Boldly going.......

Where I have not gone in a long while........a return to normal.  Yesterday marked a new milestone, the first day in 20 weeks that, instead of getting chemo,  I am just going to continue to get better.  I was hoping it would be a dramatic change, but, it is proving slow, but steady.

The last 2 nights, I slept without waking up.  I didn't realize how much my sleep was impacted until it actually was different.  Also, food is beginning to taste more normal, although not completely the same.  Finally, I am hoping this cold, which arrive in early November, will finally get better!

Today I am sitting at Mayo getting all sorts of post-chemo tests.  I am really encouraged (read, moved to tears) by the change in my mammogram.  One silly change, since I have lost weight, the mammogram doesn't hurt nearly as much as it did!  Here's the important change:  this is my image from the beginning

The barbell shape is a titanium marker, the mass around it is the tumor.

Here is the image now, taken badly with my phone camera, but, all I can really see, is the end of the marker, near the right edge of this photo, near the middle:

The first photo is a closeup image, so the scale is misleading, but, I am so very encouraged!  There is no white at all around it!  Mark and I talk to my doctor tomorrow to get the whole story.  For now, my load has lifted.  Thank you for all the prayers, support, and words of encouragement.  They worked.

The end.......which is the beginning.

I think this day was full of signs.  As I left the Mayo Building, the sun was shining, and the bells were chiming in all their riotous joy.  Next, we went to Kohl's to spend some Christmas gift cards (thanks mom and dad), and who should I run into but Lisa, "my" nurse, whom I haven't seen since I started this round of chemo.  I even got to meet her daughter! And, her daughter knows a new player on Mark's soccer team that had moved from the Rochester area.   Lisa and I shared a big hug in the middle of Kohl's.  Maybe a tear was shed.....I can neither confirm nor deny.  Truly, I am surrounded by support and love.

Looking forward to 2017!

19 Minutes and counting

I am counting down the last 19 minutes of this 20-week journey through 16 rounds of chemo.   It is simultaneously hard to believe it is over, and never ending.  I look forward to feeling normal, for food to taste the way it should, for this stinking cold to get better.

I have been getting the on-body Neulasta shot to boost my immune system these last three rounds.  Normally, I wouldn't need it today because I won't have any more chemo, but, because of my cold, I got it again.  We just found out how much it cost........insurance was charged $8,000!  Yes, thousand.   For one.  I thank God for insurance, every day.  Our charges as of the last treatment.... $117,000.  Yes, hundred thousand.   My doctor and I just agreed, something has got to change!

As I finish this........11 minutes to go!

Here is my peanut gallery, waiting breathlessly 😂😂.

A day of lasts

I am currently waiting for my last beeper call to chemo!  I am counting all my lasts.  Lasts completed so far.....

• Last blood draw for chemo 
• Last fill of the $220 pillso to combat nausea 
• Last pre-chemo weigh-in 

Cold has hung in for 8 weeks!  But, it gets better each week.  I am wearing my "Eye of the Tiger" hat for a little extra kick-a#@.

I will keep you updated as I Finish!  

The end is nigh!

I have been a bad blogger lately, and, I apologize.  The good news is, things remain surprisingly easy for me.  I chalk it up to a huge community of family and friends and all their prayers, support, and positive energy.  They have strengthened my constitution.  

Here is the routine, as it exists, during round 2.  This part consists of 2 chemo drugs, referred to as AC.  This is short for

• doxorubicin (also known as Adriamycin)
• cyclophosphamide.

It's the nasty stuff, Folks!

I go every 2 weeks to give my system time to recover.  Total time in chemo is only about 2 hours, start to finish.   The A of the AC, is so caustic,  it must be injected manually, in case my blood vessels collapse!  So far, so good, it doesn't even hurt!

Common side-effects are:

• Immunity system takes a big hit
• Hair loss
• Nausea 
• Vomiting
• Diahhreah 
• Mouth sores
• Strange tastes 
• Pain at injections
• Tiredness

Whew!   What a list!

My constitution must be tough.  My actual side efffects:

• Slight mouth sores
• Strange tastes
• Fatigue 
• Digestive issues
• I can't quite shake this cold I have

That’s it!  I still have some hair, I have never vomited, only slightly nauseated!  I have only missed one extra day of work! 

I consider my journey blessed.

Only 1 more treatment left!  

The end is SO NEAR!

Tough veins rock

Quick update......more to come.  I am currently starting my first treatment of a new round of chemo.  I am encouraged because nothing that could hurt has.  The nurse was happy.  I must have tough veins.

Here's me, looking at bit like a pirate!

Here comes the sun.

This is my view as I wait for my next appointment today.  The sun is rising and it is a beautiful fall day.  Days like these are why people live in Minnesota:  leaves are at their peak, temperatures are crisp, the sun is still warm.  There is so much for which to be thankful.

My first 12 weeks of chemo is entering it's last 3-week cycle.  It's hard to believe this round is nearly finished.  Today is my last "long" day, my last time I receive the trial drug, along with the two standard drugs.  After this I have 2 "short" days in which I only received 2 standard drugs and then it's on to the next cycle.

I am doing much better, attitude-wise than I was last week.  My cold has cleared up, and I am managing the side-effects better.  My newest is that my feet tingle nearly all the time.  It is annoying, but, not overwhelming.   My hands also are itchy and irritated, luckily, only intermittently.   I haven't decided if it is a simple side-effect, or response to some irritant.  I also get tired more at the end of the day.  Not much gets done when I come home from school.  Luckily, my family is stepping up, and I have a freezer full of dinners to make.  Bless my family and friends!

I am choosing, at this point, to not think about round 2.  That is the "nasty stuff," called AC.  I only have 4 treatments of that, beginning November 9, and I go every other week.  I am choosing to believe I will respond well to this as well.  Attitude is everything in this game.

My job, while sometimes exhausting,  is what keeps my spirits up.  Working with a school full of kids paradoxically energizing and exhausting, inspiring and frustrating, joyful and overwhelming.  In the end, though, these kids make my day.  I get oohs and as over my vanishing hair, I had a fifth grade students make a fabulous hat for me with her grandma, and, I get hugs and support all around.  I can't imagine a more life-affirming occupation.  Last weekend, I collaborated with the public library, the high school, and some amazing Star Wars fans to celebrate Star Wars Reads Month (yes, it's a thing).  It was a great success, and the picture below is why I love my job.  To see the fun these kids had, at library, is why I do what I do!

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!