I'm Almost Done With Chemo!

Today was my 7th round of chemo.  Only one more to go after this one!  I cannot explain how happy this truly makes me!

I met with Dr. Kuo.  Let him know that my toes and the bottom of my feet are still a little "buzzy and numb" as well as the tips of two of my fingers on my right hand.  He asked if I was tripping or falling, and I told him that yes, I am tripping over my feet, however, this is not an unusual occurrence for me...  made him laugh a little.

Chemo went well...basically the same as the last two rounds.  They give me a bag of fluids, then the benedryl, and then I pass out.  At some point after that, they start the Taxol, but that part is all a little fuzzy.  Then, about an hour later, I start to get woken up by needing to pee due to all the fluids they're giving me...  I do that about 4 times.  Unplugging that IV pump and dragging it into the bathroom that many times gets a little old.  I've noticed that I am one of the only ones who seems to need to get up to pee, which is odd, because I can go all day in school and not go to the bathroom until 3:30...
Christy brought me to chemo today.  We chatted a little bit with the other patients who were in there.  When we left, she said, "You are seriously like the rock star in that room."  Made me feel pretty good.

Once chemo was over, the real fun began...  I am going to be one of 8 women featured in LKN Woman magazine in October, for breast cancer month...  So today I had to go to Mooresville for a photo shoot.  I am not kidding.  I was in a photo shoot.  I think she took 50-100 pictures...  WAY outside of my comfort zone!  She said that each of us would have a one-page spread.  Whoa.  Honestly, I have to admit that it was a little fun, but for those of you who really know me, you know that there was a part of me that felt completely ridiculous and wanted to run far, far away!!  So...look for it in October!

Tomorrow I go back for my Neulasta shot and then hopefully I will be able to make up my exercise class that I missed today because I was still so drugged up on benedryl.  I usually feel pretty good on Friday for the most part.  By the evening I start to go downhill...  Saturday and Sunday I am usually pretty achy (or in pain) and exhausted....  So I am likely signing off until Monday or Tuesday!

September 24 will be my last round of chemo.  I WILL be celebrating once it's over and I'm feeling well again.  I have not decided what I want to do yet...  any ideas??

Thank you all for your prayers, positive thoughts, meals, help driving my kids, etc...  I know that I would not be doing as well as I am without my amazing family and all of my amazing friends!!

Love you guys

Tuesday Musings...

Feeling pretty good today.  Still have some aches in my hips and ankles, but it's better than it was this weekend or on Monday.  Everyday gets a little bit better, until the next chemo brings me back down.  I am continually grateful, however, that I usually get more than a full week of feeling good before my next round.  Today is September 1st, and within this month I will be completely done with chemo.  I cannot fully express how happy that makes me!!

A couple of weeks ago, my Aunt Carole and Uncle Jay celebrated their 50th anniversary, which is pretty amazing.  My Aunt Pati came in with her grandson, Riley, all the way from Washington.  I was super happy to see her, since it is not that often that we get to visit!!  Aunt Pati is also a breast cancer survivor, so we got to talk a little about that.  It's always nice to be able to talk with someone who has walked the same path as you.  Anyway, she gave me a pair of "bosom buddies" breast forms, which are pretty amazing.  I bought a new bra to put them in and wore them yesterday.  It was strangely odd having boobs again!  They looked quite real, and it was really nice to have a shirt fit properly again!

I am still going to my old folks/sick folks exercise classes.  I really do love them.  The other sick folks are super friendly, and the trainers and nurses there are wonderful.  It's like exercise and counseling!  Emma had to come one day last week, and she sat outside in the little lobby.  She said I must have been having fun, because she heard me laughing "like, every 2 minutes."  I always leave there feeling better than when I walked through the door...even when I'm feeling crummy from chemo.

Tomorrow I am going to a funeral.  A life taken way too soon.  It's a harsh reminder that life is short, and there is no guarantee that there will be a tomorrow.  It's important to remember that so that you will make the most of every day.  Don't let your day/week/lifetime be spent stressed out about unimportant things (and yes, the things we typically stress out about are almost all unimportant).  Make the choice to be happy.  Most importantly, tell the people who are important to you that you love them.  Do that one right now.  Call/text/email/visit someone and just tell them that you love them.  I'm gonna do it as soon as I publish this post.

Love you guys!  (This doesn't count...I'm gonna tell someone personally!)

Jen

Six Rounds Down, Two to Go!

Dane and I dropped the kids off at school this morning, had a nice breakfast together at Westlake, and then headed to the hospital to start chemo round #6.

We spent a few minutes talking with the doctor beforehand.  I let him know how much pain I was in the weekend after the last round.  Although he said that I exhibited "classic" symptoms, and that usually the 2nd round of Taxol is usually easier for most women, he did prescribe some pain medication for me to take for the weekend...  Honestly, just having the pain meds makes me feel better...

Again, they started me off with an infusion of Ativan and Benedryl, which basically put me into a mild coma.  Dane kept himself busy doing crosswords and watching terrible Netflix tv shows.  Apparently what he was watching today was too embarrassing to tell me about... Afterwards, we had lunch, he dropped me off at home (and I continued my coma/nap), and then went to pick up the kids at school.

Overall, though, the Taxol round was WAY easier to handle than the first four rounds... The pain was awful, but it only lasted 2 days, whereas the nausea from the earlier rounds lingered for nearly the entire two weeks...

School has been really good.  I have had a lot of fun with my students.  On the down-side though, it is either my age or the chemo that is making it super difficult to learn all their names!!  I've always been better at remembering faces than names, but this year it is ridiculous!  I think out of the 103 students I have, I know 20 names for sure...  I may need to make some masking tape name tags or something!!

Ok, I'm gonna head off to bed in a few minutes...  Love you guys!

A Brand New Day

After crumbling into a thousand pieces last night, I finally got to sleep and got some much needed rest.

This morning, I got dressed for school and put on my pink wig.  The pink wig really does help my attitude and outlook.  It's pretty amazing really.  As the day went on, I realized that I was feeling more and more positive, more and more happy.  More and more like my normal self.  It was good.

After school today, I came home and made pork chops and mashed potatoes for dinner...and it was delicious.  Right now I'm sitting in the living room watching Jake play Mario Kart, while Emma finishes up her homework in the dining room.  Dane is cramming for his 10K that he's supposed to run this weekend.  Please pray that he doesn't fall down and die.  I still need him around for a while.  Besides, I still kinda like him.

Ok--I'm gonna go get ready for school tomorrow.  Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.  They're working.

You Must Be Kidding Me...

I am not sure what the Perry family has done to really tick off the universe.  But the universe is definitely not happy.  The weekend began pretty okay--Emma and I had our school orientations, which both went well.  Then we headed out to my Aunt and Uncle's 50th wedding anniversary party, which was lots of fun.  Once we got home, however, the good times fell apart.  Saturday night I did not sleep.  I could not sleep.  The pain in my hips, legs, and ankles wouldn't let me.  I was in tears by morning.  Dane brought me one of my steroid pills that is supposed to help, along with a Claritin (which is also supposed to help...odd, right?).  It did provide some relief for about 3 hours.  I was still achy during that time, but no pain.  Unfortunately it only lasted a short while and then the pain was back.  I couldn't take any other medications until the evening.  I felt like the lady from Misery had hobbled my ankles.

Later that day, I cracked a tooth.  My dentist isn't open on Mondays...I'm hoping to get an appointment for Tuesday...

Dane and the kids worked tirelessly to get the house and the van clean.  They did a marvelous job.  Truly they did.

As Dane was mowing the lawn, around 5 pm, he noticed that our outside sewer line was clogged and overflowing...again.  Back to Lowe's to rent a sewer snake.

Finally, (as if all that other stuff isn't enough), I noticed that the tissue expander on my left side didn't seem to have the same volume and shape as it had earlier in the week...  I called my plastic surgeon and he saw me today.  Yes, the tissue expander has sprung a leak.  It will have to be replaced, which cannot be done until I am one month done with chemo.  That also means that I cannot have any expansions done for about a month after that surgery.  Which means that the final surgery won't happen until after the new year...

This last one is tough.  The body image issues I currently have, have been tough to deal with.  It is difficult seeing yourself in the mirror and seeing two mammoth scars across your chest where your boobs once were.  It is even tougher now with one tissue expander nearly fully inflated, while the other one is completely deflated.  One side looks kind of "boob-like" while the other one is almost concave.

The breast reconstruction was supposed to be the silver lining in all of this.  It still will be, I know.  I just don't understand why this is all happening.  My doctor said that this is just a little bump in the road.  Well, excuse me if I'm a little pissy about another damn bump in the road.  I feel like I (and my family) have handled all of this with a lot of poise, grace, and a positive attitude.  I don't know how many more unexpected bumps I can take.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel...it's just moved a little farther away.  We will still make it.  We will get past this.  It will all work out.  I am sure of that.  I am so thankful for the amazing support we have from our family and friends.  All of your thoughts and prayers (and funny stories and jokes) are truly a blessing.  We could not do this without you.

On a truly positive note, today my legs were not in any pain.  I have had zero nausea with this new round of chemo.  My kids had a wonderful first day of school.  Jake said it was AMAZING and that he thinks that this is going to be the best year ever.  Emma is super excited about all the new things happening in 5th grade.  I had a good first day as well--I think I'm gonna love my students.

Thank you for coming to my pity-party.  It's over now.  I'm good.  Seriously.

Love to you all.

Where'd That Mack Truck Come From?

Wowzers.  I feel like I was run over last night.  My body aches.  My skin hurts.  I'm tired.  Yesterday I was feeling so great!  Last night I started feeling myself go downhill and I ended up going to bed around 9:30.  I tossed and turned a lot last night, and each time I moved, I could feel every muscle and every bone moving.

We all got up this morning and headed to school for Emma's orientation.  Dane had some stuff to get finished in his room, so he took Jake and I headed off to the elementary building with Emma.  She's pretty pumped about her classes this year.

I enjoyed seeing all of the moms and dads and catching up, but I'm a little exhausted from it all.  I did chat with one dad about whether or not he went to cub scouts with his son this summer or not...he said no, but that they had a great summer....as I walked away, I realized that I wasn't talking to who I thought I was talking to...  He was so kind to just go with it, but now I'm super embarrassed!  Anyway, I'm currently sitting in my classroom with the lights off and the door shut.  I'm planning on resting a little bit as soon as I'm done with this post.  The 6th grade orientation starts at 12:00, so I've got about an hour to chill.

The good news with all of this is that there has been no nausea!  I cannot tell you how happy that makes me.  Even though I am exhausted, sore, and achy, it is 1000% better than nausea!

Ok.  Gotta go rest.

New Chemo Drug...New Expectations?

I have been really dreading today all week.  Monday was our first day of teacher workdays, and to be honest, I had a great time, and I was a little frustrated that I was going to miss today and tomorrow.  What made it a little more stressful was that my mom was out of town (which also meant our dog, Daisy was home), Dane was out of town, it was the first week of workdays, and I had chemo.
Dane did a great job coordinating where/when the kids were going to go.  My friend Valena was so wonderful to bring me to chemo today.  All was well.

Well...not completely well.  Last night I was completely by myself.  I started feeling really anxious.  I decided to try to go to bed a little earlier than usual (10:30).  I played a little candy crush and went to bed.  I had to get up at least 3 times last night to pee--anxiety??  I woke up at 7:00, but just could not force myself to get up and get ready.  I just didn't want to go.  So, I got up at the last possible moment (8:15) and was sorta ready by 8:30 when Valena showed up.

We stopped to get breakfast and then headed to the hospital.  When it was my turn to head back to talk to the doctor, I took a deep breath and tried to fake being relaxed.  Guess what...didn't work.  As soon as I was behind those doors, I started crying...  The Nurse practitioner came in and saw me and I laughed a little and apologized for crying before she even got here!  I told her all about my nausea (and how so much of it is now mental).  I told her about my (TMI ALERT--SKIP AHEAD IF YOU NEED TO) period was so completely out of control last time, using 10-12 tampons per day...and I was told that it would likely stop completely during chemo.  I told her about my anxiety about the new chemo regimen.

She brought me a little relief by telling me that, just as I had researched, Taxol does not cause nausea in most people (still makes me a little worried).  It can cause some bone pain, but I have medicine that I can take to help with that if necessary.  I swear, I think I could take a lot of pain, as long as I didn't have the nausea to go with it.  I wiped my tears, took some deep breaths, and headed to the chemo lounge.  I picked out my fancy leather lounger and set up shop.  We were there for 6 1/2 hours.  There were several pre-meds that were given first--Nausea meds, Ativan, Benedryl.  The benedryl and ativan pretty much knocked me out.  Valena said I snored quite a bit.  I'm not super proud of that, but I'm not super surprised about that either...

I came home and took a nap on the couch.  At 8:00, I asked Dane to take me to the store to get some drinks and crackers so that I could have them near my bed in the morning just in case of nausea...

Right now it is 9:30pm.  I am sleepy and will be ready for bed as soon as I get a shower.  I will not be at school tomorrow because I have to go in for another Neulasta shot and some extra fluids.  I am not feeling anxious.  I am not feeling nauseous.  Pray that it continues.

So, all in all, it's been a really good day--especially when you consider how I was feeling this morning!!

I will miss all my teacher friends tomorrow!!  I am hoping to be able to come to Jake's open house tomorrow, but we'll see.

Thank you all for listening.  Thanks for all of your emails, texts, and comments!  It means so much to me!
Love you guys!