Skip to main content

The beginning of the end... of chemo

XLV - It's the final countdown...


Taxotere #10


Up and at it again!!! As usual, I did my port preparation and headed out the door for the last of my Taxotere (3 to go) as well as a scheduled doctor's visit. Since I was having a meeting with the Oncologist my husband decided to go along to help remember all the "next steps" we were going to have to do. We have been so wrapped up in chemo treatments that we really have no idea about what is next...



Only 3 more to go...


The doctor's visit was full of questions and answers (or the beginning of more questions). Essentially, the conversation led the the following conclusions: I have three more treatments of chemotherapy left. I will need to schedule a new appointment with my breast surgeon at a time shortly after my last treatment. My surgery (lumpectomy or mastectomy) will be done around 1 month after my last chemotherapy visit. A lumpectomy and mastectomy are statistically as effective and have similar survival rates, so both are fine option in my case.

If I choose the lumpectomy (which I am leaning towards), I will begin radiation around 1 month after surgery. Radiation will be every day M-F for 7 weeks of treatment. I was scheduled an appointment with a Radiation Oncologist so I could learn more about that process. After radiation, I will start a daily hormone suppression pill that will last for 5 years. I would be basically under the Oncologist's care for 10 years! 10 years - that's longer than some relationships. I told him, I was not sure I wanted to know him that well!!!

Another important discussion was my port. While he did not want to discuss taking the port out as of now, he did remind me that after treatment the port must be flushed (basically a needle poked in and saline to clean it) at least every 2 months or it will clog. So, between 6-8 weeks I will need to go in and get the port cleared! I can't escape the needle!!!


 
My chemo buddy today... my hubby!


So after an earful of information, we headed out to scheduling and then to treatment. I got piled full of warm blankets, drank a bit of water, and got my chemo groove on. Of course, I had compiling side effects and adding new one's into the mix. I have constant crying/running eyes. Nothing like walking around with eyes that teared uncontrollably. Also, my heart rate was running high (above 100, even at rest). It was crazy high when I was at all active. As well as more swelling in my feet and darkening veins. Oh, and my fingers were getting more numb and the area under the nails were turning red... along with the hundreds of other side effects. Who knows what the last three treatments will bring?!?!


In my head...


Only 3 more weeks of side effects!

I think it is pretty apparent... I am all about only three more treatments to go before I wrap up my chemotherapy journey. While I know what to expect, I still have a to prepare myself for all that each visit entails! I still have a tiny sense of dread before going in and coming out of each treatment. I know what I am in for when I walk into the treatment facility and I know that I have no idea what I am in for when I leave the treatment facility. Either way, I am so close to the end... well, of at least one part of my cancer treatment!!!


“The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, 
and not upon our circumstances.”


- Martha Washington



Episode Reference: The Final Countdown, song by Europe
(I can't believe I linked to that... but I did)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

giving your 16 year old scissors

New Traditions Losing my hair - it's going to happen. When I did this in 2013, I waited to cut my hair once I was further in treatment. I didn't want to do that again. I didn't want to do it while I felt sore and bad. This time, I wanted to get rid of my hair before treatment.  Since I will have now done this more than once, it can be considered a tradition: cancer haircuts by my kids . Last time I did this, the kids were 6 and 13. So, this time around my son (23) opted not to cut, but watched some.   However, my 16 year old daughter leapt at the opportunity to cut my hair. Even though 10 years have gone by, she had to adhere to a few basic rules. Basic Rules: 1. Do not cut my ears. 2. Do not cut your own hair. 3. Do not cut anyone else's hair. These rules still hold up and are the general agreement we make before I put scissors in my kid's hands to chop on my hair!  And the tradition isn't the same without going outside (weather permitting) and listening to our
Post a Comment
Read more

happy birthday to me... almost

  Let's rewind a bit and start a few days before my birthday... I had my first cancer treatment day on October 3rd - check it out if you haven't read that blog post yet. Let's just think of it as an early birthday gift since my birthday is October 7th. Great gift, right?!? If I have to hear "Happy Early" or "Late Birthday" from another medical person, I might have to smack someone. Especially, since I have spent most of the weeks leading up to and after my birthday at a medical appointment regarding cancer. Not really loving my birthday this year. Let's just say, on my birthday, I woke up with a special chemo-side-effect-surprise at 2am. That fun surprise I will share later... Rewind a Few Days... Update But first, let's go to October 4th, the day after my grueling 8 hours of immunotherapy and two chemotherapies on the 3rd. I woke up swollen, red faced, and fevering, as well as feeling pretty crummy. I didn't have time to dwell on it since I
Post a Comment
Read more

More biopsies... where? down there?

Cancer survivors are always wondering and waiting to see if something is going to happen, so it is only natural to worry when something is "off". Then when something turns out to be abnormal more testing and follow-ups are needed. It seems like a continual wave of worries. Sometimes our worries turn out to be issues. Sometimes our worries turn out to be nothing. Either way, we are going to worry... it's just an issue of determining how much and when we should really worry. Finding out my endometrium lining was so thick meant I needed to get a biopsy. What's an Endometrial Biopsy? An endometrial biopsy is a medical procedure in which a small piece of tissue from the lining of the uterus (the endometrium) is removed for examination under a microscope. The removed tissue is examined for cancer or any other cell abnormalities.  Lucky me. Right?  Now I get to go back the GYN only a few days after my initial exa
1 comment
Read more