Halfway There

I am halfway done the radiation treatments. They have been scheduling me late on Monday and early on Friday so that I can spend more time at home. By 8:30 this morning I was all done my treatment and was on the road. Today they did the verification again to make sure that everything is still lined up right. So far the only side effect I have is the tight skin and muscle. When I saw the doctor on Wednesday he said that should go away gradually after I was all done the treatment. I do my stretching exercises faithfully every day and it just seemed like I regressed overnight.

On Wednesday I had my third Herceptin injection. It does make me a little tired – I had to have a nap that day and again today when I got home. It also gives me a sore mouth but nothing like I had with the chemo drugs. This is just a bit like when you burn your tongue – it feels a little uncomfortable but I can still eat everything.

The Tamoxifen is an anti estrogen and it is giving me hot flashes really bad! I spend half the night sweating and the other half shivering. This disrupted sleep may also be why I am so tired in the daytime!

So far 5 of my fingernails have come off completely. The new nails are grown up about ¾ of the way but they are not coming in very nice. The other ¼ starts out as a very thin layer of nail but it becomes brittle and breaks off in little chunks. They are quite tender and catch on everything. Last week I had the bright idea to try gel nails. My dear niece put them on for me. Even though I still can’t use them for a lot of things, it is such a relief to have the covering on them. It makes the simplest things like washing and drying my hands so much easier. For some reason my right thumb nail won’t stay on. It came off the first day and she kindly re-did that one. Well the second time it came off even faster. (It isn’t completely off, just cracked and I have to keep a Band-Aid on it.) Hopefully when I get to see her next week my nail will have grown that much longer and it will have enough to hold the gel in place. My hair is starting to fill in but it seems to be taking forever to grow!

I am really happy to be sleeping in my own bed for the next 4 nights!

Radiation

Well first of all the biopsy came back clean so I was able to start the radiation this week. That was a real relief for me! I had to go in on Tuesday for my verification. This is where they check the positions to make sure that everything is lined up and they go through the motions of what will happen without using the radiation beams. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I had my first treatments. All the staff in there are amazing and it is a piece of cake really. You just lay there with your arms above your head holding onto some bars and the machines are rotating and whirring all around you. It takes about 10 minutes and you feel nothing. The hardest part is lying completely still on that hard surface. My back is really sore these days and I am not sure if I can take my anti inflammatory pills for that. I guess I will have to ask the doctor or pharmacy if I think of it next time I’m there.

Now I just have 22 more treatments to go. I should be done on September 23. This is probably the worst time for me to be away as everything in my garden is really producing right now.

I also had another bone scan on Tuesday. I don’t have the results yet but the technician did show me the pictures and everything looked the same as the first ones so I think that is also fine.

Vince had his lasik eye surgery on Wednesday and everything seems to be fine there as well. His vision improves every day.

Mammogram and Ultrasound

I had to be at the clinic at 8:30 a.m. and I wasn’t allowed to have anything to eat or drink for 8 to 10 hours before. I got in right away for the abdominal scan and then pretty quickly for the mammogram. Mammograms are awful enough at the best of times but I just had the biopsy two days before that. I told the girl to be gentle with me and she was really good. Unfortunately the radiologist thought he needed more pictures so she had to do it a second time. Then she was having some problems with her films and I ended up getting squashed a total of seven times on the second go around. After that I waited a long time before they finally took me in to do the ultrasound. As soon as she was done the radiologist came in to give me my results. It looks like it is just cysts and calcium deposits. He said it is nothing to worry about unless the biopsy comes back with something as the mammogram doesn’t always show everything. By this time it was 11:30 and I was almost ready to eat my hand. I had made arrangements to meet Val for lunch just two blocks away at Moxies. We had a nice visit and a great lunch.
Now I am just waiting to talk to Dr H on Monday with the biopsy results so I am still not 100% sure but I'm feeling pretty relieved anyway.

New Developments

I did go in on August 5 to get set up for the radiation. It took about 45 minutes all together. It was kind of a waste of the 6 hour round trip to the city for me. They just got me lined up on the machine. I had to lay on my back with my arms grabbing a bar behind my head. There is a place for my elbows to rest on. They gave me two little tattoos that look like little pen marks and that was about it.

I went into the city again yesterday to see the oncologist and today I got my second shot of Herceptin. Last week I happened to find a lump in the other breast so I showed that to Dr. A. He said that it would be very rare for the cancer to come back during treatment but until we know for sure we have to treat it like it has. He sent me for a chest X-ray and was going to set up a mammogram etc. He called me a few hours later and said that he had already spoken to Dr H (my surgeon) and that I was to meet him at the hospital at 9 this morning. It was great of him to fit me in between his surgeries. He did the core needle biopsy and marked it urgent and he asked me to let him know if Dr. A was setting up the mammogram etc because he didn’t want to duplicate anything but definitely wanted to get this done as soon as possible. If there is something there, they will postpone my radiation treatments.

While I was getting the Herceptin the receptionist brought me my appointment schedule. I have to go back in on Friday morning for the abdominal scan (to make sure my liver etc are still clear) and then I will have another mammogram and ultrasound. I still have to go back in on Monday for another bone scan. She tried really hard to get these all on the same day but I am just feeling lucky that she got me in at all on such short notice.

I will be going into the city from Monday to Thursday anyway next week since Vince is getting his lasik surgery. Hopefully this will all turn out to be nothing and I will also get my radiation treatments as planned.

Radiation Consultation

I am on Day 9 and still no ill effects from the Herceptin. It kind of wreaked havoc with my bowels for about a week but that is all. The evil Taxotere is still rearing its ugly head though. I still have a bitter after taste when I eat certain things, especially sweets. My face is still sensitive and my energy isn’t back completely. The worst of it is that I seem to be losing my fingernails. Some of them (especially the thumbs and index fingers) are barely hanging on. I went for a manicure the other day because I couldn’t stand looking at them anymore. They were so dirty looking and I couldn’t get them clean. She covered them up with some nice nail polish so they look good now but they really hurt today and I keep bumping them. It won’t take much to rip them off so I am trying to be so careful but you know how that goes. There will be some very colorful language when it happens because it already is like that when I bump them – it just hurts sooo much! I just need to keep them for a couple of months since the new ones are only coming up about ¼ of an inch. (Yeah right - like that is going to happen!)

My hair is growing! It is so wispy and fine that I can't even really see it unless I turn my head this way and that to catch the light but it's there!

I saw the radiation oncologist on Thursday. (Dr. V) He is very nice, compassionate and easy to talk to. He took the time to ask about our family and what they are doing. He asked where we are from and asked questions about Nipawin. He examined me to make sure that I have enough movement in my arm to be able to lay in the proper position during the radiation treatment. I was all set and ready to get my tattoos and prepped for radiation but this was just a consult to explain it to me and see if I was willing to go through with it. Now I have to go back next Wed for all of that. My appointment is at 2:30 so I can just go in for the day for a change. They said I will likely start on Aug 17 and go for 5 weeks Monday to Fri.

Starting Tamoxifen and Herceptin

I am still feeling the effects of the chemo. This time it took the full three weeks before I could eat much of anything that tasted like it should. There are still some things that leave a bitter after taste. My fingernails are a real mess. They are yellow and curled and look like I am a smoker (which I am not). Some of them are coming unglued from the nail bed. (These are real fingernails not the fake kind). They are very uneven where they attach to my fingers so they are really hard to clean in spite of my best efforts. My eyes still water sometimes but other than that I am pretty much back to normal. (Oh yeah still no hair or eyelashes….)

I saw the oncologist on Tuesday. He gave me a prescription for Tamoxifen which I will be taking for the next 5 years. They give me 6 months at a time. It is one tablet a day and if I pick it up from the cancer clinic I don’t have to pay for them. They will even mail it out for me if I won’t be in the city. He said my heart scan was normal so Wednesday I would be starting the Herceptin. He assured me that it would not be as bad for me as the last 4 months were. I may get a headache or some achy bones until my body adjusts to it but that’s all. I was still nervous when I went in there for the injection on Wednesday. The nurse also said this wouldn’t be so bad. I told her I read some scary stuff on the internet and she said I shouldn’t read the stuff on there. They started me off with a loading dose (which is bigger than I will usually get). That took 1 ½ hours but from now on it is supposed to take only ½ hour. I didn’t have any ill effects while getting it and as of day 3 I haven’t really had any since then yet either. Also no side effects from the Tamoxifen so far. The doctor wants to see me in 3 weeks so I will get my next dose in the city. After that I should be able to get every other one in Nipawin.

The Last One!

I guess I should update everybody on my status. I did have my last chemo treatment on June 30 – a day early because of Canada Day. Again I felt pretty good that day. The Pharmacist said I should take the Benedryl – 2 tablets 4 times a day for a week and that it might make me drowsy. Oh yeah it made me drowsy all right! I slept for 20 -22 hours a day for the next 4 days! I would wake up for the bathroom or to eat a little bit and then I would be back down for a few hours. I couldn’t sit up for more than 10 minutes at a time. Everything hurt. I also started taking the antibiotics he gave me on day 3 and that just upset my stomach so much that I stopped on Saturday. I just couldn’t face taking any more pills. It took me a full day to wake up so Sunday I was finally able to stay awake for most of the day. All that Benedryl (I only lasted 3 days on it) did stop my face from getting the sunburn look although it does still feel a little sensitive. My mouth didn’t get the scalded feeling so far but it is still coated in a white film and nothing tastes or feels like it should. I am really hungry but can’t find anything to eat. Even the savory things taste bitter or have no taste at all and unless it is something very soft and moist it feels like chewing on sawdust. I’m planning all the things I am going to eat in a week or two. Mmmmm Steak, Greek Ribs, BBQ Burgers, Potato Salad, Lettuce Salad from my garden and my new potatoes should be ready by then too!

Another new side effect is that my fingernails are curling. They are turning a yellow orange color and are curving down on the ends. You know this stuff is potent when it can curl your fingernails!

Roxanne was home for 2 days. I didn’t see much of her since I was always sleeping but she did help me out a lot with cooking and cleaning.

I will see the oncologist on July 21 and will probably start the Herceptin the next day. I am hoping and praying that I don’t have any side effects from that. I couldn’t possibly face a whole year of that! July 30 I will see the Radiation Oncologist so I will probably be starting radiation some time in August.