September 12 update

I, Edie the pill pusher, have been asked to guest post for T who was fileted with a surgical knife today. As you can see, she's been kind of busy. She got up at predawn thirty to drive to her surgical destination, so that she could wait several hours for her procedure to begin. Shortly after 8 a.m., she was well on her way to OR to have her front-right lobe, shall we say, sliced and diced into oblivion. A little over an hour later, her surgeon emerged to say, "Everything went great." (He gets paid to work with his hands, folks, not with words. Give him a break.) Now, for once in her life, she can truly say that she is left-leaning.

By the time T reached her awaiting entourage, she was lucid and had full presence of mind. She was pained but famished, so to make the medicine go down, she got a small cup of ice cream which she inhaled. It was followed by a Vicodin chaser which might has well have been water. And to think that the doctor's office had informed her that she'd be fine with just a couple of Tylenol to soothe the pain. You try getting a pound of flesh hacked off and see how you feel. After a toasted cheese which was all that with a bag o' chips which she also inhaled rapidly, she was still greatly pained. I, Edie the pill pusher, encouraged her to ask for more pain meds so she could rest. What good is surgery if you can't slip into a narcotic haze? She agreed that less pain was just the thing she needed, and the nurse gave her a hit of morphine which worked quite nicely. Nighty, night, T. Edie, exit stage right.

Squeamish Alert: Later, the nurse gave T meds on an empty stomach, and that didn't go so well. She tumbled her cookies a couple of times. I, Edie the pill pusher, called and suggested more anti-nausea meds which T started to ask for by the time I got off the phone. (I wonder what else I can ask her to do while she is in her compromised state.)

All that was four hours ago. Of course, I don't know what's happened since then, but I am not going to call T's mom at eleven-thirty at night since she got up so dreadfully early because I value my life.

I do know that T has two drains that she will have to maintain for a couple of weeks. Fun, fun. By mid-morning, T is supposed to be on her way home. Over the river and through the woods may not be the most comfortable ride, so in the words of T, "Keep praying."

By the time I left her, T had some of the color back in her face, and her fuzzy, little head was just as cute as ever. T is a trooper and has done remarkably well. T'ain't no surprise to me. God is her strength. She'll be just fine, come what may, because she knows Whose she is.

In another two to six weeks, she can go back to work. In the meantime, she has some healing to do. I'm sure she'd love it if you sent her card and maybe some chocolate. Perhaps a bag of Jelly Bellys that she could eat in the dark. And remember, those prayers won't be wasted. God bless us every one...and especially our T.

August 30 update

This has been an eventful week for me.  I haven't made this many trips to Indianapolis since I got my Master's degree at IUPUI.  The fun started on August 22.  I went down to have an MRI, mammogram and ultrasound.  I had the MRI first and then went to have the mammogram and ultrasound.  They did the mammogram first and then after waiting a bit, they told me I could leave.  I asked about the ultrasound and they had determined I didn't need it.  So I went home.  Thursday afternoon (Aug 23), I receive a call from the hospital scheduling department.  They told me that a couple of the films of the MRI didn't come out and I was going to have to come back down there to have them retaken.  I asked how long this would take and they said "10 minutes".  This didn't make the cancer patient very happy.  But since I wanted things to be seen clearly, I knew I had to go back down there.

So on Tuesday (Aug 28), I went back down to have the MRI retaken.  As they were getting me ready, they explained that the contrast didn't go in correctly so that is why I was having to have it retaken.  I made the comment that during the first one, it felt like the contrast was running down my arm.  Their response was  "You didn't tell us about that".  Silly me, I guess I am supposed to know exactly how contrast going in my arm is supposed to feel.  Anyway, they then tell me that the test will take 45 minutes.  I said, I was told on the phone that it would only take 10 minutes.  Evidently, with a breast MRI, it's an all or nothing kind of deal.  I was ok with that because it made the hour drive down and back a little more worth it.  I also learned that you don't believe everything the scheduling department tells you.

So that brings us to today.  I met with Dr. Schmidt.  He was very pleased with how things are progressing.  The tests look great.  They scheduled my mastectomy for Sept 12.  (I will get the exact time when they send me the paperwork in the mail)  I have to go down to St. Vincent's on Sept 11 to have pre-surgery tests done.

I asked if since the tests looked good if that meant the cancer was gone.  He said the only way to know if the cancer was completely gone was to take the breast and one lymph node off and biopsy (or as Mom said "autopsy") it.

That's all I know for know.  Keep praying that things keep going well.

August 6 update

Sorry I didn't update yesterday.  I had a lot of celebrating to do.

As you know, yesterday was my last chemo (WOO HOO!).  I chose the shirt pictured above to be my chemo day attire.  It was sent to me by my Twitter bestie Luz.  "Bazinga" is one of the catch phrases from the show The Big Bang Theory (one of the shows I am obsessed with).  Sheldon, one of the main characters in the show, uses "Bazinga" after he plays what he thinks are practical jokes on his friends.  Well cancer, the joke is on you, I am going to beat you. "Bazinga".

Dr. Gupta is very pleased with how I am progressing.  Mom commented that people were commenting on how well I was doing.  Dr. Gupta's response "She's not normal".  I take that as a complement.  :D  Mom response was "I could have told you that."

My last chemo went very well.  I slept through most of it.  That Benedryl kicked me in the butt.

Today I am feeling great.  Being the second day after chemo, that makes me very happy.

I wanted to thank everybody for the birthday wishes and well wishes for the last day of Chemo.  I know all the support, prayers, and positive vibes is what has gotten me through this.

So now I move on to the next hurdle in my journey.  On August 22, I go down to Indy to have a mammogram, ultrasound, and MRI.  Please pray for good results.  Then on August 30 to have my consultation with Dr.  Schmidt.  I will get my mastectomy scheduled that day I am sure.

That's all I know right now.  Going to spend the rest of the week celebrating the start of my 44th year.  I know it's going to be a great one.

July 23 Update

Today I got my 7th chemo treatment.  Only 1 more to go.  I am beyond excited about that.  But we will get to that in a minute.

I started this morning seeing Dr. Gupta.  He was very pleased with my blood work and how things were going.  He told me to continue to give people a hard time (doctor's orders) and to remember to listen to my mother.  Mom really enjoys when he says that.

The treatment this time went about 3 hours.  I was really tired when it was over.  Not sure if it was the Benedryl or sitting in one position for that long.  Needless to say I have been resting this afternoon.  Before we came home we celebrated this chemo treatment with a Big Mac and a chocolate chip frappe from McDonald's.  I haven't had a Big Mac in years and I have to say it was pretty tasty.  The chocolate chip frappe was too.

So in two weeks I not only get my last chemo treatment (woo hoo),  it will be my 44th birthday.  As the  lab tech said last Friday when she realized my birthday was coming up and I told her it was my last chemo treatment too, "It will be the day for 2 celebrations".  That is how I intend to look at it.

July 9 update

Today was the day of my 6th chemo treatment.  I was very thankful that the heat wave finally broke.  It will make recuperating much easier.

I started out the day seeing Dr. Gupta.  He is very pleased with how I am progressing.  We did discuss the tingling/numbness I have been experiencing in my feet and left hand.  It is a common side effect with the new round of chemo I am on.  Dr. Gupta decided to dial back the amount of chemo I got this time and told me to take either vitamin B6 or B12.  Since either one would work, I purchased the B complex vitamin which had both in it.  I figured it couldn't hurt.  I also found out my red blood cell count had gone up to 9.8.  I was very happy about that.  Dr. Gupta told me whatever I am doing to be sure to keep it up.  Mom and I also asked Dr. Gupta if it was ok if I had fair food (somebody had warned us against it).  He said if I liked fair food, to go for it. :)   (For those of you reading my blog not from my area, the County 4H Fair started this week)

My actual chemo treatment went pretty well.  I slept through a lot of it.  I had told Mom before we went  that if I did start snoring to be sure to wake me up.  I didn't but at one point she did wake me up because I had my mouth hanging open.  She said it looked like I was ready to catch flies. :)

After we left we the hospital we ate at Dairy Queen.  I celebrated my 6th chemo treatment with a Peanut Buster Parfait!  It was yummy.

I am very excited that I only 2 more chemo treatments to go!  Woo Hoo!

June 25 update.

Today I completed my 5th chemo out of 8 that I am scheduled to have.  Woo hoo I am over the hump.  That makes me very happy.

I started out the day seeing Dr. Gupta.  He was pleased with how I was progressing.  He said I am still anemic (low red blood cells) but not so bad that I needed a transfusion.  They also looked at the vein flare on my wrist.  For those of you who don't follow me on Facebook or Twitter, I developed a vein flare on my left wrist this week.  It was very painful and swollen (not helped by the fact that I am left handed).  I had gone into the office and Barb (my favorite nurse in the world) put me on steroids and antibiotics.  This weekend I noticed that I had another smaller vein flair on my right arm. (They confirmed that it was one today) Anyway, they were happy with how they were doing and I was told I may live with them for a while but they would go away. (Hooray).

I then proceeded to get my chemo treatment.  This week started a new set of chemo drugs.  Instead of getting it in the back on my hand, I got it in the crook of my arm.  I liked that A LOT  better.  Praise God I didn't have any allergic reactions during the treatment.  I did have to chuckle that one of the drugs I got was Benedryl.  The one and only other time I have taken Benedryl was when I was younger and still lived at home.  After taking it then, I feel asleep on the floor and Mom didn't think she would ever get me off of it I was so out of it.  Luckily that didn't happen today.  The treatment did last a little longer (3 hours instead of 1 1/2), but it wasn't too bad.  They did feed me.  The hospital food was pretty good.

 Some of the possible new side effects I need to look out for is muscle aches (kinda like I am getting the flu), possible loss of my nails, and numbing and tingling in my feet.  Needless to say, this should be an interesting week.

Again, thanks for all the prayers and support I have been getting.  Even though there are times I get frustrated with this whole process, I know God is going to get me through this.  All the love and support I am getting is a huge help.  I love you all.

June 12 update

Yesterday I completed my 4th chemo session.  I am officially half way through.  HOORAY!!!  I would have updated my blog yesterday but I was extremely tired and was not sure if I could keep things straight.   My chemo brain is making life interesting.

Today I am doing about the same: tired, achey and queasy stomach.  Nothing I haven't had before so I know I can get through it.

My next chemo session starts a new set of drugs.  Instead of lasting an 1 1/2 hours, it will last 3 hours.  I also have to take 5 pills the night before my chemo and 5 pills the day of to prevent an allergic reaction to the chemo.  Not sure how I am going to react to this new chemo, but at least I only have 4 of them.

I again want to thank everyone for all the prayers and positive thoughts on my behalf.  I know without a doubt that that is was is getting my through this.