Well, I had chemo on Thursday, January 14th. I forgot to schedule it when I was in before, so I had a later starting time, Noon. But I had a good friend come up and go with me. I dropped my kids off at the usual sitter (Thank you!), and we both drove our cars over to the hospital because she was going to have to leave before I was all done. Which was okay, if I have someone to distract me the first little bit, the rest is no big deal. I had a batch of cookies that the daughter of one of WonderfulHubby's coworker's made for me to pass around, and they were a big hit with everyone that had them. The Doctor did his exam, and said the denser area is much smaller, and that he wouldn't be surprised if I was in remission by the time I had surgery. (WOW!!! YAY!!!!!)
My dear friend went and got lunch for us after I was hooked up in the chemo room, and I fell asleep for about an hour. They give me benedryl as part of the pre-chemo meds, and IV benedryl can really knock you out! When I woke up we had a great visit for the rest of the time. She was so sweet and had brought a game to play and dvds to watch, but I was content to just chat with her. I mean, how often do I get a chance to talk to a friend for that long with no kids interrupting or the phone battery dying?
I drove myself home when I was done, and WonderfulHubby had gathered the kiddos from their various playdates and gotten them started on homework. A neighbor brought over dinner, which was totally devoured by the kids, super yummy! (I really do need to collect all these recipes that people make for us and post them here.... I'll have to make a note somewhere I will see it)
Now for the bad news, ickiness set in the very next day. Yup, no day of reprieve like usual, right into the stomach problems. Luckily WonderfulHubby had a four day weekend (again, thank goodness he is a school teacher!), and was there to pick up the slack. Littlest Boy also had stomach issues starting that night, so he and I must have given it to each other or something. I was worried about him on Saturday because he really wasn't holding anything down, but then we tried gatorade, and that worked. I called the on-call doctor for our family doc, and he said I could also give him benedryl, that it would help his tummy settle too! Crazy, huh?! But we didn't bother because he came out of it okay. Me, I was still sick and exhausted Saturday and Sunday. Monday I was starting to feel a little less nauseated, but very tired and nothing sounded good yet. So I called my mom to come help out Tuesday.
So Monday night while WonderfulHubby was out running errands and picking up dinner, a nice neighbor brought by some soup and potato casserole that his wife had made. I had not bought soup before this go around, and it was so glorious to have something light, but filling that I could test my tummy out on. And it tasted good too. Really, just wonderful, thoughtful people out there! Oh, and dinner was brought to us Saturday and Sunday, too. Now this happens every time, the nice ladies in my church make arrangements for dinner to be brought in for two nights after chemo. I don't know if I mention every entry these individual meals, but they are all so great! I mean, I can't enjoy them at the time, usually, but I can hardly wait until my tummy settles down so I can!
And today, my mom came up. I was feeling pretty much all back to normal, so felt a little guilty at first. But it is always nice to have my mom around. And when I needed to take a 3 hour nap after lunch, there were no worries. Maybe that's why I'm up at almost Midnight posting this, but still it was a great nap!
So now, just to troop on through until the next treatment. I tell you, I hate these treatments. Each one gets worse, and even just thinking about the chemo room makes me a little nauseated (not that I ever got sick in there, but still). I will be SO glad when this is done. We will still have to do the Mastectomy, and then radiation, and then easy chemo (should have no side effects, just one medicine) to finish up a full 12 months. And somewhere in there reconstruction (woohoo! Got to keep my eyes on the prize!). But I think the yickiest is over, though recovery from the surgery will not be fun, at least I should be able to eat just fine! Okay, now it's off to bed with me! Good night!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Week after Chemo
So I had a great Christmas, no worries. The next morning youngest Girl fussed on and off for quite a while in the morning (she usually wakes right up). I brought her in bed with us, but she still didn't settle. My mommy-sense was tingling, so I got her out of bed and walked into the bathroom in time for her to throw up in there. It had been all night, so there wasn't much mess. But I knew this didn't bode well for me. She only threw up one more time a little later, but again, not much of a mess.
I went in to the hospital for my booster shot (the nice Doctor came in on a Saturday so he could give me my immune booster shot, wasn't that so nice?!). WonderfulHubby stayed home with the kids because I was still feeling well enough to go by myself, and we didn't want to take the little one anywhere when she might toss her cookies again.
When I got home, I took a nap. When I woke up, I was starting to feel sick, and really, it all went downhill from there. I didn't keep track of when I took my regular anti-nausea medicine (I can take it every 6 hours), and couldn't find the samples the doctor gave me initially. I ended up getting pretty sick that night, running to the bathroom a few times. I slept a lot, ate hardly anything (this was a bummer because dinner that night was pizza a very nice lady from church ordered for us and it smelled SO good, but it wasn't to be for me, everyone else enjoyed it), and got sick occaisionally. I kept better track of my medicine, and was slightly less sick the next day,Sunday, but still very tired. My mom came up to take care of me, in case I needed it, while WonderfulHubby and the kids went to church. We visited, and then I napped. WonderfulHubby dropped the kids off and ran back to church to take care of his responsibilities there. My mom stayed and helped with the kids until he got back. I felt a little better that night, but got sick again Sunday night/Monday morning. This was the stomach bug that wouldn't die! I was so glad WonderfulHubby had the whole week between Christmas and New Years off (there are a few benefits to him being a teacher), so that I could sleep and recover without worrying about who to call to help with the kids. Now don't get me wrong, I have a long list of wonderful people who have helped and have offered to help, but I know the holidays are a busy time and I didn't want anyone to have to change their plans to watch my kids or feel bad for having to say no. Anyways, it went just fine. By the time New Years Day rolled around I was done with tiredness, nausea and excess gas, which really was the most lingering problem. I wonder if chemo has killed off all the good bacteria in my tummy. Luckily, yogurt seems to help.
And today, I was feeling well enough, I went to church with everyone else.
Happy New Year!
I went in to the hospital for my booster shot (the nice Doctor came in on a Saturday so he could give me my immune booster shot, wasn't that so nice?!). WonderfulHubby stayed home with the kids because I was still feeling well enough to go by myself, and we didn't want to take the little one anywhere when she might toss her cookies again.
When I got home, I took a nap. When I woke up, I was starting to feel sick, and really, it all went downhill from there. I didn't keep track of when I took my regular anti-nausea medicine (I can take it every 6 hours), and couldn't find the samples the doctor gave me initially. I ended up getting pretty sick that night, running to the bathroom a few times. I slept a lot, ate hardly anything (this was a bummer because dinner that night was pizza a very nice lady from church ordered for us and it smelled SO good, but it wasn't to be for me, everyone else enjoyed it), and got sick occaisionally. I kept better track of my medicine, and was slightly less sick the next day,Sunday, but still very tired. My mom came up to take care of me, in case I needed it, while WonderfulHubby and the kids went to church. We visited, and then I napped. WonderfulHubby dropped the kids off and ran back to church to take care of his responsibilities there. My mom stayed and helped with the kids until he got back. I felt a little better that night, but got sick again Sunday night/Monday morning. This was the stomach bug that wouldn't die! I was so glad WonderfulHubby had the whole week between Christmas and New Years off (there are a few benefits to him being a teacher), so that I could sleep and recover without worrying about who to call to help with the kids. Now don't get me wrong, I have a long list of wonderful people who have helped and have offered to help, but I know the holidays are a busy time and I didn't want anyone to have to change their plans to watch my kids or feel bad for having to say no. Anyways, it went just fine. By the time New Years Day rolled around I was done with tiredness, nausea and excess gas, which really was the most lingering problem. I wonder if chemo has killed off all the good bacteria in my tummy. Luckily, yogurt seems to help.
And today, I was feeling well enough, I went to church with everyone else.
Happy New Year!
Christmas Eve Chemo
You know what, I started this entry on Christmas Eve, the same day I got chemo. Darn if life doesn't get distracting...
A wonderful friend who only has one little boy (right around 2 yrs old), watched all my kids for me today. I am so thankful, I didn't even ask. I explained my predicament of asking someone to watch my kids one night (I mean, who wants to mess with someone's Christmas Eve Plans?) and she offered the next morning. The kids were pretty good about going, so that was a big relief.
I stayed up very late the night before Christmas Eve wrapping presents. ~ A side not about this. THANK YOU! We had people who helped with Christmas in various ways, and a lot of anonymous donations. So what was going to be a small, but sufficient Christmas, turned into a large outpouring of love from other people. I just can't say thank you enough.
Anyways, so happily wrapping presents, up until 1:30 am last night (partly because I am easily sidetracked or paused to decide exactly who which gift should go to or how to wrap the odd shaped presents, and partly because it just seemed to take forever to get the kids settles in bed. This made for a tired mommy when the kids started waking up around 5:45 (Little Boy!!! He wakes up hungry, but he will happily take a banana to eat while he watches Sesame Street.) WonderfulHubby and I took turns getting up with them until Little Girl got up, and I just knew she wouldn't let me hide back in bed. But it was good to get up. I laid on the couch for a bit, then started washing dishes.
I wanted to make a treat to take with me to chemo, but it just didn't work out. But I did get a shower, which I don't always make time for, but really enjoy. So we got every fed and out the door to my friend's house, and then off to the hospital. I got a little weepy on my way in, just thinking about the idea of having chemo today, and the things I didn't get done that I wanted too. But WonderfulHubby was supportive, and I was okay by the time we got in the door.
The office ladies said it was a slow day, and I got right in with Nurse Jennifer to do the blood check. Everything was fine, so in to wait for The Doctor. During the examination he said it was remarkable, that if he didn't know where the lump had been before, he wouldn't be able to pinpoint it. He stepped out and had his Nurse Practitioner come in to see if she could tell which breast it had been in (she hasn't examined me before). She said she could tell, but merely because it was thicker than the other one, and that anyone who hadn't examined so many breasts probably wouldn't be able to tell. The Doctor said that on a scale of 1-10 (1 being not remarkable at all) my results were a 10! Nice! And then we asked about the Lymphedema. See if they remove all or most of the Lymph nodes by my arm, I would develop lymphedema. I would have to take special care of this arm for the rest of my life, with special exercises, etc. But The Doctor said where the cancer was responding so well to the chemo, the surgeons would not likely have to remove very many lymph nodes at all. The surgeons would just use a dye to determine which nodes would need to be removed, and that it wouldn't be a big deal. This was a HUGE relief. The lymphedema seemed like a bigger deal to live with than new boobs and frequent mammograms. We also spoke to him about doing a double mastectomy. He said that it was up to me, but if I were his wife, he would say to just get the one done. Where I do not have a genetic inclination towards cancer, the chances of me developing another primary cancer site in the other breast was only 1% per year, and with the close monitoring of it, any developing cancer would never get anywhere close to as big as what this cancer had been, and would be much easier to deal with. So, I am taking his advice and only doing the one side. This saves me from the few months of being chestless between the mastectomy and the reconstruction, however long the radiation takes (should only be a couple of months). That is a relief.
So we did Chemo, I was the last one to leave, but the nurse didn't mind, and we went home and had a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas. Yay!
A wonderful friend who only has one little boy (right around 2 yrs old), watched all my kids for me today. I am so thankful, I didn't even ask. I explained my predicament of asking someone to watch my kids one night (I mean, who wants to mess with someone's Christmas Eve Plans?) and she offered the next morning. The kids were pretty good about going, so that was a big relief.
I stayed up very late the night before Christmas Eve wrapping presents. ~ A side not about this. THANK YOU! We had people who helped with Christmas in various ways, and a lot of anonymous donations. So what was going to be a small, but sufficient Christmas, turned into a large outpouring of love from other people. I just can't say thank you enough.
Anyways, so happily wrapping presents, up until 1:30 am last night (partly because I am easily sidetracked or paused to decide exactly who which gift should go to or how to wrap the odd shaped presents, and partly because it just seemed to take forever to get the kids settles in bed. This made for a tired mommy when the kids started waking up around 5:45 (Little Boy!!! He wakes up hungry, but he will happily take a banana to eat while he watches Sesame Street.) WonderfulHubby and I took turns getting up with them until Little Girl got up, and I just knew she wouldn't let me hide back in bed. But it was good to get up. I laid on the couch for a bit, then started washing dishes.
I wanted to make a treat to take with me to chemo, but it just didn't work out. But I did get a shower, which I don't always make time for, but really enjoy. So we got every fed and out the door to my friend's house, and then off to the hospital. I got a little weepy on my way in, just thinking about the idea of having chemo today, and the things I didn't get done that I wanted too. But WonderfulHubby was supportive, and I was okay by the time we got in the door.
The office ladies said it was a slow day, and I got right in with Nurse Jennifer to do the blood check. Everything was fine, so in to wait for The Doctor. During the examination he said it was remarkable, that if he didn't know where the lump had been before, he wouldn't be able to pinpoint it. He stepped out and had his Nurse Practitioner come in to see if she could tell which breast it had been in (she hasn't examined me before). She said she could tell, but merely because it was thicker than the other one, and that anyone who hadn't examined so many breasts probably wouldn't be able to tell. The Doctor said that on a scale of 1-10 (1 being not remarkable at all) my results were a 10! Nice! And then we asked about the Lymphedema. See if they remove all or most of the Lymph nodes by my arm, I would develop lymphedema. I would have to take special care of this arm for the rest of my life, with special exercises, etc. But The Doctor said where the cancer was responding so well to the chemo, the surgeons would not likely have to remove very many lymph nodes at all. The surgeons would just use a dye to determine which nodes would need to be removed, and that it wouldn't be a big deal. This was a HUGE relief. The lymphedema seemed like a bigger deal to live with than new boobs and frequent mammograms. We also spoke to him about doing a double mastectomy. He said that it was up to me, but if I were his wife, he would say to just get the one done. Where I do not have a genetic inclination towards cancer, the chances of me developing another primary cancer site in the other breast was only 1% per year, and with the close monitoring of it, any developing cancer would never get anywhere close to as big as what this cancer had been, and would be much easier to deal with. So, I am taking his advice and only doing the one side. This saves me from the few months of being chestless between the mastectomy and the reconstruction, however long the radiation takes (should only be a couple of months). That is a relief.
So we did Chemo, I was the last one to leave, but the nurse didn't mind, and we went home and had a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas. Yay!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Christmas!
Okay, so I was afraid I would be sick and tired over Christmas because of the way the chemo treatments would land, but guess what?!?!?! I won't! I scheduled my next chemo treatment for Christmas Eve. (I'll have to bring treats!) So I will be fine on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day, and then tired (possibly sick) the next couple of days. Woohoo! Isn't life grand?!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Halfway done with Chemo!!
Chemo was on Tuesday, December 1st, so I am woefully late for an update. Sorry folks!
So, I got WonderfulHubby and the Big Kids off too school. Then I ran around the house trying to remember what I had planned to do before I left for chemo, simple stuff like washing dishes, and putting dinner in the crock pot. I got that accomplished right before my good friend CH arrived to take me to the hospital for treatment. We dropped the Little Kids off at my most wonderful neighbor's and then went to find parking at the hospital. It was a later appointment, so parking wasn't easy, but we made it. When I was checking in I realized I had left some paperwork at home, and they said I would probably have about a 15-30 minute wait, so we ran back to my house and got what we needed. Got back just in time to have Nurse Jennifer call us back and do the blood test. No worries there.
We waited for a while in the room for Dr. H to come and check in on me, but it's always good to have time to sit and visit with longtime friends and talk about whatever comes to mind.
When he came in, Dr. H asked if I had felt a change in the lump. I told him I hadn't, but that's what I had said before and been utterly wrong. After examining it he said that it had drastically reduced again, and there wasn't really a lump left to measure, just an area that was thicker. In my mind I picture it as a clay ball that had been bashed flat suddenly, and then all the loose bits and debris had been brushed away. Anyways, he says that he wouldn’t be surprised that if by the time they do the mastectomy they won’t find any cancerous tissue left. Neat, huh?!
So then we headed back to the chemo room. It was more crowded this time than usual. Probably from everyone who got bumped over Thanksgiving weekend.
I picked out a couple of new hats, and waited to get hooked up. CH bought me lunch from the cafeteria. (Thank you! So yummy!)
While in the midst of chemo, Ginger came in. She is the person who started the support group Young Survivor Sisters, which I joined a little while ago. She told her story about how chemo was always a long boring, and really kind of depressing day. So she created Happy Chemo. She went to local businesses and asked for them to donate products, which she passed out during a drawing at her chemo sessions. She has continued this, coming into the chemo room on occasion, which luckily included that day. She had a few lap blankets to for the drawing, and then enough candles so everyone who didn’t get a blanket would get a candle. She was so happy, talking to everyone. She even brought in her 3 year old boy who she was pregnant with when they discovered her Breast Cancer. And he is a sweet, cute, perfect little guy.
CH and I had a great visit during chemo, and I am so grateful to her mom who watched her kids so she could come up and sit with me!
The next day was very normal, getting kids off to school and cleaning house and such. I was nervous for the night, because really no one likes to get sick. But, I didn’t! And now, even this long after chemo, I never did get that nauseated. This was almost as easy as the first treatment. I was still pretty tired. My mom came up on Wednesday night to help with the kids on Thursday. I got a few naps in and had a pretty restful day. A wonderful woman from church brought us dinner that night, some super yummy chicken and rice. I think she brought it once before after I had one of the kids. I really need to get that recipe too! The next day I was able to take the kids over to my neighbor’s for most of the day so I could get another nap in. And while I was tired, I was hallucinating tired, like I was last time, so that was a relief too.
So far, the tiredness has started to ebb, the metallic taste hasn’t been as bad (knock on wood!). I wonder if I was getting sick last time when I went in, and getting chemo on top of that made everything worse. I asked the doctor at chemo treatment about how sick I had been, meaning to ask for something more to help, but he said I must have been sick, because my type of chemo doesn’t cause that exact reaction. (A nurse I asked a little later did give me a little something more for the nausea, which I am sure helped.) So, whew! Perhaps it won’t be that bad again. And I only have three more to go. I can do it! Now just to decide whether I want two new boobs, or just the one…
So, I got WonderfulHubby and the Big Kids off too school. Then I ran around the house trying to remember what I had planned to do before I left for chemo, simple stuff like washing dishes, and putting dinner in the crock pot. I got that accomplished right before my good friend CH arrived to take me to the hospital for treatment. We dropped the Little Kids off at my most wonderful neighbor's and then went to find parking at the hospital. It was a later appointment, so parking wasn't easy, but we made it. When I was checking in I realized I had left some paperwork at home, and they said I would probably have about a 15-30 minute wait, so we ran back to my house and got what we needed. Got back just in time to have Nurse Jennifer call us back and do the blood test. No worries there.
We waited for a while in the room for Dr. H to come and check in on me, but it's always good to have time to sit and visit with longtime friends and talk about whatever comes to mind.
When he came in, Dr. H asked if I had felt a change in the lump. I told him I hadn't, but that's what I had said before and been utterly wrong. After examining it he said that it had drastically reduced again, and there wasn't really a lump left to measure, just an area that was thicker. In my mind I picture it as a clay ball that had been bashed flat suddenly, and then all the loose bits and debris had been brushed away. Anyways, he says that he wouldn’t be surprised that if by the time they do the mastectomy they won’t find any cancerous tissue left. Neat, huh?!
So then we headed back to the chemo room. It was more crowded this time than usual. Probably from everyone who got bumped over Thanksgiving weekend.
I picked out a couple of new hats, and waited to get hooked up. CH bought me lunch from the cafeteria. (Thank you! So yummy!)
While in the midst of chemo, Ginger came in. She is the person who started the support group Young Survivor Sisters, which I joined a little while ago. She told her story about how chemo was always a long boring, and really kind of depressing day. So she created Happy Chemo. She went to local businesses and asked for them to donate products, which she passed out during a drawing at her chemo sessions. She has continued this, coming into the chemo room on occasion, which luckily included that day. She had a few lap blankets to for the drawing, and then enough candles so everyone who didn’t get a blanket would get a candle. She was so happy, talking to everyone. She even brought in her 3 year old boy who she was pregnant with when they discovered her Breast Cancer. And he is a sweet, cute, perfect little guy.
CH and I had a great visit during chemo, and I am so grateful to her mom who watched her kids so she could come up and sit with me!
The next day was very normal, getting kids off to school and cleaning house and such. I was nervous for the night, because really no one likes to get sick. But, I didn’t! And now, even this long after chemo, I never did get that nauseated. This was almost as easy as the first treatment. I was still pretty tired. My mom came up on Wednesday night to help with the kids on Thursday. I got a few naps in and had a pretty restful day. A wonderful woman from church brought us dinner that night, some super yummy chicken and rice. I think she brought it once before after I had one of the kids. I really need to get that recipe too! The next day I was able to take the kids over to my neighbor’s for most of the day so I could get another nap in. And while I was tired, I was hallucinating tired, like I was last time, so that was a relief too.
So far, the tiredness has started to ebb, the metallic taste hasn’t been as bad (knock on wood!). I wonder if I was getting sick last time when I went in, and getting chemo on top of that made everything worse. I asked the doctor at chemo treatment about how sick I had been, meaning to ask for something more to help, but he said I must have been sick, because my type of chemo doesn’t cause that exact reaction. (A nurse I asked a little later did give me a little something more for the nausea, which I am sure helped.) So, whew! Perhaps it won’t be that bad again. And I only have three more to go. I can do it! Now just to decide whether I want two new boobs, or just the one…
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Cute Kids
Today I took the girls with me to pick up a couple of things at the store (I HAVE to have Miracle Whip for those after-Thanksgiving sandwiches!). I was talking to Older Girl, asking her about school, and what she wanted for Christmas. She asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I was starting to think about something she could give to me, and she said "I know mom! For your cancer to be all better!"
I laughed and said that I would LOVE that for Christmas, but it probably wouldn't happen this year.
She is such a sweetie. I love that she is aware enough to know this something that I would want to be gone. I am sad that she has to worry about it at all, because I know she does. But at least she is a sweetie.
Last night I had some energy (after my long autumn's nap) and started dancing and singing with her in the living room. I would lean her one way, and then the other, then twirl her around. Then all the other kids had to have their turn. It's so fun to play with my little munchkins! I'm glad they like me so much. :)
I laughed and said that I would LOVE that for Christmas, but it probably wouldn't happen this year.
She is such a sweetie. I love that she is aware enough to know this something that I would want to be gone. I am sad that she has to worry about it at all, because I know she does. But at least she is a sweetie.
Last night I had some energy (after my long autumn's nap) and started dancing and singing with her in the living room. I would lean her one way, and then the other, then twirl her around. Then all the other kids had to have their turn. It's so fun to play with my little munchkins! I'm glad they like me so much. :)
No Chemo Today
I was supposed to go in for chemo today, but I got sick on Monday. I caught the little one's stomach bug. Luckily the on-call Doctor for the Oncology office told me I could take Immodium and Phasyme. (Phazyme is an over the counter that helps with gas. It worked really well, I totally recommend it.)
Anyways, so Tuesday I woke up feeling better tummy-wise, but completely exhausted. So I called my mom, and luckily she was able to come up and help with the kids, so I could take a nice long, semi-delusional nap (another one of those where I could have sworn I was more awake doing things or talking to people, crazy!). Anyways, the Doctors do not like you to come in for chemo when you are sick, so they rescheduled me for next Tuesday.
I am bummed about changing the schedule. I am glad I will be a-okay for Thanksgiving though.
Happy Holidays!
Anyways, so Tuesday I woke up feeling better tummy-wise, but completely exhausted. So I called my mom, and luckily she was able to come up and help with the kids, so I could take a nice long, semi-delusional nap (another one of those where I could have sworn I was more awake doing things or talking to people, crazy!). Anyways, the Doctors do not like you to come in for chemo when you are sick, so they rescheduled me for next Tuesday.
I am bummed about changing the schedule. I am glad I will be a-okay for Thanksgiving though.
Happy Holidays!
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