Just when you think you're getting a break - WHAM!

2016 was the year of reconstruction. I went through 4 surgeries last year, the last of which was December 21. It was a long year and I was looking forward to a relatively uneventful 2017. Well, God apparently had other plans for me - or my uterus did. 

WARNING: to my male readers or anyone who doesn't want to hear about any uterus-related issues, stop reading now. I won't be graphic but there are some things just are what they are. You have been warned. 

Let me start with some background. I take a daily dose of a drug called Tamoxifen.  My type of cancer was hormone receptive so I take the Tammoxifen, which works to block the hormones.  This works in breast tissue. Apparently, not so much in the uterine area. Down south, from what I understand, the drug actually mimicks the hormones.  One of my super smart doctor friends will have to explain the "why" of that one. As a result of this weirdness, tamoxifen can have some less than desirable side effects. It can cause things like thickening of the lining of the uterus and uglier things like endometrial cancer. As a patient, I was informed of all of this from the very beginning. It's quite rare, affecting about 1% of users each year, but it is possible. The doctors, as always, did a great job of explaining the risks but also why the benefits of taking the drug outweigh those risks.  The other thing you need to know is that they will not/cannot do a "proactive" hysterectomy. Believe me, I asked! You have to have symptoms before they will yank the remaining lady parts out.  That means that I have to be diligent in keeping up with my regular exams and take advantage of the various screenings for which I qualify as a younger breast cancer patient. I have to know the symptoms and signs to look for and what to do if I have them. The other thing you need to know before we proceed, is that I went through chemotherapy induced menopause way back in 2014. Other than the raging hot flashes that came with it, it was the best gift of cancer treatment! Ladies, you know what I'm talking about. I was warned that things could start up again but it could really go either way based on my age. Maybe, maybe not. Now let's get on to our story...

I started working again last Wednesday after taking a couple of weeks off to recover. I didn't make the trip to Louisville until Tuesday 1/10 and went back again on Wednesday 1/11. I eased back in but was still dealing with soreness and the travel and the pace wore me out a bit. So by Wednesday evening I was spent! I thought I would just need some rest and try to slow down a wee bit and all would be well. Then it happened. My body said, "Not so fast there Sassy Pants!" Wednesday evening I started spotting. That's not good. It makes your brain jump ahead to the list your doctors gave you of things you have to address quickly. Your brain also tries to convince you of the weirdest things. Things like, you've overdone it, you're doing too much too quickly.  Really?! How much would you have to overdo it from reconstructive surgery to make your dang uterus leak. It makes no sense! Anyway, spotting is scary - any unexpected bleeding of any amount after menopause is not a good sign. Yes, I began to stress, just a bit (a lot). I considered for a moment that I might not share this development with anyone...but the moment passed. Rewind to my initial breast cancer diagnosis, I made the choice at the time to not tell anyone I had found a lump or that I would be going through tests, etc. My family and friends received the news after I was diagnosed. I vowed that I would never do that again. I immediately let Bobby know, though he knew something was up because of the look of fear in my eyes. After the initial shock wore off, I was able to sleep...well, more than I expected, anyway.  

First thing Thursday morning, I called my GYN to schedule an appointment. When I explained the situation to the wonderful lady on the other end of the phone, she said, "He's going to want an ultrasound."  Yep! She scheduled me for an ultrasound first thing Friday morning and a visit with the doctor immediately following. Great! I was all set. But, I had 24 hours to wait. Have I mentioned that I don't do waiting very well. I kept busy with work and household responsibilities. I'll spare you the details but as the day went on, things started to change a bit. Things changed enough that I began to believe that, based on my symptoms, this might not be cancer, but a case of overachieving ovaries. Could it be possible that I went through menopause 2+ years ago but things started up again? Could I be "lucky" enough to have the opportunity to go through menopause, not once, but twice?! It was looking that way - that's good news!

When Friday morning came around, I got up early and headed to town. All went smoothly - I quickly found a good parking spot, I actually arrived at the office door before it was even unlocked. When they opened a few minutes later, I was checked in quickly and then escorted to the ultrasound waiting area. For anyone who hasn't had an ultrasound, the techs are not permitted to provide you with the results. The doctor has to deliver that news. Once everything was done, the very sweet tech simply said, "I got some really good pictures for the doctor."  It's kind of difficult to interpret anything from that but I remained optimistic. I headed back out to the main waiting room. I didn't have to wait long before they called me back to see the doctor. I chatted with the kind nurse, she took my vitals, we discussed my history, etc. As she's typing her notes into the system, I look around the room and I noticed that the counter across from me held off the tools necessary for a biopsy. Yay!  Again, this was not a surprise to me. I told Bobby the night before that I expected a biopsy whether the ultrasound showed anything or not. If it did, I would need to have that tissue tested. If didn't show anything, they would want to be safe and would test the tissue to see if anything came back. Sometimes it's not always fun being right.  The nurse wrapped up and a few minutes later my fabulous doctor joined me. Bless him, he started off by saying, "You've really even through it, haven't you?"  Yes, it's been an interesting few years. I'll spare you the rest of the small talk and get to the good part. The ultrasound was clear. He didn't see anything that concerned him. He said that there was thickening of the endometrial lining but that was expected with the Tamoxifen. He then officially broke the news that a biopsy was imminent. He advised that a prophylactic hysterectomy wasn't recommended but that he would likely be doing a D&C in the not so distant future. So much for 2017 being procedure-free. 

The biopsy was not very pleasant but, thankfully, it was over in a couple of minutes. We should get the results back by Wednesday. Of course our hope is that it comes back negative, as we expect it to. If you have any prayers left to spare, whisper a quick one for negative biopsy results. If they do come back with any abnormalities, I expect that I'll be having a hysterectomy rather than a D&C.  We will accept whatever comes next and meet it head on. 

I'm reminded that this is our new norm. Once a cancer patient, always a cancer patient. 

I'll keep you posted on results and next steps. 

Love to all!

Andee 

Sometimes You Must Endure Discomfort To Relieve Discomfort

This is one of those weeks that I have medical appointments 3 out of 5 days. It's one of those weeks that sceams....

HEY, I'M JUST HERE TO REMIND YOU THAT ARE A CANCER PATIENT.

 

Well thanks, I need that every once in a while...said no one EVER!

 

 

Back to our story. So, I've had one appointment so far this week. I visited with my FABULOUS plastic surgeon and her LOVELY staff today. I expected to get my usual, a drain and fill. Not today, friends! Today was a drain only day. She checked the wiffle balls and said they still seemed a little tight so she wouldn't be adding anything to the tank(s) today. On the flip side, I'm still making fluid like a machine. yes, I'm aware that it has been almost 3 months since surgery #2. What can I say, I'm an overachiever.  In typical Andrea fashion, I'm an overachiever in something I would prefer NOT to overachieve in. In went the needles and out came the fluid. Relief is such a lovely, but short-lived, thing. My doc suggested full time compression to help the fluid issue. I'm looking for some compression garments but for now, it's the bandage. And the bandage feels kind of like this...



 

 

 

 

...but nowhere near as pretty.



 

 I'll keep myself bound up if it will end, or even improve, my fluid situation. I may need more compression "stuff" after Friday. If my arm is actually swelling and not just puffy and uncomfortable, I may end up compressed all over. I envision this...

 

 



Source:http://www.paulpinmd.com/compression-garments-and-taping-schedule-after-surgery/

 

 

My next appointment, bright and early tomorrow, is with my oncologist. I get blood work done first thing and then visit with him for a few. Hopefully it will be yet another uneventful encounter. We can catch up on the last three months and he can ask my why the heck I've gotten so fat after losing all that weight last year. We'll then discuss stress eating that was followed by surgery which left me unable to do much except eat and sleep. None of that is good on its own, much less when you add them all up. It's all my fault. I'm back to doing something everyday but I'm not back to where I can go hard core again just yet. But at least I'm off the couch and out of the kitchen. Getting back to work has done wonders. I felt like I was on the verge of falling into a weird depression. I have to be able to do something.

 

Friday I will get to visit my physical therapist after more than a year away. I'm excited to see her - not just so she can help with the scar tissue - but because I really like her and she takes good care of me! I'm still hoping to see her break out her tools and work some magic on this crazy annoying crap on my back.

 

Finally, we are praying for some luck here at The LD. Our youngest was hit with type A & type B flu this weekend. We had Saturday visits with the pediatrician and a trip to the ER. It was not fun. She will have some symptoms to deal with for a week or two but she's on the upswing. She returned to school today. Yay!  She's one tough little cookie. Now we are just waiting to see if anyone else is going to take a hit. Bobby is complaining about the smell but I'm rubbing oils on kids and diffusing them in the air. I have cleaned, I have disinfected, I've made my daughter wear a mask.  Don't laugh, friends, I had a micro-preemie that made it through 2 risky RSV seasons with only an ear infection. We know how to lock this place down, keep out the cooties and clean if they find their way in. Say a prayer for clean air and I'll do my part to keep the rest of the population healthy.  :-) No time to be sick!

 

 

Until next time!

Love to all,

Andee

The Journey Continues

I'm starting this post at 11:57 so it will still qualify as an anniversary post. Yay me!

Before I get started, I just want to share something with you. I purchased a dress last fall that I intended to be my Easter dress. It isn't anything showstopping, but I liked it. It's been hanging in my closet for months. I was excited to get it out this morning but there was a problem. Just like every other woman on the planet, I took a deep breath and hoped that my weight wasn't so out of control that the dress wouldn't fit. I pulled it over my head and all seemed to be well. Then it came time to zip it up. Oh boy. Let me explain something real quick. This isn't one of those dresses that zips up the back, or buttons up the front. Nope, this one has a relatively small zipper on the side that runs from the waist up under the arm. So, everything was looking pretty good until it came time to zip. The first few inches (waist) zipped right up. Beyond that, things were challenging. For a moment I was on the verge of tears but then it hit me. My dress didn't fit because my chest was too big! Yes friends, I'm almost busty! (Just a note: Yes, I realize that the part, if not most, of the problem is the gallon of fluid I'm carrying around but let's just let me let myself believe that my bosom is the culprit. Thank you). Luckily, I had another option but who would have thought I would get a warm and fuzzy feeling from a dress not fitting?  It's a miracle, indeed.

Two years ago today, the last thing I was worried about was how my clothes would fit. I had been dealing with the prospect of cancer for almost two weeks but it's a whole different ballgame once it's confirmed. After the diagnosis, things moved very quickly. 2 1/2 weeks after diagnosis I had a bilateral mastectomy. Thirty days later I started treatment - chemo and radiation would carry me through until December 17, 2014. I had a bit of a break in 2015 (infusions every 3 weeks until July and one surgical procedure) but 2015 was a more challenging year, especially on an emotional level. I spent the first 3 months of the year busting my behind to lose the weight I gained during treatment. I lost most of it and then, due to some happenings in my circle of cancer friends, I slipped into a bit of a funk. It was not a good time. I won't bore you with the details but I fell off the wagon, started eating my emotions and started gaining weight. Nothing like being borderline depressed and then reverse all of the hard work that you did. That does a real number on your self confidence. I was able to pull myself out of the funk (cancer stopped being on my mind 24/7) and I was on the upswing. The end of 2015 was all about preparing for 2016. The year of reconstruction. I knew I was going to be off work so I was trying to wrap things up there while trying to prepare for the downtime tied to the first two surgeries, which happened within 21 days. I'm pushing through the frustration of not being able to do much and that is SOOOOOO difficult for me. Every time I get really frustrated, I remind myself how blessed I am. The pain, challenging recovery and the frustration are only temporary.

So here we are, 2 years on from the day that changed my life. Regardless of what happens I'm still here, I still have a fighting spirit and my goal is still to help provide support to as many people as I can. To all of my Pink Sisters (and any other cancer ribbons...all are welcome!) who are just beginning their journey, I promise you will find strength you never thought you had. You will be humbled by the level of support you receive from those who love you, you will feel fear, you will feel ugly, you will cry, you will laugh and you will learn far more than you expect. Soon, you will be one of us....one of those crazy women. One of the ones who says that cancer sucks but, in some strange way, they feel blessed to have gone through the experience. I am not the same person I was on this day 2 years ago. I am stronger, I am more appreciative of the little things in life, I have a burning desire to make a difference (I'm still figuring out how to put that into practice) and I remember that I need to put myself first (work in progress).

I have more to say but I'm tired so I'm signing off.  Before I go, let me say thank you. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Thank you for your comments, your calls, your messages...every kind of support makes a big difference.

Much love to all!
Andee

731

Good evening friends,

I'm not feeling too great so I considered not posting tonight, but HERE I AM! Today marks the 2 year anniversary of the day I found my lump. 731 days (there's an extra day because we had leap day this year!) and here I am. I will be acknowledging some additional milestones in pretty rapid succession. Things happened pretty quickly. Next up will be my diagnosaversary and the 2nd birthday of this blog.

So much has happened over the past two years and, looking back now, it has flown by. It seems like yesterday. I remember the early days very vividly. We'll revisit those days over the next couple of weeks but I want to say something to everyone who reads this. Here goes...

I wish that I could say that I'm the only person I know who was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 40s. I can name 4 other women right off the top of my head. Please, please, please do your monthly self exams. Please, please, please get your mammograms. Please, please, please do not follow the guidelines that say you can wait until 50 to start getting annual mammograms. Talk to your doctor, take control of your own health and care. Really!

I know things have been a little more serious than normal on here recently - certainly more clinical. Well, that ends today. Today, my friend Deadpool would like to share a message with all the ladies out there. Guys, feel free to share this with the ladies in your life.  This just might save someones life!

Love to all,
Andee

Tennis anyone?

I'm finally here. I was just having too much trouble trying to type on my little Kindle keyboard with my T-rex arms. I got to ride the lift chair and made it upstairs to use an actual computer.  This is still uncomfortable but much easier. So let's review the week so far.

I arrived at the hospital on Monday morning @ 6:30 AM. I went through all of the pre-op activities - vitals taken, a million questions answered, IV placed, pepcid taken then Dr. Hall drew on me and it was time to roll. From what I hear, they got started around 9 AM and I was out in less than 4 hours. That's still a long time but much shorter than the maximum time estimate. Yay!  I had a little nausea in recovery the last time but I remembered to let them know this time so I got a patch. That means I woke to pain only, not pain and nausea. Yay!

I woke up a bit in recovery and was off to my room. The pain was a little harder to manage this time around. I guess that should be unexpected since I have an incision on my back and lots on my front.  The first 24 hours were a real challenge. There were a lot of tears, I'm not going to lie. And I have never cried over pain, even after my mastectomy. I figured out later that most of the pain was coming from the expanders. We didn't think they'd be filled for another 6 months but Dr. Hall was so happy with the way everything was going, she went ahead and added some fluid to the expanders. Yay for the head start, Boo for the discomfort. Remember, I'm all about full disclosure so I'm not going to tell you that it was all better quickly. Nope, we've just been able to knock the edge off but it's finally tolerable.

As expected, I woke up with 3 drains and a pain catheter in my back. That thing is working WONDERFULLY because I've had no issues with my back. I'm still very sore on the front but I'm happy to say that I can already raise my right arm above my head. My left side is a little more complicated. There's more swelling on that side, more fluid, more pain. Remember the muscle from my back is still attached in the back. It's pulled through a "tunnel" under my arm. Over time the muscle will atrophy but that hasn't happened yet.  Add to that, the fluid/swelling and it feels like I have a tennis ball under my arm. You can see it through my clothes...it's that large. Lovely, right? I can raise the left arm to shoulder level and I'm working on doing more, a little at a time.

The "fooblettes" are currently looking like Dr. Frankenstein did my surgery - especially the left side. Some skin came along with the muscle from my back so she had to make a place for that and sew it all together. They will look much better over time but I have to say, it's nice to have something other than dent there. I'm actually convex rather than concave now. (did I get those right?). Anyway, Dr. Hall is very happy with the look of the skin. She said that the blood flow to the flap is much better than she would have ever expected. That's good!

Time for a break. Back to finish later....

Ok, I'm back and I'm home! YAY!!

So, other than pain, I had minimal complications this time around. On Monday, I had some fluid issues and my left hand puffed up and my fingers looked like sausages. I couldn't make a fist. It appears that it was due to the fluid they were pumping in to me and the fact that I left my left hand hanging down because it was painful to move it. After we noticed the swelling, we propped my left arm up on pillows for the remainder of my hospital stay and it came down. It's very close to normal now. I was just sure that it was lymphedema.

I once again had a reaction to the prep stuff. It happened pretty quickly this time so Bobby (bless his heart) had to try to get that junk off of me. They cleaned most of it off my chest right after surgery but there was still a good amount of it left on my back. When Bobby was trying to clean it off, he had to rinse the washcloth 5-6 times. Thankfully, everyone acted quickly so it was better fairly quickly. Bobby cleaned off the prep and ink and they gave me Benadryl...in my IV.  It helped with the itching and also knocked me out.

I have not, yet, tried to figure out how many stitches I have. It's a lot.  I finally caught a glimpse of the incision on my back today and it's larger than I expected. Not a big deal though.

The only other challenge is trying to keep the muscles from tightening up. It's pretty easy when I'm up and about but it becomes a problem when I sleep. With all of  my tubes and bit of pain, I have to sleep propped up and can't roll onto either side. Sleeping in one position means my muscles get no stretch while I'm sleeping. When I get up it takes a while to loosen everything back up again.

So, there's my update. The first 48 hours this time around have been the most challenging of all of my surgeries. More pain, more discomfort, needed more help...etc. Thankfully we got through it but it was not a fun time.

I'm off to take care of my drains and then try to stay awake for a little while.

Thank you to everyone who called, texted, messaged or came to visit. I appreciate everyone's love and support and positive vibes. It makes all the difference.

Back tomorrow.
Love to all
Andee

Today's post is brought to you by the word seroma

Wednesday January 27, 2016

Here we are, day 1 after the tube was removed and I already have a seroma. It's not too bad, but it's there. I'll let you know if I get to the beachball stage. The thought of that just plain grosses me out. ICK!
I'm tired (even after a nap!) so this will be short.
'Night!

________________________________________________________________________
Friday January 29, 2016

As you already know (assuming you read the post from earlier today), things got worse over the next 24 hours but I'm feeling much better today. I feel a little like I'm wearing a float my chest. You know I'm very visual about stuff and I searched for a funny picture to post to give you an idea what it feels like. I have been unsuccessful in my search. So, imagine, if you will, wearing one of those doughnut-shaped floats around your chest. That will give you some idea what the sensation is like...except mine is more like a half doughnut. It's weeeeeeird. Last time this happened, it got so bad that I actually looked forward to seeing my surgeon come at me with something like this...

www.starsyringe.com

...and jab it in my chest. I don't think the syringe in the picture above is big enough but all of the pictures that show the actual type they used on me, come in pictures of them actually being used. Nobody wants to see that. Anywaaaaay, I'm not to the point that I'm feeling all dreamy about a big needle but I'm not comfortable. I'm still wrapped in the compression bandage (which I am now calling my "warm hug", in all of it's velcro and elastic glory), and I'm sure that's helping so no real complaints.  It could always be worse.

STRAIGHT TALK ALERT.

My drain site is looking a little better, though it still looks a lot like a wee GSW. It has sealed nicely and the angry skin around it is looking better. My back incision is still a little red around the edges but the worst parts are the areas that scabbed over. I've been treating them to try to soften them but it if I stretch a little to far...well...it kinda feels like that end of the incision is just going to pop loose and that whole flap is just going to fly off.  #plasticsurgeryproblems

My arrival and surgery time are confirmed. Once again, we will start early on Monday morning and I'll be on the table for 6 hours or so. I'll come out with 3 brand spanking new incisions over the 3/4 of my torso, 2 new foreign objects implanted (expanders, no foobs yet), 3 new SUCKY drains (no pun intended) and a catheter in my back. My goal is to maintain my really inappropriate sense of humor right up until I nod off and then showing my monitor to friends and family as soon as I can. If you're new to the blog, here's a picture of me showing my monitor prior to my mastectomy. It's become kind of a thing.  I think my husband and siblings see it as my version of "thumbs up" after surgery.

I could ramble on for a while longer but I will spare you for now. I'll write some more about my thoughts on the upcoming procedure and pull out some throwback posts.

Much love to all!
Andee

A little tired and a little itchy

Welcome to post-op day 3. This day tends to be the worst. I'm not in pain but discomfort is there. The muscle tightens up from time to time, like a cramp. Not the best feeling in the world. Still dealing with the rash. It got uglier today so Benadryl joined the party. I also worked hard at washing that stuff off but it will take a few days to clear. At least it did the last time. Maybe it will all heal before they slather than junk on me again.
So far, no major complications, just annoying stuff. I think I overdid it yesterday - on my feet a lot - so today I had to break down and nap and I'm getting ready to turn in for the night.  Hoping the skin issues will improve by tomorrow and maybe the muscle spasms will calm down too.
I'm off to bed. Catch ya later!

Love to all,
Andee

Let's talk drains

It's been almost 2 years since we talked about drains. If you were around for the first one you can skip this explanation. If you're new to my world, you are getting ready to learn something. This post might not be for everyone. The drain tube doesn't hurt but it's not easy to look at. As a courtesy, I won't show you my actual drain, I will use my trusty old illustration. Again, my setup varies a bit from the drawing but you get the idea. My tube exits on my side and it's several inches below my surgical site. I have to empty the bulb, which I refer to as my bulbicle, at least twice per day. For now, I have to do it more than that because I can fill the bulb. Nice, right?

I'm not sure how long I will have to keep this one. After my mastectomy, I only kept my drains in for a week. My PS said that the back drain would stay in the longest after the "big" surgery. She estimated 3 weeks. (Oh please, NOOOOOOO). So it could be as long as 3 weeks. It won't be any more than that because I have surgery again in 3 weeks. When I come out of that I'll have a newly placed drain for my back and two more in the front. Can you feel my excitement? I'm sure that you can.  

In other news, I've developed my "rash caused by whatever that stuff is they put on your skin before surgery to keep the cooties away." 

This pic shows some of my remaining ink as well as the redness caused by the aforementioned "stuff" that dripped down during surgery since I was lying on stomach. Never a dull moment in my world.

Well, today hasn't been so bad. I've felt pretty good but I'm absolutely worn out right now. I should have taken it a bit easier and snuck in a nap. Maybe tomorrow.

Bye for now.

Love to all,
Andee

Let the sleep cycle begin

I may be offline for a while so I thought I would post something.   Ta-da! Here I am!
I'm off to bed to see if I can knock out A LOT of hours of sleep. The tally is still sitting at 5 hours of sleep since 6 AM yesterday. I believe the steroids have left the building and I'm ready to hibernate.
I'm signing off but I'll check in when I wake.  You can hardly wait, right?

Love to all!
Andee

Who will win?

Will it be the Benadryl, steroids or caffeine that wins the sleep battle today? Our betting windows will be open until 3 PM.

Here's a brief update before I (probably...hopefully) take my Benadryl nap which precedes my steroid-induced insomnia.

• We discussed side effects and it was determined that the nuisance side effects were tolerable and no "nasty" side effects so we would move forward with this treatment.  
• Blood work was good but I'm getting close to the "moderate risk" category on my ANC. My count was 1200 today so I just have to be careful and hope that it doesn't drop. The goal is for it to be 1000 or above. We have some wiggle room below 1000 but I could drop again between now and the next visit.  There's a chart below for your viewing pleasure.
  In the event that the numbers do drop, it could mean Neupogen injections or even delayed treatment. Let's pray that I can will my body to make the necessary white blood cells and I can keep on trucking! 

Risk of Infection based on Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC)

ANC greater than 1500 No increased risk of infection ANC 1000-1500 Slight increase in risk of infection ANC 500-1000 Moderate increase in risk of infection ANC 100-500 High risk of infection ANC less than 100 Extremely high risk of infection

Source:ChemoCare.com

• It's time for another heart echo. It looks like that will happen prior to my next visit with my oncologist. The chemo can weaken the heart muscle so they like to keep an eye on things. I love a non-invasive test.
• I put my numbing cream on nice and early this morning and did not feel a thing with either the insertion of the needle, nor the removal. Woot woot!

That's all I've got right now. Catch you on the flip side!

Love to all,

Andee

What the heck?!

I can handle waking up in the wee hours of the morning (today it was 2:30/3ish) - this is an issue that pre-dates treatment.  I do, however, have an issue with waking up at that hour hungry...no, starving! Surely this is not a steroid thing. Ugh. I haven't eaten yet but breakfast should be interesting.

This seems to be going by so quickly

It's time for another one of those "silver linings". For a number of reasons (which I'm sure I will blog about at some point) it's terribly annoying to sleep days at time but, as always, I try to find the upside of every situation. The upside here is that with weekly treatments, this round seems to be flying by! I'm getting ready for number 3 and that means I'll only have 9 more to go. Already? Really??

So, let's do a side effect check as we roll through the end of week 2.

• Off the nausea meds for the week. I'll start back up on Tuesday. Did I mention I was down to one prescription instead of two. This is GREAT news.
• I have ended up with another (very small) "irritation" in my mouth. Still manageable so I can't complain.
• The inside of my nose is INSANELY dry. I'll try not to gross anyone out but it's bad dry. I've been snorting saline like you wouldn't believe and have even resorted to putting some Vaseline in my nose. I've had some minor bloody nose issues but, again, taking care of it so more of an irritation than anything.
• My hands and feet are still nice and dark. My right hand is the worst of the bunch. My sister told me it looked like I'd had a hand transplant.  I talked to the nurse about it on Wednesday and she said that, yes, it's a side effect of the chemo. She checked out my hands and said I was lucky (so far) because some people's fingernails turn dark. Wait...what?!?  The would just take the cake, right?!
• I haven't noticed any neuropathy (tingling and/or pain) in my hands or feet this time around. This is GREAT news. This particular side effect can be "mild and irritating" all the way up to "painful and permanent".  Let's pray for no neuropathy!
• What am I leaving out???  Oh! Chemo Brain seems to be improving just a tad. I still have a thought, take two steps and forget what the thought was BUT it just seems better (just go with me on this one).
• Hair update - what I have is definitely longer but the bare spots don't seem to filling in just yet. Seriously? I bet I'm going to have to end up trimming the fuzz or I'll look like Fire Marshal Bill.   

After my marathon sleep (Thursday-Friday), my babies came home on Friday. Bless their little hearts,I miss them so much when they're not here. They are getting to do some fun stuff. I hope this is a summer they remember because of the time with their grandparents, golf outings and swim lessons and not because Mommy slept through most of it. 

It is way past my bed time so I'm gonna go but I hope to get to those RRT posts tomorrow. 

In the meantime, please say a prayer for a very dear friend and her mother (and entire family). Mom is dealing with health challenges right now and they could use all of the prayers, good vibes and happy thoughts you can spare to lift them up and support them. Say it with me, "Cancer Sucks!"

Love to all,

Andee

And the total so far is...

21 hours of sleep (estimate) since 8:00 Thursday night and it doesn't feel like I'm done yet. This is insane.

Wow!

Fell asleep again and woke up @ 6:20. My hubby and babies are home so I'm going to catch up with them and then I'll post. I have a feeling I'll be awake for a while. Lol

5 more hours of sleep with more to come

Time for breakfast, to check on my fur babies, stroll for a bit and then maybe, just maybe, another post before more sleep. See what I mean? CRAZY sleep cycle.

7 hours of sleep and more to come

Happy early morning to you, friends. I'm (barely) awake and will try to remain that way for a few minutes to squeeze in a post. The steroids have finally left the building so I was able to hang on until about 8PM last night before going to bed. I woke up (like I frequently do) in the 3 AM hour. I'm still sleepy (which is a fabulous thing) so I'll be going to back to sleep once this post is finished. It's the little things...right?
So, a few updates. Let's review side effects for this round.

• Benadryl haze - day 1. I finally figured out I needed to use this to my advantage. The goal is to go to sleep immediately after I get home from treatment. It allows me to get some "bonus" sleep before the Benadryl wears off and the steroids then keep me awake for a day.
• Fatigue is still, by far, the worst of the side effects. Let me update that, it's not the worst, it has the biggest impact, the most disruptive. The worst would be unending pain or nausea, etc. You get what I mean here. It makes me a little useless. The hardest part for me is that while I'm useless, I spend most of my time sleeping and my children need supervision. My parents have been so fabulous about taking care of my precious babies for days at a time. They are keeping them entertained, active, loved and possibly a bit spoiled. My in laws have helped too. We are so blessed to have the level of support that we do. It's just very hard for me to be away from my babies for the majority of the week. If it wasn't for FaceTime, I would go crazy. As always, I remind myself that this is only temporary, they are having fun (though they miss us too), and they are spending time with family and doing things they wouldn't normally get to do. I'm happy to report that yesterday was dance class day so they came home to visit. My mom helped with the kiddos, dad mowed the grass then Bobby and his dad worked on the "kiddos surprise" after work. I fell asleep before they were done but they are moving right along. Also, we're continuing to get meal help from family - SUCH a blessing.  Anyway....lots of support, lots of love and TONS of appreciation for everyone who has stepped to assist while I play Sleeping Judy.
  I know....I "squirreled" a bit there so let's get back to side effects.
• No mouth sores so far this week. YIPEEE!!! Last week's is healed and gone.
• No joint pain, as of yet.
• Eyes are still watering
• Hair situation - I still think the hair that's there is growing but it's not quite filling in yet. I'll keep you posted. ;-)

Thanks to everyone who checks in via FB or text. With the exception of treatment, I don't really leave the house much. Bobby does his best to get me out for a short trip for ice cream or something (he's awesome, by the way, have I mentioned that?) just to get me a change of scenery. It's nice to hear from friends and family from time to time. **Please don't take the reference about not leaving the house as a negative. I love it here. It makes me happy and I feel at ease. I think of it like a resort. It's quiet, I have my furbabies to hang out with, I spend time sitting on the patio, reading (when awake), I walk the driveway to make sure I keep moving per dr orders.  My immune system situation has been OK so far but my deep need for no treatment delays keeps us as cautious as we can be. So far, so good! Plus, there's not a lot of opportunity to get out when you're sleeping for several days...well you know the story.

Well, it's time for me to go back to sleep for a few more hours. 

Love to all!

Andee

Time to hibernate