Friday, June 21 - Connie picked me up for my Chemo #2 on Wednesday, June 19. After accessing my port and getting my blood, Laura, my nurse for the day came and told me that my white blood count (WBC) was 2.1 which is pretty low. They took a look at another important number but the name of it eludes me. She said they like to see that number at least 1000 and mine was 700. Evidently a healthy body has thousands of white blood cells. This particular number are the white blood cells that are in the process of maturing but not quite there yet.
Since white blood cells help the body fight off infection by destroying bacteria, viruses, etc. and the fact that I have a very important wedding to attend on the 29th, they said they would feel better if I skipped Chemo for the week. I was already taking off next week, so this will give me almost 2 1/2 weeks off for those cells to recover. I was disappointed that I had to skip, but grateful that they were thinking about the wedding and being in a crowd of people. I decided to look at it as "things happen for a reason", and this happened to help protect me from getting an infection which could end up being worse than the cancer itself.
Laura scheduled me to see Dr. Coplin on Wednesday, July 3 before chemo #2 to re-assess and make sure this is the path we want to continue. I believe there is an injection that can be given to help those wbc mature faster if this continues to be a problem.
So Connie and I went and did a little shopping. We had a good time, got turned around trying to find a couple of specific places, but eventually got where we wanted to go.
On Thursday, June 20 I had physical therapy again with Kristen. She really gave me a workout as she is on vacation next week and I'm heading to Joplin. She really pulled and stretched my arm in all different directions as well. It didn't hurt as bad as that first time, but believe me it wasn't a picnic either. I am getting good range of motion now and still doing my exercises faithfully. The two spots of possible lymphedema are better, but still evident. I will be going back on Tuesday, July 2 to see where we stand and if I will be needing further pt at this time.
Oh yeah, my eyebrows are growing back and so are my eyelashes. Hair doesn't seem to be doing much more than a couple weeks ago. So stay tuned. I probably won't post until after my next appointments!
Ouch!
Monday, June 17 - I haven't posted since before physical therapy. It was an interesting hour and a half on Friday. Kristen (my therapist) is the only one in this area certified in Lymphedema. She was very good at explaining and teaching me about it. I also came home with a lot of print outs of excercises and literature on it. It's still a little overwhelming to me.
Scar tissue adheres to muscle and tissue and that is part of the problem. It has to be stretched and massaged to get it to loosen up. I was measured around the arms, waist, wrists and chest area in several different places to get a baseline on both sides of my body. She massaged my scar with instructions to continue doing this at home and gave me tips on noticing any swelling that may be caused by Lymphedema. Kristen gave me exercises to do for stretching and also exercises to get the lymph fluid moving as I have no lymph nodes under my left arm as they were removed. She really pulled and stretched my arm. It brought tears to my eyes. I was sure glad when she finished.
Lymphedema can occur anytime after breast cancer treatment, even many years later. If caught early it can be lessened with therapy and self-care. It can develop from getting an infection on the side of the body that I had surgery on, overuse or trauma to the hand or arm, having more than 10 nodes removed, having multiple nodes with cancer and radiation therapy. I have to be careful in lifting heavy things, insect bites, sun exposure to that side, cuts, etc. When flying, I need to wear a compression sleeve which I will get fitted for at a later date.
My spirit took a beating after all that and my mind was whirling. Dane got home that night and after a good nights sleep, I felt much better on Saturday and back to my more positive self.
I returned to PT today. My range of motion has greatly improved as I have been faithfully doing my exercises. I still have swelling in the armpit and below it. Kristen had given me pressure pads to wear in these two spots. She said they looked better today, so I will continue using them and see her again on Thursday.
I also have Chemo on Wednesday, so a full week.
Scar tissue adheres to muscle and tissue and that is part of the problem. It has to be stretched and massaged to get it to loosen up. I was measured around the arms, waist, wrists and chest area in several different places to get a baseline on both sides of my body. She massaged my scar with instructions to continue doing this at home and gave me tips on noticing any swelling that may be caused by Lymphedema. Kristen gave me exercises to do for stretching and also exercises to get the lymph fluid moving as I have no lymph nodes under my left arm as they were removed. She really pulled and stretched my arm. It brought tears to my eyes. I was sure glad when she finished.
Lymphedema can occur anytime after breast cancer treatment, even many years later. If caught early it can be lessened with therapy and self-care. It can develop from getting an infection on the side of the body that I had surgery on, overuse or trauma to the hand or arm, having more than 10 nodes removed, having multiple nodes with cancer and radiation therapy. I have to be careful in lifting heavy things, insect bites, sun exposure to that side, cuts, etc. When flying, I need to wear a compression sleeve which I will get fitted for at a later date.
My spirit took a beating after all that and my mind was whirling. Dane got home that night and after a good nights sleep, I felt much better on Saturday and back to my more positive self.
I returned to PT today. My range of motion has greatly improved as I have been faithfully doing my exercises. I still have swelling in the armpit and below it. Kristen had given me pressure pads to wear in these two spots. She said they looked better today, so I will continue using them and see her again on Thursday.
I also have Chemo on Wednesday, so a full week.
I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday.
— Author Unknown
Chemo #1 - Post Surgery
Friday, June 14 - My friend Connie picked me up around 9 on Tuesday, June 11 and we headed in for the dreaded start of my next rounds of Chemotherapy! It was a quiet day in the room, not much going on. After getting my port accessed and blood drawn to check my white blood count, I was pre-medicated with Benadryl to offset any allergic reaction to the drug Taxol. Laura, my nurse, then gave me an anti-nausea medicine, Pepcid, which has some inflammation component to it which helps with inflammation of the veins as the drug is administered. Also a dose of steriod. Then the Taxol. Since I am getting the weekly doses, it is a shorter time frame to administer.
As usual, Connie and I had good conversation and laughs. We had a sandwich while waiting to finish. I was feeling pretty good, so we went across the street to a resale shop that the nurse told us about called Safers. It was a really nice, organized and clean one. And I think we each bought something. They donate to the Vietnam Veterans. When we got back to my house we even took a one mile walk. It felt good to walk again, but I was tired out after all this.
So Wednesday and Thursday I have been experiencing achy muscles and joints and fatigue. At first I thought I was getting the flu, but Dane reminded me that the doctor mentioned this could be one of the side effects usually lasting a few days after treatment. It seems to be better today, I went for another one mile walk (Willow loves me again). I need to try and keep that up at least a few times a week.
So far the Hand & Foot Syndrome has not been too bad. After I walk or am on my feet for long periods, they are very, very red. I have had peeling since the last chemo drug and it hasn't completely cleared up yet. So, we shall just take this one day at a time and hope it doesn't interfere with my walking.
The appetite is waning again. Nothing really sounds appetizing, but I have no nausea (yay) and eat to keep my body strong to recover.
I have Physical Therapy this afternoon in Union and hope to learn about the Lymphedema. They should be working on my range of motion also. This has improved over the past week with the couple of excercises that they gave me. It still feels tight and weird on the left side and uncomfortable to lay on the left side. So I am hoping to see improvement in this area the next few weeks. I can put on a t-shirt now though.
Thanks for reading and sending the good thoughts and prayers. I ask you to please continue as I have a few more months of going through this. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time. I feel like I am starting to go down the hill a bit now.
As usual, Connie and I had good conversation and laughs. We had a sandwich while waiting to finish. I was feeling pretty good, so we went across the street to a resale shop that the nurse told us about called Safers. It was a really nice, organized and clean one. And I think we each bought something. They donate to the Vietnam Veterans. When we got back to my house we even took a one mile walk. It felt good to walk again, but I was tired out after all this.
So Wednesday and Thursday I have been experiencing achy muscles and joints and fatigue. At first I thought I was getting the flu, but Dane reminded me that the doctor mentioned this could be one of the side effects usually lasting a few days after treatment. It seems to be better today, I went for another one mile walk (Willow loves me again). I need to try and keep that up at least a few times a week.
So far the Hand & Foot Syndrome has not been too bad. After I walk or am on my feet for long periods, they are very, very red. I have had peeling since the last chemo drug and it hasn't completely cleared up yet. So, we shall just take this one day at a time and hope it doesn't interfere with my walking.
The appetite is waning again. Nothing really sounds appetizing, but I have no nausea (yay) and eat to keep my body strong to recover.
I have Physical Therapy this afternoon in Union and hope to learn about the Lymphedema. They should be working on my range of motion also. This has improved over the past week with the couple of excercises that they gave me. It still feels tight and weird on the left side and uncomfortable to lay on the left side. So I am hoping to see improvement in this area the next few weeks. I can put on a t-shirt now though.
Thanks for reading and sending the good thoughts and prayers. I ask you to please continue as I have a few more months of going through this. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time. I feel like I am starting to go down the hill a bit now.
Did You Do Something To My Eyebrow?
Monday, June 10 - I got up this morning, showered and went to put on my make-up. I walked out to the living room and asked Dane if he did something to my eyebrow? He just chuckled. You have to understand that Jacob came home one night with one eyebrow after losing a bet with his friends. They shaved off one of his.
I had noticed a little bit of thinning the past few weeks, but hadn't been wearing any make-up so didn't pay too much attention. It was gone. The other one had about 12 strands, so I just pulled them out with my fingers. I also noticed I barely have any eyelashes. BUT, the hair on my head is growing back. Touch it and you get whisker burn. Ha!
Now on to the visits today. We first saw the surgeon. I am healing fine and the numbness and soreness I am feeling is normal for where I am post surgery. She went over the pathology report with me. I again asked if all the lymph nodes under the armpit were removed. She said yes. I told her I was surprised that there were only 10. It seems that the chemo I had before surgery shrunk up what others would have been in the tissue that she removed. If the pathologist went back and looked again under the microscope, there probably would have been more just very, very small. Chances of cancer returning on the left side are about 20%. The only way of knowing if this does happen (and I'm believing that it won't) would be if I felt a lump.
She recommended that I go to Physical Therapy for my range of motion and to learn more about Lymphedema and how to prevent it. I have an appointment Friday here in Union. Yay, close to home!
*Lymphedema is a build-up of lymph fluid in the fatty tissues just under your skin. It usually develops slowly over time. The swelling can range from mild to severe. It can start soon after surgery or radiation treatment. But it can also begin months or even many years later. Women who have many lymph nodes removed and women who have had radiation therapy for breast cancer have a higher risk of getting lymphedema.
I will follow-up with Dr. O in August so she can check to see if I'm healing as I should. I will then see her every year for my preventive screening on the other breast.
On to Dr. Coplin's office. At first she seemed concerned about having 9 of the 10 lymph nodes with cancer. After looking more closely at the pathology report, it stated that the 2.5 cm mass removed from the central breast area contained widely scattered individual and small clusters of large cells. The largest of these cells measuring 0.5 mm in diameter. That, folks, is pretty small. It also means the chemo beforehand did it's job. So we will continue with chemo.
At my last visit with her we evidently had a mis-communication I thought she said 6 weeks of weekly Taxol. But it will be 12 weeks at a lower dose with no injection the day afterwards. The other option is 8 sessions every other week at a higher dose with the Nueulasta injection the day after.
I have opted to go with the weekly and get started tomorrow, then have another one the following week. I will then take the following week off and resume the first week of July which will be after the wedding. I will also take a break during vacation at the end of July.
My biggest fear is getting that Hand & Foot Syndrome again. It was pretty painful and I just couldn't do things with my hands. She said with Taxol it is more of a nerve ending or neuropathy effect. My hands have recovered but my feet are still peeling. So time will tell how I react to this drug. If we need to, we can go to the every other week schedule.
Needless to say I was really bummed because now radiation will probably be pushed off until October. I thought I was going to be finished with all this by then. So now that I have wrapped my mind around this, I am ready to move forward, it's just going to be longer than I thought.
I had noticed a little bit of thinning the past few weeks, but hadn't been wearing any make-up so didn't pay too much attention. It was gone. The other one had about 12 strands, so I just pulled them out with my fingers. I also noticed I barely have any eyelashes. BUT, the hair on my head is growing back. Touch it and you get whisker burn. Ha!
Now on to the visits today. We first saw the surgeon. I am healing fine and the numbness and soreness I am feeling is normal for where I am post surgery. She went over the pathology report with me. I again asked if all the lymph nodes under the armpit were removed. She said yes. I told her I was surprised that there were only 10. It seems that the chemo I had before surgery shrunk up what others would have been in the tissue that she removed. If the pathologist went back and looked again under the microscope, there probably would have been more just very, very small. Chances of cancer returning on the left side are about 20%. The only way of knowing if this does happen (and I'm believing that it won't) would be if I felt a lump.
She recommended that I go to Physical Therapy for my range of motion and to learn more about Lymphedema and how to prevent it. I have an appointment Friday here in Union. Yay, close to home!
*Lymphedema is a build-up of lymph fluid in the fatty tissues just under your skin. It usually develops slowly over time. The swelling can range from mild to severe. It can start soon after surgery or radiation treatment. But it can also begin months or even many years later. Women who have many lymph nodes removed and women who have had radiation therapy for breast cancer have a higher risk of getting lymphedema.
I will follow-up with Dr. O in August so she can check to see if I'm healing as I should. I will then see her every year for my preventive screening on the other breast.
On to Dr. Coplin's office. At first she seemed concerned about having 9 of the 10 lymph nodes with cancer. After looking more closely at the pathology report, it stated that the 2.5 cm mass removed from the central breast area contained widely scattered individual and small clusters of large cells. The largest of these cells measuring 0.5 mm in diameter. That, folks, is pretty small. It also means the chemo beforehand did it's job. So we will continue with chemo.
At my last visit with her we evidently had a mis-communication I thought she said 6 weeks of weekly Taxol. But it will be 12 weeks at a lower dose with no injection the day afterwards. The other option is 8 sessions every other week at a higher dose with the Nueulasta injection the day after.
I have opted to go with the weekly and get started tomorrow, then have another one the following week. I will then take the following week off and resume the first week of July which will be after the wedding. I will also take a break during vacation at the end of July.
My biggest fear is getting that Hand & Foot Syndrome again. It was pretty painful and I just couldn't do things with my hands. She said with Taxol it is more of a nerve ending or neuropathy effect. My hands have recovered but my feet are still peeling. So time will tell how I react to this drug. If we need to, we can go to the every other week schedule.
Needless to say I was really bummed because now radiation will probably be pushed off until October. I thought I was going to be finished with all this by then. So now that I have wrapped my mind around this, I am ready to move forward, it's just going to be longer than I thought.
Drainfree
Thursday, June 6 - The past few days my drains have produced less and less fluid. Drain 2 had been producing about 5 ml the past few days, so I knew that one was coming out for sure.They were both under 30 ml on Saturday evening. I'm thinking, oh boy, this means I'll get to have both pulled. Not so fast. Sunday night Drain #1 decided to produce 39 ml. I called the nurse on Monday and we scheduled an appointment to have Drain 2 pulled on Wednesday. This, along with the hope that Drain 1 would give me less than 30 ml the next 2 days. Happy dance! On Tuesday night I had 2 readings in a row of 20 ml on Drain 1. So I knew they were both coming out. Goodbye and good riddance!
I was actually dreading this procedure even though I was told it wouldn't hurt. So in preparation, I took some pain meds before heading in. We got to the doctors office, they told me to take a deep breath and the next thing I knew, they were out. It was a really weird feeling but did not hurt in the least. My scar had started blistering a little bit from the tape, so Donna (the nurse) applied some polysporin and covered it with gauze. The port holes looked good and I was told they would close in a couple of days. I can start to raise my arm now and do a little bit more reaching. I am still not to lift over 10 pounds until I get clearance from the surgeon. That visit will happen Monday, June 10.
Now on to today's visit with the Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Robert Frazier. This was our initial consultation with him. He told me that radiation is done after a successful surgery and chemo when greater than four lymph nodes are positive for cancer and the size of the tumor is greater than 5 cm. Well, I definitely fall into that category. I will have 33 treatments, Monday through Friday, starting probably the 1st or 2nd week of August. They will treat all 4 levels of the lymph node area to make sure they get any rogue cancer cells that may be lurking as well as the mastectomy site. I will see the doctor once a week during this time.
He went over the side effects and risks that are associated with radiation. The most common is the fatigue which is cumulative for most people. Again, everyone is different, so we don't know for sure. I should expect a really red area where its treated and they will give me a cream to use after treatments. There is a risk of blistering which they can also treat.
He then went into detail on the treatment planning session called a simulation. I will go to Mercy Hospital - Washington in the middle of July for this session. A CT scan will be taken of my chest area up to my neck do define the treatment area and get a picture of my anatomy in this area. I will get 3 tattoo marks to line up the beams on the machine during radiation.
I will also have a mold made that helps me stay in the same position each treatment and to keep me from moving during therapy.
So other than the aggravation of having to drive over there everyday, it doesn't sound too bad.
"I can do all things through him who strengthens me. [Philippians 4:13]
I was actually dreading this procedure even though I was told it wouldn't hurt. So in preparation, I took some pain meds before heading in. We got to the doctors office, they told me to take a deep breath and the next thing I knew, they were out. It was a really weird feeling but did not hurt in the least. My scar had started blistering a little bit from the tape, so Donna (the nurse) applied some polysporin and covered it with gauze. The port holes looked good and I was told they would close in a couple of days. I can start to raise my arm now and do a little bit more reaching. I am still not to lift over 10 pounds until I get clearance from the surgeon. That visit will happen Monday, June 10.
Now on to today's visit with the Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Robert Frazier. This was our initial consultation with him. He told me that radiation is done after a successful surgery and chemo when greater than four lymph nodes are positive for cancer and the size of the tumor is greater than 5 cm. Well, I definitely fall into that category. I will have 33 treatments, Monday through Friday, starting probably the 1st or 2nd week of August. They will treat all 4 levels of the lymph node area to make sure they get any rogue cancer cells that may be lurking as well as the mastectomy site. I will see the doctor once a week during this time.
He went over the side effects and risks that are associated with radiation. The most common is the fatigue which is cumulative for most people. Again, everyone is different, so we don't know for sure. I should expect a really red area where its treated and they will give me a cream to use after treatments. There is a risk of blistering which they can also treat.
He then went into detail on the treatment planning session called a simulation. I will go to Mercy Hospital - Washington in the middle of July for this session. A CT scan will be taken of my chest area up to my neck do define the treatment area and get a picture of my anatomy in this area. I will get 3 tattoo marks to line up the beams on the machine during radiation.
I will also have a mold made that helps me stay in the same position each treatment and to keep me from moving during therapy.
So other than the aggravation of having to drive over there everyday, it doesn't sound too bad.
"I can do all things through him who strengthens me. [Philippians 4:13]
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