Herceptin/Chemo Day #1

Today was my first Herceptin and chemo treatment. It went fine. Just the thought of not having to put an IV in took a lot of anxiety away. They were able to use my new port. The needle stick still hurt a bit but that is because I still have a lot of swelling around the area and they had to push the needle in quite far to get it into the port. They did the Herceptin first which took about an hour, then some anti-nausea drugs, then some MORE steroids (like I need more water retention right now), then chemo 1, 2 and 3 and then some saline. The whole process took 4 hours. This is the first time I have been put in the "bed" area rather than the "chairs". Other than the fact that I am having chemo again the experience was as good as it could be. There was a bed and a TV and Sandy to keep me compnay.

So we will see how I tolerate this chemo. It is not supposed to be as hard as the other ones that I have been on. Some nausea but I have pills to take only as needed. They don't know about hair growth when I am on this. Could have mouth sores yet again and some tingling and loss of sensation in my finger tips. I will also experience the usual low white blood count and fatigue as usual. Nothing really new from before.

But I am in a positive frame of mind. I am off to Edmonton with my sister and her kids visiting from San Francisco. I will be back on Sunday pm and will update the blog then on how I am feeling.

PS. My oncologist is keeping me on the steroids ANOTHER week. So one more week at least of fat face. I am so looking forward to looking like myself again.

Love Carolin

Cancer is nature's way of teaching me anatomy

We heard the results of the myriad of tests I've had over the past month. The big news was that there was only one tumour in my brain (unchanged). Apparently it is too soon to tell how it has reacted to the whole brain radiation I just finished. The next head CT is in September and we'll see about it then.

So what about the other tests?

Blood was good. Heart was good. Bones were fine. Hair is still missing, and the previous nodules at the collar bone were undetectable (Yeah!). But they couldn't just leave it there. There are five new lumps in my liver that most people don't have. One is 2cm, two are 1.5 cm and the rest I really didn't pay much attention to. So now tomorrow I get herceptin AND another slough of chemo drugs.

So those of you that were worried they'd have to find another blog to read for unexpected drama, can relax. It seems I'll be working on this hobby of mine for awhile yet.

Love
Carolin

Surgery was smooth sailing

Went to the hospital for 10 am, was in the operating room just after 12 pm, and was in recovery at 2 pm, and was out of the hospital at 4 pm. I have an incision on my neck, one near my collar bone, and one on my original mastectomy incision. They are covered with gauze pads until tomorrow so I can't see how big they are. They made me groggy enough in surgery that I fell asleep for a while and then woke up to ask for more pain medication and groggy stuff when they were placing the port in place. They were having to do some cutting and pushing and manipulating. Other than that I am on some Tylenol 3 as required and feeling fine. My neck and shoulder are stiff but that is it for discomfort.

One of my most wonderful and dedicated doctors called me tonight at 6:40 pm on Friday to report about my blood work. My potasium is a little low, my calcium is a little high but neither one is an immediate concern. The special blood clotting/bleeding test results are not back yet. We will follow up with my oncologist on Tuesday to see if I require any less/more of suppliments that I am taking.

Have a nice weekend.

Love Carolin

Surgery Date

Tomorrow's port surgery is at 12:05 pm. I need to be at the hospital at 10:05 am. They will not use a gereral anesthetic but just give me something to make me groggy, numb the area and cut. I should be home early afternoon. Hopefully no surprises in store this time.

Still no test results. I expect to hear everything on Tuesday at 1:15 pm when I see my oncologist.

Love Carolin

Muga scan

Today I had my Muga scan. It is to check how the heart pumps (I think). Chemo can have an effect on this. 2 needles and a 20 minute scan and it was done. Then on to lab work. Needle number 3. Then on to Pre-admission clinic to do all the forms for surgery on Friday. Yet more lab work and needle number 4. My poor arm has a huge bruise.

That is something we are also looking into. I seem to be very bruisable lately. My feet and legs are full of bruises. Some of the tests they do on my blood will see if I am low in something or if my blood is low in clotting and other stuff like that. I am taking some alphafa (sp?) pills for extra vitamin K and some extra vitamin C.

That's all for now.

I will find out tomorrow at 3 pm what time surgery is on Friday afternoon.

Love Carolin

PS Still no hair.

Feeling Great!!

Hello!!! Well I had an excellant weekend in Pincher Creek scrapbooking with my friend Karen. I was very happy with the pages I did and didn't stress about the quantity and enjoyed the quality. The weather was nice and it was a peaceful relaxing weekend.

Yesterday I had my bone density test done. Just a machine that bascially scans your pelvis and lower back because that is where you bear most of your weight. Only took about 10 minutes. It is so that my medical file has a baseline to compare to in the future as my Arimidex that I take for the next 5 years can have an effect on your bones. I don't expect that to be a problem because I take a Caltrate the same time I take my Arimidex and I walk, run and do weights. Preventitive is always better.

No test results back yet. Will keep you posted.

Love Carolin

Baldo Waldo

Well the mess the hair falling out was causing wasn't worth the trouble hanging on to it. It was all over my pillow, bandana, shower and bathroom floor. So this afternoon my friend Tammy took to it with her trusty shavor. Gone is the mess. I'm OK with it. It will certainly be cool for the next few summer months. I will wait until I get some stubble growing and then back to my fancy shampoo. Maybe it will help with the bad hair growth that I have be warned of.

Good news on the my port. I have a surgery date for July 22 which is 1 week before my first Herceptin treatment so I will not have to have an IV in my hand. That is awesome.

Today was my CT of my chest and abdominal area. No extra scans needed. Should have some results by early next week.

Have a nice day.

Love Carolin

Just another day at General Hospital

This morning I had a "port" consult. A port is a line that is surgically implanted in your chest so that it is easy to put all the IVs and drugs in. It saves wear and tear on the veins and the nurses. The procedure is pretty simple (for them anyway) and will be done in 2-4 weeks depending on operating room availablility.

This afternoon I had the MRI of my head. It took 20 minutes and was very loud with a lot of clanking and other non-medical sounds. The results will be over at the doctors in four days. I'll likely hear about them first from Dr. Taylor because she takes initiative and calls me. \Dr. Patterson will wait until the 26th for the appointment. I guess I'm hoping to hear that it is really responding to the radiation. I know I feel good enough for that to be true.

Tomorrow is a CT scan of my torso, including the area that had the lumpy lymph nodes around my collar bone. Hopefully the chemo got rid of those. I'll be happy when all these "staging investigation" tests are history.

Carolin

Hair loss

Well yesterday I started losing my hair. Great mounds on my pillow in the morning. I'm am going to hold off shaving it just in case only half falls out. After radiation my new hair is not supposed to come back in nice for a while. Kind of the baby fuzzy, thin, curly stuff. Yuck!!! Maybe if all my new straight hair doesn' fall out it will help camoflage the bad stuff growing in. I am wearing bandanas again just to keep the hair from falling all over my clothes and the house.

The second thing is I have "fat face". The steroids are making me retain water. My face looks quite like a bowling ball. But they are weaning me off the steroids and I should be done in about 20 days. So 20 or so more days with fat face and balding head. Good thing I have a sense of humor!!

Bye for now.

Love Carolin

Bone Scan

Bone scan came back clear. No change from last year!!!

One result back and many more to come - hopefully all with good outcomes.

Radiation finished

This morning was my last radiation. It went quick as usual. I am just waiting to see the nurse so that they can start weening me off the Decadron (steriod). Then back to a regular regime of vitamins and minerals and other heathly stuff.

I have my MRI of my brain booked for next Tuesday at 5:30 pm. This should show the results of the radiation and help the doctor decide if I still need some radiation surgery. I'm feeling great but we need to make sure that we do everything we can do now so that it does not have a chance to grow again.


I will keep you posted on my progress and when we start to get the test results back. I may not hear of any of the results until I see the oncologist on the 26th of July. That will be a test of patience for everyone.

HAPPY STAMPEDE TO EVERYONE!!!!

Love Carolin

Back at radiation

This is the last week of radiation. My last session is Thursday. I am feeling great. I am still taking the steriods but I honestly don't know if I need them. My balance is good, lots of energy, and sleeping well. I am totally relaxed, happy, content, peaceful, unstressed and am having fabulous days.

Yesterday I had a bone scan. They didn't need to do any extra detailed pictures so that is a good sign. I don't feel like there is anything wrong with my bones but we best get all the checks done now so that there are no any surprised later. No other tests dates scheduled yet until the 20th of July when they do a Muga test of my heart. Some chemo agents can affect the heart and I did not have one of these tests before my previous chemo treatments.

I am really enjoying my hair and am getting different responses to whether I am going to lose it or not. The doctor says "yes I will lose it", one therapist says "50/50 chance" so don't shave it off, one therapist says "yes I will lose it". I am going to play the waiting game and see what happens. Maybe luck will be on my side and give me this one little break.

Well time to go for my treatment.

Talk soon.

Love Carolin

Wonderful trip

Well Jessica and I are home. We had a wonderful trip to visit my sister and her family. The weather was warm and sunny and the kids had a great time playing together. It was a very relaxing and fun couple of days away.