Staying the Course For Now

I got the same old chemo cocktail today. When I saw the doctor she recommended that I get a PET/CT to check on things and then we'll have better information before we make a decision about changing treatments. My doctor is concerned about the skin thickening, but was still really impressed at how much better my skin looks overall. The red spots of the skin metastases are almost all gone.

In other news, bone soup is back on my menu. My platelet count was LOW as were a bunch of other things. I have been taking some iron supplements, but it isn't quite enough. I don't know if the soup will do any good, it may just be that my bone marrow is beat up by all the chemo but, I figure it can't hurt. I'm thinking I need to try my hand at making some homemade pho (one of my most favorite comfort foods).

I'm looking forward to taking it slow this week. It looks like it will be raining a lot, so Red and I are going to have to watch the radar and wear our rain coats (yes, Red has a rain coat!).

Change in Treatment?

First things first, the rash over the catheter that runs from my port to the vein is looking better. Turns out it was probably infected after all.

The bigger deal is that it is starting to look like this chemo cocktail isn't working as well as we'd like. Keith and I went in for a visit with my breast surgeon today. It was meant to be a quick check on my rash, but I had noticed some skin thickening on my breast a couple days ago. This was worrisome because the skin had been getting better. So, what it seems like, is that while the visible cancer on the skin appears be almost completely cleared up, the tumor in the breast isn't shrinking much at all. According to the ultra sound the tumor is about the same (maybe slightly smaller), but the skin thickening is a sign that something is going on. The doctor thinks that it is the result of some blockage in the lymphatic system.

As usual, I'm glad to have him on the case. He's got a call into my oncologist to talk to her about what is going on. His take is that it might be time to switch chemos. I'm all for it. While there may well come a time when I'm happy to just have things not growing, right now I want things shrinking!

I'm scheduled for chemo this coming Tuesday. I might get it or I might not. There is no way I'll get a new chemo on Tuesday. It takes time to get that kind of thing approved. I guess I'll just wait and see what my oncologist says on Tuesday. I honestly wouldn't mind another round. I know that probably sounds dumb but, I hate the idea of not having any chemo for several weeks while all the logistics get worked out.

The upside of all this is that I just noticed the change last Wednesday and I just happened to have appointments with the surgeon on Friday and the oncologist on Tuesday, so the ball got rolling really quickly. In addition to that I've already talked about what my next chemo cocktail would be with my oncologist and the specialist at UCSF, so it should be a pretty straight forward decision. I say that now, but who knows...

One thing all this crap has forced me to deal with is uncertainty. Will I need to take Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off to recuperate from chemo? I won't know until Tuesday afternoon. Urgh. I hate that! I'm much more comfortable when I know the plan!

Third Round On Board

My blood counts were good enough that I got my chemo today. Yippee! I saw my oncologist and we chatted about the second opinion and she nodded in agreement. She seemed genuinely disappointed that I didn't have more progress pictures to show her today, but I'll be sure to load up the iPad next round. The drip wasn't ridiculously long today, but it does take some serious time (5+hours).

I was a little nervous going in because the skin over the tube attached to my port is red and irritated. The nurse that accessed me (hooked up to my port to draw blood) didn't seem too worried because "it doesn't look like an infection". My infusion nurse was more worried and thought the doctor might put me on antibiotics. When the doctor came around she told me to put vaseline on it and keep an eye on it. If it isn't better, I am to go see the surgeon who put it in. The good news is that I already have an appointment with him next week, so I'm all set (for once!).

Clean Lungs

I saw the pulmonologist today. I was cranky because she was running late by 45 minutes or so. I know I complain about this a lot, but I just can't get over it. I understand emergencies, but I can't imagine there are this many emergencies. Anyway, my crankiness went away when I finally saw her and she told me my lungs are clean. Whatever showed up on my PET/CT in December is gone. I guess I really did have pneumonia. So after waiting 45 minutes we talked for 5 minutes and I bid her farewell. My pulmonolgist is very nice, but I'm hoping I won't see her for a long time!

Otherwise I'm doing fine. My gullet has finally gotten back to normal (just in time to get fucked up again!). My energy is decent, my hair is almost all gone. I'm actually anxious for the rest to come out because the bits that are left are like little prickers when I put my head on my pillow at night. I don't remember it being like this last time, maybe I just blocked it out. Wearing a hat helps, but I take my hat off in my sleep (maybe I get too hot...).

I'm hustling at work to get things pulled together for next week. I got most things squared away today, but there is more to do!

Second Opinion

Keith and I headed to UCSF Thursday for a second opinion. The doctor we saw specializes in HER2+ breast cancer. We arrived early (traffic was good) and she was running late, so we waited around for quite a while. When she finally came in she took her time with us. She was really quite positive about my prognosis. I believe her words were "not curable, but highly treatable". Apparently my flavor of cancer (HER2+) is generally very receptive to chemo and my particular cancer certainly seems to follow that trend.

She thinks my current regime is good and she agreed that it seems to be working (I'll spare you the photographic evidence). So I'll continue along with treatments and get a scan after 5 or 6 rounds. I never completely recovered from last year's chemo, so there's concern that I won't be able to complete all 6. Regardless, if things look good, then she'd advocate that I consider surgery and radiation to get rid of whatever is left.

It feels good to have another doctor evaluating my case and I'm looking forward to being able to run things by her when I come to the forks in the road.

Otherwise I'm feeling pretty good, some gullet issues are still hanging around, but I think I'm turning the corner. Right now, I'm enjoying a rare Sunday night without work tomorrow!

Second Round Down

My drip took almost six hours on Tuesday! Urgh. I got home and was completely wiped out. It was a mix of them running late and a slight change in my pre-medications. I'm hoping it won't take that long ever again!

I'm feeling pretty good, a little tired, a little oogly stomach-wise, but nothing terrible. Red and I have been doing my prescription walks and today I even got some schoolwork done! I've got a CT scan tomorrow afternoon. It is a followup to check on my lungs. I'm thinking it will be all clear since my nasty chest cold seems to be a distant memory at this point.

I guess that's it for now.

Coming Up on Round Two!

I thought I'd have a doctor free week last week (my only doctor free week until the middle of March, yikes!), but no such luck. On Wednesday night I noticed that the bruise I had from an unsuccessful IV stick from my MRI two weeks ago had doubled in size and had a fresh blue hue to it. Yikes! My vein was leaking! I called the doctor and was told to come in the next day at 10:30 (urgh, this meant I had to get a sub at work). Well, better to get it checked out; I'm figuring my platelets are really low and I may even need a transfusion. So I head over to the cancer center at 10:30, blood is drawn, and I head upstairs to see the nurse practitioner. When I finally saw her (1.5hrs later) she said my labs looked fine (woo hoo!). She looked at my arm and I retold the story of the bad stick by the radiologist. She said it sounds like this whole thing is just a result of poor technique and me bumping it just right. She even apologized for having me come in. What did I learn from all this? I'll be going to the cancer center before my future scans to get my IV started- they're experts at starting IVs!

In other news, my hair is starting to fall out again. I was trying to put off shaving my head as long as possible but tonight I gave up. I was shedding everywhere and my scalp really hurt, so it's hat time again!

The weather here is completely gorgeous so Keith and Red and I went for a really great hike up in the hills today. It was so nice to get out and feel the sun!

Tuesday is round two of chemo. The upside (and downside) of skin involvement is you can see it. It looks to me like it's working.....so I must say I'm kind of looking forward to chemo. That's fucked up!