Can't Biopsy it if They Can't Find it!

So, I made it to work yesterday and then hustled off after my last class to have an ultrasound guided biopsy, a blood draw and a CT Scan. All these things were for the trial (all participants have them done on the same day of the same cycle). They don't do much for me, but they're important in the big scheme of things.

The department in charge of mammograms, ultrasounds and breast biopsies at UCSF is always a cluster fuck. I dont' know why I was surprised to wait almost two hours before the ultrasound was started. After a LOT of ultrasounding (not at all painful for those who haven't had any experience) it was declared that they couldn't find anything in the region they identified in November. They managed to find one tiny spot in the original area and took a core biopsy of that area. This biopsy experience wasn't anywhere near as traumatizing as the one I had the first time. More evidence that getting yourself to a big teaching hospital is a good thing.


So, that's the big news, they can't see much of anything on the ultrasound!! That and the fact that I've made it through this most recent round without any big incidents. I've made a decision that I just can't work on days 2 & 5 of treatment (which happens to be Friday and Monday). I just get too tired to be of much use at work (plus there is the nausea and vomiting thing - I really don't want to puke in front of one of my classes!).

Double Whammy

On day two of my last round of Tykerb I noticed I had a fever. Nothing crazy high, but definitely a fever. I called the doctor, she said continue with Tykerb but add an antibiotic in case of infection. This became the perfect storm of sickness for me. I puked my guts out over and over and couldn't (and didn't want) to eat or drink. After a couple of days of no eating or drinking I was in bad shape- light headed, fatigued beyond belief, etc. After another call to the doctor, she tells me to skip my last dose of Tykerb and she got me an appointment to go in for fluids on Tuesday. I headed in for fluids and I still had a fever. The nurse called my doctor and they decided to do blood cultures to make sure I don't have some weird bacterial infection. On Wednesday I was still feeling ridiculously fatigued (I needed a nap after walking Red around the block - I usually walk him 3 miles) and emailed the doctor. She emailed back (at 11pm?!?) to say my blood cultures were negative and I probably had a virus. So, long story short, I've been home from work all week, napping, learning how to eat again (it was tricky at first - no joke, but now I'm back to my old self!) and trying to get back into shape. I still have a low fever off and on, but my fatigue is getting better (I managed 2 miles worth of dog walks today and a trip to the grocery store).

I'm scheduled to go in and see my doctor on Tuesday morning to get the all clear to start up round 3 next Thursday. I'm going to eat healthy and rest up in an effort to get back into fighting shape as fast as possible!!

It Is Amazing How Responsive You Are...

Went in for my checkup before the next round, and after some poking and a review of her notes from two weeks ago my oncologist says, "it's amazing how responsive you are". The skin is less red and the tumor seems to have shrunk measurably. This is after round one!! This is especially heartening because my body has "seen" Tykerb before and you'd expect whatever cancer that was left to be relatively resistant to the Tykerb (it survived it before...). Not much else to report. My EKG was normal and my blood work wasn't back yet (I'll get a call if there's a problem).

Back to work tomorrow and back on the sauce on Thursday. Wish me luck trying to work during this next round...