Holiday's & Cancer

The holiday's are always a sad time for me. Thanksgiving is when I miss my Mom the most. This year was a little more sadder for me. I am mad at her for not being here for me during this time. I know that if she could she would have. I have gone through all major adult stuff without her getting married, having Tyler, going through infertility, moving, having a miscarriage and now breast cancer. Can't I get a break? Um no so for Thanksgiving I got mouth sores, thrush and a cold. Yeah in one week. Go me! So Thanksgiving this year instead of spending it with family and friends I spent it home alone napping and trying to get rid of this cold. Today it is almost gone and the thrush is gone. Mouth sores are still here but I have a feeling they are here to stay.
Today I started to go through a box of pictures and kept the ones I want to scan and keep. It made me smile to see pictures of me with my parents and as I was growing up.
I am very thankful for my husband and son. They are my rocks but I am also very thankful for what my mother had taught me wit her battle with cancer to say FU I will beat you and I will be around for my children. Now I have another FU I will not let you come back and take me from my son. I want to see him fall in love and get married and meet my grandchildren. That is my goal and I will get to it one step at a time.

Chemo # 2

Yesterday was my second round of treatment and I went straight from work. It was pretty easy to do by myself. First they drew my blood then said I was going to have an appointment with the Doctor. This was good because I wanted to discuss that my insurance company will only cover 10 Ambien pills for 25 days….So seriously what am I to do for the rest of the month? So I have a new one to pick up today at the drug store.

Beside the new prescription Dr. Singh did an exam and determined that the Tumor is shrinking from the Chemo. So yeah for Chemo! I am pretty happy about that.

Today I go back for the Neulasta Shot and hopefully I have a good reaction to the Chemo as I did last time.

On December 17^th I have an appointment with one of the GYN doctors to discuss my hysterectomy that will hopefully happen with the first surgery.

Second Opinions and More!

This is a post that I have been thinking of writing for awhile. Two weeks ago my Aunt suggested I get a second opinion just to make sure I am on the right track for my surgery and for the chemo. I decided to go to Duke Cancer Center to meet with their team.
When I first called I didn't get that warm feeling when you call an office. To be honest I almost quiet right there, but I decide to go ahead. Then they called me back to make all the appointments I told them the dates and times I was available because of my limited schedule at work. I made all my appointments and thought we were all set for Monday the 12th. Then I get a call back. They had me mixed up with another patient and cancelled all my appointments and moved them to Wednesday, when I told them I had Chemo on Wednesday I needed the appointments for that Monday they put me back in. This did not go over well with me. If they can't get my appointments right how can they get my treatment right? I decided to go ahead with all the appointments and see what they had to say.
I am glad that I did. I was told that they would do the same Chemo with me as I am getting now for the same time frame. I was pretty happy with this. They still say I will have Radiation after the surgery and maybe more Chemo but they wouldn't know that until after my surgery. So because I started at the Cancer Center of NC I will stay there for my 8 Chemo sessions and then more to Duke for the surgery.
This is where it was interesting and differed from the original surgeon that I saw and the plastic surgeon.

The Duke Doctor (Rachel A. Greenup, MD) stated that she would only remove the cancer breast during the initial surgery and all of my lymph nodes since they are positive. The reason for the one breast removal is less of a chance of infection. Since the right breast is healthy there is no need to take it right away. Once that is done I would start Chemo and/or Radiation. Once the radiation is complete I would then have another surgery to remove the right breast and also have what is called a TRAM Flap surgery (http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/surgery/reconstruction/types/tram) this is actually better since I like the idea of not having to get new implants in 20 years, and as an added bonus I get a tummy tuck.

I really liked the Breast Surgeon Dr. Greenup and the Medical Oncologist Dr. Kelly Mitchell. I am going to switch over to Duke once Chemo is finished. My next appointment is in January and the then I will also meet with the Plastic Surgeon and the Radiation Oncologist.

So I guess it was a good thing that I went today and am happy with everything that was said.

Work

On Friday I decided to go to work with out the wig on. I need to wash it and style it. The amount of compliments I got was amazing and I felt so much love. I am not one for church and prayers but accept them with an open heart.
I believe with all my heart that I will beat this it doesn't matter what stage you are in.
I have so much to say but need to organize my thoughts. Next treatment is on Wednesday.

The donation

The whole experience was amazing and I would encourage anyone in my position to talk to your salon and donate your hair.
Kate came with me and my hairdresser set up my hair for the donation then we went into a private room to shave off the rest. It is amazing how much hair is left after you donate.
But all in all I felt great about doing it and Tyler of course took it like a champ.

The hair

So I thought I was okay with the whole lets shave my head and donate my hair to locks of love and I am still okay with it. I was just sad this morning when I washed it. I realized that this will be the last time that i will wash my hair for a long time. But it is a good thing. I will beat this it is just a matter of time.

Weekend

As of Sunday night I am still feeling okay just a little tired so I napped today. Other then some foods I am not liking (chocolate!) I feel okay.
So all and all I was worried hopefully for nothing. Maybe this will not be so bad after all.
On Wednesday I am going to my first support group and Thursday I will be donating my hair and shaving the rest of it off. At one point I think Tuesday I will go pick up my wig. It is going to be a good week hopefully.

The Neulasta Shot

The shot itself wasn't so bad expect for the fact that I had a red mark on my arm. So it was off to an ultrasound the next day to make sure there were no blood clots. There were none. So that was a good thing.

Afterwards though i was feeling very tired. I went to work anyway but that turned out to be a bad decision. I came home and went right to bed and slept until about 6pm. Stayed up for a little bit and watched some tv with Richie. Then back to bed by 10. I need to learn to listen to my body and not push myself. But at least i slept through the night.

So far knock on wood I have not been sick as of yet. I am hoping that it stays this way.

1st Chemo Treatment

I was nervous all day for 12:30 pm to roll around to see what will happen. I had butterflies in my stomach all morning almost like the 1st date nervousness.
It was pretty easy but we had a couple of appointments before the actual chemo started we had a meeting with the financial counselor. She had me fill out some paper work to  apply for aid to help defer the costs of the treatment. This is a huge relief because so far this has been pretty expense and it has only been 3 weeks.
Then they took me in the back. The room was a big open room with all chairs. They started the IV and took my blood. Then I went to see the doctor and met is nurse practitioner Sara she was very nice and I liked her.
back to the chemo room i went. That took about 2 1/2 hrs not too bad. I didn't even take one of the happy pills.
Afterwards I had the family over for Halloween  I wanted to do something normal.But I am paying the price for it today. I am tired today.

I went for the neulasta shot today and I have some kind of rash on my arm so off for an ultrasound tomorrow morning. Let the good times roll.