Ending a chapter

Here's an EXCELLENT subject, tomorrow is my LAST CHEMO TREATMENT!!!! Can you tell that I'm glad?  Hopefully #8 goes as smoothly as the #7. 

After chemo is done, I have a 3D mammogram, MRI, meeting with my surgeon, and numerous meetings with my radiation oncologist either already scheduled or waiting to be scheduled.  I will then have surgery (lumpectomy), followed by 6 weeks (M-F) of radiation.  If I can make it through 8 rounds of chemo, I can make it through anything!

Here's a pic from chemo #7, not sure if i put it in the last blog. 

Looking at this pic, it looks like I really have it made - Munchkins, Juice, People Magazine, iPhone, recliner!
I promise, Chemo really does suck!

You have to have some humor with all of this, so here's a funny story.  Our tub was draining slow, so Mike got the snake out, and headed to the basement to see if he could clear out the drain.  He pulled out the biggest, smelliest, most disgusting wads of hair!  I say wads - plural - because it didn't end after the 1st one.  Mike continued to pull 2 more (equally large) hairballs out after that!  He looked at me as the culprit, and i said it couldn't be - I DON'T HAVE HAIR!  hahaha!

It was probably me, from when I did have hair, but it was really funny at the time!  I said I was going to take a pic of the hairball, and Mike said to put as a caption "the upside to chemo - this will never happen to your drain!"  Again, humor is needed when going through chemo, its the only way to survive! : )  

Making Strides - Worcester

On October 23rd, 29 family members and friends of mine walked with me in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Worcester.  There were also a few that wanted to walk, but stuff came up, and they were unable to - but they were there in spirit!  I couldn't believe how many people came to support me!  I can't thank them enough! 

It was pretty cold when we started the walk, but overall it ended up being a pretty nice day.  I forgot to take pictures, but thankfully my Aunt and 2 of my cousins brought their cameras, and I was able to copy the pictures.  Here are a few of my favorites...

(L-R) my cousin Kissy, Me, my cousin Lyndsay, with Anya and Maddie (in front)

(L-R) my brother DJ, My Mom, Me, my brother Travis, Maddie (infront)

The back of Maddie's shirt - Walking for my Mom <3 U

Mike, Maddie and I

TEAM TIFF! The whole group at the start - minus my cousin Johnny who met us at the end!

Update 10/16/11

After chemo #6 I felt pretty good.  My legs were a little achy, the weekend after, as was expected.  My fingers and toes are also numb, which is also a side effect. Other than that I am doing pretty good with the side effects of chemo.

Saturday after treatment, Maddie, Raff (my brothers girlfriend), and I went to Ashby Apples to go apple picking.  Afterwards, Maddie and I hiked Wachusett Mountain.  It was a fun time.

Last Sunday when I woke up, I had a cough and runny nose.  It got progressively worse by Tuesday.  I called the oncologist and the nurse had said that I could take Nyquil and Delsym, and that as long as I didn't have a fever, I did not have to go in to be seen.  I tried the 2 meds till Thursday and my cough was still not better.  I called the doc again and this time they put me on a Z-pack (just in case) and gave me Robitussin w/codeine.  Finally, a week later, I am feeling a little better.  I hope that I am able to get treatment done on Thursday.

Next Sunday, I am walking in the Making Strides against Breast Cancer walk in Worcester.  Are you?  If you are able to walk, I hope to see you there!  I have about 15 people that are signed up to walk so far.  I am excited to see everyone next weekend! If anyone wants to walk, be sure to go to Making Strides and register under TEAM TIFF.

Boston Making Strides & Chemo #6

Last Sunday, I took part in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Boston.  There were over 40,000 people there!  It was a lot of fun, and the rainy weekend actually held off the entire time we were in Boston.  My good friend Krust, my mom Karen, my mom's boyfriend Jimmy, my mother in law Maureen, and my cousin Erin walked with me.  We joined a team called "Miss Pink Queens" that was led by Jimmy's daughter in law Ashley.  Thanks to the friends and family that donated to the walk! 

The following are some of the pics that I took while we were walking.



Our group, Maureen, Karen, Me, Krust & Erin




Krust & I, there were so many walkers, we must have bumped into each other hundreds of times!




Mid walk, I think this was right before some "cheerleaders" started singing Beyonce's "Survivor" to me! Scared the crap out of me!



Almost there!!



Finished with the walk, I needed a bald pic with my wand Cyndy made me!


About midway though walking, we started talking about the Making Strides walk that they are having in Worcester on October 23rd, and thought that it would be fun to invite all of my friends and family to walk with me!  My cousin Erin set up an event page on Facebook and I have set up the team page on the Making Strides/American Cancer Society website.  My team name it "TEAM TIFF".  I would love for anyone that is not busy that day to walk with me!  Registration is between 8-10AM and the walk starts at 10AM.  It does not cost anything to walk, but you may also donate if you would like.  The route is shorter than Boston, it is about 2.5 miles I believe, and handicap/stroller accessible, so it would be good for kids too!  I would love to see everyone there!

Now onto chemo treatment #6.  I had treatment yesterday and I cant believe how much easier Taxol (the new drug) is.  I can tolerate it SO much better than the other drugs.  Besides being a little achy, the only real downside is that between the Ativan (to calm me down) and the Benadryl (to get rid of any allergic reaction) I feel like I am drunk during treatment!  But, if that's the only terrible thing that happens, that's great!

We did remember to take one pic while we were at treatment yesterday.

Yay, feeling good at treatment #6

After treatment #5, I went to get my lab work done the next week to see what my white blood cell count was.  It came back looking good, so I will NOT have to get anymore Neulasta shots and I will not have to get my labs done on my week off chemo.  I get to wait until chemo #7 to check my labs!!

2 more treatments then its on to MRI, surgery, and radiation!  Things are moving right along!

New Treatment

Only 3 more treatments left!!! I have to say that the Taxol treatment is SOOOO much better than the A/C treatments.  My doctor had said that Taxol wouldn't be as bad.  He said that I wouldnt be as nauseous - boy was he right!  I have not felt sick at all!  There was a chance that I would have "flu-like symptoms" but so far I have felt nothing out of the ordinary.  I do have to go get my labs done on Wednesday to see if my white blood cell count is OK.  If it has dropped, my doctor said he may put me on an antibiotic as a precaution.  I will also have to get a Neulasta shot after the next two treatments if my counts go down.  I am hoping that I stay healthy enough so I do not need anything extra.

Just a random note... my eyebrows are starting to come out.  They are not completely gone, just some.  Mike says it looks like i took hair clippers and "cut" a chunk out of my eyebrows!  Nothing a little eyebrow pencil cant fix.  I guess you have to have some humor in all of this!  On a positive note, with the new drug, I could start to see some "peach fuzz" soon.  I still have really blonde hair that had never come out, but I could see "new" hair.  I will have to wait and see.

This upcoming Sunday I am walking in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Boston.  If anyone would like to donate or walk with me you can go to this link....

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer/MSABCFY12National?px=22913068&pg=personal&fr_id=36136

Sept. 19th update

Sorry for not posting in a while! 

I have not had any "new" news to report.  I guess that's good right?  I have my 5th treatment  this upcoming Thursday.  I will be starting a new drug called Taxol.  The doctor has said that I shouldn't have as many side effects with the upcoming treatments.  I should be less nauseous - which will be wonderful!  Hopefully I will be able to function a little better this upcoming weekend.  There is a chance that I will have an allergic reaction to the new drug.  If this happens, it will be immediate.  Part of the pre-treatment is Benadryll to try and ward off any reactions.  Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly! 

Other than that, nothing new or exciting has happened.

I signed up for a 5 mile cancer walk in Boston on October 2nd.  My friend Krust is going to walk with me!  I'm glad that she is going to do it with me!

I will try and update this weekend on how the "new" treatment went.

quick update

Here's a quick update on how my last treatment went.

Thursday was treatment #3.  I was not feeling it while i was there.  I felt kinda nauseous during treatment but i survived.  When I got home we ate dinner then I went to bed early.  The next day I felt fine!  I had to go to Worcester to get my Neulasta shot.  Insurance wouldn't cover me getting it from a retail pharmacy (CVS).  So my choices were have it mailed to my house and pay the copay or get it done at the office and it was no charge.  I figured out that it was cheaper to pay gas than the copay, so off to the doctors it was.

Saturday came with the same yuckiness that it always brings, but it was tolerable.  I think because i know what to expect it isn't "as bad" as the first time.  By dinnertime I was able to eat a normal meal.  Sunday was a little better.  I was stuck at home because of the "hurricane" so no grocery shopping and we didn't lose power so that was good.

Monday and Tuesday were "staff back to school" days.  It was good to see everyone again after the summer.  A lot of people knew about my situation either through the blog or facebook so they wanted to see how i was and to tell me that i am handling things well and that I look good.  A few did not know anything and were shocked to find out.  All I keep saying is that "it is what it is, and there was nothing I could have done to change whats going on.  I have 2 options, sit at home and be depressed or carry on as normally as I can."  I choose normalcy.

Wednesday and today we had orientation and the 1st day of school!  It was good to see the new group of kids and Maddie was very excited to start 2nd grade.  The kids that knew the "old" me weren't too sure what was going on.  I think most of them just thought that I had my hair up under my hat! I had one girl that was in our class 2 years ago ask me what happened to my hair and I had a few kids ask me if i cut my hair or if i had hair.  I just gave them a quick, "I have to take special medicine that made my hair fall out, but it will grow back" and they were fine with that! One girl in our class this year that came from Ethiopia (who knew me last year) asked me this morning if i had cut my hair.  When i told her why it was really short, she said "oh its short like my dads?" and i said yes.  she stopped for a second then says "just take off your hat then, its OK"! I would go hatless but everyone would take it differently.  I'm not sure I'm ready for the stares.

This weekend we have plans to go to the cape.  Then 2 days of school, then off Thursday/Friday for round #4.  Just about 1/2 way there.  The doctor has said that the Taxol part (rounds 5-8) of chemo is not as bad as the A/C part.  I shouldn't be as nauseous which will be good.