Chemo #4, Now We Wait.....

My medical team plan is for me to have four chemo treatments, wait two weeks for optimal results as far as another blast to those damn cancer cells from chemo #4, then have a PET scan (April 2) which will show where and if the  cancer has spread, or optimally, how much the tumors have shrunk. I have heard that some people's tumors disappeared and they couldn't find them on the scan! I have two titanium markers in my left breast to mark my main tumor, so the location will be pinpointed should it have disappeared. I'm not expecting it to disappear, it was quite large. I still have disfiguration on the breast, you can still tell something is wrong, it's off kilter in size and appearance, but the swelling is way down and that's a good sign. 

I wish I had a picture of the first pet scan. The scan of my body was lit up like a Christmas tree. (That's not good. You don't want to be lit, haha.) The tumor filled the whole breast and the one in the axilla (armpit) nodes was quite pronounced as well.

Four days before chemo #4, I woke up in the morning and had very sharp off and on pains in the area of my port. I was so uncomfortable I cancelled my PM sub job. Then I called the doctor's office. By the time they called me back about a half hour later, the pains had totally quit! They just said if they come back, go right to the hospital and get it checked out. The entire rest of the day, I was fine. Nobody really knows what caused that. Guess it's just part of mysterious pains that come and go all over my body. That's been happening for weeks.

Wel-l-l-l-l...On Monday, I woke up and my right leg (the side the port is on) was quite swollen.. I had also been dealing with an ingrown toenail infection that was getting much worse. Swollen leg is not good, blood clots are common with chemo, they say, and this could be a blood clot. Oncology says any infection needs to be watched carefully. A trip to the hospital was needed to check out the swollen leg and the toe. Six hours later, after heading to the Elkhart Hospital emergency room, an ultrasound was done to the toe to see if it needed to be lanced (OUCH!) which it didn't, the swollen leg was cleared of any blood clots (WHEW!) and the reason for the swelling was undetermined "cellulitis". The doctor was VERY concerned about the infected toe. Chemo pretty much blocks the effectiveness of the antibiotic. He was going to delay my chemo, but I talked him into letting me have my 4th session. I want to get through this and keep on schedule! He relented and said he'd make an exception, and told me to watch it and take the antibiotics anyway. I also received honkin' big potassium pills given for a potassium deficiency revealed in blood work that was to check for infection. He said there is a sign of infection in the bloodwork because of the toe, but it's the "first line" of defense, so not too bad. In reference to my breast cancer treatment, I am on the first line of defense of treatment. If this doesn't work, there are options two and possibly three, just not as good ones if the first one doesn't kick this cancer's ass. You can tell I'm getting some of my spunk back, lol.

I went for chemo treatment #4 on March 11th. It was uneventful. I had a visit from the nurse navigator checking in with me, and I had a genetics appointment to have blood drawn. There are two parts to the genetic testing. The first part was to test the tumor to find out what treatment will target the cancer the best. This was done way back in December. The second portion of the genetics testing is to test my genes for finding out whether this is hereditary or due to other factors, and for me to fill out a family history form. If it's other factors than genetics, it's a guessing game as to what they are. But the medical genetic testing is very precise. They test over 70 genes for different types of cancers. It will tell me what side of the family the cancer is on if I did inherit this, and it will tell me possible screenings I should be thinking about doing or getting them done if I have not. Another piece of the "why did I get cancer?" puzzle, or I will still be in the dark?

I asked the doctor and the nurses about the port area pain. Since it went away so quickly, they thought maybe muscle pain and after I told them I had been rowing at the "Y" occasionally, they told me to cut back on that....darn. I love rowing...just have to take it more easy with the "push and pull" movements, maybe more walking on the treadmill. Warmer temperatures are coming...75 on Friday! Maybe I will get my bike out and possibly go ride my favorite trail, the Pumpkinvine! 

I worked a day after treatment, a special ed/reading intervention teacher post and loved it. Then the SECOND day after treatment, I got slammed with fatigue. I slept off and on all morning, and then got up and felt like a different person. Still tired, but not the fatigue bone tired. I see now why those terms are used! Tired, you take a little nap. Fatigued, you are back in bed sleeping for several hours! Haha...The fatigue kept hitting me all weekend-HARD. I was so weak, I could hardly stand on two legs. They felt like rubber bands. Lots and lots of naps, that was all I could manage to do. The fatigue persisted through the weekend and into Tuesday....That has been common so far through treatments, feeling pretty good a day or two after chemo, then days 3-6 awful! This time it's different, almost two weeks later and my legs still feel like rubber bands. Called the doctor and hopefully will be getting an IV boost in the next day or so. Positives? Very few mouth sores! Hooray! No bad bloody noses or clots, hooray! Instead, I have major skin issues this time around. So many little open sores, skin rashes and other concerning issues, I'm headed to the dermatologist to. make sure there are no other underlying skin issues that would be causing this. The results of that visit were that my body is simply mounting an anti-inflammatory response to all the chemo. I was given an RX to use on my skin. so many prescriptions! Sure hoping I get a break soon from any more chemotherapy and medications. I'm hoping that my sense of taste improves as well if I do get a break from chemo. Everything still tastes like cardboard after four months...ugh.

Keeping busy at home with more craft projects to finish up....this is going to be a bee themed table runner.

Still working on my blocks for a folk art quilt as well. Starting block #5 out of nine.

And with that...I hope there is a light at the end of the tunnel coming soon.  I feel I have been in this tunnel for some time!