The Kick Off

I have some catching up to do…

First and Foremost- 

If anyone gets anything from this blog, self exams are key.  My mammogram was normal, and I was not pushed hard to get an ultrasound by my doctor given I had just finished breastfeeding, my age, lack of family history, and overall health.  None the less, I was not comfortable until I got a definite answer.  From what I have learned, if I sat on this for a few more months, we could be looking at stage 4 versus stage 2.

Last week flew by, and so did the small window of opportunity to send out invites to my daughter’s first birthday party.  Luckily we have fantastic family and friends who were able to celebrate the special occasion.  The weather was beautiful and we were able to play outside and enjoy the company.  Ava did a bang up job plowing through her birthday cake- so much that we skipped the ‘baby wipe clean up’ and went for a baby bath in the kitchen sink.  Little person, BIG personality.  I love that little girl!

My sweet Ava on her 1st birthday!

I spent most of Monday performing lab rat functions.  The day started with meeting the geneticist to discuss genetic testing- the purpose of the tests and decisions my doctors and I would need to make once the results came back from the labs.  Then we met with the surgeon to go over surgical options and next steps.  Then, I had an ultrasound of a lymph node that felt enlarged.  Unfortunately, the ‘felt enlarged’ was confirmed as enlarged by the ultrasound (a biopsy was scheduled for later in the week).  I spent the next hour of my day being injected with radioactive liquid and chugging 900 ml of pure yuck (a.k.a.  vanilla shake) for the rest of my scans – MRI, CT, and Bone.   

Since Locks of Love will not take hair from donors receiving chemotherapy, I had to cut my hair as soon as possible.  Luckily, the wonderful lady who has cut my hair over the past 10 years had a spot open.  She made the chop, fixed the rest pretty, and I was on my way.  

My hair cut experience-


 

Today was Ava’s official 1^st birthday – Happy Birthday princess and special thanks to grandpa Barchers for our birthday dinner, it was delish!   I started my morning with a needle biopsy of my enlarged lymph node, and I am pretty sore tonight. I should have those results back Friday.  The remainder of the day was spent discussing the results of my scans from Monday, receiving my first dose of Herceptin, and going over the details of my treatment.   I was thankful to hear that all my scans came back normal (besides the suspicious lymph node).  However, I was shocked to hear that my doctor wanted me to start my first treatment of Chemo tomorrow.  My chemotherapy was originally scheduled to start next week, but since the discovery of my enlarged lymph node, and the type of cancer I have is considered aggressive/fast growing, they are taking no chances with letting it sit longer without intervention. I can’t argue with that! Over the next six months I will have six cycles of chemo (3 weeks on and 1 week off).  I will continue to take my Herceptin with the chemo and after for an additional 6 months.  The nice thing about the Herceptin is it doesn’t have the infamous side effects of chemotherapy.  If all goes as planned, and the cancer responds well to the treatment, I will be set to have a bilateral mastectomy in February. It has been a lot to take in over the last few weeks, but I have many things to be thankful for. 

Fun facts of the day-

• I went from taking 1 multi vitamin to roughly 9 medications per day
• Based on math, my cancer went from 0 (non-existent) to 1.4 cm in only 2-3 months
• It takes 10 inches of hair to donate to locks of love (see website for other requirements)
• Though totally not worth the inconvenience, breast cancer is a great way to get someone else to pay for a boob job (haha :))