Not sure what to title this one...

It's been a little while since I've posted...  I'm going to probably ramble quite a bit.  Sorry about that...

I've been healing nicely.  I've been trying to get my walking in, and some days I'm more successful than others.  I usually feel really good in the mornings, and then in the afternoon a wave of exhaustion comes over me.  I know that it shouldn't be a surprise, but it is.  Of course, all my doctors and nurses are very happy with how I'm doing.

On Monday, I got the last of the drains removed, which made me SO HAPPY!  The drains made taking a shower, getting dressed, and general activities so much trickier.  I was glad to see it go!
My next appointment with Dr. Capizzi (the plastic surgeon) will be June 22nd for my first "expansion."  Should be interesting...  Will definitely keep you posted on this!

This morning, I had an appointment with Dr. Kuo, my oncologist.  The Oncotype DX test results were not in yet (grrr!) so we still did not make a definitive decision on chemotherapy yet.  We did, though, make a chemotherapy plan because it is more likely that I will need to do it than not.  If the results come back saying that chemo is necessary, then I will start my first round on June 18 with Adriamycin and Cytoxan.  I will go every two weeks for 8 weeks.  After that, I will have a choice--which is where it gets a little tricky.

Choice #1 will be Taxol at the regular dose every 2 weeks for 8 weeks.
Choice #2 is also Taxol, but a much lower dose, weekly, for 12 weeks...

So...want to know the reason for the choices??  Here you go:  Last time I had chemo, one of the drugs I was given was Taxotere.  After the second round, I developed an allergy to it (which was not pretty...  just trust me on this).  Taxol is related to Taxotere, so there is a possibility that I could have an allergic reaction to it as well.  Choice #2 is slightly less likely to cause the reaction.
Both choices have a similar effectiveness...in fact, choice #2 is slightly more effective (by less than 1 percentage point) than choice #1

Although the final decision about chemo has yet to be made, I have a strong feeling that I will have to do it.  I know that I can do it, but really, I just want to sit and cry a little about it.  I may do that later tonight.  Right now I have to go with Dane and pick up the kids, take them to swim practice, hand them over to Grammy.  Once Grammy has the kiddos, we're going to Big Al's to play trivia.

Love all you guys.  I can feel all your happy thoughts and prayers.  Keep 'em coming.

Jen