April 27 update

Good Evening!  Today was my trip to see Dr. Gupta to find out the results of my MRI.  I won't lie, I was a bit nervous waiting for the results.  Dr. Gupta finally came in and told me the MRI was clear!  Praise the Lord!  I know with all the prayers I have been getting, God had his hand in this!  

Since the MRI was clear, I got to start chemo today.  It was very exciting to finally get down to doing something.  Before we started, Angie asked him about what Stage of cancer I was in.  He said since I haven't had surgery yet, it was hard to tell.  Since the cancer hasn't spread, I could be considered Stage I but without seeing the lymph nodes, it was hard to tell.  He also said the was about a 30% chance of when they go to do the mastectomy, the cancer might be gone.  He did say it was an aggressive form of cancer.  The type of chemo they are giving me is aggressive.

So the chemo they have me on is ACT.  It takes about an 1 1/2 hours to administer.  While it was being administered, I got a class in chemo therapy and all the possible side effects (Barb did a wonderful job).  My hair will fall out in about 18 to 20 days.  They said it should come back darker and curler (no more grey, Woo Hoo!)  And then they listed to all the other possible side effects.  I won't bore you with those.  It is like I told Mom, basically, if anything weird happens, call the doctor.  They also gave me a lot of good nausea drugs.  Mom isn't too keen on having me take Ativan (which is only as a last resort).  I will let her explain to you why. :) 

We have also elected not to do a port at this time.  My veins look really good, so they are going to do it via IV. (If it doesn't work, we will do the port)  Because of this, my chemo treatments are going to be on Mondays from now on.  That way I can get the necessary blood work on Friday or Saturday and my vein have a chance to heal.  I will also have a shot on Tuesday to help my white blood count.  I will have 8 treatments all together.  My next chemo will be May 14.  My last chemo treatment is August 6. (yes you read that right)

Before I left, I got to pick out this fleece blanket.  

It was donated in memory of Jim Hodson.  The tag says "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade".  I really like that sentiment.

After the treatment, Mom and I went to lunch and did some shopping for some supplies I might need.  

One of the things I purchased was this hat.  Gotta be prepared. 

When I got back home, I was kinda tired.  I was also a little nauseated, but the drugs worked very well. So I will spend the rest of the weekend relaxing.  I think I deserve that.

Thank you again for all the prayers that were lifted up in my behalf.  God answered them.  Please keep them coming.