Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Week

This week is National Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Week (HBOC), which is fitting since September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month and October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I love our ribbon as it encompasses both breast and ovarian cancers

While I give my breast cancer sisters kudos for the amazing efforts that have helped make huge strides in early detection and better treatment of breast cancer.

Sometimes

I get a little tired of pink..

There I said it.

While breast cancer affects more woman.

Ovarian cancer is more deadly as we have no way to detect it early

Only 15% of ovarian cancers are detected early

:(

So to all my dear friends I ask you

Starting to come out of my chemo fog...

Hopefully a better day ahead.

Post Chemo Blues.. Part 2

This round of chemo seems to be going a little better.  Changing up some of the meds to deal with the aches and numbness...is helping.

My sister came up last night with some awesome dinner from Fadi's (great mediterranean/turkish food) and I was actually able to eat a bit of chicken and hummus...and more importantly it tasted GOOD!

And then we had my chemo buddies.  My furbaby Lily, a collie and my furnephew Bennie a little shih tzu.  I love these dogs so much.  They always make me smile and are so loyal

Lily in full fur:

And Lily post shave when Texas proved a little too hot for all that fur

Poor baby!

But I swear everyday she looks at me and goes, "Don't worry about your hair mom, it's all gonna grow back...ask me how I know?"

And then there's Bennie who is the perfect napping companion

So even though I may not feel well, my family and furbabies keep me cozy and loved.  

Which I know makes my treatments feel so much better.

Post Chemo Blues...part 1

It's becoming a pattern...the day after chemo I feel fairly good and start to think, "hmmm, maybe this isn't so bad after all." This is most likely due to all those steroids they give pre chemo.

And then comes day 2 post chemo.

Where nothing looks good, feels good and all I want to do is sleep...if I can.

The hardest past?  I have no concentration, so reading or binge watching TV doesn't work.

My short term memory is shot and I ask my poor husband and kids the same questions all the time.

Thankfully they are patient and know it'll pass.

I hope they're right.

Meet my new little friend and Hammer Time....Chemo #2

Yesterday I made a new little friend.  I like to think of him as my very own Minion.

Going thru chemo is very hard on veins.  So my medical team recommended placing a medport for Chemo as well as the frequent blood draws I get to monitor my treatment.

My last IV site looks like this:

And this was a good IV stick—1st try!

So I agreed to a power port.  I had a 20 minute procedure to insert it and now will not be needing any more vein sticks till I am finished with treatment!  

This is what the powerport looks like inside:

They use a special locking needle and sterile technique when accessing it for blood work or Chemo.

This is a picture of my minion -non-accessed 1 day after insertion and honestly it doesn't really hurt

Eventually the little steristrip dressing will fall off on it's own in the next week or two.

And this is what it looks like when it's accessed for chemo

So I welcome with affection my little Minion who will do my bidding to kick cancer to the curb.

And today was HAMMER TIME #2

I now have 1/3 of my treatments done...WOOT!

Since I have had some neuropathy (numbness) in my feet and fingertips, which is a side effect of my particular chem (Taxol).  My Oncologist suggested some B6 supplements, and put me on Lyrica.

I also got these really cool ice booties while I was getting taxol today

(get it...really...cool?)

The thought is the coolness decreases circulation to the area which decreases chemo to my feet and will hopefully slow the progression of the neuropathy

and of course Roberta was back to hang out for a while

 A nice picture of my better half, my husband Dave:

And of course a shot of me in my cozy hat courtesy of Maggie:

Home now, feeling a little funky.  I know the next few days are going to be a little rough. But this

time I think I have a better idea on how to deal with the pain and fuzziness 

Lastly, a quote from a favorite singer..Pink:

Bring it on

This past week has been a mixture of things that go wrong, hair falling out, dread....

and

Everything that is so right with my life.

First the bad:

Being bumped out of the closer parking lot at work

Numb feet

Tripping and falling on a curb on my way into work

My backordered wig

My leave being approved for the wrong number of days

My husband needing minor surgery

But as my husband always reminds me, into every sunny day a little rain must fall.

 Now the good:

Spending time with my family

A better (and cheaper) wig!

A husband who is healing well (surgery a success)

A manager who is understanding

and painting pool side

And a chance to stop and smell the roses my friends at work sent me.

Physically I'm feeling so much better that it hurts to think about having a port put in tomorrow and chemo on Thursday.

And yet, I have to remember that I'm in it, to win it.  

So in order to hammer my alien cancer I will be donning my best Ellen Ripley impression

and kicking some cancer ass in the infusion room on Thursday

BRING. IT. ON.

Starry, Starry Night

Starting to dread going into my next chemo session this week.  Coupled with a minor surgery to place a mediport to receive chemo means lots of hospital time/meds and feeling like....crap.

One of the bright spots in my week last week was the Dallas Force Support group.

FORCE (facing our risk of cancer empowered) is a group dedicated to BRCA+ women as well as women who are high risk for developing cancer.  At the meeting I met some really great woman.  Some were previvors, others survivors...but all were stuck in the same genetic cancer boat as me.

At least our boat is full of great people!

Anyhow...

We did a little art therapy called "wrecked books"

You choose an old book and rip out pages.

Then use it to journal "artistically" 

I had forgotten just how much I loved all things art related in grade school!

With a paint brush, set of water colors and a can of water I could almost *be* back in first grade.

No worries, chatting with my friends and creating.

It made me feel so happy and relaxed.

So today I'm going to buy some watercolors and paper and start painting.

Because it's good for my soul

A Farewell to ... my hair

Ahhhh....

Yes, the day I had been dreading has arrived.

When I knew I would be starting chemo, my next question was, "when will I lose my hair?"  Due to the type of Chemo I'm on (Taxol/Carbol) I was told it would be between 2-3 weeks after the first treatment.

Last Sunday night when I got out of the shower I discovered the process was starting when my body hair decided to go brazilian.

Slowly my hair has been shedding.

Before I was diagnosed I thought you lost hair like this:

As in "poof! all gone"

But it actuality is more like this:

And while I admit I cried a little when I realized it was falling out.  

After the first 2 days it just got annoying.  

Hair loss tip:  When your hair is falling out, greasing up with baby oil and then blowing your hair dry...may not be a good idea.  I was oiled...and feathered. 

So I shaved it all off this am.

It was almost anti-climatic.

And it feels....so good :)

and a final word or 3...

Fuck you cancer.