Rain, Rain, Go Away!!

It's been rainy and ugly out for days....I felt bad that the last couple of days Van was here it was wet and dreary. She traveled back to Pennsylvania yesterday morning, safe and sound. It was great to have to her here, but I was worried she was bored!

I've been kinda tired all week, plus the stomach is churning a lot. I saw the doc yesterday for a follow up to my first Taxotere treatment. Everything is going fairly well and I can take over-the-counter meds for the annoying things. My bloodwork is good.

Now I'm waiting for Tropical Storm Noel to make a move so the sun can return again!

Sandpiper, New Smyrna Beach

New Smyrna Beach

Bethune Beach, New Smyrna

Making Strides

Today Van and I got up at 6:00 am (ugh) for the Making Strides walk in Daytona Beach. It was raining and muggy, but thankfully it stopped raining for the walk. Even though the temperature was in the low seventies when we started walking at 9:00 am, it was still pretty muggy. I was able to complete the 3k walk (as was Van, but she's a seasoned walker) and not feel too bad, just a little tired. Took a nap in the afternoon. And it's raining again.

I keep getting this periodic flushing in my face and I wonder if it's from the Taxotere. It passes quickly and my temp is fine, so I'll call the office on Monday and mention it to them.

Doing okay for Day 3

I'm surprised....I'm not nearly as washed out today (Day 3) than I have been in the past. This could be due to taking Taxotere instead of Adriamycin (the red devil), drinking more water this time, walking everyday, or more likely a combination of all three. I'll take it!

Laying low today.....don't want to push it. Hope you all have a great weekend! Love ya.

Change in Plans!

WARNING: Looooong post!

I know I didn't post this here before, but some of you already know that my medical oncologist resigned as director of the FL Cancer Institute. She is a fantastic doctor and her specialty was breast cancer. She will more than likely be teaching at the University of Central Florida's new medical school and will continue doing research. I saw Dr. Moroose for the last time at my early October treatment. I told her I was sad for her to leave but was glad she was staying in the field. Today I had my first appointment with one of her colleagues. I requested him after talking with different nurses and staff. He seems to be very knowledgeable, is easy to talk to and was willing to answer my many questions. :)

A couple of weeks ago a new study was published regarding Taxol, which was to be the poison for my next (and last) 4 treatments. The study re-examined data to determine its effectiveness for HER2 positive breast cancers. HER2 positive means that there is an over expression of the protein HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor-2) due to a gene mutation, which means a more aggressive cancer. Mine was HER2 negative. In addition, mine was estrogen and progesterone positive, which means the cancer feeds off those two hormones, but responds well to hormone therapy (e.g., Tamoxifen). What was discovered in this study was that ER & PR positive/HER2 negative breast cancers do not seem to benefit much from Taxol. The good news for HER2 positive patients is that Taxol seems to work very well against that type of BC. Soooo, (I hope I'm explaining this well), my new doctor suggested we ditch the Taxol and move to Taxotere immediately and keep using Cytoxan. Taxotere is less toxic (a lesser poison?) than Adriamycin and doesn't come with the risk of heart damage like Adriamycin does. With the Taxotere/Cytoxan combo we can reduce the total from 8 treatments to 6. He said this will probably be the protocol for my type of cancer in the future. I decided to go with his plan. I asked him if he felt Dr. Moroose would make the same changes and he said yes. I would feel much more comfortable if Dr. Moroose made these suggestions, but that's not possible. I hope I made the right decision! It comes down to this:

3 Adriamycin/Cytoxan - finished
3 Taxotere/Cytoxan - 1 down, 2 to go

Radiation and Tamoxifen (or something like it) to follow.

Anyway, it turned out to be a long day at the Chemo Cafe. New orders to be written, dosages to be determined, etc. Via IV I received Tagament, Benedryl (nice nap in the chair from that!), Decodran (steroid), Venofer (iron), Taxotere, then finally Cytoxan. Tomorrow I go back for the Neulasta injection and fluids. Fascinating, huh? I can guarantee you that you leave the office with your head spinning from all the info to absorb! I have mixed feelings this evening...happy my number of chemo treatments have gone from 8 to 6, but I feel a little apprehensive wondering if I made the right decision. Rats, where's the master plan?? Hmm, I must've misplaced it. ;)

Keep praying kiddies!

Round Four, On Deck

Tomorrow is my last A/C infusion---yay! And I will officially be at the halfway point of chemo treatments. Another yay.

I've been having a good time while Van's been here. Joe, Linda, Angela, Elizabeth, Van and I went to brunch on Sunday. Yesterday Joyce, Van and I spent some time at New Smyrna Beach-- very nice day. We had a late lunch at a seafood joint nearby. I had fresh blackened grouper...yum. Today Van and I went to Bethune Beach in New Smyrna to watch the shuttle launch. I would've preferred to be much closer....we were probably still 25 miles or more from Cape Canaveral, but it was still way cool and better than watching a little dot in the sky from my backyard. It was much hotter today than yesterday. Both days my beach umbrella kept getting uprooted every time a nice gust blew by. Guess I need what's called a "sand-grabber" which is a type of anchor for such things as this. Oh, and get this, my cap AND my bandanna flew off my head today at the beach. How cute.....NOT!!

I'll do my best to post tomorrow afternoon or evening.

P.S. I am mad at the Steelers for that performance in Denver on Sunday. Grrr.

Late night!

Van's flight was delayed leaving Pittsburgh yesterday afternoon. It was scheduled to leave at 6:44 p.m. but ended up leaving at 8:42. The flight got in about 11:25 p.m. Yikes. She sat at the Pgh airport for hours. I had the luxury of checking the flight status online, so I got to the airport around 10:00 p.m. and read my book while waiting. Neither of us slept well last night and my back is REALLY bothering me. I'm wondering if the pain is from the Neulasta shot. I'll ask the doc next week because it's really annoying.

Yesterday Linda came over and we cleaned. I tried to do a few things in the backyard and once again got bit by a fire ant. Those tiny things really pack a pain wallop. Think I'd learned not to go back out there without socks and tennis shoes, huh? I think I've finally learned my lesson. In the afternoon I gave the dogs a bath then spritzed them with some Chanel No. 5. They smell so pretty, lol!

It's raining and humid right now. We're going to go to Macy's to take advantage of a few sales, but other than that, I think we'll take it easy today. This weekend is Biketoberfest in Daytona, so I think we'll avoid the beach this weekend and go Monday instead. Have a great weekend everyone!

Lab work

Red blood count up ever so slighty, white count good. I've been trying to eat more iron-rich foods, but I don't know if that helped the RBC or not.

Took the girls for a walk this afternoon and we were all tired afterwards. It's still so hot! I'm waiting patiently for cooler weather. :)

Company's coming!

I've been feeling pretty good these last few days. I didn't go for a walk yesterday because my muscles have been screaming. I also have been doing some exercises to strengthen my lower back. Gosh, I had no idea I was THAT out of shape! I can't EVER let that happen again. Sheesh.

My sister Van is coming for a visit tomorrow. She'll stay for about 10 days. There's a million fun things I'd like to do while she's here, but we'll probably have to cram in what we can before my next chemo on Wed. the 24th. I know we'll hit the beach at least once while she's here....maybe New Smyrna Beach. We're planning on walking in the American Cancer Society's "Making Strides" walk in Daytona Beach on the 28th, but we'll have to see how I feel. I have been walking not only to increase stamina, but also because I want to do this walk!

I'm doing more freelance writing-- YAY. Good thing, because when I'm feeling good I start to get really bored. This afternoon is weekly blood work. I hope my RBC is up a little bit. I'll report back later.

Look Good, Feel Better

This evening I went to "Look Good, Feel Better" at Florida Hospital. The American Cancer Society uses volunteer cosmetologists and makeup from leading manufacturers to show women how to apply makeup when a) you've lost your hair and feel icky about it, b) feel icky in general from the treatment and c) show you how to use makeup to disguise the fact that you've lost your eyebrows and eyelashes. I haven't lost eyebrows or eyelashes YET. It was a fun thing to do and it's nice to socialize with other women going through chemo or radiation. And I came home with a goody bag full of makeup....some things I'll use and some things I'll give away (like the blue eyeshadow trio).

I did some yard work out back today and stepped into some weeds harboring some fire ants. OUCH! Just what I need. I'm going to have to be dressed from top to bottom if I continue to work outside. I can't risk getting an infection. So much fun!

Yard work

Linda came over today and trimmed my oak tree out front (and by trimming, I don't mean like Christmas). That thing has grown all over the place. We did some cleaning and I trimmed some of the monstrous hedges in my backyard (again, not like Christmas). My back was sore this afternoon, but it's feeling better after a shower and a menthol heating pad. It's taking so long to get some of these muscles moving that I can't let them get lazy again! Breast cancer aside, I know some of this is from just getting OLDER. Ugh. By the way, the temp is still in the mid-eighties, but the humidity is so low that it actually doesn't feel so hot. That cold front went AWOL.

Bye week for the Steelers, so here's hoping that Troy, Hines and Casey are healthy and active again for next Sunday's night game against the Broncos for win #5. :)

Oh, speaking of the Steelers, check out Terry Bradshaw's wardrobe malfunction while recently guesting on The Tonight Show. Luv him!

You call that a cold front?

Well, the cooler weather today came in the form of the mid-eighties, but with low humidity. It was a perfect day for a parade, especially since we were underneath the shade trees that line Woodland Blvd. in downtown DeLand. I'm sure it felt hotter for those walking or riding the parade route. I didn't realize Joe was walking in the parade, with his students in the Future Educators of America club. Good show bro!

I got a good bit of walking in today, including a little jaunt with Stella around Joe and Linda's neighborhood. I carried Bella, because she was a bit gimpy and she loves to be carried around. Bella has a problem with her shoulder, always has, and since "we" haven't done much physically speaking for the past couple of months, the little munchkin was a bit sore yesterday and this morning. And so was I! My back was really hurting...it's finally feeling better this evening. I'm finally understanding that daily walking is very important while undergoing treatment (really at all times for that matter).

Looking forward to cooler weather....

....which we're supposed to get tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon is DeLand High School's homecoming parade. My niece Elizabeth has worked on the floats and her boyfriend Michael is marching in the band. And of course both Joe and Angela work at the high school. I'm planning on going to watch. Hmmm, I haven't been to a homecoming parade since my high school days (if I remember correctly, which is iffy). Why, that was just a few years ago. ;-)

Took me and the dogs for another short walk today. I had my weekly blood work this afternoon: RBC still low. I did find out I'll be receiving Venofor (IV iron) after each chemo treatment from here on out. And I've been feeling a little queasy, so I took my anti-nausea meds today. Seems like every round of A/C takes a little more out of me, so I'll be glad to get the last one over with at the end of the month. Woo hoo!

Better Day

I felt a lot better today. I think part of feeling crummy is that I'm bored and restless. So today we (the dogs and I) went to my bro's house. I took the dogs for a walk while we were there. It does feel good to get out and move.

We're supposed to get a cold front by the end of the week and the weather's supposed to be dry, sunny and around the low eighties. Sounds like walking weather!

'buds

Szechwan Beef with just the right amount of heat and veggie fried rice can really wake up the taste buds. I had beef (iron, protein) and lots of veggies. Let's not talk about how much oil is used making this stuff; it tastes good! And enough sodium to make me drink lots of water this afternoon.

I managed to get out in the sun for a short time today. And I got on the treadmill today with Stella....I'm glad no one was around to see that train wreck. It's going to take a bit of work to get both of us walking on the thing at the same time.

Overall I felt a bit better today than yesterday. Hopefully I'll feel almost normal tomorrow.

A Belated Thank You

I'm finally getting around to saying thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes last week. I was very touched! Hopefully I'll get around to thanking you all personally one of these days. xoxoxo

The Food (Addict) Network

So what did I do today because nothing tastes quite right? I watched cooking shows....funny how things seem wondrous and revolting at the same time when the taste buds aren't working properly. And does Paula Deen ever make anything that doesn't call for mayonnaise? Just wondering.

I finished reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It was a fascinating and heartbreaking read. Remind me never to say I wish I lived in 19th century China.

Mood of Crab

I'm in a somewhat crabby mood today. I'm tired of being tired! And another overcast day to boot. Last night I was cleaning up the kitchen before going to bed and bumped my French press carafe and it went crashing onto the tile floor. Glass everywhere....there I was sweeping and vacuuming at 11:00 p.m. Thankfully I didn't get cut with glass and neither did the children.

I need to force myself onto the treadmill today. My doctor told me that walking everyday helps maintain stamina. I know she's right. Grrr.

Blah

Yeah, feeling out of it today. Slept so much yesterday that I didn't sleep as well last night. And I have this weird taste in my mouth. I had that after the last treatment and it lasted a few days. Problem is, when that happens, water is not appealing at all! I'll be downing some Gatorade today.

The skies are very overcast and it's been raining off and on. Not seeing a whole lot of sun these last couple of weeks. I need some sunshine!

I'll attempt to watch football this afternoon....it's questionable if I'll be able to stay awake for the whole game. Go Steelers!

Sleep Much?

I can't believe how much I slept today! Didn't get up till 10:00 am, then 2 1/2 hours later I'm back to sleeping for 5 hours! Amazing. So this seems to be the pattern: Day 3 I'm Rip Van Winkle-ish. The dogs were sleeping right along with me which means this evening they'll be bouncing off the walls. They're bored! Levi follows his own schedule regardless...just like a cat. Meow.

Round Three, Day Two

Not doing too badly....just woke up from a 2 hour nap. Today I received Neulasta, fluids and iron. One more cycle of A/C to go then on to Taxol, which is supposed to be much easier to tolerate. The most common side effect of Taxol is joint pain which can be relieved by taking ibuprofen.

Gonna go nosh on something now. Catch ya later!

Round Three

I woke up really tired today. I've been taking Tylenol PM every night, but last night I didn't and didn't sleep as well. This afternoon I had my third treatment of Adriamycin and Cytoxan (A/C) and yep, even more tired! I had an iron panel done last week and it came back borderline so tomorrow they'll give me iron via IV when I go back for Neulasta and fluids. That should help. My red blood count is still low, but not tanking, so we'll leave that one alone. My doc says I'm doing really well. :)

I'm going to take a nap now!

Happy Birthday.....

....to me!! Ah yes, tis my birthday. And I will celebrate with a chemo treatment on Thursday. :)

I haven't posted much lately because there is not much going on. It's been raining A LOT here this week! Not much sunshine these past few days which is unusual for here. Makes me want to crawl back into bed and zzzzzz.....but I won't.