Nothing but Good News!

Whew. We went to see my oncologist at UCSF today to get the results of all my scans from yesterday and to talk about how things are going. My scans all look good (unremarkable is great!). Still no cancer anywhere except the breast and the lump that used to have a volume of 1.7 cubic centimeters now has a volume of .12 cubic centimeters!! This shit is working! We talked a little about what comes next and at least for now I'm going to stay on the trial for 2 more rounds (a month or so). After that I've got to decide if I can work while taking this crap or not. Hopefully these next two rounds go as easily as the last one. If they don't, then we'll figure it out. My doctor thinks the logical thing to do after the trial is surgery to remove whatever remnants are left. After that it is back on Herceptin with vigilant monitoring. My birthday is coming up and this is a really nice early present!

Look Ma No Hat!

My hair is not long enough and thick enough for me to go hatless. It isn't super thick, but passable and I'm pretty tired of wearing hats at this point.

I'm hoping that the mousey gray color will be replaced with my normal dark brown (with a bit of gray) in a couple months. That's what happened last time anyway.

So far this round of Tykerb has been a little bit easier than the last one (knocking on wood as I type!). Not only have I gotten dressed everyday, but I've even made it out of the house everyday! I've actually been taking fewer anti-nausea meds this time around. I'm not sure how much they do for the nausea and they make me really tired.

Keith got a nice treat today; his mom called and talked to him briefly! They replaced her trach with a metal one that allows her talk a little bit. Her voice was a little weak but he was psyched to hear her after so long. Crossing our fingers that she continues to improve.

Here We Go Again...

Those nine days of no drugs feel so good. For the five days I take the meds, this stuff is way harder than the chemo cocktail I was on, but my recovery is much different than it was with chemo. I feel better as soon as I stop taking the Tykerb, Ketoconozol, Immodium, Zofran and Octreotide (there are a couple others I take when the nausea gets really bad, but those are the ones I have to take). With chemo every round I got a little bit more worn down. This doesn't seem to be having the same effect (knock on wood).
This is my last round before my scans on the 20th. On the 21st, I'll see my oncologist at UCSF to discuss the results of the scans. I also want figure out what my options are. I don't think I can work on this regime. It will be hard to quit the trial if it is working (fingers and toes crossed!), but I'm hoping there are other possibilities that would work well and won't be so damn hard.
During my 9 non-treatment days we got a lot done! We bought a truck! Keith has been talking about getting a truck again for years and we finally just did it. We walked over to the Toyota dealer on July 3rd and told them what we wanted and on July 4th (yeah, I can't believe they were open either!) we picked up a dark grey Toyota Tacoma. We're both excited about the new vehicle, but we didn't expect Red to be so excited. This is a 70lb dog that I have had to hoist into my car on multiple occasions...we get a truck and that fucker jumps right in every time. He LOVES the truck. So, who ever said "dogs love trucks" was definitely right!

Once we got the truck we used it to go bet a bunch of mulch and some stones to use as edging for the front yard. The yard looks much more pulled together. I can't believe we didn't do it years ago. We're joking that the new edging and mulch will make our neighbors think we're getting the house ready to sell! We also took a couple of hikes (local and out at the coast), went up the hill and watched fireworks from three different cities at once (pretty cool). There has also been lots of time for lazing around and enjoying summer!

Keith's mom continues to see some progress. She's working hard at rehab and if things go well could be home by August! I think the idea of being able to finally go home is really getting her excited.

On the Upswing Now

I made it through round three. This one was a little rugged. I was pretty miserable with nausea and headaches the first couple days and then I got a bad case of the runs yesterday. I'm feeling better today, but not 100% yet. I'm hoping to be back up and running this afternoon.

Despite feeling crappy we had a nice visit from my mom. We put her right to work! She did an amazing job weeding, planting and transplanting! We're really lucky to have a gardener who flies in from the east coast! Things are looking much more pulled together here. Now my job is to spread a bunch of mulch to keep the weeds down (all this rain means the weeds will keep coming for a bit here).

Keith is back in Oakland now (got back late Sunday). After he left Duluth, his mom took a turn for the better. She hasn't been on the ventilator for a couple of days now! And she was moved to a rehabilitation section of the hospital. They'll be working to get her back into shape so she do more things for herself.

Made it to Work!

It was a little touch and go this morning but I went to work. I was ridiculously tired but not nauseated and not feeling worried about diarrhea. It worked out fine. These last couple days are pretty easy for me, just show up and proctor exams from here on out. I hate to jinx myself, but I think I'll be able to make it. *knock-on-wood*

Keith is back in town and it's great to see him. It sounds like his mom is hanging in there. She got out of ICU yesterday and now she's in the step-down unit so that's a step in the right direction.

Hanging In

I am happy to report that things have gone well so far today. I had a bout of nausea mid morning, but otherwise things have been good. I haven't been terribly productive and I'm ok with that. I did a couple of errands, took Red for a short walk and napped. That is pretty much the extent of it.

I'm holding out hope that I'm going to work tomorrow morning. If I feel as good tomorrow morning as I did this morning, it won't be a problem at all.

Keith is on his way home after ten days in Duluth. I am pretty darn excited to have him back home!

So Far So Good...

So, day one was uneventful. I am still feeling fine and I even managed to have a productive day! Planted my flower boxes. Bought a bunch of plants because all the plants and garden supplies at the Super CVS here in Oakland were 50% off!! I just couldn't resist. Red and I went for a couple of walks (4 miles worth!). I bottled up some beef broth and made some chicken soup. It's 9pm and I just took my 2nd dose. I'm going to take a bath, take a little extra anti-nausea and go to bed.