Happy & Gearing up for 5

On Friday I had my bloodwork done in anticipation of chemo treatment number five. Five has a good ring to it because then there are only three left to go of my total eight treatments (16 weeks). Dr. Anderson reports that I am still a bit anemic; but that since the next treatment will be with the new drug, Taxol, which is less likely to cause anemia, we can wait a bit to see if this improves. If it does not, a blood transfusion would be in order. So I am very hopeful that all will be well on this front.

The appointment was filled with good news, in my estimation. On physical exam, the tumor continues to appear to be shrinking. In a few weeks, a new breast MRI will be performed to confirm the size of the tumor and I'll meet with Dr. Elboim to discuss my surgery options so we will be ready to rock and roll with the surgery as soon as possible after the last chemo infusion. Dr. Anderson did caution me that sometimes even though it appears the tumors have lessened in size, the chemo might have attacked the cancer in a swiss-cheese-like fashion (his words), where it kills little pockets of cancer cells. If this is the case, then a mastectomy may still be in order because of the amount of breast tissue that would be removed during surgery. Time will tell on this, and I am not alarmed with this news. I am just glad that the chemotherapy is doing its job and starving the cancer cells. Die, cancer, die!!!

More good news is that many of the side effects I have been experiencing do not necessarily happen with Taxol. So hopefully there will be less fatigue, the rashes will subside, less pain in the hands and feet, etc. Although there may be some neuropathy in hands and feet with the Taxol. Dr. Anderson also indicated that if after the first Taxol treatment I do not have any allergic reactions, we may be able to cut the steroids in half which will help with my insomnia. Considering how anxious I have been that all those symptoms might continue to cover more days as the chemo compounds in my body, this was a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. I mean HUGE! So it was a great appointment!!! 

And this was our first early morning appointment so Mark and I had researched someplace to get breakfast afterwards. And.... we found our new favorite breakfast place in Santa Rosa. Dierk's Parkside Cafe on Santa Rosa Avenue. I had the warm poached egg salad, and Mark had Friday morning Joe's. Yum!!!

We returned home to find Miski walking around the lush green pasture with her brand new baby white cria hobbling around trying to keep up with her. He had just been born and was finding his legs. 

Miski X Memento Cria

My sweet sister-in-law, Marie, arrived about then and watched as we got the new mom and cria settled into their own pen for bonding, gave mom a ration of mineral pellets as a treat, dipped the cria's navel, and weighed the little guy. So our 2nd cria has arrived and one is yet to be born any day now.

Marie brought some yummy sandwiches and stayed to visit for a bit before buying some eggs and heading out. Then a couple of hours later, sister Nancy dropped by for a nice visit and to drop off some great reading material. Nancy is always very helpful with ideas on ways to sell farm product. She was so impressed with the quality and softness of the Basooka Bears that just arrived into inventory, that she took two with her to show the ladies at work (Santa Rosa Memorial Hospice) and see if she might sell a few. Go Nance!

That was our wonderful Friday. AND, did I say it was another glorious sunny Spring day! I was all smiles.

Hugs, Debbie... aka the cancer warrior; AND survivor 

LIVESTRONG: 

I AM STRONG. I AM LOVED. I AM HEALTHY. WE WILL WIN!

Things Are Looking Up :-)

Looking up ... AND, Looking GOOD ~

The Tumors Appear to be Shrinking!!!

Today, Friday, was one of those great days in my life right now. After taking care of things around the farm, we headed into Redwood Regional Cancer Center for my semi-weekly appointment to  do a blood draw and meet with the Doctor or NP. Today, Dr. Anderson is on vacation, so we will see the NP, Theresa.

Prior to the blood draw in the infusion center, the nurse noticed that the edges of my port incision looked a little "angry"; probably because the ends of the stitches were still hanging out. I told how we had tried to clip them, but they were just too short to get a hold of. She was able to get one side out, which was so good, since these had really been bothering me since the Port procedure. We will work on the other side on infusion day.

Then it was off to wait a bit to get the blood results back and see NP Theresa. The blood work is good to go for next transfusion - YEAH. I am a bit anemic, so we will be watching this as time progresses. But this changes nothing at the moment. Then we went over some of my questions and again the big "sleep" question. Theresa confirms that yes, the pre-meds are a steriod so hence the "amped up" feeling I get for several days after infusion. And chemo is putting my body through a lot so I need to do my best to find what works for me and then "roll with it", as Mark says. If I'm overly tired and fatigued, sleep whenever it hits me. If I'm not, make the best of the awake hours I have and then sleep when I can. I'm finding the Ambien helps me to get, at best, 5-6 hours of solid sleep, Which is about 2 more than I seem to get on my own. Theresa did write me a prescription for,  which my Pharmacist Niece Sharleen has suggested I give a try. So I will get that filled this weekend.

We talked about how now I probably have noticed a routine from chemo to chemo and can predict good and bad days. And that is so very true. So I can try to be proactive with my schedule and life, things I take and when, and then "roll with it".

But the great news is that at the end of the session Theresa did a physical exam. She estimates that the tumor area is down to about 3 cms, from the original size of 6 cm, which is what Dr. Anderson recorded on my first exam. WAHOO. 

That is so fabulous. All this crappy feeling is a good thing.

The chemo is blasting those cancer cells to smithereens and they are retreating and giving up the fight.  

I am a warrior, AND I WILL SURVIVE! 

So... this is not yet the end of the great day Friday was. Mark and I celebrated  this good news with a late lunch at Betty's Fish and Chips and brought home a little berry pie for tomorrow night. Then we headed home for a little nap. You see, I had planned a big date tonight with my dearest girlfriends from high school. Our plan was to meet at 6:30pm at London Lodge to do some catch up, hang out, laugh and have fun. And boy did we ever! It was so great to get together with Jerry, Gwenn, Jan, Jo, and Marian. But we missed Eileen too. We started at the Lodge and then headed over to Fig Cafe when we realized the lodge stopped serving food at 8pm. The laughter and silliness continued until 10:30pm, when I called for my car and my knight in shining armor Mark arrived to charriot me home the couple of miles from downtown Glen Ellen. Boy did we laugh and have fun. It was fabulous and hopefully we can do it again real soon.

Here's to more great days like today!!!

Hugs, Debbie... aka the cancer warrior; AND survivor 

LIVESTRONG: 

I AM STRONG. I AM LOVED. I AM HEALTHY. WE WILL WIN!

MRI Results

Yesterday was a mixture of happiness, healing, fun, and WORRY! After morning chores, I drove into Sonoma to spend the day with Sarah. We drove down to Sonoma Quilt, the new quilting store. It is fantastic. If you haven't been there, not only do they have loads of quilting supplies and patterns, but there is a huge selection of the most beautiful fabrics I have seen in a long time. I will surely be back when I feel I can take on a new craft.

I could say that Dr. Elboim saved me from spending money, but then I would have rather been shopping than to receive his call to share that my tumors (there are 3 for sure) are considerably larger than the mammogram or ultrasounds determined. Today's appointment with the oncologist will give me the opportunity to share more news in that regard.

After that call, Sarah and I walked into the Plaza for a lovely lunch at Basque Boulangerie where we talked and relaxed. Then Sarah and I browsed and shopped at Readers Books and returned to her house to knit for a bit before I returned home.

It was a very melancholy day.

Hugs, Debbie... aka the cancer warrior

LIVESTRONG:

I AM STRONG. I AM LOVED. I AM HEALTHY. WE WILL WIN!