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

my longest hardest day yet

Get ready boys and girls... today is a doozy. And a long post too! But before we begin on one of the toughest days I've ever done, let's recap. Mon: Irritating Onc day where I was not told about suspicious fluid around lung/heart in time to get a biopsy & I got contradicting info from his NP the week before.  Tues: Spending the morning getting Immunotherapy and 2 Chemotherapies before going straight to the airport to fly to Houston and enduring long rental car lines and afternoon heavy traffic. A few more checks off this weeks list... a few more to go: Now back to my Wednesday... the Humpday I would like to forget! So, after 8 hours of cancer treatment, flying, and travel in congested Houston the day before, I didn't have much rest because we had to start Wednesday early. My husband and I decided to walk to the medical center since our hotel was close. However, it was not necessarily the easiest or closest walk - tons of traffic, intersections, and some strange indivi...
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

chemo. travel. fly. travel. stop.

QUICK RECAP Monday was a let's check in with Oncologist - only to get annoyed that I was not told about suspicious fluid around lung/heart found on 10/5 CT before now, the Onc said I could get a biopsy when his NP told me I couldn't the week before, and now it was probably too late get the biopsy since it may be gone because we waited too long. And my official check-in pre-visit appointment phone call with MD Anderson. My Checklist at the Start of Tuesday: Still a Lot to Do! TUESDAY Today is going to be a loooonnnggg day! I started with an early morning chemotherapy time, getting to the facility while it was still dark outside, around 6:35am... It was weirdly silent... I was the only one in the building (except for a security guard) for a bit. I was actually concerned that my 6:45/7am scheduled time for chemotherapy was incorrect and just randomly sitting at the cancer center.  I was even there before the front desk check-in staff arrived. Normally, the place is packed. So, wh...
Post a Comment
Read more