I am here at chemo supporting my mom. She is sleeping right now so I figured I would update everyone. I put Jaylyn’s senior pictures back on here. They are on the right side under pages. I also put back the link for the breast cancer search. I think that was everything that was missing from the old server. If I’m missing anything let me know. Well we don’t have much longer here, so I’m going to go.
Jeremy
Doesn’t that sound good! When this all started last September, I had a total of 18 treatments and now look, I’m two-thirds done. Yeah! I had another decent week, again the weekend was the worst. I slept/dozed most of the afternoon on Saturday, I just couldn’t stay awake. Luckily I have a great hubby who has always been a big helper doing whatever needs to be done (cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.) so that makes the weekends easier on me.
My treatment yesterday went fine. My red count went up…but better and the white count stayed the same. I was able to fall asleep at bedtime but woke up at 3:00 a.m. I still feel tired but my tingling experience and achiness in my legs woke me. I decided to get up and hopefully will be able to return to bed for a short nap before I need to wake up for work.
On Wednesday night, Jaylyn officially sign her Letter of Intent to play softball at a 2 year college about 2 1/2 hours south of us. Her college coach and wife came to the high school for the signing and afterwards we celebrated at the local pizza place. Jaylyn was pretty excited and also glad to have the process over. It is hard to believe she is a senior and will be leaving home in a few months.
On Tuesday Jeff and I went to the plastic surgeon. She was very nice and we were there almost 2 hours. They showed me pictures, tried different implants on me and then took pictures (shoulders down) of me. Did you know that implants are devices and like other devices wear out and will need replaced? Implants last around 10 years…so at my age I would be looking at 2 additional surgeries to replace my implants if I live to age 66. I wasn’t crazy about that you know with my needle phobia but the recovery time is less for implants. Some implants can rupture (like from an airbag deployment) or become hard so they would need to be replaced then.
She felt I would be a candidate for the abdominal TRAM flap surgery although there is another surgeon who does these surgeries. This surgery is where they take the loose skin of your abdomen and tunnel it up underneath to create new breasts. You get a version of a tummy tuck and new breasts. The surgery is a lot more extensive and recovery time is 6 to 8 weeks. I originally liked the idea behind this surgery because you are using your own fat and body tissue and it is something that I wouldn’t need to replace every 10 years. However, since I need two breasts, she wasn’t sure what size my new breasts would be. Now I don’t want to be Dolly Parton or Pamela Anderson but I don’t want to go through all this and barely have anything there (not even be an A size). Plus since it transplanted skin, there is a chance it won’t take and the tissue will die. If that happens, then I would have to have an implant. The biggest concern though is to do this surgery they have to cut your abdomen muscle which makes it weaker. What does that mean? It means that simple things like getting out a chair, or sitting up will be more difficult to do.
So we received lots of information. We do have an appointment with the other surgeon, who does the flap surgery, in a couple of weeks. He will be able to give us more information on if I truly am a candidate, what size I will end up and more on risks. Then I can give all of this more thought.
Well I’m still pretty perky (not sure if that nap will happen) but I think I’ll go give it a try.
Thanks for reading.
Love, Lori
Had a pretty good week last week. Last Thursday and Friday, the steriods had me feeling pretty darn good and I had energy. Seem to be the most achy and tired over the weekend, which is okay. I saw the doctor yesterday before my treatment. Unfortunately, my red count went down (just a little) and the white count stayed the same. I was hoping my red count would continue to go up. During my visit, we asked the doctor how can we tell the chemo is working and found out that we really can’t. He said it was all symptomatic, no blood test available yet. After the treatments are done, they look for persistent symptoms and runs CT scans, etc. to see if anything shows up. So we are basically hitting the cancer hard with all this chemo and hoping that it is all killed. I’m pretty confident this was caught early and all this aggressive chemo is doing its job, but it was still a little bewildering to hear.
When I got to my treatment, Deb, my nurse, offered me a private room with a bed (some just have recliners) and once she started my premeds I pretty much fell asleep. I dozed through my entire treatment but there was a tv in the room so Jeff kept himself occupied.
Dad and Betty fixed my family supper which was a nice treat. As usual, my whole body tingling experience began and I perked up. But much to my surprise, I was able to fall asleep about 12:30 a.m. and today I have not had much spunk (a low energy day). I return to work tomorrow, hopefully with more energy.
I see the plastic surgeon next Tuesday to find out what my options are. No I can’t have reconstruction for a few more months (not before May) but I want to hear the options now and have some time to ponder what I want to do. My cancer doctor told me to talk to people who have had it done. I was leaning towards using my own fat/tissue from other parts of my body just because it is a one time procedure (my understanding is that implants are a longer process) .
So if anyone out there can connect me with people who have had implants or breasts made from their own tissue I’d appreciate it. I’d love to have some information before I see the doctor on Tuesday.
Thanks for your help.
Love, Lori
You know the times you think something has happened to you before….well that is me. I am reliving my weekly treatment nights each week. Yes, here it is past bedtime and I am still up. Well at least I can say the treatment affects are now consistent and predictable. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. As with the past 3 treatments, the hot flashes had occurred with a high frequency tonight. At one point, the sweat had beaded up on many parts of my body so much I thought I had been in a steam room. Jaylyn who isn’t feeling too well, asked me at that point if she felt hot. I told her I wouldn’t be a good judge and then preceeded to have her feel my head. At which point, she immediately drew her hand away and said it was gross. My whole body tingling experience began again and I’m sure it will stay with me until mid-morning.
On a positive note, my red blood count has finally started to rise. It appears my red count booster shots are finally starting to work. It is still low but over a point higher than it has been. My white count actually went up as well. Still low normal but higher than last week.
Since my last treatment, I had a pretty good week. I worked Thursday and Friday and my steroids had me feeling really good on Thursday and even into Friday. I couldn’t believe how good I felt. Saturday I was sluggish. Jaylyn had to get sewing supplies for school so after that her and I went to the mall and just walked. I didn’t walk fast but I thought the exercise would do me good. We weren’t there very long…less than 30 minutes…but some exercise is better than none.
With the drug I am now on, I think the biggest side effect I have is the joint and muscle pain. You know when people are getting sick how their bodies are achy…..that is how I felt over the weekend. I didn’t know if I was coming down with something or if it was the drug. Since I never got sick, I am assuming it is the drug. I also seem to be stiff in my hips. After sitting, it is a little bit hard to get walking but once I get going, I’m okay.
I’m not ready to say the weekly treatments are a breeze but they have been easier. Thanks for all your support and encouragement. You all are helping me get through this experience. Well I’m being a little chatty so I think I will sign off for now.
Only 8 more treatments left!
Love, Lori
Yes, it’s true. www.justmelmj.com has moved again to a new server. Since I started the www.wontstopme.com project it was tedious maintaining both sites. With my mom’s site on the wontstopme server I only have to handle upkeep on one. You can still go to www.justmelmj.com and you will be taken here automatically. This time you shouldn’t get 404 errors or anything else. There are still a few things left to transfer like the breast caner search and my sisters pictures. I will have them moved here in the next few days. Also you will have to be approved to comment again. All that means is when you comment I will have to approve it before it shows up. This is only a one time thing and I am always on my email so it shouldn’t take long for me to approve it. If you have questions please let me know. If you go to wontstopme.com you will see other peoples’ blogs and also see contact info and other things.
Jeremy
Here it is a week later and I am experiencing deja vu. It is past bed time and I am still up. I don’t really see me going to sleep anytime soon. I had my chemo a little later today. Went at 12:45 but still didn’t make it home until a little after 4:00. Actually dozed a little during treatment while listening to my Ipod. Hot flashes have steadily occurred since about 8:00 and the whole body tingling fun started at 10:00. Unfortunately my red blood count didn’t come up but didn’t go down either. However, my white blood counts (ones that fight infections) have dropped. Still in normal range but if they drop as much as they did this past week, the counts will be below normal. So I’ll need to be more prudent about washing my hands and staying clear of being around people who don’t feel well.
This past week the biggest nuisance was my lack of energy and fatique. Saturday and Sunday were the worst days. I was able to function but needed to take frequent rests (and naps). Being up on my feet too long caused light-headedness and overall weak feeling. I also am experiencing some aching and stiffness in my hands, feet and hips. Sometimes I walk a little more gingerly but once I get going I’m okay.
Since I am off the nasty drugs and on this new drug, it seems a more tolerable. However, I was told I would feel good for about 4 weeks and then it would hit me. Hopefully I was told wrong or whatever hits me won’t be too bad.
Only 9 more treatments!
Love, Lori
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