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…
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