So far...So good

So I survived my 1st chemo treatment pretty well.  Probably the hardest part is getting through all of the amazing amount of teaching that goes on.  I've been home 2 days now, and as long as I take my meds I seem to be doing ok.  Currently I'm taking a steroid 2X a day and a anti nausea med 2X day with another in back up...just in case.  So what the heck?  I take that one too :)


As far side effects I have a little chemo brain going on.  Which basically means I can't remember what happened this morning...it is gone...

And everything seems a little foggy, not my vision per se, but in my brain it's a little like this

Just not QUITE all there!

And things taste a little different.  Like a little tinny.  Not bad yet.  But I can see how it could become a problem

So I'm taking it slow....

Hammer time...Treatment #1

Dave and I woke up early, ate some breakfast and let the dogs out.  Then made our way to the Cancer Center for my first treatment.  Upon arrival I got my blood drawn and then was placed in a chemo infusion room.  Nice cushy recliner, flat screen and...WIFI

I've arrived at this day with fear...mostly of side effects and of the word that shall not be mentioned (reoccurrence  Shhh!).  But I also arrive with hope and an amazing sense of adventure to see where this new path in life will take me.

So I decided to call Chemo days ...Hammer Time.  Because of the song and the period of my life it represents.



I also plan to hammer the shit out of this cancer too....



1st treatment picture picture featuring my new bff Roberta...the IV Pump.

Standing on the edge

Trying to enjoy the last few days of mostly normal life before starting Chemo on Thurs.  I'm reminded of other times in my life when I knew I was at a moment where everything was going to change.  The day we left for the hospital to have our first child, or when we had to place my dad in an Alzheimer's unit as his disease progressed.  But I think the time that stands out the most is when my youngest child was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 5.  I distinctly remember the disbelief, the anger, the sadness...and then eventually the acceptance.  That was over 11 years ago.  While it made a huge difference in our lives then, it is now normal life.  I would even venture to say it's made us all even better people.  SO as I stand on this new cliff looking out on what life will mean during and after chemo.  I'm going to try to focus on how much I'm going to grow as a person and how this new path will open up other avenues in the future.

NOW

Before anyone thinks I've gotten all 'Stuart Smalley' on you

Let me be clear.

I never would have "chosen" this path.  In actuality my brain is still fighting it pretty hard.

I would have picked "none of the above" in the cancer column, if I'd had a choice.

How a Target Gift Card Saved My Life

Incredible but true..

I love me some Target and often joke it's a 50.00 cover charge for me to just walk in the store.  So last fall when my employer offered a 25.00 gift card for filling out a health survey and going for a check up I jumped right in.  Hey! that's half a shopping trip right there.

At my annual gyn appointment, my new doctor took a full history and then promptly referred me to our cancer genetics department.  I figured it would be negative and then I could stop worrying and start shopping.  

Au contraire.

Damn thing came back positive.

Then came more appointments and tests which all looked...within normal limits.  Since I was 50 the gyn oncologist I saw, STRONGLY recommended removing my ovaries.  Since I no longer needed them and was having hot flashes anyway, I made the date for the OR.  

I had what I *thought* was preventative surgery.  Well, I guess technically it was, since my fallopian tubes were plotting to kill me.

And it all started with a Target gift card.

AND...I received that gift card in the mail last week.  Finally

Just in time to use it to buy supplies to get me through Chemo

Isn't it Ironic...don't ya think?

We Are Family...and I have the testing to prove it

My dad's family had a long line of female cancer history.  While I worried about it a little,  I had figured since it was my DAD maybe I wouldn't get those cancer genes.  Plus his side of the family?  All tall and thin...me not so much.

But unfortunately genes don't discriminate.  It's pretty much the luck of the draw...or you know, not.

My Paternal Grandmother Lucille

Isn't she lovely?  This was on her wedding day in 1920.

My grandmother went on to have 7 children, six daughter and one son..who was my father.  Lucille died at the age of 42.  My dad was only six.  His memories of her were of visiting her in the hospital.  Back then you paid to provide a private duty nurse to stay with your loved one in the hospital.  So her oldest daughters who were teens at the time, took turns sitting in the afternoon and evening with her.  The other would go home to watch the younger children and cook dinner.  My grandparents were farmers in Kansas.  My grandfather moved off the farm at this time so his wife could receive medical care.  

My father's 2 oldest sisters would also succumb to advanced breast and ovarian cancer in the 50's and 60's.  They were both in the their 30's when they were diagnosed.  They also both left young children and families.  Finally my father's youngest sister survived breast cancer at age 50 in the 1980's I sure due to better screening and treatment.

Ok...so that was then...this is now.  

I find out my cousin was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005.  She turns out to be BRCA 1+.  

I have my test done in March of this year...and discover I also carry this mutation.

All of us inherit 2 BRCA genes.  In a BRCA Mutation one of the genes is broken.  So at some point you have a increased chance of developing usually breast or ovarian cancer.  My family's particular mutation is 

r1835x or c.5503C>T

I have it.  As do several of my family members.  Turns out it originates in Germany or the Netherlands. Which fits since we are of German descent.

My mutation means I have:

A 40% chance of developing ovarian cancer by age 70

A 55-65% (although some say higher) chance of developing Breast cancer by age 70.

While not all cancers are genetically related.  They are discovering many who have this gene get cancer.  

Like me.

I'm in the 40%.

WHAM...There was Cancer

I was cruising along in life.  Happily married, 3 kids almost grown.  Successful career.  My husband and I decided to relocate from Connecticut to Dallas Tx.  We were tired of the weather and the high cost of living.  It took us almost a year to do it, but we successfully made the move and were loving our new home.  When I was diagnosed with early stage fallopian tube cancer.

Now in reality my tumors were small.  Two small (1mm or less) lesions found in both of my fallopian tubes.  So the biggest tumor was the size of this pencil point:

But to me it felt more like:

Because you see ovarian cancer is one bad mofo.  It's killed several women in our family.  Now that nasty little alien had decided to take up residence in me.