemo sucky. But that's okay, I had my own cheering squad. I won't say that I am completely done with chemo sucky until I get though the weekend.

Here are a few more picures...

Kerry Weymouth (social worker) and me

Brad was complaining about the visitor's chairs being uncomfortable, so we traded places.

He thinks my chair was more comfy.

Dr. Luoh passed by and did a double take when he saw me sitting in a regular chair and Brad in the chemo chair. He just chuckled.

Two of my favorite Oncology Nurses, Beverly and Nicole.

And that concludes Phase 1 - neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. Off to Phase 2 - surgery. This will be my hiatus from everything and I won't have to do much but relax and get stronger.

Tomorrow I get my 4mg of Neulasta and my one liter of saline. Then I wait and see! I promise I will get a picture of the $6,000 shot. I want to get a picture tomorrow of the 4mg shot. Then I'll show you both!

Oh yes, when I got home, I had a package waiting on my front porch. My dear friends Annie, Brooke and Kelli sent me chocolate covered strawberries to celebrate my last and final treatment of chemo sucky. Thank you so much girls! I love you! xxxooo

I'm sure I am forgetting something.... so thank you if I haven't thanked you already!

Day 106 - Finally got it right!

Okay it's Sunday and usually my worst day, but I think we finally got it right!

Just to catch you up...

Friday (Day 104) - went to work and had no problems. Following that I went to the clinic to get my one liter of saline hydration. I was there for about 2 hours. They started the hydration and then I fell asleep through most of it. I was soooo tired. I think I slept for about an hour and a half. When I woke up, the nurse was talking to another nurse and said she didn't want to move the IV stands because I was napping. I said I was awake now. It felt so good to nap. Following the hydration, I had my neulasta shot. Just 4mg. Then I went to Fred Meyer to pick up my Zofran prescription. That night I was feeling good. Around 9 or so is when I noticed my neck was starting to feel a little stiff and sore. So at about 10, I took 600mg of ibuprofen and went to bed. Oh yes, I took a zofran at about 8p.

Saturday (Day 105) - I woke up feeling decent. I was definitely feeling sore from the waist up. But not as sore as the previous two treatments. I think taking ibuprofen the night before was helping and staying on top of the pain. I took a zofran and got the girls their breakfast and got them on their way to see Grandma along with Daddy. I then had the rest of the day to myself to relax. I did manage to go do a little shopping. I did stop at Burger King and got two chicken snack wraps. I was jonesing for chicken strips and I had a coupon. :) That hit the spot. Then I came home and watched some TV while dozing. At around 3p, I finally got up off of the couch (I was dozing and relaxing for about three hours) and went out shopping again. Brad and the girls got home around 4:15p and that's when I started feeling a little less than great. So after Brad got back from the store, I made myself some mashed potatoes and went upstairs to eat them and nap. I got up around 7p to help get the girls in bed and then went back to bed myself. From there I was dozing in and out. I made sure I had a full glass of water next to me. Every time I got up to flip over, I would take a sip. I did NOT want to be dehydrated. I peed quite a lot in the middle of the night and somewhere during one of my trips to the potty, I stopped to get a 400mg of ibuprofen. That worked miracles. Because...

Today (Day 106) I feel great! I woke up when Brad was getting ready for work. He asked how I was feeling. I said I was feeling good today. I felt a little dizzy and I had a headache because I was all stuffed up, but I wasn't feeling nauseous. We laughed and said that finally we had gotten it right with only two treatments left. I said I'd rather have it right for two treatments than none at all. But as of right now, and it's close to 10a, I am feeling really good. I don't feel nauseous and I haven't taken any anti-nausea medication today. I had a full glass of water (16oz) already and another 8oz of Sierra Mist and now I am drinking one small cup of coffee. I ate a nice breakfast of toast with peanut butter (for protein) and still feeling awesome! I do think that the combination of hydration and decreasing the Neulasta really helped in my treatment. I think that the first Taxol treatment... the pain made me feel even worse. Once I had the pain in control, I was feeling good. Right now, there's just a little soreness. Not a lot, just a little. Now I am just waiting for Grandma to come over to help. She should be here soon... but I am not in dire need of her to be here right at 10! Hooray! Maybe I will be fit to go into work tomorrow. That will surprise a lot of people, I think!

Oh yes... I want to say... Congrats to my friend Kris... her husband just completed all his chemo! Yea! And thank you sooo much Yo for my fantastic care package. I love the vanilla body wash. It makes my skin feel so nice and wonderful. I was looking forward to the nausea candies, but I may not need them. I may have to send them back to you! ;)

Day 94 - How much fun can a girl have?

So last week my fun consisted of the fact that I may have to give myself injections for a week. Well, that has come and gone. Now I have to go in for an ultrasound for my spleen!

Last night my back was starting to hurt and ache. This is on my left side around my rib cage. This is where my spleen sits. Apparently the spleen is something that deals with white blood cells and the making of platelets and such. You can google search it. In anycase, part of the side effects of either the chemo-sucky or the Neulasta, an enlarged spleen could be a side effect. So it starts with an achiness or something to that fact. The ache didn't go away this morning so at 7:55a I called Dr. Luoh. I went home at lunch to await his call. I didn't get a call until 11a! Good thing it wasn't an emergency. Ha! So I gave the symptoms to his nurse, Angie and she said she'd talk to Dr. L and call me back. I finally got a call back around 2p. She said that Dr. L wants me to get an ultrasound of the spleen and then a blood test. She said that since the last time I went in and got blood work done, my white blood counts were really high. So who knows what this will mean.

So tomorrow I go to Legacy Mt. Hood Medical Center for my ultrasound. The appointment is scheduled for 815a. Either I can go get my blood drawn before or after the u/s. They wanted me to do it at OHSU, but the earliest they could get me in is Friday and Dr. L didn't want to wait that long. Uh, duh! Tonight my last meal will be at midnight, as I cannot eat anything eight hours before my ultrasound. I can drink which is a life saver. I'm supposed to be drinking lots and lots. I can take tylenol or ibuprofen for the pain. I did take some but that was more for the leg aches that shoot through me every so often.

I did talk to Angie about my neuropathy. She told me to keep track of it and to tell the doctor if it gets worse. The toes are tingly. The finger tips are also tingly. She told me to use hot mitts for hot things and to wear slippers around the house. Check and check. Grrr... this is so annoying. I hate chemo-sucky. I hate cancer even more. Stupid.

On a funny note, I had just come home from picking up the girls at daycare. The phone rang as I brought Amelia inside the house. She's very fond right now of answering the phone. She wanted to answer the phone, but I got to it first because I had a feeling it was the doctor's office wanting to schedule the u/s. It was Angie on the phone. Well, I couldn't have a conversation with her without Amelia saying she wanted to say hello. I asked Angie if she could say hello. She said absolutely. Angie understands because she has a two and five year old. So Amelia said hi and she was good.

We had a lovely day - the girls and I. We watched Angelina Ballerina (it was an ice skating episode) on TV and then ice skated around the kitchen. We did leaps and twirls. Amelia baked for me. Elaina ate ice cream. So it was a good day except for the dumb achy pain on my left side.

Day 90 - A decrease in Neulasta

Hydration is in order. I got my two liters of saline at the Mt. Hood OHSU Knight Cancer Center and my 4mg of Neulasta. All is right in the world. My fingers and toes started tingling while I was there. So the neuropathy is setting in. I am hoping that it isn't going to be forever and will reverse itself. Time will tell.

While I was there another woman was getting her first treatment of chemo. She had three different types of chemo. When I got there, she was already on her first one. Then I noticed she was getting adriamyacin and cytoxan. I feel bad for her. This is going to be a rough ride. She just lost her husband last year. Her mother passed away from breast cancer. Yikes! She was much older than I was though.

Friday was a good day. Just was tired when I got home. Took a nap. When I woke up, I was sore. My neck and upper body just felt like it was a 90 year old's body. I took two ibuprofen and went to bed hoping that would help.

Day 89 - Round 6: Taxol

Round 6 is now done and in the books. Hooray! I only have 2 more treatments to go. I can say that it feels like it has gone by fast. I wish that it went by even faster. So here's what went down on Thursday.

We dropped the kids off at Becky's and then stopped at Subway to get some sandwiches for later in the day. We got to the office and it was the regular blood draw and then wait for Dr. Luoh. While waiting for Dr. L, I checked my phone and I got a call from my prescription health plan. So I called them to find out why they called me. They were calling because of the Neupogen that Dr. L was trying to prescribe for me. It had to be cleared through the prescription plan, otherwise I would be paying a lot of money. So while I was waiting on hold for them to get information, I got called in the back to see Dr. L. Amazing, he was actually on time. So this time, Dr. L had to wait for me! :) I found out that the only way that I could get the Neopogen would be by mail order and that takes about 8-9 business days. In addition, it would be a $400+ co-pay for me. Um, no. Neulasta is cheaper!

Dr. L came in and asked how I was doing. We went over our regular "How did you do?" He was concerned about my last treatment with the taxol. To make a long story short, we decided to hydrate me the next day with 2 liters of fluids. Then the next step would be to take zofran starting Friday night and continuing for three days. I can take other stuff like compazine and ativan as well. Now with the Neulasta/Neupogen. I told him it was off the table and that I wanted to stick with the Neulasta. It was going to cost more to take the neopogen. Dr. L was just concerned that the neulasta was more than my body could really handle... cause it raised my white blood counts so high. So we decided that I would take the neulasta, but take only 4mg of the stuff. So I will be wasting 2mg or $2k of the drug. Oh well. He feels that the neulasta was making my side effects worse. And that is about all we talked about. We also talked about doing another ultrasound before my next taxol treatment. He says that the legion/tumor was going down. That's good news, but he wanted to take a look at it with an u/s. So that appointment is scheduled for April 24 after work.

Next it was time to get my taxol treatment. I was lucky... I only got 25mg of benadryl. Last time it was 50mg. So this time I wasn't falling asleep or getting really woozy. Treatment went as normal. Nothing special there. We did have the genetic counselor come by to talk about getting tested for the BRCA mutation. The mutation could be from just a sporadic thing or it could be that I always had a mutation. So the blood test, which goes to Salt Lake City, UT, will tell me if I am BRCA1 or BRCA2 positive (there are two genes that could have a mutation). I will know in about three weeks. If it comes back positive, then that means that I have a greater chance of getting ovarian cancer. It also means that the girls have a 50/50 chance of having the mutation. We will not test them because we will leave it up to them to get tested when they are of age.

I am also now "stitch-free"! I still had some left over stitches from my port placement that didn't dissolve because they were sticking up above my skin. So those were removed on Thursday. Now my necklace doesn't catch on the stitch. Hooray! And that's about it for Thursday.

Day 87 - The Fun Continues!

Fun times at Chemo High! LOL

I am at work and I look at my phone during my supervisor meeting and what do I see?? I missed two calls from my oncologist's office. Uh oh. I could figure out one of them... a reminder that I have an appointment on Thursday. (yea me! Not). The other one was what was puzzling me. Can anyone guess what the second call was about??? Ha, you'll never guess. Anyway, Dr. Luoh's nurse was calling because Dr. Luoh wants to change my post chemo medication - namely the neulasta shot. Yea, that's the $6k one. So what do they want to replace it with?? Neupogen. What's that you say?? I'll tell you in a moment.

Dr. L seems to think that the Neulasta was giving me the nausea. It's not necessarily a side effect, but he wants to give the Neupogen a try. When I went in for two Saturdays ago to the ER they checked my white blood count. Apparently it was through the roof. It was so high. I'm doing a great job by staying away from the sickies. But he seems to think that since my white blood count is so high, the Neulasta is doing too much. With the Neupogen, the medication will be given in smaller doses over the course of seven days. Yes, I did say seven days. That means that I have to stick myself every day with a needle. I have to give myself an injection. Like I mentioned... the fun continues. So it looks like it's going to be the battles of the Ns... which one will win? All I can say is that if I have the same reaction, I'm going back to one injection. I feel sorry for the people who are diabetic. Eh, it's all good though. The shot would go in in my tummy, arm or thigh... basically where ever - as Angie says - "pinch an inch." Right now the OHSU pharmacy is taking my medical prescription coverage to see how much it would cost me to get the Neupogen. If it's a small copay or not extremely high, then I'll be doing the shot each day. But I guess we'll discuss on Thursday.

Now I am sitting here on the couch watching "Tangled" for the upteenth time.

Day 76 & 77 - Still isn't easy

I thought this was going to be the easier of the chemos. Hahahaha!

It's Saturday or Day 77 and I am sitting in bed and feeling achy all over. I feel like I have the flu without the nasty symptoms except for extreme body aches. And then this afternoon, what happens??? I'm puking in the toilet again. So much for the nausea and vomiting going away. I am so done with this. Also my taste is gone. Nothing tastes like it should. I don't have the "metallic" taste, it's just nothing has any taste or seasoning. So as for the nausea and vomiting, I am back taking compazine. Hopefully that will keep everything down. I do have to say that the nausea and vomiting is nothing like the previous two rounds. I just wish it hadn't come around at all.

Taxol is taxing on the body. While I don't have the "tingling" feeling, my finger tips are achy. My scalp aches. Basically everything aches. This does not bode well because tomorrow is when my body really aches from the neulasta shot. So I guess we will see.

Yesterday I was feeling pretty good. I was up and around. I was just tired from the day before that's activities, but I managed through it pretty well. I'm just not looking forward to what tomorrow brings. More nausea? More aches and pains? At least I only have three more rounds of this crap and then I am done, done, DONE!

Day 63 - Neulasta Day

Today all I took was dexomethasone. I didn't take any other pills. I felt fine all day long. I did have one really big bout of fatigue. I cured that with a nap in my car. Then it was time to get my neulasta shot. That's about it. Same old. I did get to bed real early.

Day 50

What a tough day! I was tired all day long... and it was a looong day.

Work at 430a. I sat out in the car before I went in to work dissolving the zofran on my tongue. The zofran tastes nasty. Then I was tired all day long. But I mustered through it all. For my lunch break I sat on the phone with my insurance company. First it was Cigna. I asked them how long of a wait do I need to have before I could have my neulasta shot. They told me it wasn't a medical thing, but a pharmacy thing. So I called Medco. That rep said it wasn't Medco because I was going into a doctor's office to get it injected. So then I had to go call Cigna back. By that time I was really frustrated because in order to talk to someone you have to go through the prompts. It's really frustrating when you can't just talk to someone and have to speak into a phone and the speech analytics aren't picking up your request. So I finally got to someone and I said if you can't help me get me your manager. I finally got my answer... there is no wait time. I made sure that she documented in my account that there is no wait time. The reason, the shot costs $6000!

So all day long I was tired and feeling a little bit nauseous. But nothing came up. I don't know if it's the medication that I am taking. I just don't know. But I am starting the new drug regimine. We will see how Sunday fares.

I had a doctors appointment for Elaina and then I went back into work to move all my stuff to my new desk (shift change) and then headed to the other doctor for my neulasta shot. By the time I got home at 445p, I was exhausted. So I took a nap on the couch. Got up for dinner, got the kids to bed, then fell asleep on the couch again. Now it's Saturday morning... and I am up. :)

Day 49 - Round 3

Day 49 and it's Round 3! Again I am being pumped full of Zantac (IV), fosaprepitant aka EMEND (it's long lasting anti-nausea medication), zofran and dexamethosone. Then it's time for the adriamycin and cytoxan. Yea! Such a good day... not really.

Got here at 11.30 in time to take my blood. This was the first time that they had to poke me in my port. I asked them what it will feel like since the last time they put a needle in me I was sleeping. She said she'd count to three and then poke. It was just like getting poked for a blood draw. No big deal. It did sting a little bit afterwards. But that's just because... it hurt. Then it was a blood draw.

After that we went downstairs to the cafe to meet Jim, one of the guys Brad knows from KATU. Since he was running late, we ordered and he came after to hang out and chat. It is nice to see a nice friendly face here. Then it was back upstairs to the 7th floor and meet with Dr. Luoh. We waited for 45 minutes before they called us back. But it took me going back to the desk to find out what was going on. Later when we finally got back into a room we found out that Dr. L was waiting for us. He said that we weren't out there. I said, nope, we were waiting for 45 minutes. In any case he said that next time he's going to look for us. Good deal. I was getting worried because I need to schedule my neulasta shot the next day... 24 hours. Anyway, we met with Dr. L. And again we are going to tweak our medication regimine. Hooray... so I am going to start zofran tomorrow, followed by Saturday zofran and compazine and then on sunday i will do zofran, compazine (oral or suppository) and atavan. Then I can back down on Monday and on. He wants to start this before it gets bad. I told him that the zofran worked, as I wasn't nauseous, but I still had the vomiting. So we're again tweaking everything. He said it was fine for me to take zantac for the acid reflux as patients do get reflux. Then he asked if I had any questions. I asked how big is a lymph node supposed to be. He said you're not supposed to feel it at all. Hmmm... that's interesting. I told him that I was trying to feel it in the shower the other day. So he said to hop on the table and he can feel around. He said that he couldn't feel the node in the neck. He felt something, but he's not sure what it is... so if it is a node, then it's very small. Then he wanted to feel the node in the armpit. He said he couldn't feel anything there either!!! Then he started to palpatate my breast. He said again it was a lot more pliable. He said that the breasts are now looking symmetrical! Yee haw! I also told him that on the left side, the skin near the areola is looking less taught and not as stretched. He agreed. He said that the mass looks to be about 6-7cm... and that's down from the 9-10 at the beginning. This is all good news. He's very happy with the treatment. I am too. This is all great news. I attribute it to my great attitude and all the prayers being said on my behalf. So thank you all for being such a wonderful group of people praying for my health and the cancer to be gone. So next treatment since I am 3 treatments done, we are going to do another u/s to see if the tumor and the lymph nodes have returned to normal. Hip hip hooray.

Then it was time for treatment... where I am now. The woman, Jennifer, who took my blood pressure and asked how I was and I said doing great. I told her the news and she said that was fantastic. She was nearly jumping for joy. She said time for a beer! Then the nurse found out and she was happy too. Next it was Jon who was excited for me too. So it's good news all around.

Brad is currently getting me an appointment for my neulasta shot tomorrow and he's getting my u/s appointment in two weeks. I am on cloud 9 right now. Cancer GO AWAY!

*****

Okay so now I am home. I am getting tired, so I will keep this short. But I ask you that you take some of the prayers for me and shift them to my brother-in-law. He just found out that his colon cancer is stage 4 and has metastasized to his liver. The tumor is large and inoperable. Please direct some of your prayers to him and his family. It looks like it will be chemo for several months for him. So again, please say a prayer for him.

As for me, doing good.

Day 29

This post comes from.... the comfort of my couch! Yes, my laptop arrived today. It would have been here yesterday, but we weren't here for the delivery. So FedEx delivered the computer today. I am so excited to be able to blog anywhere in the house and most likely anywhere in my cul-de-sac. Tomorrow my "skin" arrives via UPS and the USPS. It's purple. I was debating about going with a pink cover, but I really am not a pink person. So I went with purple.

So I am sure you're wondering how my day went today.

Today was a very good day. I woke up this morning on time… which is a first for me. I pressed the snooze button twice instead of the four or five times I normally do. I got ready and even had a nice little breakfast before heading off to work. Work was work. One of my co-workers bought some coffee. I think I had not even 1/6 of it and I started feeling really really jittery. Then we had our shift bid results posted for the next 6 months. I got my third choice which was a Tuesday through Saturday
5a-1:30p shift. It was not the shift I really wanted. That made my stomach
really upset. (more on that later) All through this I was also dealing with
back spasms. Every so often, my lower back would just “tweak” out. It got so bad that
I took an early extended lunch.

I went home and called the nurse to see if it would be okay if I could take Tylenol since I am going in for port surgery on Wednesday. Needless to say, I finally got my answer at 3:30 in the afternoon. Dr. L was worried that it was a urinary tract infection. But I know better. I know what those feel like. And they don’t want me to take Tylenol because it will mask a fever. If I get a fever, Tylenol will lower my
temperature and it’s very important that I call if my temp gets over 100.5. So
the end result, Dr. L thinks that my muscle spasms are because of the Neulasta
shot I got a week ago. I made sure that I was stretching my back and standing
made it feel better. So I stood a lot at work today. Needless to say, my spasms
are starting to decrease. But that was the only woe I had today… regarding my
health.

Now for the shift bids. Every six months supervisors have to go through shift bids along with the agents. I thought with me being in the top 10, I would get my first or second choice. WRONG! I got my third choice which was a shift T-Sa 5a-1:30p. I was devastated. I didn’t want the shift because I need a Monday through Friday for chemo treatments and other things. In addition with Brad back at work, he works
Sunday through Tuesday/Wednesday which would mean that we would not have a day
off together. That’s not good. Anyway after stressing about it for half a day,
I finally managed to swap my shift with another supervisor. So now I am working
Monday through Friday from 4a-12:30p. That was the original shift I wanted to
work. If she didn’t switch with me, there was another supervisor, Christi, who
would have switched with me. She is the supervisor that knows I’ve got breast
cancer. She said if the other supervisor didn’t switch with me, she would have
because she knew how important it was for me to have the M-F shift. I thought
that was soooo super sweet of her.

Other than that, it was another run of the mill day. I love my new computer. I just love the fact I can go anywhere and still be connected. I can watch MLB Network with him and still be able to check facebook. I may… just may… let him use my laptop! Hee hee hee!

Day 22

Today has gone as well as expected.

Last night I was up all night peeing like a race horse. All that water... well, it has to go somewhere. So I've got a little routine down, as I have to flush the toilet twice for five days after receiving chemo. I go, flush, wash my hands, then flush again. The toilet tank refills in the time it takes for me to wash my hands. I feel that's a good routine.

This morning I woke up and got ready for work. I was in at my normal time of 430. I ate my breakfast cereal and half a peanut bar and took my first dose of the all day anti-nausea medication. Hee hee, the side effects included dizziness. So I went home at 7a. I came home ate, then took about an hour and a half nap. When I woke up I felt so much better. I had a snack and then went back to work. At work I had a snack. I stayed at work until 2p to get stuff taken care of. But that whole last hour I was at work, I was thinking of food. Yep, another size effect - increased appetite. Heck, I'll take it. Got home at 2:10 and ate some yummy left overs before heading out to my Neulasta injection.

Before I left, I got a call from OHSU. My port surgery is scheduled for 2/15. I don't know a time yet, but I'll receive a call the day before with the time. So my port will be going in the day before my next chemo treatment. Hooray... I think.

My neulasta injection appointment was at 3p. I got there and it was so nice not having to drive to downtown Portland because I didn't want to drive back in rush hour traffic. NOT GOOD. I got there, and they couldn't find my order. But somehow, someway, they found it and I got my injection. I didn't realize that I could get it in my arm or my stomach. I opted for stomach because the nurse said that it was less painful there. It didn't hurt. Then I had to stay for 5 minutes because they wanted to monitor me for any allergic reaction. None this time. While I was there, the office manager and I started talking. She showed me the infusion room. It was nice and cheerful, but I don't want to move my chemo closer to home. I want to keep my doctor.

When I got home I made some measurements of how much I was drinking. Dr. L wants me to drink 2-3 liters a day. That's 96-100 ounces. Today so far I have drank 110 ounces and it's only 4:25! I think I will surpass that. But it's important for me to drink a lot of water... one to keep me hydrated and two it will get the chemo out of my body and the liver doesn't have to work so hard to process it out of my system.

So... in closing... it has been a decent day. I am waiting for the real crappy days to come. I hear they are just around the corner... like day 3-8 or so. That would mean Sunday. Sunday is Brad's first day to work and my first day of being alone with two girls and doing chemo at the same time. We'll see how much stuff gets done. I am also expecting on Sunday for my bones to hurt. That's when the neulasta kicks in and when my bones will start to ache (bone marrow starts reproducing and making white and red blood cells).

Day 19

Wow, what a whirlwind of a day. It's been a good day.

This morning I went to the OBGYN to get the IUD out. She gave me a big hug! Thanks Desiree! Her MA, Talana asked how I was doing. I told her that I was doing great. So Desiree and I talked a bit about what's to come. We also talked about birth control. I said that I didn't want to do anything yet, because it may be a moot point in the future. I said that I could go into premature menopause. I told her that I was going to be tested for BRCA the cancer gene. If I test positive, that could mean that I might just take my ovaries out. Either that or I will be on hormone suppression medication for awhile. We talked about clamping off my tubes, "burning" the uterine wall so I won't have my period again and also a full hysterectomy. We'll see.... I got on the table and she was trying to pull out the IUD when my phone rang! I told her I had to answer it, so she stopped. It was Dr. Luoh's office calling to ask me some questions regarding chemo.

I was talking to Angie, Dr. Luoh's nurse. She gave me the nurse line. Also she is going to sign me up for chemo class next Thursday. She asked if she could would I like to start chemo this Thursday. I said "sign me up." She knew that I wanted to get going on this. Angie also asked if I had numbness in my arm. I said, no. She thought Dr. L was having a moment. I said that when Dr. L checked me my arm was sensitive because I just had the FNA and they stuck me several times with needles. She said, ah, yes, that would make you a little sore. So she chucked that off her list. She told me that she saw that I requested a port. She said the labs came out good but the echo wasn't back in. So we have to wait to schedule the port when those results are in.

I asked her how long does chemo normally take. Angie says the first round takes the longest. I'll get into the office and meet with Dr. L. They will take my blood and test it to make sure I am healthy. Then while they do that they give me premeds. While that's happening, the pharmacy mixes up my chemo. The Adriamycin (is part of a group of chemotherapy drugs known as anthracycline antibiotics. It slows or stops the growth of cancer cells. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/GuidetoCancerDrugs/doxorubicin) is a 5-10 minute push (of chemo). Following that, the cytoxan (belongs to a group of chemotherapy drugs called alkylating agents. It helps stop cancer cells from growing, causing them to die. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/GuidetoCancerDrugs/cyclophosphamide) takes about an hour to drip into my system. Later down the road, the taxol (is thought to work by interfering with microtubules, which are part of the internal scaffolding needed by cells when they are dividing into 2 cells. Over time, this leads to cell death. Because cancer cells divide more quickly than normal cells, they are more likely than normal cells to be affected by this drug. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/GuidetoCancerDrugs/paclitaxel) takes about 3 hours.

Following my chemo treatment, I am scheduled to get my booster (which can be administered 24-72 hours after chemo) of Neulasta (is used to prevent or treat neutropenia (having a lower than normal number of white blood cells called neutrophils), which in turn lowers a person's risk of serious infections. Neutropenia can sometimes occur as a result of cancer chemotherapy or other treatments. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/GuidetoCancerDrugs/pegfilgrastim). That will boost my white blood cells. Fun times!

After chatting with her for a bit, it was time to get my IUD out. Desiree had a heck of time getting it out. Apparently the IUD like my uterus. One of the strings broke. But thank goodness she finally got it out. The IUD was bending over like a drunken sailor (it's supposed to look like a T). Interesting. So now that's out of my system. No more progesterone. After that it was 800mg of ibuprofen and a hook up with Dr. Grant who had breast cancer. We talked for a little bit. She gave me a nugget of bring a blanket and hydrate yourself. She also told me about this place where you can get complementary medicine like acupuncture and massages. Yea. In addition, she gave me her phone number in case I have any questions. Wonderful wonderful people. There's this little network out there.

While I was talking with Dr. Grant, OHSU oncology called me. Curt got me an appointment for my first treatment at 10a. Well, I meet with Dr. L at 10 this Thursday and then at 10.30 they will start treatment! Then on Friday I have to get the Neulasta shot. Fun times!

I've been thinking... people are asking how they can help. Here's what I am going to need you to do... any time I am getting really low, I need you to offer words of encouragement. I'd like you to tell me, "Holly, you're getting closer to the end. You've got XX treatment down and only XX left." Show me that there's light at the end of the tunnel. :) Also, remind me to drink. Drink lots of water and hydrate myself.

Also told my boss... or at least gave him an update on my condition. He was close to tears. He was asking me if there was anything he can do. Also he kept telling me about all these studies he saw in magazines and on TV. Wonderful! :)