Ch. 18 - The Last Chemotherapy
Well, the moment finally arrived, the last chemotherapy treatment... YEAH!!! I had my last chemo on Tuesday, January 8th at 10:00 am. The treatment went as planned, the pharmacy was just a little late getting my medications down to the infusion center. After treatment, I was instructed to continue to follow-up with Dr. Zhang and Dr. Grace. Although this was a big event, it did not go without its own unique set of side effects. Over the weekend I came down with a sore throat and cold as well as my normal nausea and fatigue. Out of a 24 hour day, I think I slept 20 of them on Saturday and Sunday. I was surprised that I got sick since I was continuing the injections for my immune system for 3 days after chemo. But anyway, come Monday, I returned to work as normal; it seemed like I needed to do something just to keep me out of the bed!
Besides the cold, I have noticed that on my right thigh I have some kind of redness that does not itch, but it just won't go away. I showed it to my doctor and he said that it looks like some sort of dermatitis. He encouraged me to show it to the dermatologist when I go at the end of the month.
So for now, my plan is continue recovering from the last chemo and follow-up with my radiation oncologist in 2 weeks in order to begin radiation. As for my porta cath, Dr. Zhang encouraged me to keep it in for 1-2 years unless it begins to bother me. He said just in case of a relapse or reoccurance, I will already have the port in the instance I would need more chemo. I just have to have the port flushed by the infusion nurse once a month so that it does not get clogged. That part seems pretty easy. I do have to return to Dr. Zhang in March in order to start the Tamoxifen and for follow-up blood work.
Ohhhh! Good news about my BRCA test, it was negative. So... my 8 little frozen babies are in the clear of carrying the breast cancer gene. At least that is one less thing that we have to worry about at this point. IT IS GREAT NEWS!!!
I will continue to keep you posted on any new events as they occur. Thanks again for all of your support!!
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3 comments:
I am very happy that you are done with your chemotherapy! I know that you have been waiting for this day. My name is Lisa (from Columbia, SC) and I was googling tlcdirect catalog and found your blog. I found out I had breat cancer (invasive ductal carcinoma) at the age of 35. I found a lump in my right breat and a week later I had my surgery. I started my chemotherapy (Taxotere & Cytoxan) the week before Christmas. I am scheduled to have 6 cycles. I have my third treatment on Wed. and was starting to let my feelings get the best of me until I came across your blog. It made me cry but I felt better hearing these same things from someone my age. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your recovery.
Hi Jennifer,
I am so very proud of you for being so stong through all of this. I plan on walking in your honor for the Susan G Komen walk on May 10th in Atlanta. I love you and think of you alot! If you need anything please let me know.
Love,
Wendy Deering
Your blog is so inspiring - you have such a tremendous positive attitude after all you been through and continue to endure.
I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma the week of Thanksgiving this year 2008. Happy Holidays! I just turned 50 this year also and have been getting mammograms for the past 10 years. This year it came back abnormal. After all the test, seeing a surgeon, and radiation oncologist, I decided on a lumpectomy and a new radiation treatment called mammosite where they put a balloon catherter in and insert radiation seeds into the catherter targeting that particular area instead of the whole breat twice a day for five days versus 5 - 7 weeks. This is if everything goes as planned,lymph nodes negative, if my lymph nodes come back positive, then my treatment plan changes. I am praying a lot these days for you as well as everyone else out there who are going through this difficult time. God Bless you!
Sandy
sandy46711@netzero.com
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