Last Chemo Treatment Update

Well I made it through the worst of my last treatment of Taxol. The weekend was hard as it was cold and rainy and I was achy and running a slight fever. I also developed neuropathy in my feet, which is a numbing tingling sensation. The nurses think it will go away in a few months. By Monday (Yom Kippur) I felt better. My mom’s friend, Nancy, and I drove to a restaurant to meet Mark and kids after the High Holiday services. I was unable to attend and fast for the day (Dr’s recommendations), but know God will understand. Yesterday, I went in for a heart scan to see if the Taxol or Herceptin caused any heart damage. I will receive this test every 3 months for the next year. Today, I have an ultrasound to verify there is no cancer in the remaining breast and on Friday I receive my next Taxol treatment.

Last Friday I met with my radiation oncologist to go over my plan for radiation. I will have 7 weeks of treatments (5 days a week). The first three weeks will be easy, but after that I will most likely experience fatigue, blisters and burning at the radiation sites. My oncologist is concerned as the spread of my cancer dictates that she will need to radiate part of my left lung (she expects about a 25% reduction in lung capacity that should heal itself) and part of my heart. I am trying to enroll in as study at Johns Hopkins that may eliminate the need to radiate my heart. I should know if I am accepted and assigned to the experimental group on Friday. Next week I will go through a simulation of the radiation and receive my tattoo dots to help with lining up the radiation equipment. Lastly, I will receive a bone scan next Friday to see if I had any bone loss due to chemo. Whew – so many visits to the hospital.

I look forward to my hair growing back and regaining my sense of taste. This should happen in about a month.

Sorry for the long break between posts. I will try to be better.