Well its safe to say that the honeymoon is officially over! I woke up early Saturday morning feeling like complete *#@!. It was not fun. I spent the majority of the day at about a 2-3, on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the worst. The nausea was horrible - even with the Zofran. My productivity consisted of doing 2 loads of laundry and watching Mike wash, wax and vacuum the cars. Thats all that I did the WHOLE DAY! I am not looking forward to the Saturday after chemo.
Today I woke up feeling better - which was a very pleasant surprise. I have been at about a 5 or 6 pretty much all day and was able to go to the grocery (Mike was extremely happy that I was able to), and to Home Depot and Lowe's. I wouldn't say that Sundays will be the "best" days, but they will be doable.
I am glad that I got the first weekend after a chemo treatment out of the way. I now know what it will consist of, and if I have 2 bad days every 2 weeks, i can live with that. When you look at the big scheme of things, a few bad days here and there is nothing!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
1st Neulasta Shot
Went to get my first Neulasta shot this morning. The goal of the shot is to boost my white blood cells, so i will be less likely to catch a cold, more likely to fight off germs, etc. I brought my "trusty sidekick" Maddie with me to keep me company. She was a little apprehensive to go with me, but everyone in the office was so glad that she came. The receptionist gave her her own "patient" bracelet with her name on it, the nurse let her hear her heart beat and take my blood pressure, the doctor gave her "special" instructions on how to help me - make sure to give me 3 big hugs everyday, and all the nurses in the treatment room were very friendly.
Because I am going to be giving myself the injections at home the day after treatment, Amy the nurse gave me the option of watching her today or doing it myself. I figured, what the heck, there's no better time than now to start doing it myself! With Maddie watching, I manned up, and gave myself the shot in the upper thigh. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. I made sure to take Advil before I got there, and took more when I got home. Now its just the waiting game, to see if i get achy or not.
Again, when I got home, there was the 2nd half of my surprises from my friends Jenn, Nehcole and Kristin. I am now able to go get a mani/pedi with the generous gift card they got me! I can not thank them enough for the thoughtfulness that they have shown me.
Even though i am not a "church" person, I feel so blessed at the amount of people that care that I am going through this rough time. The number of people that I have not seen for what seems like ages, that have took the time to reach out and send a kind message or words of encouragement. It means so much to me to have people that care. Thank you!
Knock on wood, but i have been feeling pretty good today, even after the shot, lets hope it stays that way.
Because I am going to be giving myself the injections at home the day after treatment, Amy the nurse gave me the option of watching her today or doing it myself. I figured, what the heck, there's no better time than now to start doing it myself! With Maddie watching, I manned up, and gave myself the shot in the upper thigh. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. I made sure to take Advil before I got there, and took more when I got home. Now its just the waiting game, to see if i get achy or not.
Again, when I got home, there was the 2nd half of my surprises from my friends Jenn, Nehcole and Kristin. I am now able to go get a mani/pedi with the generous gift card they got me! I can not thank them enough for the thoughtfulness that they have shown me.
Even though i am not a "church" person, I feel so blessed at the amount of people that care that I am going through this rough time. The number of people that I have not seen for what seems like ages, that have took the time to reach out and send a kind message or words of encouragement. It means so much to me to have people that care. Thank you!
Knock on wood, but i have been feeling pretty good today, even after the shot, lets hope it stays that way.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Post Chemo - day 1
Well I made it thought day 1 of chemo. My appointment was at 10:15am and after all was said and done we left around 2:00pm. A little longer than we expected, but the time went by fairly quickly. Mike came with me, and we dropped Maddie off at Karen's beforehand so she could hang out.
The worst part for me was the initial iv going into the port. Anyone that knows me, knows how deathly afraid of needles I am! After that was done, I got fluids, anti-nausea meds, then the 2 chemo drugs. The first one was pushed in quickly (over the course of 5 min) then the 2nd was a drip that lasted about an hour. We were able to go outside in the courtyard and sit, have a snack, and play UNO. (I won!)
We have decided to take a few pics every time i am having something done, so we have a scrapbook of sorts. Here's what we got today....
I was in good spirits the entire time i was there. As the last pic shows, Mike was having a blast as well! The recliners are pretty comfy!
After chemo was done, we stopped at the mall to buy a couple of hats. My days with hair are officially numbered. I am planning on shaving it all off sometime towards the end of next week! Id rather shave it on my terms, and before it starts coming out too rapidly on its own.
Once i got home, I started feeling nauseous. i took one of my prescriptions to stop it, and it worked for about 4 hours, so i just took another. Hopefully, i can keep the feeling away by taking the pills. I have to go back for a quick visit tomorrow to get a Neulasta shot to boost by white blood cell count. Hopefully I will be able to give it to myself the next 3 visits.
When we got home, I noticed there was a box on the porch with flowers inside. I was very excited that i had a present waiting for me! They were from my friends Jenn, Nehcole and Kristin. Although we dont see each other as much as we should, it was such a wonderful thought and it really made my day! Thanks you guys!
Last weekend when we were at the Cape, Mikes parents, Maureen and Paul, surprised me with a beautiful pink Hydrangea. It is so pretty! (hopefully it stays the color it is). Thank you so much!
Until next time......
The worst part for me was the initial iv going into the port. Anyone that knows me, knows how deathly afraid of needles I am! After that was done, I got fluids, anti-nausea meds, then the 2 chemo drugs. The first one was pushed in quickly (over the course of 5 min) then the 2nd was a drip that lasted about an hour. We were able to go outside in the courtyard and sit, have a snack, and play UNO. (I won!)
We have decided to take a few pics every time i am having something done, so we have a scrapbook of sorts. Here's what we got today....
I was in good spirits the entire time i was there. As the last pic shows, Mike was having a blast as well! The recliners are pretty comfy!
After chemo was done, we stopped at the mall to buy a couple of hats. My days with hair are officially numbered. I am planning on shaving it all off sometime towards the end of next week! Id rather shave it on my terms, and before it starts coming out too rapidly on its own.
Once i got home, I started feeling nauseous. i took one of my prescriptions to stop it, and it worked for about 4 hours, so i just took another. Hopefully, i can keep the feeling away by taking the pills. I have to go back for a quick visit tomorrow to get a Neulasta shot to boost by white blood cell count. Hopefully I will be able to give it to myself the next 3 visits.
When we got home, I noticed there was a box on the porch with flowers inside. I was very excited that i had a present waiting for me! They were from my friends Jenn, Nehcole and Kristin. Although we dont see each other as much as we should, it was such a wonderful thought and it really made my day! Thanks you guys!
Last weekend when we were at the Cape, Mikes parents, Maureen and Paul, surprised me with a beautiful pink Hydrangea. It is so pretty! (hopefully it stays the color it is). Thank you so much!
Until next time......
Round 1
Here we go.... Port is doing it's job. I'm all hooked up and starting the anti nausea meds. Next is the chemo drugs a little later. I'm writing from my phone and it's not the easiest to do. I will update later when I get home.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
From the beginning...
Let me start from the beginning... I went to get a yearly check-up in November 2010. Everything seemed great and nothing out of the ordinary was noticed during my breast exam. Then one day in February, I noticed a lump on my right breast. Not thinking anything, I kept watch of it for a few months. When it didn't change or go away, i figured it was time to call my primary care doctor.
I went to see him during April vacation week. He too felt the lump and sent me off to have a mammogram and ultrasound. My insurance company gave one hell of a fight, saying that i was "too young" to have them cover these procedures. After going back and forth with the ins. co. they finally said OK and i had a date scheduled. After having both done, the results showed that yes there was some sort of "solid" lump. I was then sent to a surgeon to to get a better idea of what it may be.
This takes us to May 9th. The surgeon suggested we do a core needle biopsy. This would take a small sample of tissue and look to see what type of cells the lump was made of. It would be done under local anesthesia (which i freaked out most of the time!). Looking back i probably shouldn't have been as nervous, but what would you do if you were in my position? The results came back a few days later that the sample contained "atypical" cells. The surgeon said that it didn't mean anything, but he wanted to get a bigger tissue sample since the cells weren't "normal". He scheduled a surgical biopsy for June 9th.
The day of the biopsy i was a wreck. This was before i knew that it was OK to ask for anxiety pills! Eventually i was given meds to make me calm and then to sleep. The next thing i knew was that I was in recovery. The recovery for the biopsy was actually easier for me than the core needle.
June 14th is a day i will always remember. This is the day the surgeon called to tell me that the biopsy came back as being infiltrating ductal carcinoma. In other words it was breast cancer. First I cried, then i cried some more, then i cried some more. It took a while, but then i started thinking, this really sucks, but its happening, and i have to to what i can to get rid of it and to get better. I am 29 and this is what gets thrown at me? Come on! Im glad that I found it, and it is not too far along. I am stage 1B, E+ P+. (hormone receptor positive). As a doc in Boston put it, if breast cancer was an ice cream flavor, your type would be vanilla! Thats a good thing i guess!
Let me fast forward through the weeks between June14th and now. These weeks seem like a blur of doctors visits and appointments at the hospital. I have had a MRI, CT scan on my head, chest, abdomen, and pelvis, echocardiogram, as well as getting my blood drawn twice. (Every test result came back great!) I have gone to my oncologist twice, had a 2nd opinion in Boston (which lasted 5 hours) and had a powerport put in my chest. I could not have done any of these things without the help of my amazing "husband" Mike, my good friend Kim, and my mom.
I am going to be getting my treatments with Commonwealth Oncology in Worcester. My treatment plan is chemo once every 14 days for 16 weeks. (4 cycles of Adriamyacin and Cytoxin, then 4 cycles of Taxol). Hopefully that shrinks the tumor. Then surgery to remove what is left, and last 6 weeks of radiation. Then after thats done 5 years on Tamoxifen.
My first cycle of chemo is this Thursday (July 28th). Hopefully it goes as well as can be expected. I will update when i get any news worth sharing!
I went to see him during April vacation week. He too felt the lump and sent me off to have a mammogram and ultrasound. My insurance company gave one hell of a fight, saying that i was "too young" to have them cover these procedures. After going back and forth with the ins. co. they finally said OK and i had a date scheduled. After having both done, the results showed that yes there was some sort of "solid" lump. I was then sent to a surgeon to to get a better idea of what it may be.
This takes us to May 9th. The surgeon suggested we do a core needle biopsy. This would take a small sample of tissue and look to see what type of cells the lump was made of. It would be done under local anesthesia (which i freaked out most of the time!). Looking back i probably shouldn't have been as nervous, but what would you do if you were in my position? The results came back a few days later that the sample contained "atypical" cells. The surgeon said that it didn't mean anything, but he wanted to get a bigger tissue sample since the cells weren't "normal". He scheduled a surgical biopsy for June 9th.
The day of the biopsy i was a wreck. This was before i knew that it was OK to ask for anxiety pills! Eventually i was given meds to make me calm and then to sleep. The next thing i knew was that I was in recovery. The recovery for the biopsy was actually easier for me than the core needle.
June 14th is a day i will always remember. This is the day the surgeon called to tell me that the biopsy came back as being infiltrating ductal carcinoma. In other words it was breast cancer. First I cried, then i cried some more, then i cried some more. It took a while, but then i started thinking, this really sucks, but its happening, and i have to to what i can to get rid of it and to get better. I am 29 and this is what gets thrown at me? Come on! Im glad that I found it, and it is not too far along. I am stage 1B, E+ P+. (hormone receptor positive). As a doc in Boston put it, if breast cancer was an ice cream flavor, your type would be vanilla! Thats a good thing i guess!
Let me fast forward through the weeks between June14th and now. These weeks seem like a blur of doctors visits and appointments at the hospital. I have had a MRI, CT scan on my head, chest, abdomen, and pelvis, echocardiogram, as well as getting my blood drawn twice. (Every test result came back great!) I have gone to my oncologist twice, had a 2nd opinion in Boston (which lasted 5 hours) and had a powerport put in my chest. I could not have done any of these things without the help of my amazing "husband" Mike, my good friend Kim, and my mom.
I am going to be getting my treatments with Commonwealth Oncology in Worcester. My treatment plan is chemo once every 14 days for 16 weeks. (4 cycles of Adriamyacin and Cytoxin, then 4 cycles of Taxol). Hopefully that shrinks the tumor. Then surgery to remove what is left, and last 6 weeks of radiation. Then after thats done 5 years on Tamoxifen.
My first cycle of chemo is this Thursday (July 28th). Hopefully it goes as well as can be expected. I will update when i get any news worth sharing!
First post...
So who would have thought I would ever need to have a blog? I usually would not "tell the world" anything, I am more of a keep it to myself kind of person. Well thats about to change. I am 29 and have breast cancer. Ya, it sucks, but it is what it is, and now i have to deal with it!
I have had a TON of people respond on facebook asking "what is going on?", "what is your treatment plan?", etc. It is amazing how many people care when there is a problem. After thinking it through, i figured it would be best to start a blog that people can follow, that way I am not answering the same question 587 times!
Just a heads up, I will probably have lots of typos, as I am not writing to win any awards. I am writing to keep family and friends informed.
I have had a TON of people respond on facebook asking "what is going on?", "what is your treatment plan?", etc. It is amazing how many people care when there is a problem. After thinking it through, i figured it would be best to start a blog that people can follow, that way I am not answering the same question 587 times!
Just a heads up, I will probably have lots of typos, as I am not writing to win any awards. I am writing to keep family and friends informed.
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