August Update!

On August 16th we met with my oncologist, Dr. Rachel Jenkowitz, for what we thought would be a routine post chemo appointment.  We had just finished 3 weeks of chemo and were preparing for radiation to start on August 23rd.  Little did we know what was in store for us....

Our doctor was shocked at how well I had handled the prior 3 weeks of chemo.  I managed the side effects of the chemo fairly well and was shocked I still had my hair!  What came next neither Chris or I were prepared for.  It honestly took all the wind out of our sails and changed the direction of our treatment.  She suggested that if we wanted to continue to aggressively attack the cancer, what "might" remain, if anything at all, then we needed to seriously consider an additional 6 chemo treatments.

I knew the answer, without hesitation...  I want to see my daughter grow up, go to Kindergarten, have more children, grow old with the love of my life.  I want to do EVERYTHING I can to ensure I am here 5, 10, 25, 50 years from now.  One look at my husband and I knew he was on the same page, but it didn't mean he liked that decision. 

Before we knew if, I was getting labs, canceling the radiology oncology appointment scheduled for the next day, and preparing to restart another six chemo treatments.  Only this one didn't go so smoothly...  I had a reaction once they started the Herceptin and became short of breath.  Every time I took a breath in, I coughed and breathing was difficult.  I notified a nurse, who stopped the treatment and I was sent for a chest x-ray and an EKG.  Hours later, both came back normal and we resumed treatment...  This time with Benadryl and Decadron added into the mix.  The doctors believe I was having an allergic reaction to the medication - one that I had had already had 9 times in the past.  A drug which I am scheduled to continue taking until at least March 2011.  Eight hours after we arrived for what we thought was just a routine Herceptin treatment we left, having received the first of six doses of chemo.

The doctors plan to give me 6 additional doses of chemo, the first one I received on 8/16 and I will finish on 9/27.  I'll receive three treatments and then have one week off (Labor day Monday).  Radiation has been pushed back until November and I hope to be completely done with all treatment, aside from Herceptin, by Christmas.

So far the first two treatments of the six I am going to receive have gone well.  The first week was rather rough.  I was VERY run down and honestly bummed out.  The wind was taken out of our sails and the light at the end of the tunnel had been pushed back.  Chris and I were both really worried about a repeat of what we had experienced the first go around with chemo.  My energy levels were really low.  The second treatment went much, much more smoothly.  I was full of energy and amazed at how good I was feeling.  I can only hope tomorrow's treatment goes just as well as round two.

Tomorrow I receive treatment three out of our LAST SIX.  Pray things go as smoothly as round two!

Onto other things...  I had a fantastic weekend with my sister and her family.  Kennedy and I joined my sister's family at the Hookstown Fair.  My niece, Kayli, competes each year on her pony, Sharon, and I have enjoyed watching her doing what she loves!  We had a fabulous day!  I hope you enjoy this candid photo my sister, Lori, captured at the fair! 

And as always....  Thank you for your continued prayers!  Only four more chemo treatments, then radiation, Herceptin until March, and then we are DONE!  D-O-N-E!  Here is hoping 2011 will be a much better year for my family.

Cleveland Bound!

It's been a while since I blogged, but not much has been happening!  My surgery went well and I am feeling wonderful!  I start chemo again on Tuesday and will go once a week for three weeks.

We leave in the morning to spend some time with a dear friend of our's, Jason.  He is also our daughter's Godfather and such an AMAZING guy!  (Who by the way IS SINGLE and would be an awesome catch!)  We are looking forward to spending time with him this weekend in Cleveland.  He's a great friend that he agreed to let me twist his arm in order to surprise my husband with concert tickets to see Dream Theater/Iron Maiden as a surprise gift for Father's Day.  That way Chris won't have to go see the concert alone!  I can't wait to spend a long weekend with my family and Jason.

One of a kind!

I apologize for such the long lapse in my blogging.  Life has been crazy!!

I had my lumpectomy on 6/8/2010 and two lymph nodes removed.  The nodes came back negative and the entire tumor was removed with clear margins.  PRAISE GOD!!

With each passing day, I am getting stronger and feeling better...  Thankfully my mother-in-law has come to town to help us.  It would have been very difficult without her here.

Today we met with my oncologist to discuss the pathology report and where do we got from here....  Well, we learned A LOT today!  To say I am a unique case is an understatement.

When I was first diagnosed with cancer, my HER2 results came back equivocal.  They sent the biopsied samples out for further analysis and those came back HER2+.  My basic understanding of what HER2 indicates the aggressiveness of the cancer.  If yours comes back positive, you have an additional medication you can add to your arsenal of drugs to help treat and fight the disease.  Since the coding on mine had come back positive, Herceptin was started.

Herceptin is a wonderful drug, however it can cause problems with your hearts ability to function.  During treatment, they have been monitoring me using a MUGA Scan.  You heart function can decrease up to 15% and still be within normal levels.  We found out today that my heart function has dropped 14.8%.  Also, the pathology report from my surgery and that of my biopsies showed different findings.  The surgery pathology report shows me now being HER2-.  With this being the case, my doctor did not give me Herceptin today.  I go back on July 20th for another MUGA Scan to see where I am percentage wise.  Being that I am not a definitive HER2+ anymore, Chris & I have been discussing cutting this drug out, especially after seeing its effects on my heart.  Our oncologist, Dr. Jenkowitz, is going to run this by her team of colleagues to get opinions on the matter.  Typically once they get a positive, they always treat it as a positive since Herceptin induced congestive heart failure is reversible with drugs.

On July 20th, after my MUGA scan, I start chemo again.  (And most likely loose all the fuzz I've worked hard at growing).  The game plan is to do three weeks of Abraxane to finish out the six I was supposed to have initially gotten.  I only had three chemo treatments and then surgery.  There is no guarantee that some microscopic cancerous cell is out there floating around, waiting to find a nice spot to call home and multiply.  So our thoughts, and the thought of our doctor, is that if I am up to it - we finish what we started.  Excellent point and well noted... 

Keeps us in your prayers as we go forward.  I hope that my body will be fully healed by July 20th and we fly through three weeks of chemo with no problems, issues, or hospitalizations!  I am happy to be finally able to say I am dancing with NED!!!  (For those not familiar with the chemo language this means that as of right now, I am showing No Evidence of Disease = NED.)

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.

Chemo Delayed...

I just got off of the phone with my nurse at the cancer center.  Because they want me to see an actual doctor on my next visit, my appointment for Monday has been canceled.  They rescheduled it for 4/28, my birthday, at 10am.  I am hoping that this doesn't delay my treatment and we can go forward with the same regimen we did last time.  I think I handled it fairly well compared to the first treatment.  My appointment with the genetics program is also being rescheduled.  Hoping the wait to see them isn't too long!

Keep me in your prayers that this won't delay treatments or put us back to square one.  I am hoping after the meeting with the doctor we can still proceed with the chemo treatment as planned.

There's no place like home...

Just wanted to let everyone know that after two nights at Magee, I am home at last!  There truly is no place like home!

They sent out two samples to check for C. diff and both came back negative.  They pumped me full of so much fluids my hands had started to swell.  And thankfully I got some rest and feel MUCH, MUCH better!

I was only stuck with a needle 3 times this go around which is significant improvement over my last visit.  The nurses were able to take blood straight from my port and even did it while I was sleeping!  I slept right through the 3am blood draws.  The other two sticks were to administer a shot in my belly to help prevent blood clots.  My left calf has been bothering me for a number of days.  It feels like I am going to have a charlie horse at any moment.  As a precautionary measure they sent me down for an ultrasound of both legs.  NO CLOTS!  They also continued to fill me up with Magnesium & Potassium.  Both of those levels were quite low.

So, this morning I got the wonderful news that I was being released and headed home!  My white counts were on the high end of normal at 10 and holding steady.  Wonderful news!

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!  I am grateful and blessed to have YOU in my life.