My Cancer Journey

The night after the port was placed on September 13, it was difficult to get comfortable while lying down. The incisions were tender, and because of my vertigo I could not lie on my back. Despite this I felt okay the next day. At least until the premeds I took to prepare for the chemotherapy got into my system. Because of the side effects of the chemo, I needed to take steroids, Dexamethasone, the day before, day of, and day after the treatments. This helps prevent nausea and vomiting as well as reduce inflammation. There are side effects from this as well, but will write about the side effects I had from all the drugs in a later post. My oncologist prescribed a bottle of 4mg pills, and wanted me to take two pills, 8mg, in the mornings, and two in the afternoons. She made sure I knew the pills could cause sleeplessness, so I should not take them too late in the day. I am not used to take a lot of pills, so did not realize that 3pm was too late for the afternoon dose. The drug made me j...

A port, short for portacath or subcutaneous (under the skin) port, is a small reservoir that is attached to a catheter, a thin, soft, flexible tube. It is implanted under the skin to allow easy access to veins. They don’t have to find a good vein, because they know the port feeds directly into one. The needle goes through the skin into the port, and the drug goes through the catheter into the vein. It makes it much easier to administer drugs or take blood samples.  When you have cancer they test your blood very frequently to make sure you are okay. Some need chemo infusions every week for twelve weeks, some, like me, get them every three weeks for eighteen weeks. For some of us the infusions don’t end after the chemo. I will be given Herceptin infusions for a total of one year. This will hopefully prevent the cancer from coming back.  Some choose not to have a port placed, but to get a new IV in the arm each time they get an infusion. Sometimes it is difficult to find a vein t...

With the original treatment plan I was supposed to receive infusions of Taxol and Herceptin once per week for 12 weeks after the lumpectomy. Because there were two tumors that measured larger than 2 centimeters, my oncologist suggested a more aggressive treatment plan when I saw her on September 11. My heart sunk. Although I suspected this was going to happen because of the results from the MRI, it was not what I wanted to hear. It was difficult to focus on what the doctor said after that. This is why it is so important to bring someone with you to your appointments. Maybe one of you will remember what was said.  I don’t know that Craig was able to pay more attention than I was, but my wonderful oncologist has a practice of writing down all the important information so I can look at it when I am ready. That is one of the many things I like about my doctor. Now, rather than removing the tumors first and then have chemotherapy, I would begin with the treatments in order to shri...

Herceptin, the drug that attacks the HER2 cells, can cause heart failure. Only 1-2% is permanent, but doctors want to take precautions just in case. I was diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse in 1988 after my last child was born, so my oncologist wanted to be extra careful. (Mitral Valve Prolapse is when one of the heart valves does not close properly between each beat. This may cause the valve to leak blood back into the heart after it has pumped it out. It is usually not very serious, but it is important to not get an infection above your heart. An infection will contaminate your blood and can cause it to leak back through the problem valve into the heart. Contaminated blood in your heart can be dangerous. This is why it is important to make sure that your teeth, for instance, are healthy.) Therefore, on Wednesday, September 6 I had an echocardiogram (ECG) to make sure my heart would be able to handle the Herceptin infusions. The cardiologist delivered some great news. My heart was p...

Because the tumor showed to be less than 2 cm (.78 inches) and the lymph nodes did not look to be affected, my oncologist suggested weekly Taxol IV chemotherapy after the lumpectomy. It is a drug that attacks everything in your body. It kills the cancer cells, but also that which helps your body stay healthy. This is why many lose their hair while on this regimen.  Losing your hair does not sound like fun, but getting Taxol treatments will also lower your immune system because it kills your white blood cells as well. The white blood cells attack viruses that enter your body. They help you fight viruses and other illnesses. This is the scariest of the side effects because it can lower your immune system to the point where even something simple like a cold can be serious. This is why it is important to stay away from those who are sick while going through chemo. Taxol is administered once per week and builds up in your body during the twelve weeks it is given. This should kill whatev...

Monday, August 14, I had a consultation with a surgeon. The ultrasound and biopsy showed that I had invasive lobular carcinoma. This is why the tumor was not round, but flat with tentacle like offshoots. It also showed it was not large, 1.6 centimeters (16 millimeters, or .63 inches) at the longest part. The best news was that the lymph nodes looked normal, so no worries about it having spread beyond the original tumor. This was all positive. The surgeon said he would be able to perform a lumpectomy, cut out the tumor only, rather than a mastectomy, cut off the whole breast. He could do this before I went through chemotherapy because of the small size of the tumor.  The oncologist confirmed everything the surgeon said when I saw her on August 31. She added that the tumor was grade 2. They are graded 1-3, 1 being slow growing, and 3 fast growing. The biopsy also showed that the tumor tested positive for estrogen and progesterone, meaning that it feeds off those hormones. Being post ...

There are some things we think only happen to others - cancer is one of them. When I went in for my routine mammogram on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 I did not expect to be in treatment for years to come. I was not concerned when I received a phone call saying they needed to do an ultrasound on my right breast as there was a mass they wanted to look at more closely. This happened once before and it turned out to be a benign cyst. I have many fatty cysts (lipomas) and assumed this would be the same thing. July 26 I went in for the ultrasound. It was not until the technician brought in a doctor I got concerned. It turned out to be not a lump, but a spiculated mass. My understanding is that it is sort of shaped like seaweed, flat with offshoots. This was not your normal cyst. The doctor wanted me to get a biopsy. This was not the news I expected. The next day, Thursday, July 27, I went in for a needle biopsy. Craig, my husband took the afternoon off so he could take me there and home. Everyon...