1st Herceptin treatment

I had my first herceptin only treatment last Thursday and all went well. I did have a pre-med which made me tired during the treatment but I slept for a while and was fine to drive home. Felt pretty good, only a little upset stomach for a few days. I don't know if that was because of the treatment or our travel out of town for Hosea's wedding. My hands and feet are killing me lately and swell up quite a bit daily. I feel like an 80 year old when I get up first thing in the morning. My feet hurt so bad a limp around until I work the kinks out. It usually goes away by 9:00 am. James & I took Noah to World's of Fun this week since the girls are in Washington DC with their grandparents. There were no crowds and it was nice to have some one-on-one time with him. He rode all the rides he was tall enough for a couple of times. James and I rode a few rides but have decided we are getting to old for some of them. We can't quite handle the spinning and upside down stuff anymore. We are leaving on a little vacation this weekend. We are taking a 5 day cruise before I start radiation treatment on Aug. 3rd. I will have treatment every day until mid-september. I am currently working on building up some stamina. I usually have one good day and then a bad day. Trying to fight the exhaustion and get back to where I was before treatment started in January. This is going to take longer than I thought! I played tag with Noah tonight...dang that boy is fast! I am exhausted but as usual can't sleep. Enjoy the picture from the wedding this weekend!

Dr. visit tomorrow

Hi everyone! It has been a while since I updated the blog because nothing is new!!!! No chemo, no side effects just trying to get my body back in shape. I do have a summer cold but at least that didn't happen until after all the chemo. I am still very tired but I try everyday to accomplish a little more than the day before. I am sure I will start feeling more energetic soon. I have a Dr. visit tomorrow and will have an echocardiogram to check heart function. I am sure that will all be fine. I am also meeting with the radiation oncologist to get the radiation treatment underway. Later in the week I have a Herceptin infusion but the side effects should be minor...if not non-existent. I still have problems with my hands and feet but at least it hasn't gotten any worse. Looking forward to Hosea's wedding this weekend!

Chemo Graduate

Finally I have officially graduated from Chemotherapy. Although I still have to go to the infusion suite every 3 weeks to have a drug administered it is considered a maintenance drug not a chemotherapy drug. The maintenance drug, Herceptin, will be every 3 weeks for 13 more treatments. So today at the end of chemo I was presented with a purple heart certificate for surviving 24 weeks of chemo! I see the radiation oncologist on July 14 and will schedule the start of my radiation treatment. That will last for 6.5 weeks everyday but the weekends. It looks like I will be all done with treatment by early March 2010 and then I can schedule the final surgery along with the removal of my port!!!! Finally the light at the end of the tunnel. Now we just have to pray this never returns! Have a wonderful 4th of July!!