Chemo

Yesterday I had my second round of chemo.  I feel some comfort in knowing what to expect.  With chemo, the side effects are accumulative.  So, what I experienced the first time, I will experience again but the side effects will be a little bit worse each time.  What I experienced the first time was diarrhea, slight nausea, tingly finger tips and toes and joint pain.  The joint pain was the most frustrating and hard to control.  I also had insomnia for a few nights from the steroids they gave me along with the chemo to fight nausea. 

I am pretty much completely bald.  I have a little stubble on the top of my head.  I am enjoying not having to shave...anywhere.  I haven't shaved in two weeks and I still feel smooth.  I still have my eyebrows.  They should go away from this round of chemo in about two weeks. 

I am keeping busy trying to figure out how to use these experiences for my one woman show.  I have a few ideas in the works that are making me giggle.  I think it is helping me to have a creative outlet.

Thanks for reading.

Judy

No cancer in my brain!!!!!

If I enjoyed dancing I would be doing a happy dance around the apartment right now.  My doctor just called to tell me that they did NOT find ANY cancer in my brain.  He did say that my brain looks like a raisin but otherwise, looks good ;)  I feel that I can finally focus on getting healthy now.

Let's do this!

I had my first round of Chemo today.  I arrived at the hospital 45 minutes early (I guess I was a little anxious).  They brought me back a half an hour late.  The waiting began.  They had to do some blood tests and then send them to my doctor for approval.  This took FOREVER.  Once I was approved to go ahead with Chemo the Pharmacy had to mix the chemo.  This took a long time, too.  It was 1pm before they even started an iv of saline.  The chemo arrived in a box that said, "HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE".  The nurse geared up in protective gloves and a gown and then started the chemo around 2:30p.  Keep in mind that my brain MRI was scheduled for 2pm.  The nurses were great - they called the MRI department for me and the MRI department said to just come over when I was done.  So, that was nice. 

The MRI went fine.  I layed perfectly still.  They said I did a great job.  I will find out these results by the end of the day Thursday/Friday.  Hoping for Thursday.  Hoping for there to not be any cancer.

The nurses said I will start feeling the side effects in two to three days.  There were a bunch of 'em.  The main ones are : hair loss (which could come in two to three weeks), fatigue, tingly finger tips and toes.  Other ones include: forgetfulness, weight gain or weight loss, constipation...and others that I stopped reading.  I have been obsessing this evening thinking that I am starting to feel the symptoms already.  I think that's a side effect!

Something I find funny:  My birthday was in October and I asked my girlfriend for six laser hair removal treatments.  She bought them for me but the treatments expire in February.  Well, I can't use them now (getting in six treatments before my hair starts falling out would be impossible) and because of the chemo will have my own laser hair removal.  It figures. 

Also, something I find entertaining is how many times different nurses keep asking me if there is any chance that I could be pregnant. I know they have to ask - I even had to take a pregnancy test before one of my tests.  I  assure them that there is no way that I could be pregnant (without telling them that I am a Lesbian).  When they ask, I giggle and look at Kelly. 

I had many visitors today.  That was really nice. 

My attitude is staring to get better.  Let's do this and kick Cancer's ass.  I have a lot more of my story to share!

Here we go again

Oh boy. I thought I was done with this blog. But no. Here we go again. What we know: The Breast Cancer is back. It is in my lungs, lymph node, ribs, collar bone, tail bone and vertebrae. Ugh. I will start chemo this Tuesday and in the afternoon get a brain MRI to make sure there is no cancer there. I will do three rounds of chemo and then get a PET scan to make sure the chemo is shrinking the Cancer. Also, at this point we will deal with my ovaries. Either remove them or get a shot that will stop me from producing estrogen. There might be three more rounds of Chemo after this.

GOOD NEWS: This is treatable and I don't have any symptoms. I am lucky that my doctor ordered the MRI in the first place!  Also,  Kelly and I can still go on our planned trip to Mexico in 2 weeks!  The doc even said to drink a lot.  doctors orders!

I am terrified and shocked. I am not at the hopeful stage or the fighting stage yet. I am sure I will get there but just not right now.

The support from everyone has been so amazing. I truly appreciate it and feel so blessed. Thank you.