I haven't posted because I have been feeling reasonably well after the heartburn issue was resolved. I did catnap some but kept busy. Had some emotional ups and downs (thank you Dane for being there) and for some reason dreaded the chemo as it got closer. I'll try to do better as several people said they had checked the blog and were wondering how I was doing.
I had my 3rd chemo on Thursday the 18th. My friend Liz picked me up and was my chemo partner for the day. The weather was really nasty and raining the whole way down. I got checked in and saw Dr. Coplin, Medical Oncologist. She examined me and reported that the tumor has shrunk some more. Since I have an appointment with my surgeon the next day she wanted me to get another mammogram and ultrasound before that visit.
I did find out that after surgery in May, I will be on a different Chemo drug called Taxol. I will receive this one once a week for 6 weeks. That was a surprise to me as I was thinking the next one would be every 2 or 3 weeks for 6 times. Then I got to thinking, YES, once a week means I will be finished sooner, so I can't complain about that. I haven't researched it a whole lot yet, but understand that some of the side effects will be different. More fatigue but usually less nausea. Yay! Also, no Neulasta injections the day after. Yay!
Onto the chemo room. I had Charlene again. She accessed my port (a little bit of a sting). The room was busier than usual and I thought we would be running a little late. My white blood count showed to be in range so she administered my anti-nausea meds, steriods and got my Adriamycin pushed through. She then started the Cytoxin drip. Liz and I had some good conversation and the time went by quickly. We went for a late lunch and ran into a health food store and got some ginger tea to help with nausea. Still raining when we left and an accident on Hwy 100 resulted in us having to turn around and take an alternate route home, but we made it. Thanks Liz!
My Neulasta shot for Friday was scheduled as well as my 4th chemo for Wednesday, May 1st. This one will be a day earlier due to a short trip to Houston with Dane that following weekend. Excited to visit a couple of friends. This was another planned trip before this all started and I am determined to live life like I planned.
So fast forward to today! What in the world, winter is back AGAIN! Picked up my mom and headed into Manchester. Had a stop to make to get a gift for a baby shower, then went to lunch. We headed to the Breast and Cancer Institute for the mammogram and ultrasound. All went smoothly. I then got my Neulasta injection. So we were about a half hour early for the appointment with Dr. Ouwari.
If you remember from a previous post I wanted to talk to her and see if a lumpectomy was still on the table due to the shrinking of the tumor. I asked her if she got the results from the mammo and ultrasound. She said she did, but it is not a good indication of the size of the tumor. When I started the process the tumor was 1.9 centimeters and grew to 9.1 and was very hard. We know that it has gotten softer, but that could be that the chemo is breaking it up into smaller pieces. She told me, since I asked for her recommendation, that she was a little reluctant with doing just a lumpectomy due to this factor. It could be deeper than what we are feeling. We also discussed that if we did the lumpectomy and the margins around the tumor were sent to pathology and came back showing cancer cells ( which I know has happened to a few people that I have talked to) she may have to go back in and remove more tissue. This could possibly result in her doing a mastectomy after all. I really appreciate her sensitivity and honesty and feel completely comfortable with her.
A lumpectomy isn't completely off the table yet because I just had my 3rd chemo so it hasn't had time to do its work yet and I will also have a 4th chemo before surgery. So we decided to get a breast MRI a week before surgery and approximately 2 weeks after my last chemo. This would give us a better picture of what we are dealing with. So for right now, I'm going with the mindset of a mastectomy unless the breast MRI comes back with some convincing information to do otherwise.
I asked Dr. O how many lymph nodes would be removed. She said that it could be 20 or 30 but they won't know until they get in there to see. I had multiple lymph node involvement as shown on the PET scan.
I am also having the papilloma removed as it could turn into cancer.
On a good note, Brayden (my 7 year old grandson) called me Thursday night to see how I was feeling and asked if I wanted to skype. So we did and it was good to see that cheerful little face. I took my hat off to show him my baldness expecting him to laugh, but he just grinned real big. Gotta love that boy! I haven't seen him in about 3 months as the couple times Adam has been here has not been his weekend to have Brayden. Hoping to sneak a possible visit in before the surgery. Dane? I miss that little boy!
Adam & Ann will be in tonight as we are having a family wedding shower for Ann on Saturday. It will be good to be around family and also get to see my new great nephew James.
In conclusion, I do have a surgery date finally scheduled for May 22. Yay! We have a plan and moving forward. I am still staying positive and all the good thoughts and prayers are definitely helping and still needed, and for that I am thankful to all of you.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.-Hebrews 11:1
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