First One Down...

Keith and I are finally back home after my marathon drip, some assing around trying to get scheduled for everything else and getting meds from the in-house pharmacist (way easier than having to go to the drug store!). Keith was great, he came with me this morning and stayed with me for an hour or so, then he went to work for a bit and came back at 2:00. What a guy!

The other guy in my life today was G my infusion nurse. He explained everything, kept me smiling and even let me take a quick picture of my first bag of chemo!!

Everything went fine, but they had us worried at first. My liver enzyme levels were pretty high, so they had to call Dr. Y to check and see if we could go ahead. Thankfully she gave the go ahead and we got started (albeit 45 minutes late, Keith says "that is why you're called a 'patient'").

Before the chemo drugs start they give me a bunch of "pre-meds". This includes several different anti-nausea drugs, benedryl and steroids. The benedryl kicked my ass. As soon as they injected it I felt it. I'm gaining an understanding for intravenous drug use. The benedryl made me sleepy and out of it for a couple hours.

Then the chemo starts (taxotere first, then carboplatin, then herceptin). Everything went in very slowly today just in case I had a bad reaction (my next drip should take less time, thankfully!).

The only thing that hurt was accessing the port. My port is still tender (I've only had it a little over a week) and they have to push pretty hard to find the right spot in there. Once they got in, it was fine, but ooof, I'm going to have to get some numbing cream before my next drip!

Now I'm just sitting around waiting for the side effects to come... Actually, I'm going to force myself to get up and walk the dog in a bit. I should be fine today (with all those pre-meds) and tomorrow I'll go back in for a Neulasta shot (kick start my bone marrow) and I'll start taking some heavy duty anti-nausea pills (the pharmacist called one an anti-nausea bomb). Fingers crossed it all works and I continue feeling pretty good!

Better living through chemistry.

Count Down to Chemo...

Tomorrow at this time I'll be done with my first chemo drip (not done with the side effects, but that's another matter entirely). We've had a lazy weekend getting things pulled together before this next chapter starts. We cleaned the house, made and froze some dinners (and dog treats), put up a new shower curtain (as per the "chemotherapy and you" pamphlet) and Keith dove in to the no hair pond to check the water for me. He says the water is fine and I say he looks great! I'm up next and I'm still debating whether to spend the money on a cute very short hair cut (that will only last a week or so) or to just have Keith buzz it. At the moment I'm leaning towards having Keith buzz it.

I'll post tomorrow after (or maybe during) my drip.

Set for Take Off...

After yesterday's frustrations, today was great!

My CT scan was easy (although I still have that barium gurgle in my gullet, sorry if that's just TMI) and the cardiologist, who stood me up yesterday, fit me in for my heart checkup. I even was told that my kidneys are perfect and my heart looks normal. I'm a sucker for any good news at the moment.

Now I'm all done with testing and I'm even scheduled for chemo! Yes, I will finally start getting rid of this shit!!! My chemo starts on Monday. It'll be a long one because it is my first dose, so I'll need to bring plenty to do so I don't go crazy sitting around for 4.5-5hours!

Not much left to do now but get a blood test (another stick in my battered arms/hands) and wait.

Thanks for all the well wishes!

CT Scan

I had my abdominal CT Scan this morning. There was no waiting, quick service and a really friendly radiologist. I couldn't ask for more. I got there at 8:45 and was home before 9:30. The best part is I have a sub covering my classes until 12:30 so I'm just going to relax and walk the dog now.

84%

In other news, the results of my genetic testing are back. It wasn't a surprise to learn that I have a genetic predisposition for breast cancer. I find all this stuff fascinating (I just wish it didn't apply to me). Here's a blurb from the report:

The results of this analysis are consistent with the germline BRCA2 mutation 2378delG, resulting in premature truncation of the BRCA2 protein at amino acid position 729. Although the exact risk of breast and ovarian cancer conferred by this specific mutation has not been determined, studies of this type of mutation in high-risk families indicate that deleterious mutations in BRCA2 may confer as much as an 84% risk of breast cancer and a 27% risk of ovarian cancer by age 70 in women (Am. J. Hum. Genet. 62:676-689, 1998).

I just can't get over that I had an 84% chance of getting breast cancer. This doesn't really impact the treatment of my breast cancer, although I'll be going in to talk to Dr. Z (the surgeon not the oncologist) about dealing with the risk of ovarian cancer.

Why am I so excited about chemo?

Today I'm cranky, not depressed or down, just cranky. I had an appointment to see a cardiologist to have my heart checked out. The herceptin that I'll be getting in my chemo cocktail damages heart muscle is a small percentage of folks, so they want to have a baseline picture of my heart prior to chemo. The nice part about this appointment is that it fell right at the beginning of my two free periods (I didn't need a sub, yippee! This never happens!). I teach my first class and hustle down the hill to the doctor's office. I get there and wait for a bit before the receptionist opens the little window to say "I'm so sorry, the doctor is home sick today with a fever." WTF! I asked why she didn't call to tell me and get nowhere, urgh. I need this test before I can start chemo. Chemo that I need because this cancer is dividing and dividing inside me (a thought that makes me sick to my stomach). The receptionist can tell I'm mad and freaking out as I tell her I'm waiting on this test before I can start chemo. She starts working on rescheduling me and finds time on Friday when they can fit me in. FRIDAY?!?! I was hoping to start chemo by Friday. I left that office and went right downstairs to the oncologist's office. I'm freaking out and walk in and talk to the receptionist who talks me down a bit. She's surprised they can't fit me in earlier but says even if it is Friday I should be able to start chemo on Monday. I leave feeling better, but still fuming that no one in the cardiologist's office thought to call and tell me not to come!?

Wait, there's more...

I got home and checked the phone; two new messages.

Before I talk about the messages, let me give you the background, I have a CAT scan of my liver tomorrow (another baseline kind of thing). When they scheduled me for this scan (on Friday) they told me I needed to get some blood tests. I dutifully went and got blood drawn (my hands and forarms are now such a mess from all this that a kid asked me if I had gotten my hand slammed in a door, yikes!) on Friday afternoon.

Back to the messages. The first was from someone at the oncologists office who said that they hadn't gotten the results of my blood tests and "I thought I told you how important it was to have these blood tests done." She was scolding me! The second was from someone at the CT scan place who told me at least three times that if they didn't get these blood results my CT scan would be cancelled. So I call back to figure this stuff out and it turns out the lab where I had my blood taken had misspelled my name but they'd finally figured it out and I get to drink my barium tonight!

Yippee!