Halfway There!

I had my forth (and final!) Adriamycin/Cytoxan chemo treatment last Wednesday, and can now officially say that I'm halfway through chemo!  The second half of my chemo treatments consist of a dose-dense regime of Taxol that will be given every two weeks. As long as my body can handle the dose-dense version (instead of the regular version that would be given every week for twelve weeks) I can count down my four remaining treatments...then recovery time...then surgery to get this cancer out of me!  I'm taking it day-by-day though, and I'm trying to focus on getting over this last round of A/C.

Brad's parents came Tuesday afternoon and watched the kids overnight for us again.  Brad and I headed to the cities, ran a couple of errands, and enjoyed a late supper at Chipotle (I swear, I'm going on more dinner dates with my hubby now than I have in the last 8 1/2 years combined!)  We stayed overnight at my grandparents' house and arrived for my morning lab appointment at Minnesota Oncology without any delays.  My labs didn't go quite as smoothly this time, although my numbers were fine.  The lab tech had a really hard time getting the blood to come out into the vial (they do a hand draw in the opposite hand of chemotherapy), so she and another tech had to do a lot of maneuvering of the inserted needle in my vein, which was a bit painful.  They eventually got it to work, the three vials were filled, and Brad and I were sent into our appointment with my Oncologist, Dr. Zander.

My physical exam with Dr. Zander revealed excellent news: the cancerous nodes in my armpit are back to normal size, and the lump in my breast has shrunk from 6 cm to 3-4 cm.  Hooray!!  This nasty/wonderful chemotherapy is working its magic!

Brad's sister, Jill, brought us lunch while we were waiting for my chemotherapy appointment (thanks, Jill!) and my dad and his co-worker (one of my "cancer mentors") Sandy, showed up as a surprise, bearing flowers and hugs to celebrate my last A/C treatment.  The treatment itself went well...we had another wonderful nurse and I didn't get sick (my qualifications for going "well.")  It's continually amazing to me how different everyone's cancer and response to chemotherapy is.  I spoke with the girl next to me for awhile (and we shared popsicles during the Adriamycin injection!) and her only reaction to the AC was being a little more tired and her tongue feeling weird.  She was also 30 weeks pregnant and the mother of four already, so I was happy to hear that she wasn't being hit too hard...and I'd gladly take on more symptoms for her and the babe if I could...so extra prayers for her too, please.

After chemo, we headed home.  Brads parents stayed through dinner and then my mom came out to stay with us for a day until Jill, Chuck and the kids arrived on Thursday evening.  I can't thank Brad and our families enough for the support they've  been showing me/us.  They all pick up the slack around here as I'm becoming more and more affected by the chemotherapy.  I don't know what I'd do without you all.

How I'm Doing:
I'd be flat out lying to say I'm fine (and I don't want to flat-out lie....fib, maybe, but not flat-out lie!)  I will not sit here and complain about how I'm feeling, as all this yucky stuff only means that everything is happening in my body as it should, but each round of chemotherapy is taking more and more out of me.  The previous round only left me with a handful of days where I felt like myself at 100%, but I'm usually up and around, doing my normal things after about a week.  Nausea and digestive issues remain my largest problem, as well as various other smaller symptoms...but hopefully those will go away with my AC being completed.  I've been getting some good rest, which definitely helps.  And having the kids to chase after (as exhausting as it is sometimes) is a blessing, because it keeps me focused on them, and not myself.

Where We Go From Here:
My four rounds of Taxol start next Wednesday, and the symptoms of that change from what I've been experiencing.  Nausea should hopefully not be a side-effect.  Taxol is known to cause body pain (muscles, bones, joints, etc.) as well as the lovely digestive issues and exhaustion that accompany most chemotherapies.  I'm interested to see how Taxol affects me.

My Family:
All is well on the home front.  Brad, the kids, and our families have been so accommodating in not expecting too much from me while I'm having my bad weeks, which I truly appreciate.  I haven't been doing as much with the kids (projects, outside playtimes, playdates, etc.) but they've been taking it in stride.  My favorite funny times come from them:  Megan jumping on me to protect me from Brad when we're wrestling (obviously, during my good week), squealing, "Be gentle with mommy!  She has cancer!", Brendan begging to watch me give my Neulasta shot and then, as I'm ready to plunge the needle in, covering his eyes, jumping up and down, yelping, "I can't watch!  I can't watch!" and Brendan sweetly snuggling up to me only to try to pluck the stray hairs out of my scalp.  I've been so relieved that, besides talking about cancer a little more than an unaffected family would, cancer seems to be one of the least defining aspects of our daily life.  And that makes me so unbelievably happy.

And You:
Thank you for reading these, for your comments, for caring.  I am so blessed by you all.  And I love you all.  Thank you for your support.

The Future:
Looks Beautiful.