Lots to update!

Well, as many of you know or maybe you don't (my apologies!), my last post was written while I was in the hospital.  On 4/28 I had a new chemo regimen.  On the evening of 4/29, I started throwing up and was told to go to the ER.  So off to the ER at 10:30 Thursday evening for the third time since starting chemo.  To say we were less than thrilled with our care this time around would be the understatement of the year.  We arrived at the ER at 11:15 and weren't even brought back to a room until much later.  The nurse who accessed my port wasn't familiar with it and it took her two tries to get it inserted.  OUCH!  Even after that fiasco, I still didn't have fluids or anti nausea medicine.  I told Chris I needed to use the restroom and he proceeded to help me up.  I made it into the bathroom and then fainted.  I fell into Chris, then hit the floor.  He pulled the cord to alert the nurses, but no one came...  Chris then ran into the hall to try to attract some attention.  It wasn't until he raised a fuss that the nurses came running.  I came to and could not get up, my hands were all constricted and my legs were as well.  The nurses got me to a wheel chair and then back onto the hospital stretcher.  After that, things moved a bit faster...  They took us up to a room and admitted me.  It was past 2am and I still had not had any fluids or drugs.  It wouldn't be until almost 3am before they pumped three bags of saline into me over the course of an hour.  Chris went home to relieve my father, who was sleeping on the couch so we didn't need to disturb Kennedy.  This hospital stay lasted 6 nights.  C. diff was ruled out.  I had also had a colonoscopy and received a unit of blood.  My potassium and magnesium levels were also really low.  I am sure there was more that went on, but...  Well, so much more has happened since this stay!!

Moving on...  Mother's Day was fabulous!  My family and I, as well as 20+ of our closest friends, attended the Susan G. Koman's Race for the Cure this Mother's Day.  To say it was cold would be a MAJOR under statement, but the warmth I felt from everyone there made it a little easier to tolerate!  Friends of our from Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Ohio, and other parts of Pennsylvania joined us.  It was truly a blessing to have everyone spend their Mother's Day walking with me.  Our fundraising team, The Triple B's, raised over $4000.  That is just AWESOME!!  We may not have placed #1, but they are #1 in my book!!  I had planned on doing the 1 mile fun walk, but somehow managed to get on the start line for the 5K walk.  YIKES!!  But, I FINISHED!!!!!  (And so did everyone else in our group!!!  I am so proud of my dad and Mrs. Jodon!).

After the walk, we enjoyed a picnic at the Glenwillard Boat Club.  My mom did a fantastic job putting it together and I thank everyone who made food, helped set up, tear down, and provided paper products.  Again, I felt the love!!!  I started feeling slightly ill after eating and having been up since 5:30am.  I left my own party to rest up.  It had been quite the day!  AGAIN, THANKS TO EVERYONE INVOLVED.  I love you!!!

Lastly and most importantly, I got a phone call the Friday before the race at 5:15pm.  It was Darcy from the Genetics program at Magee.  It turns out my genetic testing came back NEGATIVE!  Praise God!!!  Because of these negative results, Chris & I are opting for breast saving surgery.  I do not need to get a double mastectomy.  The cancer is just "bad luck" as the doctors say.  Kennedy will still need to have screenings early and my sister will also need to start screening as well.  Keep them in your prayers!

We met with a surgeon the day after I was discharged from the hospital (5/6) and I am scheduled for surgery on June 8th.  After surgery I will have to have 6 weeks of radiation 5X's a week.  Then we will need to finish chemo.  We are opting to go this route since the chemo has been so toxic to my body.  Hopefully these two months off will allow my body to heal and allow a fresh start for the next round of chemo.

Thanks again to everyone!  The meals, support, care givers, prayers, words of encouragement, for everything!  I am so blessed to have each and everyone of you in my life.  We will beat this!  One step, one day, one week at a time!!

Round 3 - With Changes in Place!

On my birthday, April 28th, we went to the cancer center knowing things were going to be different  - YET AGAIN.  The past two chemo sessions had landed me in the hospital and were not kind to my stomach.  Truth
be told, when we walked into the cancer center on the 28th, not much had changed or been resolved with regards to my stomach and the ongoing diarrhea I was experiencing.

We met with Dr. Priya Rastogi, MD and the nurses this day and it had been decided, prior to our arrival, that we would try a new course of treatment.  They were going to give me the usual Herceptin treatment, but forgo the other drugs I had been getting in hopes that a new, different drug would be better tolerated.  The new drug is called Abraxane. Supposedly this drug was less harsh and had fewer side effects on your digestive system.  But because it was less harsh, I would have to go for chemo weekly now instead of every 3 weeks like the previous regimen. 

Chemo itself lasted only an hour, but we were there most of the day.  We left hopeful that this would be our solution.  The goal was to re-evaluate things in four weeks and then decide "Where do we go from here?" at that point.