Things are looking up:)

My final chemo infusion was three weeks ago today, and I am so happy to report that I am noticing a definite increase in my energy level. When I was in the middle of my chemo treatments, it made me tired just thinking about making dinner, cleaning the house or going to the store. Today, it felt great to have the stamina to run errands,  do some cleaning, bake a cake and make dinner without feeling like I was going to collapse at the end of  the day.

I am also loving being back substitute teaching again. It has been especially nice working again at Issaquah Valley Elementary, the school I was at for the majority of last school year doing a 2nd grade long-term assignment. Everyone there has been so wonderful and supportive since my diagnosis. I have so appreciated being welcomed back with such sweet words, smiles and hugs. It's also been great to see my former students and their parents, who I haven't seen since last April (just before my surgery).

In other news, I had my port removed last week. Woo hoo! Prior to the procedure, I couldn't help but think about what a different place I was at mentally when I had my port put in...I was just two days away from starting chemo.

I was almost giddy this time around. And I have to say that the folks at SCCA do a great job not only making you feel comfortable, but actually making it an enjoyable experience. When they rolled me into the operating room, R&B music was blasting from the speakers and the surgical team members were joking around with me. And then they gave me the IV conscious sedation drug, which I think should be renamed the "happy drug."

After the procedure, they cranked up the tunes again and then sent me off to post-op where I thoroughly enjoyed cheese and crackers and mini chocolate chip cookies. At the time, I felt like I was having the tastiest snack in the world. In fact, when the nurse said she was going to have Mike come back to see me, I said: "Ok. As long as you don't let him have any of my cookies." She brought him his own bag:).

It's looking like radiation will start the first week and November and my doctor has promised that she will do her very best to make sure my treatments are done by Christmas.

I also thought I would include a picture from the Susan G. Komen 3-Day. I am so proud of you for walking 60 miles in three days, Laur, Angela  and Sheri! And I am so glad Nick and I were able to be there to cheer you on.

 

Done with Chemo:)

After five long months of chemotherapy treatments, I am happy to report that I am finally done! I think it's still sinking in that I am actually finished. Thank you to all of you for your incredible support along the way!!

I am looking forward to gaining my energy back in the weeks and months to come. I have to say I am so tired of being tired.

I will definitely be putting my stamina to the test this week as I return to substitute teaching for the first time since just before my surgery in April. I will be teaching 4/5 graders for a half day on Wednesday and 3rd graders for a full day on Friday. I am very excited to be getting back in the classroom, but am definitely nervous about making it through the school day...especially this soon after finishing chemo. But I decided to just go for it and see how I do. Wish me luck!

In a previous post, I mentioned that I had decided to get the lymphnode dissection surgery in lieu of radiation therapy. Well..after some more thought and additional conversations with all of  my doctors and my dad, I have changed my mind. I will be getting radiation therapy after all. The reason: Radiation will significantly reduce the risk of recurrence on my chest wall. I feel good about this final decision and am at peace knowing that I am getting the most aggressive treatment possible. No regrets!

The plan is to start my radiation treatments in early November. I will heading across the lake to receive radiation every weekday for 4-6 weeks. I am hoping to be done before Christmas. Because of radiation's impact on my skin and tissue, I will have to wait about 6 months for reconstructive surgery.

In other news, my hair is starting to come back in, and I hope to be able start going "hatless" within the next few weeks. :) I also went to my first Young Survivor's Coalition support group meeting last week. After just one meeting, I am already hooked. What a blessing to be able to talk candidly with other women about what we are going through. Thank you to my friend, Jen, for encouraging me to go.

That's all for now:)

Cougs for Boobs:)

My sister, Laurie, along with her friends Angela and Sheri, will be walking 60 miles in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day starting tomorrow. They worked so hard (including setting up a fundraising booth at the Kingston ferrry dock) to raise more than $7,000 between the three of them.

They have also trained like crazy to get ready for what I am sure will be an inspiring and life-changing experience for each of them. I am so excited for them and I know they are more than ready to conquer the challenge of walking 20 miles a day for three consecutive days.

Thanks to a very cool phone app, I will be able to track where Laur and team are at throughout each day and I plan on bringing Nick to one of the spectator cheering sections to root them on. BTW...their team name is "Cougs for Boobs" as they are all WAZZU graduates just like me.:)

While Laur is walking tomorrow, I will be getting my 9th infusion of Taxol with only 3 more to go. Yahoo!! I am so ready to be done, but I also have to admit that I've come to enjoy my Fridays at SCCA.

 I even look forward to having my port accessed (yes...with a needle!) and having my blood drawn. About 10 chemos ago, I met Thea (the blood draw nurse of my dreams:) ), and she has been accessing my port every chemo day since. She is an angel who I like to believe was sent to me by my mom herself.

She treats me like a princess! Upon my arrival, Thea reclines my chair, and carefully places a warm blanket on my lap and rolled-up warm blanket behind my neck. She usually brings me something to drink too! And then we just chat away while she gets everything ready prior to the needle poke, which only lasts a second and only hurts a little. And then we chat some more until it's time for me to head upstairs for chemo.

And then there's all of the amazing chemo nurses. My favorite nurse is Barb. She has a special place in my heart because she took care of my mom when she had her stem cell transplant and just before she died. In a strange way, having her as my nurse makes me feel closer to my mom.

So my last chemo day  (Oct. 4) will definitely be a bittersweet one!

6 down, 6 to go!

This past Friday, I reached the halfway mark of my last round of chemo treatments. Yay!

This particular chemo drug continues to be pretty easy on me with minimal side effects. I'm hoping to avoid the most common side effect of Taxol...numbness and/or tingling in the fingers and toes, but it may still happen any time between now and the end of my treatment.

Despite the fact that I have been going in for weekly chemo treatments, I've thankfully been able to get out and do some fun stuff this summer, including a few short out-of-town getaways and some trips to the zoo. And even on those sunny days when I have to go in for chemo, I still get to enjoy the great view of Lake Union from Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

Even though I have become accustomed to having no hair and appreciate the time it saves me, I am definitely ready for it to grow back. It should start coming back right after I finish chemo. Can't wait! Being bald obviously draws a lot of attention from strangers and some sweet comments. Just today, a gal said to me: "I had that haircut two years ago." Meeting strong and healthy breast cancer survivors who have "been there, done that" never gets old.

Next steps...

About 1-2 months after I finish chemo, I will most likely be getting axillary lymphnode dissection surgery (vs. radiation), where they take out two layers of lymphnodes from my armpit. Since I had a tiny bit of cancer in the one node they removed during my initial breast surgery, this surgery is meant to help prevent local recurrence in any of my lymphnodes. While there are potential side effects with this surgery such as lymphedema, the preventive benefits outweigh them. I am doing everything possible to avoid going through this again.

For my final phase of treatment, I will take an anti-estrogen drug (in pill form) daily for five years. I hope to have all of my reconstructive surgery(ies) done by late this year or early next year.

That's all for now. I will try to do my next blog post sooner than later. I apologize for being such a slacker!

2 down, 10 to go!

Yes! I am finally adding another post to my blog. I'm sorry it's been so long since my last update.

The last time I posted, I was about to get my last dose of the tough chemo...I was told that with each dose of the AC, the effects would be cumulative. And I can honestly tell you that the last dose kicked my ass...so much so that I unfortunately ended up in the hospital for a few days.

Mike took me to the ER because I had a 102-degree fever and I was admitted because my white blood cell count had plummeted to an extremely low level. After a couple days of getting antibiotics, my counts rose up to a safe level and I was discharged. The worst part of it all was dealing with the excruciatingly painful mouth sores, a common AC side effect. I had gotten the mouth sores after previous doses, but none as bad as this time around. For a good 6 or so days, it hurt to eat, talk or even swallow, which meant I was on pretty much on a liquid, very soft food diet during that time. Not fun!

My oncologist told me that I was only her second patient in five years to end up in the hospital...not exactly an honor for which I was striving:)

On a much more upbeat note, the Taxol chemo drug I am now receiving is way easier on me than the AC. I have received two of the twelve doses so far, and the side effects have been very minimal. No poor appetite/nausea or taste changes and my energy level definitely seems to be improving.  Yay!


That's all for now! I hope all of you are having a fantastic summer!

Light at the end of the tunnel

Okay so I had to start this blog post with part of a recent conversation I had with Nick.
Nick: "Chemo is like Nemo."
Me: "Yes. You're right. Chemo rhymes with Nemo."
Nick: "Are there turtles at Chemo?"

Good news! I am almost done with the worst part of my chemo treatment. This Thursday is my last round of the AC (adriamycin/cytoxin). And then I get a three-week break before I start my 12 weeks of taxol, another chemotherapy drug which is typically much easier on your body and is given weekly.

I feel like I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I've mapped it out on the calendar and my very last chemo infusion is Oct. 5. And believe me, I will be counting down the days until then.

The last few steps in my treatment plan will include the axillary node dissection surgery (removal of two layers of lymphnodes from my armpit) and reconstructive surgery(ies).

For right now, I am looking forward to some sunshine this summer.

I'd like to end this post by thanking all of you for all of the amazing support and encouragement over the last several months. I couldn't get through this without you.

McDonald's French Fries...ah!

I can't remember the last time I drove to McDonald's just to order french fries. And yet, yesterday, there I was ordering one large order of fries and an iced tea at the McD's drive thru. Before that, I ate a bowl of chocolate chip mint ice cream with chocolate syrup, and yes, it was topped with whipped cream.

What can I say?! I take my doctor's (and dad's) advice quite seriously! I have lost about 10 lbs. since surgery, and I have been given the green light to eat basically anything I want or that sounds good to me. And during the days after chemo, I'm here to tell you that what sounds good to me is basically next to nothing. But yesterday...the french fries did sound somewhat appealing. And the ice cream? Do I have to explain myself on that one?

So besides the messed up appetite and fatigue, I feel like I've done pretty well with two rounds of chemo behind me.

My 2nd round was last Thursday (5/31), and the only thing I was really nervous about was the fact that they were going to have to access my port that morning at blood draw, which means I was going to have to be poked. So they gave me this numbing cream, which I religiously rubbed onto my port site 90 minutes prior to the blood draw. And guess what?!? I'd hate to know how it would have felt if I hadn't used the numbing cream. Okay...it wasn't that bad. It just felt like a bee sting and the sting went away quickly. But once I was done with that one poke, I was practically giddy, knowing I was done with needles for the day. They leave your port accessed for the chemo infusion that comes later in the day.

In my last post, I told you I was going to shave my head. Well I did it! And here's the proof:)