At the ending of my hard chemo's I decided that I wanted to make and
take a chemo scarf to each of my remaining 11 herceptin chemo's. So far
I've been able to do that. This last chemo I took 7 scarves. With only 3
chemo appointments left I have changed my plan. I would now like to
take with me to my last appointment on March 20th one scarf for each
chemo treatment I received over the past year. That would be 17 scarves,
so here's where you come in! I'm looking to see if anyone want to
donate fabric to me, I need about 30 inches by 30 inches, and that'll
make 2 scarves. I am planning to buy some of this fabric myself so I can
find some cute fabric I think women would like. Do any of you sewing
friends have fabric laying around that would make a cute scarf for a
chemo patient? Let me know if you do and I'll come pick it up, unless
your one of my friends who lives out of state. :) This project is going to be so much fun and I look forward to working on it over the next 8 weeks!
In the beginning of all my treatments I was told that I would have 17
chemo treatments; 6 of them would be the hard chemo with herceptin and
the remaining 11 would be herceptin only treatments. Last Friday,
January 16th I had my 7th chemo that was herceptin only. My original
appointment was on January 12th, but because we started a new health
insurance program and didn't have our ID cards yet (or a member ID #), I
needed to cancel my chemo. Utah Cancer Specialist were excellent to
work with, once I had a member ID # they quickly got me preauthrized and
my chemo treatment re-scheduled. Because of the re-schedule I didn't
get to see my doc, instead I saw Rick. My weight today was 143.
Blood pressure was low, which is usual for me. My Dad was my chemo buddy
and was allowed to come back with me for my port access. He had brought
along his go-pro and camera and was able to video the port access. Up
until this point I wasn't able to have someone with me for the port
access (well, except for one other time!). I'm really glad to have a
video of this to remind me of what I had to go through on treatment
days. This may seem silly, but this whole cancer killing/fighting
process fascinates me, and it'll be nice to have these pictures and
videos (of the whole process, not just the port access). You know, just
in case I forget what it was like.
My blood work: White Blood count- 2.9, LOW!, normal is between 4.2-10.5 Red Blood Count- 4.03, LOW!, normal is between 4.04-5.48 HGB (Hemoglobin)- 11.9, LOW!, normal is between 12-16 HCT (Hematocrit)- 36, LOW!, normal is between 38-48 Platelets- 173 (this jumped from 135 at my last treatment!), normal is between 140-450 Neutrophils-
1.4, LOW!, normal is between 2.0-6.9 (over the past 4 months this
number has only increase by 1/10th of a percent. slow and steady and at
least on the rise)
Today we discussed with Rick my achy joints.
He said that this is most likely caused from going through this whole
treatment process. My body has been through a lot, from chemo's, surgery
and radiation. We aren't going to do anything to treat my symptoms,
other than exercise (which in my book means, stay active and don't sit
around). We talked about my foggy chemo brain and he said that it
usually takes about a year after treatments end to be back at 80% of
where I used to be. This wasn't what I wanted to hear, I get really
frusterated and discouraged because I don't feel normal. He also said I
may never be completely back to the way I was before. Double bummer,
lets hope that's not the case for me! Before chemo I loved being
involved with my kids schools and loved a good brain stimulating
challenge, but now I feel overwhelmed so easily. With radiation
complete now is the time I begin taking tomoxifen. We discussed possible
side effects, which would be hot flashes, leg cramps, and uterine
cancer. I will need to make sure I have my yearly girl visit to check
for any abnormalities, and for hot flashes I can take vitamin E pills.
Tomoxifen is a once a day pill and I will take it for 10 years. It used
to be something done only for 5 years, but they are seeing even better
results by extending it to 10 years. If I'm going to have side effects
he said I would notice them right away, and today I took my 5th pill and
so far no side effects.
With only 3 more treatments I scheduled
out my remaining appointments. Did you hear me?! I only have THREE more
treatments!! In about 9 weeks I'll be DONE with chemo treatments!! A
couple of nights before this last treatment I looking at my calendar
with Dave to see what the dates for the next 3 appointments would be,
and when I discovered the date of the final appointment I got emotional!
My final chemo date is March 20th, that is the day I was diagnosed last
year. How appropriate to be finishing on the exact same day! Typing
this in my journal makes me emotional still. The feeling I feel is one
of complete happiness; that I have been able to survive this whole
ordeal! To say I have been supported by all you wonderful friends and
family is an understatement, I feel like you have carried me more than
supported me through this. The greatest blessing that may come out of
this, besides my life, is the love and friendship that has been
strengthened with each one of you. Thank YOU!! So, with chemo coming
to an end I think a party is in order!! Here are my thoughts, I would
love for any of you that would like to be at the chemo center when I
ring the bell to be there! You wouldn't all be able to sit with my
during treatment, but you could be out in the waiting area and we'll
come get you to watch me ring the bell. Before I can do this I need to
check with the cancer center to see how big of a 'party group' they'll
let me have. :) I'm thinking of reserving my church later that day to
have a party! Do something pot luck style so you can come and enjoy
some goodies and stay and visit. My daughter Dallas said if we do this
she will have her friends help her decorate the gym. I'd love your
suggestions and ideas too! So start sending them to me!
Being diagnosed with cancer just before Easter meant that I didn't
get to do my usual chocolate dipped eggs. For those of you who know me,
you know that I LOVE dipping chocolates and especially Easter eggs! For
Christmas I dip chocolates for my family, it's a tradition that my
Grandma Baker started way back! Now that she is older and not doing any
candy making or chocolate dipping I have taken on the job of doing this
for all my siblings, their kids, my mom's parents and a few of my Dads
neighbors. This project is something that takes about 3 weeks. I got
started with the process on December 3rd following one of my radiation
appointments. It felt great standing over a hot stove taking in the
yummy smells of candy cooking on the stove. The first day I was able to
make all the caramel needed for turtles and homemade twix bites. The
following day I made a large batch of caramel. The plan was to spend the
following Saturday dipping with the help of my girls and Dave. Saturday
rolled around and after getting Bradley off to a cub scout activity we
began the long process of dipping. By the time Bradley was back from his
scout activity we were still up to our elbows in chocolate. Dave
decided to take the boys for a bike ride to keep them entertained (and
out of my hair) while the girls and I continued to dip. Following their
bike ride they returned home to get gear for the skate park. About an
hour after they had left to the skate park I reached a point in my
dipping where I needed to take a break to get the next batch of candies
ready for dipping. It was during this short break that I got a phone
call from Dave asking what hospital emergency room he could go to with
Bradley, whom he was sure had a broken leg. Being a Saturday our
insurance was closed so I did a quick search on the internet and told
him he could go to St. Marks. At this point I stopped getting ready for
the next batch of dipping and left in my own car to meet them at the
hospital. Dallas came with me so she could bring Colter home in my
vehicle. Bradley had an X-ray that confirmed he had a broken bone,
actually 2 broken bones. He broke both the Tibia and Fibula, and because
of the nature of the break the tendon at the top of foot stretched and
broke the bone on the top of his foot. With a break like this they
consulted with an orthopedic surgeon at Primary Childrens, and then
decided it was best that he be transported by ambulance to Primary
Childrens to be seen. The surgeon there wanted to be see him himself to
decide if Bradley would need surgery. Dave drove our car and rode with
Bradley in the ambulance.The ambulance ride was VERY bumpy, and after
almost being t-boned by another car we finally made it to Primary's.
They were quick to get us in a rooom, but the Dr. was slow to see us.
Turns out that because the weather had been so nice that day there were a
lot of broken bones and the only on-call orthopedic surgeon was busy
taking care of other ER patients. The nurses were good to take care of
Bradley while we waited. Sometime around 10-11pm the surgeon came in to
take care of Bradley. It was decided to do conscious sedation, set the
bones and put on a cast; no surgery. But because they were doing the
cast so soon after the injury and with his leg swollen he would need to
stay in the hospital to make sure he didn't get 'compartment syndrome',
which is the leg swelling inside the cast and causing too much pressure
resulting in insufficient blood supply to muscles and nerves. This would
require immediate surgery. By 2am he was taken to a hospital room and
at about that time I drove home to get some sleep. The following morning
I was awoken by a phone from Dave saying they were discharging Bradley
and to come and get them. Bradley came home with crutches and some
really good pain pills. He was pretty out of it for a couple days and
didn't move a whole lot. I was able to go pick up his wheelchair as this
was how he would be getting around for a while. 3 days after coming
home from the hospital we went back for a follow up visit and everything
looked good so they said he could go back to school. Our elementary
school was great about getting everything ready for him to come to
school in his wheelchair! Bradley was excited to go back, and truthfully
I think he was mostly excited to show off his new wheels. Bradley
during all of this was a really good sport! Dave and I took turns in the
morning getting Bradley to school. After school I picked him up; the
novelty of this was short lived for me as the school parking lot at the
end of the day being a nightmare! Bradley has since learned to get
around by scooting on around on his bum in the house. He hates using his
crutches and the wheelchair in our house doesn't work very well. 10
days after breaking his leg we took him back in to get a new cast, the
swelling had gone down so much he could wiggle his leg in his cast,
which was very painful and not good. His new cast was tighter and went
higher up his thigh and was VERY PINK! He loved his pink cast! 5 weeks
later (this past week) he was taken in for a shorter cast. His new cast
stops just below his knee and is bright hunters ORANGE! :) He has a shoe
he straps to his cast so he can walk on it. However he is very timid
and doesn't want to walk on it yet. He's afraid it's going to hurt and
his muscles are pretty weak. Dave and I keep encouraging him to try
walking oh his leg, hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon! Tomorrow
I'm sending him to school with only his crutches. Thank goodness for NO
snow, right?!
Many of you were so kind to Bradley and our family
during this whole nightmare! We are so grateful for the kindness shown
to us! We loved all the visitors, love notes and goodies! Thank you for
your love and prayers! Bradley still has a long road ahead of him but he
is expected to return to his normal self! Next month we go back to get
this cast off and then he'll wear a walking boot for about another
month. If all goes well it looks like he'll be cast and boot free by the
time I have my final chemo! Another reason to celebrate!!
Procrastinating my journal updates was not a good idea. While the reason
I put it off seemed logical, the amount of brain power to come up with
my original thoughts and feelings is going to be very difficult. I think
at best, I'll just be journaling what was going on this month. Any
random thoughts are a bonus. December 1st I had my final physical
therapy. I was able to get my full range of motion back! I loved my time
at physical therapy and loved meeting the people there. I was the
youngest person there during my appointment times, and most of the
others were there for knee or foot surgeries. There was one guy (can't
remember his name now, dangit!) that was there the same days and time I
was and we loved teasing each other about who got to use the equipment
first. As we got to visit more each time I came to learn he worked at a
gun range, so it was fun to talk about shooting 'big guns'. I remember
him thinking it was pretty humorous that I liked shooting guns, said I
didn't seem the type. Whatever that means! December 1st, again- I had
a radiation treatment followed by a herceptin chemo. Today my chemo
buddy was my friend Sarah and her cute little baby Theo. The radiation
appointment went pretty quick! I showed up 15 minutes early to get
dressed in my gown and once I was taken back to the radiation room it
was fast. Getting me set up on the table and all lined up took only a
few minutes and when the radiation started I was radiated in 5 different
places, each spot for only 5- 30 seconds. Once radiation was done we
moved over to the chemo side of the office. Sarah taught me some new
card games and Theo sat very content in his stroller for most of the
time. December 1st chemo stats- White blood count: 3.0 (normal is 4.2-10.5) Red blood count: 3.95 (normal is 4.04-5.48) HGB (Hemoglobin): 11.9 (normal is 12.0-16.0) HCT (Hematocrit): 35.6 (normal is 38-48) Platelets: 171 (normal is 140-450) Neutrophils: 1.2 (normal is 2.0-6.9)
