Starting Chemo in Nov 2016

BG46TN - That is so awesome. Enjoy.

aterry, wouldn't it be nice if the rest of life would hold off so you could rest!? Doesn't seem to work like that! Then again, there is probably something about the rest of life carrying on as usual that somehow keeps this all in perspective! I hope you got some credit for your Flo Nightengale work and that you are enjoying your book!

Anne

Sorella - glad you are on the mend and able to enjoy your many holiday celebrations! If cookies boost our immune systems, we should all be good, right?!

I am glad you mentioned accupuncture. I am going to look into that, especially if the Aromatase inhibitors that I will eventually be on cause me joint pain. I have always intended to try accupuncture, and that might be something for which it is effective.

Hope the ultrasound shows good things aterry!

I start my DOCEtaxel portion of my chemo plus my first herceptin Jan 4th. I also have an ultrasound that day to check some things. 3 chemo's to go!!!

amyemn. I am not a doctor. But I do a lot of research using peer reviewed studies. Many Positive er and pr tumors respond to hormone therapy (AL). Tamoxifen if you are peri menopausal and then another drug after If your negative er and pr, neoadjuvant chemo is recommended and usually shrinks the tumor

Amy, that stinks. On a positive note, your tumor is very small, so it'll still be easy to remove. Don't second guess your choices. I had my cancer removed prior to chemo and it's easy to let you mind wander. Stay the course, you're doing the right thing. Chemo has always been more of an insurance policy when the tumor is small.

Big hugs to you.

Amyemn--I am so sorry to hear your news. Must be disheartening but as Nfullblume said, it's an insurance policy. I'm stage 2 and had a high Oncotype DX score. How they explained it to me is that there are many blood vessels that surround the breast tissue and it's possible for cancer cells to go rouge and get into those vessels, traveling to an organ or bone marrow to lay dormant and show up 10 yrs later. So on the bright side, you are decreasing your chances of distant recurrence which is worse than local recurrence.

Annie, you and I are on the same schedule. Had my 3rd infusion today. Good luck the next few days!

Annie16- I hope my plans work out well. I had to make dinner reservations at an "early bird special" time because I am unable to stay awake at night. Well, I can, but I have to nap in the late afternoon for a long time in order to build up the stamina to stay up past 8-9pm. So, I told hubby we would celebrate and then come home and go to sleep. Ha! So exciting. Still, my dad and my college aged boys are home so if I can stay awake or somehow wake up again at midnight, I will have almost everyone I love in this world near at hand when the new year rolls in.

Happy New Year, everyone. I hope this year is FAR better to you than the last.

amyemm- girl, the way they told it to me is that cancer cells are sneaky and really small. And if they've gone on walkabout via the lymph system in any way, they might've gone walk about via other systems as well- like blood. And they've gone to a sunny destination to chill and stay for a bit. Not showing up on any diagnostics. Fooling us and lulling us into a false sense of security. While they root down and dig in. Chemo is the attack system that roots them out. It travels all the same pathways those sneaky cancer cell bastards have traveled and found those nooks and crannies and crevices. And then it kicks cancer's ass. Radiation is salting the Earth to make the location of the original tumor inhospitable. Like a barren wasteland desert. But chemo? Ninja warriors. Some tumors respond visibly to chemo by shrinking. Other cancer's don't. But chemo stops it from spreading even if the original tumor size isn't affected. And if you are young, they will err on the side of caution and throw the entire- very strong- kitchen sink at you to make sure you're long term results are good. Because that's the end game. Making sure we live LONG lives.

Kick cancer's ass, all!

Amy- I understand your frustration. Chemo kills cancer when it is dividing so the lower the grade the harder it is to kill the little bastards as they are not dividing quickly. When they divide they shed a protein in our blood. That is how they do the tumor marker test. My tumor marker was tested again and went down 30 points. I had finished 6 rounds of chemo and stated at 205 and now down to 132. Finished round 7 of 12 yesterday and worried by the time I finish the 12th it will still be around 100 and the norm is either 36 or 38 so not sure if she will have me stop or do a few more rounds. All my other blood work was normal which is a total miracle considering 2 months ago they didn't think I was going to live through the weekend. Does your doctor do the tumor marker test for you? I would request he does if he doesn't already. Hang in there

Thanks Hope! I will now think of my chemo as ninja warriors!

I talked to my oncologist today and she said she did not expect a complete response. The most response will be with the hormone therapy. They don't give it in conjunction with chemo, but she said maybe someday they will! I did have a slight response in my lymph node. It was .9 cm and now it's .7. So I guess it is something! My tumor is already small, so I wan't expecting a big reduction. It still was a bit shocking to hear that the tumor had no response. I sure hope it's doing it job getting any outliers!

As I am writing this I am getting my first dose of Taxol. The benadryl is sure making me groggy!

So, to add to my chemo drama, I just found out my husband is having an affair. I think it is just an emotional affair (if I can believe what he says) but that is still an affair. I'm a ball of emotions today. This is the absolute last thing I needed in my life right now.

Amyemn. I am so sorry to hear that. If you don't have a therapist that your are going to already

, you may want to seek out one. It will help you sort out your emotions in a way that will be beneficial to you.

Others have posted similar situations.

Amyemn--I can't even imagine. This is such a tough battle, you don't need another emotionally draining fight. I hope it's early enough to work out. This experience should be bringing loved ones together, not tear them apart. I know it stresses a family, but he's going about it the wrong way. I hope you guys can find some peace.