I got the biopsy results back...the third lesion in my left breast is benign - just another fibroadenoma! The Radiologist told me that once a lesion is determined to be a fibroadenoma, they don't change to become cancerous, but can grow. A women with fibroadenomas is followed much more often - every 3-6 months, vice the annual mammogram appointments, to watch the amount of growth taking place in the lesion. BUT, the great news is that I don't have to schedule an extra surgery right now, and can think about the 2nd mastectomy later. I will most likely have it approximately a year from now, so I can include breast reconstruction if I choose to do so.
Today is Tuesday, which meant another blood work day. My white count is back up to normal, thanks to the Neupogen, and I'm still slightly anemic with my hemoglobin hanging at 11.2. No shots this week, and I'm all set to go for #11 tomorrow. Wow - #11! This means that I have ONLY 8 days left of chemo...I can't believe it. After a total of almost 8 months of combined chemo, and 10 months of being in the chemo phase of treatment, I am almost done.
My appointment with my Onc went great today. We had a long talk today about the plan from here...once I finish with chemo, I'll continue the Herceptin every three weeks for 40 wks and will add in some type of hormone suppressor. It'll either be Tamoxifin or Aromatose for five yrs...Tamoxifin is for pre-menopausal and Aromatase inhibitors are for post-menopausal women. My Onc said that Aromatase Inhibitors are the better of the two, and there are ongoing clinical studies being done right now between the two drugs (she suggested that I did not do the clinical study because the treatment plan would be picked at random between three possible treatments). The kicker is that I would either have to take an additional drug to suppress my ovaries and put me into menopause (if I don't stay in a menopausal state), or have them removed. Bone density issues would happen regardless of my choice of treatment, so I will be followed with bone density scans and possible medications to keep my bone density as strong as possible.
I'm still leaning towards the oofrectomy, since I don't need them (or the stinkin' periods!!) anymore. Any additional children Jeff and I have will be by adoption regardless. AND, they can do my oofrectomy & mastectomy at the same time, which is a definite plus! So, that is what I'm leaning towards, although I have plenty of time to think about it. I will have to either be on tamoxifin or the ovary suppressor until that time, then will have the Aromatase inhibitor for an additional five years. I will also be going in every three weeks until July 2008 to receive my Herceptin infusions, which will last approximately 90 minutes.
I meet with the Radiation Oncologist again this Friday (my one year anniversary of D-Day!) to discuss my radiation plan. I'll post after we meet to update you all with that. Until then, I'm on the 8-day chemo countdown!
The Komen San Francisco Race for the Cure is this coming Sunday! We have raised over $3000, and Team Save The Ta-Ta's has raised over $6200...can you believe it? We are looking forward to doing the 5k walk along the beautiful San Francisco waterfront! If you are interested in checking us out, here's the link to our family race page:
http://race.sfkomen.org/site/TR/?pg=personal&fr_id=1010&px=1094321
We hope you are having a great week!
Love,
Leanne, Jeff, Maryn and Ryland
Showing posts with label neupogen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neupogen. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
On the downhill side of chemo!
Wow...Round 7 of 12 completed, and finally over the hump!
My blood work this week wasn't the greatest, but that is to be expected. This means the chemo is working! My red cells are coming down & my white count was down to 2.0 (they won't treat me if it goes below 1.0). I will receive Neupogen shots again on Thurs, Fri & Sat to boost the whites in preparation for next week's chemo round. If my red count continues to drop like it has been, I will likely need a Procrit shot next week as well.
The side effects continue to become a little stronger with each week. I woke up in the middle of the night last week with both of my arms buzzing, as if they were falling asleep. It was making me crazy...I was shaking them, trying to "wake them up," and accidentally woke Jeff up instead. Then I remembered that my Ativan prescription is for nausea, insomnia and anxiety! Since it was the middle of the night and I could definitely use sleep and my arms were making me crazy, I took one. It worked! I was able to fall back asleep, and stopped worrying about my arms. I've had numbness and tingling in all of my extremities at one point or another. One day, my right leg was numb from my knee to my toes, the next day, it was my left foot. My arms vary throughout the day, but I feel it pretty often in my fingertips and hands. I've also had tons of bloody noses this week, probably chalking up to a two-a-day average.
I have been pretty tired again, but I have been taking the Ativan every night at bedtime. Maryn is better with her sleep (Thank GOD!), but has still been waking at least once a night. I like the Ativan because I can still wake up to the kiddos, whereas with Ambien (the sleeping pill), I'm down for the count. It's some great sleep, don't get me wrong, but it scares me a little bit to not be able to hear the kids...the mommy in me will never escape! Last night, Maryn woke up seven times between 3:30am and 4:45am. Ugh! Over the last couple weeks, her vocabulary has completely taken off, so I'm hoping this is just a phase she's going through as she gets comfortable with her new words. She loves to sing & dance, and has been saying 3-4 word sentences pretty regularly now. It's amazing.
My appetite has been in a crazy state of fluctuation. I'm nauseous a lot, and as a result am not hungry. BUT, I could be nauseous because I'm not eating much. It really seems like a vicious cycle. Jeff thinks I need a babysitter in the house while he's gone to ensure I'm getting some meals in me...he's so sweet. He even calls me during the day to find out what I've eaten. Most days, I don't eat until the late afternoon - will have a bowl of cereal or something fairly light, then will be completely ravenous by dinner time. I can eat two full servings of dinner, an extra helping of cold fruit, and then will hit dessert. It's fair to say that I'm most likely getting my daily caloric intake, just over a 2-3 hour span in the evenings! =)
Other than that, there isn't much going on. Jeff's birthday is tomorrow, so we are going to celebrate! He's taking the day off work, and I'm going to let him sleep in. I'm taking Maryn into daycare, and have the neighbor coming over to watch Ryland. Jeff and I are going to see a movie together...alone! We haven't done this since seeing the 40-yr-old Virgin when I was pregnant with Maryn almost two years ago. It's amazing how much having kids changes your life. So, we will enjoy his 13th anniversary of his 29th birthday together. Then, it's off to the Oncologist's office in the afternoon for another Neupogen shot. I'll try to get Jeff to take a picture of my rapidly balding head for my next post.
Until then, have a great week! I hope this post finds you happy, healthy, and enjoying life!
Love,
Leanne
My blood work this week wasn't the greatest, but that is to be expected. This means the chemo is working! My red cells are coming down & my white count was down to 2.0 (they won't treat me if it goes below 1.0). I will receive Neupogen shots again on Thurs, Fri & Sat to boost the whites in preparation for next week's chemo round. If my red count continues to drop like it has been, I will likely need a Procrit shot next week as well.
The side effects continue to become a little stronger with each week. I woke up in the middle of the night last week with both of my arms buzzing, as if they were falling asleep. It was making me crazy...I was shaking them, trying to "wake them up," and accidentally woke Jeff up instead. Then I remembered that my Ativan prescription is for nausea, insomnia and anxiety! Since it was the middle of the night and I could definitely use sleep and my arms were making me crazy, I took one. It worked! I was able to fall back asleep, and stopped worrying about my arms. I've had numbness and tingling in all of my extremities at one point or another. One day, my right leg was numb from my knee to my toes, the next day, it was my left foot. My arms vary throughout the day, but I feel it pretty often in my fingertips and hands. I've also had tons of bloody noses this week, probably chalking up to a two-a-day average.
I have been pretty tired again, but I have been taking the Ativan every night at bedtime. Maryn is better with her sleep (Thank GOD!), but has still been waking at least once a night. I like the Ativan because I can still wake up to the kiddos, whereas with Ambien (the sleeping pill), I'm down for the count. It's some great sleep, don't get me wrong, but it scares me a little bit to not be able to hear the kids...the mommy in me will never escape! Last night, Maryn woke up seven times between 3:30am and 4:45am. Ugh! Over the last couple weeks, her vocabulary has completely taken off, so I'm hoping this is just a phase she's going through as she gets comfortable with her new words. She loves to sing & dance, and has been saying 3-4 word sentences pretty regularly now. It's amazing.
My appetite has been in a crazy state of fluctuation. I'm nauseous a lot, and as a result am not hungry. BUT, I could be nauseous because I'm not eating much. It really seems like a vicious cycle. Jeff thinks I need a babysitter in the house while he's gone to ensure I'm getting some meals in me...he's so sweet. He even calls me during the day to find out what I've eaten. Most days, I don't eat until the late afternoon - will have a bowl of cereal or something fairly light, then will be completely ravenous by dinner time. I can eat two full servings of dinner, an extra helping of cold fruit, and then will hit dessert. It's fair to say that I'm most likely getting my daily caloric intake, just over a 2-3 hour span in the evenings! =)
Other than that, there isn't much going on. Jeff's birthday is tomorrow, so we are going to celebrate! He's taking the day off work, and I'm going to let him sleep in. I'm taking Maryn into daycare, and have the neighbor coming over to watch Ryland. Jeff and I are going to see a movie together...alone! We haven't done this since seeing the 40-yr-old Virgin when I was pregnant with Maryn almost two years ago. It's amazing how much having kids changes your life. So, we will enjoy his 13th anniversary of his 29th birthday together. Then, it's off to the Oncologist's office in the afternoon for another Neupogen shot. I'll try to get Jeff to take a picture of my rapidly balding head for my next post.
Until then, have a great week! I hope this post finds you happy, healthy, and enjoying life!
Love,
Leanne
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
I'm half way done with Chemo!!!!
Insomnia Sucks! It's 11pm as I sit here typing, and I'm not tired yet. I haven't slept more than an hour at a time for the last 4 nights and should be wrecked right now...not because of insomnia, but because of Maryn! She has been sleeping through the night for about the last 5 months, but suddenly in the last week, has been sleeping horribly. However, over the last 4 nights she has been waking a minimum of 4-6 times a night, screaming & crying. Jeff and I have had a terrible time trying to get her calm enough to go back to sleep...not sure what is causing it. We've tried better lighting, leaving a sippy cup with milk or water in her crib, hoping that getting back into daycare this week would help to get expend some of her energy...nothing has worked. Ryland, by the way, has been sleeping through the night since he was 7 weeks old! Amazing...what a dream. If we weren't officially done having children, he would certainly make me want more children (although Jeff isn't fooled by his charm and prefers the 1-on-1 defense as opposed to the zone defense parenting tactics used with 3+ children).
So, tonight is night 5 of no sleep. You would think I would be exhausted, but I went in for treatment today...thus getting my kick start with the evil Decadron (if only I had known about this when I was at the Coast Guard Academy...it would have allowed me to function much better than No-Doze & Coffee! I just took half of a sleeping pill, hoping that will ease me into a sleepy state & I can finally get a good night's rest. My mind will race for the next 3-4 days, as if I'm on a 3-pot coffee buzz. Mornings are a bit rough, as that is the time that I am finally tired. BUT, I have never been great at taking daytime naps, and have trouble falling asleep when the sun is up.
My blood work was great this week - my friend, Neupogen, seems to be working wonders with my white blood cell counts. This week, my whites were 7.8 - so no shots on Thurs, Fri & Sat of this week. Woohoo!
I have started to experience a few more side effects over the last week. My feet are both starting to become numb...the right foot is worse than the left. On my right foot, from the 2nd toe to my pinky toe I feel mild numbness (Level 1 neuropathy), kind of like I just got done running a few miles downhill and my toes have gone to sleep from the constant beating at the end of my running shoes. The left foot is similar, but I have more normal sensations with this foot. I am still experiencing some of the heaviness & tingling in my shoulders and arms for a few hours after receiving the infusions, but they go away by the end of the evening. The bloody noses have also increased. Apparently, the Herceptin causes thinner membranes to be friable (bleed easily). Using a kleenex when blowing/wiping my nose (it's running because of allergies & a lack of nose hairs to catch the drips) has been been braking the membranes inside my nose, and will cause it to bleed for a few minutes at a time. I found that wiping my nose with baby wipes seems to be a little more gentle (note to self: put another case of those on the Costco shopping list!). I have been much more tired over the last week as well, but that's probably a combination of Maryn's rotten sleeping schedule and all of the drugs.
My hair is getting thinner & thinner as each day passes. I had a small rat's worth of hair piled up in the drain by the end of the shower, and now I definitely have the balding look. My 1 existing gray hair is holding on tight! I showed Jeff - I found my first gray hair shortly after Maryn was born, and Jeff pulled it, saying that he was getting rid of the evidence for me. What a good husband - but I worked hard for that gray hair. =) #2 gray is a tough hair...I'm wondering if my whole head will come back gray when my hair grows back for the 2nd time after being completely done with chemo. If so, I've certainly earned it!
We've had a lot of change over the last week in our house. My sister, Jamie, left on Saturday morning. She was fun to have around the house and was able to pitch in a bit. Jeff's parents were here until Monday morning, and returned to Idaho after having been here for 3 wks. They were wonderful to have in the house, and helped to get many projects completed. AND, last, but not least - Kaitlin flew home yesterday morning for the year. She is thinking about moving in with us for good next summer, and would get to experience high school in California (and Jeff's boot camp in our house). Luckily, we live in one of the top school districts in the state. If this happens, we would need to move into a bigger house to give her the privacy she needs as a teenager, and to keep our sanity with some additional space. However, our WONDERFULLY AMAZING landlords are open to the possibility of putting a room addition on our current house, which would meet all of our needs (including installing central air & heat and adding a 2-car-garage). That would be our perfect answer. Hopefully we'll narrow down our options in the next couple weeks and will find out if the addition to the house will come to fruition.
I think that's about the latest from our house. We are back to normal...Jeff, the kids, Baxter and I all hanging out and trying to get back into a routine. I hope this post finds you healthy & happy!
Leanne, Jeff, Kaitlin, Maryn, Ryland & Baxter
So, tonight is night 5 of no sleep. You would think I would be exhausted, but I went in for treatment today...thus getting my kick start with the evil Decadron (if only I had known about this when I was at the Coast Guard Academy...it would have allowed me to function much better than No-Doze & Coffee! I just took half of a sleeping pill, hoping that will ease me into a sleepy state & I can finally get a good night's rest. My mind will race for the next 3-4 days, as if I'm on a 3-pot coffee buzz. Mornings are a bit rough, as that is the time that I am finally tired. BUT, I have never been great at taking daytime naps, and have trouble falling asleep when the sun is up.
My blood work was great this week - my friend, Neupogen, seems to be working wonders with my white blood cell counts. This week, my whites were 7.8 - so no shots on Thurs, Fri & Sat of this week. Woohoo!
I have started to experience a few more side effects over the last week. My feet are both starting to become numb...the right foot is worse than the left. On my right foot, from the 2nd toe to my pinky toe I feel mild numbness (Level 1 neuropathy), kind of like I just got done running a few miles downhill and my toes have gone to sleep from the constant beating at the end of my running shoes. The left foot is similar, but I have more normal sensations with this foot. I am still experiencing some of the heaviness & tingling in my shoulders and arms for a few hours after receiving the infusions, but they go away by the end of the evening. The bloody noses have also increased. Apparently, the Herceptin causes thinner membranes to be friable (bleed easily). Using a kleenex when blowing/wiping my nose (it's running because of allergies & a lack of nose hairs to catch the drips) has been been braking the membranes inside my nose, and will cause it to bleed for a few minutes at a time. I found that wiping my nose with baby wipes seems to be a little more gentle (note to self: put another case of those on the Costco shopping list!). I have been much more tired over the last week as well, but that's probably a combination of Maryn's rotten sleeping schedule and all of the drugs.
My hair is getting thinner & thinner as each day passes. I had a small rat's worth of hair piled up in the drain by the end of the shower, and now I definitely have the balding look. My 1 existing gray hair is holding on tight! I showed Jeff - I found my first gray hair shortly after Maryn was born, and Jeff pulled it, saying that he was getting rid of the evidence for me. What a good husband - but I worked hard for that gray hair. =) #2 gray is a tough hair...I'm wondering if my whole head will come back gray when my hair grows back for the 2nd time after being completely done with chemo. If so, I've certainly earned it!
We've had a lot of change over the last week in our house. My sister, Jamie, left on Saturday morning. She was fun to have around the house and was able to pitch in a bit. Jeff's parents were here until Monday morning, and returned to Idaho after having been here for 3 wks. They were wonderful to have in the house, and helped to get many projects completed. AND, last, but not least - Kaitlin flew home yesterday morning for the year. She is thinking about moving in with us for good next summer, and would get to experience high school in California (and Jeff's boot camp in our house). Luckily, we live in one of the top school districts in the state. If this happens, we would need to move into a bigger house to give her the privacy she needs as a teenager, and to keep our sanity with some additional space. However, our WONDERFULLY AMAZING landlords are open to the possibility of putting a room addition on our current house, which would meet all of our needs (including installing central air & heat and adding a 2-car-garage). That would be our perfect answer. Hopefully we'll narrow down our options in the next couple weeks and will find out if the addition to the house will come to fruition.
I think that's about the latest from our house. We are back to normal...Jeff, the kids, Baxter and I all hanging out and trying to get back into a routine. I hope this post finds you healthy & happy!
Leanne, Jeff, Kaitlin, Maryn, Ryland & Baxter
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