Chemo Day

I have been meaning to update more often, but it is hard to find some quiet time to make it happen. I want to update about what we've been doing, but it's almost been a week and I can't remember everything!

Annabel had her first spend the night party at her Mimi and Grandaddy's house last Saturday! We missed her terribly, of course, but I know she had a great time. Scott and I went on a real date to Sassafras. We ate a delicious meal and then went to a party at Brad and Adrienne's for a bit before coming home and crashing. We did some stuff around the house on Sunday and then had lunch before we drove to Lavonia to pick Annabel up. It was so nice for us to have some time together. I don't think Annabel missed us one bit, but she was happy to see us and came running with her arms out. It was a sweet reunion.

On Monday, my friend Jeanne came to visit in the afternoon and we ate lunch at Barley's. Luckily we were outside because Annabel barfed all over me. I let her sip from my sweet tea and she might have had too much of that and pizza. Ugh! Jeanne and I cleaned up as much as we could, but there was still some on the sidewalk. The server insisted on cleaning it up after I begged him to bring me a bucket or something. As we were leaving, Jeanne asked if maybe the guy thought that I was the one who puked!? I had forgotten about the whole bandana thing, but I was horrified and amused at the same time. He was really nice. Scott says we can't go back there. Ha, ha. I guess I'm pretty easily identifiable these days with my bandanas! Anyway, Jeanne and I had a fun afternoon.

Annabel and I had a busy day on Tuesday. Scott left super early for his business trip to Detroit and I had an appointment for the genetics testing at 8. I took Annabel with me because I knew that they would only be drawing blood and doing paperwork. We were out of there a little before 9 and went to the park and then to the zoo. It was a beautiful day! The humidity was low and there was a breeze blowing. I was happy that the doctor's appointment kicked me into gear early. We also went to Gymboree on Tuesday. Annabel just loves it and I enjoy the class we've been attending. It is in the evening at 5:45, so Scott can take her if I am not feeling well or we can both go. The teacher is great and knows about my situation. Both of her parents are being treated at the cancer center, so we saw her there last time I had treatment. Mario and Shannon invited us over for dinner, so we went straight over there after Gymboree. It was a great time and great food, as always! I miss my peeps. (I have sort of been a recluse lately!) Shannon made me a mix for my iPod that I'll listen to this morning.

Yesterday, Annabel and I stayed in all day. I was trying to get the house in order since Karen was arriving last night. Didn't get too far really! Annabel likes to "help", so usually when I "clean", I have to go back through and take care of her little path of destruction. I started to have some anxiety about today's treatment. Scott got home from Detroit at around 7:30 and then I picked Karen up at 10. We had a nice visit last night before it was time to get some sleep for today.

So today is chemo #3. I am finally interested in reading more about my cancer. I went through the information about my clinical trial yesterday. I think that this is a very aggressive treatment and I am glad for that, but it is hard not to recognize that I am still only at the beginning of my cancer journey. This whole thing is going to go well into next year! If all goes as planned, then I will be finished with chemo in early November. I will get a short 4 week break before I have surgery and then however long for recovery. Then I'll start radiation and will concurrently start 10 treatments of Avastin only, every 3 weeks. That is 30 weeks! To be fair, the Avastin doesn't cause bad side effects and my hair will start growing back after the chemo is over; I guess it's just the thought of being treated for that long. But I am glad that I qualified for the study and hope that this aggressive treatment gets the cancer out forever and ever. It is just overwhelming sometimes....most especially the chemo part. Today and for my next treatment, I will have Taxotere and Avastin again. Then for treatment #5, I start on A/C. I think it is a pretty widely used chemo drug, dubbed the "red devil" because of it's color and I think also because of it's side effects. I am nervous about that because at least I know what to expect from the Taxotere.

I have also been browsing through the many books I have acquired since this whole mess started. I joined a discussion board on breastcancer.org and have been lurking so far, not posting anything, but it is comforting to read what is going on with other women with breast cancer. There are some local opportunities for exercise that I want to take advantage of....all at weird times in the middle of the day! But we are working some things out so that I can try a yoga class for cancer patients at the cancer society and also some kind of water fitness class for women with cancer at the Y. So I look forward to checking those out sometime.

Well, my sweet child is stirring and I need to get up and get ready to go and take my poison! Karen is going with me today and Scott's Mom and Dad are coming up to stay with Annabel. Scott has already gone to work and is going to meet us at the cancer center when I meet with the doctor. I am not looking forward to it, but at the same time, I will be glad to have one more treatment behind me.