It's been another week of appointments this week. Today being Thursday has had no appointments and it feels a little bit like a vacation because the last two weeks have been SO. BUSY.
What's interesting is that last week Monday, September 16, the RN at the oncologist's office told me that the next two weeks would feel crazy overwhelming. She was not wrong! In fact, this week Monday, September 23, when we had the chemo education class, I couldn't believe it had only been 7 days since that first post-op appointment at the oncologist. Everything has happened so quickly. This is great, of course, because the sooner we get things going, the sooner I'm cured and ready to move on with my life.
This week we had the chemo education class on Monday. I had blood drawn (which will be occurring at each infusion appointment to make sure my blood counts are good) and then we saw the FNP, another nurse and a social worker.
The chemo education portion is a LOT of information. A. LOT. But fortunately they have it all documented and ready to be put into a folder so you can review it at any time. They went over each portion of the chemo I will be receiving. I have two different ones. The first one is 4 sessions, bi-weekly. I have different medications I need to take while receiving that treatment to help me from being nauseous and vomiting. The second one is weekly for 12 weeks and I have different medications to take during that treatment to help with nausea and discomfort.
The FNP also popped back in while we were with the second nurse and told us that my CT scan results had come in. The absolute best news is that it did NOT light up like a Christmas tree! That means that unless there are microscopic pieces that we just can't see on the scans yet, there isn't cancer anywhere in my body right now. It didn't spread past my breast which is the best news ever.
The social worker also gave us a ton of information and resources for cancer patients. I am in awe of how many companies and organizations are out there supporting people in my situation or with other types of cancer. There are even retreats for people who are survivors and/or caregivers. I think this is absolutely amazing. It is something I will be looking into for Jeff and I for 2025.
On Tuesday we had the bone scan. There was a lot of hurry up and wait for that one. My veins were being rebellious so I got 3 pokes instead of 1 to finally get the nuclear medicine so they could do the scan. During the down time, we ate lunch at the hospital (they have an excellent cafeteria) and then walked to the public library and hung out there for awhile. When we got back, we had an extra long wait because they had an emergency they needed to deal with before they could get to my scan. The actual scan was weird because you just lay on this long table and you have to be as still as possible while this machine takes lots of pictures of the inside of you.
Wednesday we had the port placement. It's a power port. Unfortunately this doesn't mean I have super powers. They put it on my right side since my cancer was on the left. It was an interesting process. I was awake the whole time but in that blissed out place where you just don't care. I heard them talking and can even remember a little bit of their conversations but I didn't feel anything once they gave me the "joy juice" and that is a blessing. We spent about an hour in recovery just to be sure I was all good and then we got to go home.
Jeff took me out to lunch and I ate so much because I had to fast before the procedure. (He even said "wow, you were hungry!" because I usually can't eat a lot due to my tiny tummy after bariatric surgery.) We got home and I rested the rest of the day. I did get a phone call from the nurse that the bone scan had come back and had a couple "areas of concern" so they wanted them to review the results against the CT scan.
Of course this makes me panic a little. But when I analyzed the report myself, I was less worried. One area of concern was the breast bone. Um, yeah, it's gonna look a little messed up, I just had a double mastectomy! Another area was one of my vertebrae. But years and years ago, when my youngest was like 4, I fell down the back stairs holding her (slipped on ice) and went down those stairs on my behind. I've had lower back issues since. Very likely that's what that is. The last area was in my right femur which I have no idea what could have caused that except perhaps when I fainted back in June because I landed on my right side.
Alas, today the RN from the oncologist's office called me back and said the radiologist who analyzed my CT scan also reviewed my bone scan and said "nope, nothing to worry about here!" so that's amazing!
It's been a long two weeks but knowing that aside from the cancer and normal wear and tear on my bones, I'm good. (My PCP and I used to joke that I was disgustingly healthy aside from being overweight.) I'm so, so grateful that things inside of my body are doing what they should be doing and we can move on to chemo and get this behind us.
I'm super curious to see my surgeon again and ask her if the lymph node surgery will still even be necessary if we are doing the aggressive chemo which is going to basically guarantee it kills any small, microscopic cancer that might still be inside of me. If I can avoid that second surgery, I won't complain at all!!
Today and tomorrow are appointment free and Monday is too. It feels a little bit like a vacation since the last couple of weeks have been so, so full.
Tuesday we have the first chemo appointment. It's also Jeff's last day of FMLA. I'm glad he is going to be able to go to the first appointment with me. He will go back to work on Wednesday, October 2.
It will be so weird not having him at home anymore! But my restrictions all lift on Tuesday, the day of chemo, so I should be okay being home on my own the other days of the week. My middle daughter is here until about 2:30 pm every day so I will only potentially be alone for 2 - 2.5 hours a day before Jeff gets back which should be fine.
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