My One and Only Whiny Post

This sucks. There, I said it. I know I have to find joy in my sufferings...but sometimes, it just sucks. I just downed a handful of my medications and my tastebuds are shot. Can't enjoy food right now. I'm prepping myself for another injection with Neupogen, which stimulates white blood cell growth. But the bone pain that comes along with Neupogen isn't fun. 

Shaved off my hair last weekend and have been confined to my knit caps and Sunday wig. I thought Isaac might freak out upon seeing me for the first time sans hair. Such a good kid...he just wanted me to play with him. 

My Sunday Wig

Everyday is a battle for me. Depression is right around the corner. Not an easy feat to fight it off.  But I'm taking measures to prevent myself from throwing in the towel. Having personal quality time with Christ on a daily basis is key to keeping my outlook positive and uplifting. I don't know what His plan is for me but I know He will reveal it to me in His perfect time. I just have to remain patient and faithful to His calling. 

CT Scan

Routine CT scan this morning.  My lovely friend, Tina, accompanied me today. Tina is a radiologist at the hospital and even on her day off, she drove me to her workplace to keep me company. She sensed I was having some anxiety and wanted to be by my side. I love this girl! Always taking care of me and making sure I'm ok. As for the results...stable. My CT scan looks good and my hematoma collection is almost gone. Praise God. He is surely making miracles happen. I still have a long road ahead of me but I'm feeling so joyful and thankful for God's mercy on my life. 

After the good news, Tina and I celebrated with a fun shopping excursion! Thank goodness we only had an hour to shop otherwise I would have done some serious damage. 

Chemo tomorrow...wish me luck! 

A Day in the Life: Bone Scan

I had a bone scan earlier this week. This is the machine used to scan my head down to my toes. 

I lay flat on a very uncomfortable surface for about 30 minutes while the machine slowly scans my entire head and body. I usually end up napping so its not entirely that bad. 

Waiting for the results from my doc. Let's hope and pray there are less cancer lesions in my bones. Fighting!!!

A day in the life: Chemo Day

People often ask what it's like to receive chemo or how I feel during and/or after treatment. It usually depends on how I'm feeling going into treatment and what chemo medicine the doc prescribes for me that day. Today, the doc ordered Herceptin and Pertuzumab - my preferred choice of chemo drugs - and chose to omit Taxotere from the group. Taxotere is the not-so-fun chemo drug where side effects include nausea, slight hair loss, decrease in appetite and nadir. Nadir is the point in time between chemotherapy cycles when I experience low white and red blood cell counts. This causes extreme fatigue and increases my risk of infection. Fortunately for me, my doc has decided that I can skip Taxotere for the next two cycles. Not that it's necessarily a good thing as my body still needs Taxotere to fight off the cancer cells from multiplying. But it's ok right now since my tumor markers are at a low number (14) and my CT scan shows that my tumors are shrinking. Yay! Praise God for His mercies!!!

Here's a photo tour of what I go through each chemo cycle or every 21 days. 

24 hours prior to chemo I have to get my blood drawn. Check out the bruise to the left. Been poked ufar too many times. 

Entering the chemo clinic at Kaiser. I always gets weighed in since the pharmacist needs to know my weight in order to prescribe the exact dose. 

The chemo drugs are hung on this contraption and given to me  intravenously. Luckily I have a port catheter in my chest so that I don't need to be pricked in the arm at every session. 

A view from my recliner. 

A happy patient. God is good! Check out my straight teeth and improved bite. Got my braces removed two weeks ago. Yay!