Yep, they were right. The physical pains associated with the Taxol do eventually catch up with you on day 3. Uggghhhhh.....the weirdest thing for me, is "feeling" all of the side effects and knowing that it's the poison inside of me causing all of it.
My hands look like sausages, I have gained 6lbs in one day from fluid. My fingertips are numb, my legs are ACHING as if I had the flu. I can't sleep....Do I sound whiney yet? (I am really not complaining too much out loud, just here in blog land)
But with that being said, I am going to keep trucking along, and hope that this passes by pretty quickly.
Tomorrow is the New Year, I have high hopes for my year 2012. I know that it is going to be a long and tough year for me, but I can HONESTLY say that I am still very thankful that it is me going thru this, and not one of my boys. This whole cancer thing, REALLY is ZERO fun!
Everyone have a most Happy New Year! And take care of yourselves!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Taxol, my new friend!
Is Taxol my newest chemo friend? It's killing the cancer inside of me, and I feel pretty NORMAL!
I hope I am not speaking too soon, but today has been a good day. I have done some extra sleeping.
But on the "clothes" scale, I was wearing jeans and out running errands today! LOL, usually after my chemo's I am in pjs for days, and then I finally work my way up to yoga pants....today was a blue jean day, which I would say is small miracle in itself :)
I am finished with my rounds of the Red Devil (the Adriamycin and Cytoxin cocktail) I am so glad those rounds are behind me. The 5 days it took me to get over those drugs were miserable...
I didn't have any of the allergic reactions that 50% of patients experience with the Taxol which is a great thing. At least I had my own guardian angel there yesterday, my good friend Taft was at Duke South yesterday working, and would have been part of the emergency team if I had gotten into any trouble yesterday. Luckily, we were able to just hang out and talk and not get all serious with the medical interventions :)
The side effects of the new chemo meds are suppose to hit me on day 3 or 4 and last between 3 and 4 days. All of my at home meds have now changed. My home meds now are geared towards bone and muscle pain, and also something called peripheral neuropathy. That is tingling and numbness of the fingertips. This can be permanent in some cases, so I have to stay on top of the 4 vitamins that they have asked me to take to try to combat it. Alot of diabetics experience this. If the neuropathy becomes unmanageable they are going to stop the Taxol early. If it gets to the point where I can't put my earrings in or clasp my jewelry, they want to know. But hopefully, I can get thru these 4 rounds without that happening, so the Taxol can do it's job....
So my thinking right now is, I can handle the physical pain alot better than the miserable aspect of what the Red Devil was. I will get back to you on Saturday or Sunday, if that changes. I hope that I am not a total idiot for thinking that way....
But I have felt great today after my newest Chemo cocktail which I started yesterday. I will have a total of 4 rounds of the Taxol, one down only 3 more to go! Come on February 8th, that will be my last day of chemo treatments. Go ahead and do a cheer, because I sure am!
Once, I am done with the chemo part of this journey, I am moving on to radiation. I am thinking I am starting radiation by March, that will last for 6 weeks. I plan on doing my radiation at Duke Raleigh to be closer to home and to save me from having to drive to Duke 5 days a week.
In February, I have to make some BIG surgery decisions, and I am researching my options. I have bought some books, and I am hoping that they will make a light go off as to which path I need to take...my surgery list is a big mouthful...
Double Mastectomy
Axcillary Lymph node surgery
Hysterectomy
Removal of Ovaries
Reconstruction surgery-which may take a few surgeries (I am unable to do implants, so I will have to have the tissue surgeries done, which are more involved and take more than one surgery day to complete)
So it looks like the year 2012 will be filled with lots of anesthesia and hospitals for me. I cannot wait till all of this is behind me.
A big thank you, to Uncle Eric and Uncle Steve for spoiling and taking care of the boys yesterday while we were at Duke. The twins turned 8 yesterday, and they had a great day, filled with movies, pizza, ice cream, and Kanki.
I love getting all the little cards and trinkets from everyone, it really makes going thru this so much easier! Yall have really spoiled me!
I am so LUCKY to have each and everyone of you!
I hope I am not speaking too soon, but today has been a good day. I have done some extra sleeping.
But on the "clothes" scale, I was wearing jeans and out running errands today! LOL, usually after my chemo's I am in pjs for days, and then I finally work my way up to yoga pants....today was a blue jean day, which I would say is small miracle in itself :)
I am finished with my rounds of the Red Devil (the Adriamycin and Cytoxin cocktail) I am so glad those rounds are behind me. The 5 days it took me to get over those drugs were miserable...
I didn't have any of the allergic reactions that 50% of patients experience with the Taxol which is a great thing. At least I had my own guardian angel there yesterday, my good friend Taft was at Duke South yesterday working, and would have been part of the emergency team if I had gotten into any trouble yesterday. Luckily, we were able to just hang out and talk and not get all serious with the medical interventions :)
The side effects of the new chemo meds are suppose to hit me on day 3 or 4 and last between 3 and 4 days. All of my at home meds have now changed. My home meds now are geared towards bone and muscle pain, and also something called peripheral neuropathy. That is tingling and numbness of the fingertips. This can be permanent in some cases, so I have to stay on top of the 4 vitamins that they have asked me to take to try to combat it. Alot of diabetics experience this. If the neuropathy becomes unmanageable they are going to stop the Taxol early. If it gets to the point where I can't put my earrings in or clasp my jewelry, they want to know. But hopefully, I can get thru these 4 rounds without that happening, so the Taxol can do it's job....
So my thinking right now is, I can handle the physical pain alot better than the miserable aspect of what the Red Devil was. I will get back to you on Saturday or Sunday, if that changes. I hope that I am not a total idiot for thinking that way....
But I have felt great today after my newest Chemo cocktail which I started yesterday. I will have a total of 4 rounds of the Taxol, one down only 3 more to go! Come on February 8th, that will be my last day of chemo treatments. Go ahead and do a cheer, because I sure am!
Once, I am done with the chemo part of this journey, I am moving on to radiation. I am thinking I am starting radiation by March, that will last for 6 weeks. I plan on doing my radiation at Duke Raleigh to be closer to home and to save me from having to drive to Duke 5 days a week.
In February, I have to make some BIG surgery decisions, and I am researching my options. I have bought some books, and I am hoping that they will make a light go off as to which path I need to take...my surgery list is a big mouthful...
Double Mastectomy
Axcillary Lymph node surgery
Hysterectomy
Removal of Ovaries
Reconstruction surgery-which may take a few surgeries (I am unable to do implants, so I will have to have the tissue surgeries done, which are more involved and take more than one surgery day to complete)
So it looks like the year 2012 will be filled with lots of anesthesia and hospitals for me. I cannot wait till all of this is behind me.
A big thank you, to Uncle Eric and Uncle Steve for spoiling and taking care of the boys yesterday while we were at Duke. The twins turned 8 yesterday, and they had a great day, filled with movies, pizza, ice cream, and Kanki.
I love getting all the little cards and trinkets from everyone, it really makes going thru this so much easier! Yall have really spoiled me!
I am so LUCKY to have each and everyone of you!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Just when you think you have your shizzle figured out
Hello all,
I don't have alot of time, but I thought I would give yall the basics of what I found out this week.
I had genetics testing done a few weeks ago to see if I was positive for the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene.
And lo and behold I tested positive for the BRCA2 gene.
So what does this mean...basically, 3 of my exon's are replicated on my gene chain. This is hereditary and was passed down to me. Those 3 little cells is what has caused my cancer.
LONG STORY short...I am skipping all of the genetics mumbo jumbo for now and actually maybe forever, it does not make for good fun reading...
If I continue on my same treatment plan knowing my genetics results, my breast cancer will have a 50% chance of coming back. Even after all of this CRAP.
The good news in all this is there always a plan B. The plan B a double mastectomy which will decrease my chances of the cancer coming back by 90%. I have questioned why the heck we didn't do this in the beginning.
But with the information I had then, the treatment plan we chose then was the correct path for me then.
The best I can sorta get from the docs is, you don't treat a cut on your finger with an amputation. And in the scheme of things, they really try to not have to do mastectomies unless it is the last resort.
Dumb moment at Duke yesterday--
ME on phone with Duke surgery office--Yes, I want to have plastics scheduled for a consult, when I come back in February to schedule my other surgeriers. I found out my BRCA2 results and they are positive and I don't want to waste anytime getting plastics involved, so I can keep my treatment plan moving along.
Family practionioner--So you want plastics involved? You want a mastectomy?
ME-Ummmm, correct me if I am wrong, but because I am positive for this gene, I have a 50% chance of the cancer coming back, unless I get a mastectomy which reduces my risk to 90% chance of it not coming back.
FP--Yes, those numbers are correct.
ME--Yeah, those numbers make my desicion pretty clear.
Duhhh to myself!!!
So, we will work out what I need to do with my ovaries at a later date. The BRCA2 gene causes an increase in ovarian cancer. So whether, I get them removed or take medication, I need to research and figure it out.
I am sorta getting the feeling of being chopped away piece by piece...I really am taking this whole Buffy thing in stride, I definitely have had my days. But I get that she is mine to own, and I can't really change things.
And again, I am just thankful, that I am strong enough to take this on....and that it is not one my sweet little boys. Again, mommies have those super powers to get thru anything :)
I don't have alot of time, but I thought I would give yall the basics of what I found out this week.
I had genetics testing done a few weeks ago to see if I was positive for the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene.
And lo and behold I tested positive for the BRCA2 gene.
So what does this mean...basically, 3 of my exon's are replicated on my gene chain. This is hereditary and was passed down to me. Those 3 little cells is what has caused my cancer.
LONG STORY short...I am skipping all of the genetics mumbo jumbo for now and actually maybe forever, it does not make for good fun reading...
If I continue on my same treatment plan knowing my genetics results, my breast cancer will have a 50% chance of coming back. Even after all of this CRAP.
The good news in all this is there always a plan B. The plan B a double mastectomy which will decrease my chances of the cancer coming back by 90%. I have questioned why the heck we didn't do this in the beginning.
But with the information I had then, the treatment plan we chose then was the correct path for me then.
The best I can sorta get from the docs is, you don't treat a cut on your finger with an amputation. And in the scheme of things, they really try to not have to do mastectomies unless it is the last resort.
Dumb moment at Duke yesterday--
ME on phone with Duke surgery office--Yes, I want to have plastics scheduled for a consult, when I come back in February to schedule my other surgeriers. I found out my BRCA2 results and they are positive and I don't want to waste anytime getting plastics involved, so I can keep my treatment plan moving along.
Family practionioner--So you want plastics involved? You want a mastectomy?
ME-Ummmm, correct me if I am wrong, but because I am positive for this gene, I have a 50% chance of the cancer coming back, unless I get a mastectomy which reduces my risk to 90% chance of it not coming back.
FP--Yes, those numbers are correct.
ME--Yeah, those numbers make my desicion pretty clear.
Duhhh to myself!!!
So, we will work out what I need to do with my ovaries at a later date. The BRCA2 gene causes an increase in ovarian cancer. So whether, I get them removed or take medication, I need to research and figure it out.
I am sorta getting the feeling of being chopped away piece by piece...I really am taking this whole Buffy thing in stride, I definitely have had my days. But I get that she is mine to own, and I can't really change things.
And again, I am just thankful, that I am strong enough to take this on....and that it is not one my sweet little boys. Again, mommies have those super powers to get thru anything :)
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