The past month, has been both trying and blessed! In the past month, not only have I started back into cancer treatments, but I was also able to celebrate the birthday of both of the amazing little boys that God has truly blessed me with. I also celebrated the birthday's of a couple of close friends and celebrated my own 32nd birthday! As you might notice, I see no reason in hiding my age or pretending to be 29 plus a couple, or any other foolishness. I am proud of my age and will celebrate each and every birthday I am blessed to have. Beats the alternative!
I am guessing you are wondering what is going on with the cancer treatments. I am having radiation on my spine here in town, so that cuts down on the drive time. The plan was to go every day for two weeks, but that has been pushed to three weeks to help avoid some side effects. So far it has not been too bad. The drive across town takes about 3 times as long as the actually treatment does, and the side effects are minimal. I have had a little fatigue and a little problem with swelling of my esophagus due to radition falling past my spine. But, the main thing is that the back pain is getting MUCH better, and that is great news for me! I have been off of all my pain killers for three days now, and my side effects are so minimal right now, that I have not had to take any of the other stuff that has been prescribed. I did have a tough spell last week, but I think that was mainly due to a bad cold that just exacerbated my symptoms.
I did get the biopsy results back from my breast biopsy and they showed that the breast cancer that has shown up in my breast is the same HER2/NEU + type that I have had, so I will not be having any surgery, and we plan to just watch it and wait. If it gets significantly bigger, spreads, or the spots elsewhere in my system start to grow, then I will go back on to chemotherapy. For now we are going to treat my spine with the radiation and continue with the Herceptin every three weeks.
And to help me stay busy, I am going to continue to go to my 4 year olds track practices and meets, my 7 year olds little league baseball games, we will go swimming and play with friends, I will work and socialize, and I will continue my efforts to raise money for the American Cancer Society through the Relay for Life. Also, I haven't given up on the idea of running a half marathon, so if radiation goes REALLY well, I will begin a training program again.
What am I thankful for?! Birthdays!
5.24.2006
5.04.2006
Back into treatment.
Well, a lot has happen since I last Blogged, and I know there are a lot of rumors, true and untrue, circulating out there.
Here is the deal. The spots that they biopsied in my breast, some of those were cancerous and some of those were not cancerous. They sent them back to pathology to see if they are the same Her2/neu + breast cancer I have right now, or if they are a new type of breast cancer. I do not have an answer on this yet, nor do we have a plan set up to deal with them.
The other big news, which is very disappointing (but we can handle it) is that my back pain...which I was blaming on muscle spasms after my run, has progressed and is actually cancer in my spine. I had an MRI done, and the cancer is isolated to two levels of my thoracic spine. It is maintained within the bone and is not in the spinal canal at this time. I will start radiation treatment, hopefully on Monday. This will be directed at my spine and will be daily for 4-6 weeks.
I had all my other scans done as well, and everything else is stable. So...I am going to stay on Herceptin every three weeks, add radiation to the spine, and NOT start any further chemo at this time. They will watch me closely, and we will fight fires as they start!
I hope this clears things up!
What am I thankful for?!
I am thankful that my doctor looked into the possibility of cancer in my spine instead of just giving me pain killers and muscle relaxers. (Let's get this taken care of NOW!)
I am thankful for my FANTASTIC children whose innocence and love get me through the tough times! They are great snugglers!!!
Here is the deal. The spots that they biopsied in my breast, some of those were cancerous and some of those were not cancerous. They sent them back to pathology to see if they are the same Her2/neu + breast cancer I have right now, or if they are a new type of breast cancer. I do not have an answer on this yet, nor do we have a plan set up to deal with them.
The other big news, which is very disappointing (but we can handle it) is that my back pain...which I was blaming on muscle spasms after my run, has progressed and is actually cancer in my spine. I had an MRI done, and the cancer is isolated to two levels of my thoracic spine. It is maintained within the bone and is not in the spinal canal at this time. I will start radiation treatment, hopefully on Monday. This will be directed at my spine and will be daily for 4-6 weeks.
I had all my other scans done as well, and everything else is stable. So...I am going to stay on Herceptin every three weeks, add radiation to the spine, and NOT start any further chemo at this time. They will watch me closely, and we will fight fires as they start!
I hope this clears things up!
What am I thankful for?!
I am thankful that my doctor looked into the possibility of cancer in my spine instead of just giving me pain killers and muscle relaxers. (Let's get this taken care of NOW!)
I am thankful for my FANTASTIC children whose innocence and love get me through the tough times! They are great snugglers!!!
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