Just a quick update.......

Hello everybody. I hope this posting finds you doing well and enjoying this beautiful weather. I know I am. Friday made three weeks since my final chemo treatment, and I really am beginning to feel better. I don't have much stamina, and I easily fall asleep when I get still, but I don't have any nausea, gi upset, or queasiness anymore. That, in itself, is worth getting excited about. I had several appointments on Friday, so let me give you an update........

I had to be at Physician's East at 0845 to have blood drawn. According to my labs, my immune system is still compromised, but the values are beginning to climb a little. My platelets, red blood cells, hematocrit, and hemoglobin remain below normal, so I continue to be anemic. I don't know how long it takes for your labs to return to normal, but at least I can see some progress. I then met with my oncologist, Dr. White. I was anxious to speak with her, because, since my last update, I had developed 2+ pitting edema in my ankles. (Edema meaning swelling, 2+ on a scale of 1-4.) Being a nurse, my first thought was that the Herceptin was damaging my heart muscle. This is one of its side effects, and you have to have routine echocardiograms while receiving it. She didn't seem to be surprised, and said that she thought it was coming from the steroid that I was receiving as a premedication before every chemo treatment. She said that it should resolve on its own, but that she was going to be repeating my echo within the next two weeks anyway. When I asked her if we could get it scheduled on a Monday or a Friday due to my work schedule, she had it ordered stat for that afternoon at 1:45. I also asked her about repeating my scans. She had said when she saw me next that she would be ordering them. She said that she was going to wait and repeat them after I finished with radiation. The reason for this is that radiation causes inflammation, and she wanted the scans to be as clear as possible. I don't quite understand her reasoning for postponing them; since I haven't started radiation yet, I thought now would be the perfect time. Anyway, at some point, I have to trust her for knowing what's she doing, so I didn't question her anymore about it.

After seeing her, I went to the chemo room and received my Herceptin infusion. I don't have to receive any premedications for this, it's a 30 minute infusion, and I was in and out of there pretty quickly. We left at 1115 and arrived at my 1145 appointment at 1130.

My 1145 appointment was with Peak Performance, the therapist that Dr. Ballenger wanted me to start seeing. I filled out a bunch of paperwork, was interviewed and examined, and he performed a short amount of therapy on me due to me having to be back at Physician's East at 1:45 for my echo. He wrapped my arm in a sleeve, some cushiony stuff, and ace wraps. We left at 1:15 and made it to my echo appointment at 1:30. It was about 3pm by the time we left, and we headed straight to Cracker Barrel. By that time, my fingers on my right hand were double in size and my arm was throbbing. We had to go by Avila, my first therapist, to pick up some mastectomy bras that she had ordered for me. She took one look at my fingers and removed the wrappings on my arm. She said that if I had gone to bed like that, I would not have been able to move my fingers by the next morning. She rewrapped it for me, and I put my sleeve on when I got home. After this experience, I have decided to keep going to Avila. Allyson is a certified lymphedema specialist, and I trust her. Come to find out, the reason that she had not done any therapy on my arm was because it was almost the same size as my other one. It has to be 10% larger than the unaffected extremity to qualify for therapy.

I went back to see her again today. She took measurements again, comparing my right arm to my left. My arm had increased, some measurements being 2cm bigger than my left arm. She did therapy to drain the fluid, and I put my compression sleeve on before I left. In her opinion, if I do my exercises like I should, and wear my compression sleeve, I should not need anymore therapy. I had her make me a copy of the sheet with the measurements recorded on it. She also gave me one of her tape measures. We agreed that I would get my mama to take routine measurements and report back to her if I can see the swelling increasing during radiation.

At this time, I have not heard back from Dr. Ballenger's office. I was told that they would contact me when they had everything ready. I'm sure they will be calling me this week, but I'm not sure if I'll start radiation this week. Dr. Ballenger is on vacation. My guess is that I'll go back at some point this week to confirm that everything is ready and probably start next Monday. I also go back to see Dr. Habal, my surgeon, on Monday. I like it when I can kill two birds with one stone.......

And that's it. I can't think of anything else to report. Oh! How could I forget?? Today, I saw the beginnings of my eyebrows growing back! Yee haw!!!!! I can't really tell yet that my hair is growing in length, but I can certainly tell that it's getting thicker. I can't wait for the day that I can stop wearing baseball caps. I wonder if I'll ever wear one again after all of this?? Hmmmmmmmm..........

Okay, over and out. I probably won't post anything else until I go back and see Dr. Ballenger. Have a good week!

Cindy