My Cancer Journey

Steroids are helpful. They relieved some of the side effects from chemotherapy, and helped treat the pneumonitis that was caused by the radiation. Some get aggressive when taking them. This was not the case with me, but I did get frustrated more easily. It is not fun feeling out of control, especially when you are a control freak like me. It was not easy, but I was able to control my frustrations most of the time. Knowing it is drug induced and therefore most likely not the effect from what someone said or did helps. You cannot walk around being angry or frustrated with people who really haven’t done anything to deserve it. My first experience with taking steroids was the pre-med for the chemotherapy. I took 8 mg of Dexamethasone per day the day before, day of, and the day after the infusions. My cheeks looked like they belonged on a chipmunk, and my face was round and ruddy.  The infusions were every three weeks. By the time my face started looking more normal it was time for anot...

Supporting Friends with Cancer Some of us are fortunate to have a spouse, other family, or a close friend to help and support during our cancer journey and struggles. I am blessed with a kind husband who loves me and is concerned about my wellbeing. He cooks and cleans, takes me to infusions and other medical appointments, and does whatever else is needed. Our children, siblings, and friends have all been fantastic. They check in to make sure we are both okay, send sweet cards and messages and gifts that are helpful and bring up my spirit. I have not lacked. Maybe this is why it hurts my heart so much when I read about how some women in my support groups are treated by those who are supposed to love them. I am amazed at how many husbands and boyfriends leave them while they are going through treatments. It does not seem to matter how old the woman is. There are some that have young children as well as grandmothers who have been married many years. Their spouse either claim they cannot ...

I had built up my stamina to walk about three miles most days and was excited to be able to slow jog for part of those miles June 20 and 24. That was unfortunately the only days I was able to do this. June 26 the headache and cough got much worse. I took the maximum allowed on the packages of Excedrin Migraine, Tylenol, and cough syrup each day. They helped, but I was still exhausted, got out of breath whenever I moved, coughed whenever I moved or talked, and the headache was almost constant.    Tuesday, July 2, I saw my oncologist in preparation for Kadcyla infusion 6 or 14. She was concerned about the cough and sent me to get a chest x-ray after the infusion. Cough and headaches are side effects of Kadcyla but should not last the full three weeks in between the infusions. What concerned her most was that the worst week was the one just prior to the infusion. This is when I should have been better.    The x-ray showed I might have pneumonitis. Had to look this up - ...

Craig and I had our two teen granddaughters stay with us for one week, and the four of us were on a day trip when my General Practitioner called and told me about the results from the biopsy. The call came much sooner than I anticipated. I had been open with our children about the potential of cancer and left it up to them if they wanted to tell their children (then ages less than one to 20) or not. They all told their children. This made it easier when my doctor called as it was not a complete surprise for the girls that were visiting. It can be difficult to decide if it is better to tell children or not, but I am a firm believer in not keeping those kinds of secrets. It will come out eventually, and there might be hard feelings then.  Here are my granddaughters’ thoughts from that day (I am Farmor) -  E: “When my Farmor answered the phone and stopped in her tracks, I knew it was bad news. My sister and I stopped a little ahead, trying not to eavesdrop. We walked into the res...

Nausea   Nausea is something most people associate with chemo, and I did have some. I don’t know if mine was less severe, or if I was able to handle it better because I had done research and controlled it.   The first couple of days after an infusion I was not concerned about feeling sick, as they gave me a pre-med that included a heavy-duty anti-nausea medication.    As soon as I knew I would go through chemotherapy I bought a ReliefBand from the internet. I had heard stories from some who had been nauseous from chemo, as well as those who have motion sickness. They all said ReliefBand helped keep the nausea away.   It is a strange thing - looks like a watch, and you put it on your wrist with the watch part on the inside of the wrist. It comes with a gel that helps conduct the electricity through your skin. The gel is not cheap, so when it is gone you can use aloe vera gel instead.   You rub a small amount of the gel on the inside of your wrist where you w...

Chemo brain is very real. It is very frustrating. You feel like you are going crazy or are senile. Because it is something that others notice more than the person having it, I asked Craig to tell me what he noticed. The regular font is what he said, and the italics are my comments. It seemed her thoughts had to traverse through mud and bog filled passageways delaying her words and movements.   This is very close to how you feel. My brain truly felt like I was working my way through a fog that did not seem to end. It took me a long time to get a point across, and there were many pauses while I tried to think of words, or even what I wanted to say. It was the same when asking questions or conversing. I could see her mind engaged yet responses and their formulation took more time. A time or two, her mind seemed to freeze up momentarily before taking on a thought or task.   My husband was very patient. It was very difficult to string sentences together, and words did not come to m...

After I finished the chemo and Herceptin infusions on December 28, 2023, the plan was to continue treatments of only Herceptin every three weeks until mid-September 2024. That was so much better than the chemotherapy. The side effects from only Herceptin are so much easier to handle.   I had the first Herceptin only infusion on January 19. Not only are the side effects easier, but the infusions themselves do not take as long. As with all IV treatments, the first session is always slower so that your body will be able to handle it better. The medical staff also wants you to stay for a while afterwards to monitor you.   After the first treatment the infusions only take thirty minutes. That is not only nice time wise, but you are also less sore where the needle is inserted because not as many drugs have been going through you. This was all good. At least for a few weeks. When I saw my oncologist in preparation for the third Herceptin only infusion on February 29, she confirmed th...