Round Two: Day Two and Day Three (Fri and Sat)

Day Two started out with a warning from my nurse, "I heard what you asked for yesterday (a symptom) and I saw what happened, don't say anything today!" I assured her that I had no further need of a symptom; we both had large smiles on our faces.



Liz then went on to inform me that they were going to be extra cautious with the day's infusions. I was predosed with Benadryl and steroids before receiving Herceptin over two hours instead of the prescribed ninety minutes. Then I was observed for one hour before receiving more Benadryl and steroids and also a good dose of Ativan before the one hour infusion of Taxotere. The day went very smoothly and I had no reactions.

I do have a steroid flush though - my face and chest is where it is more noticeable. And today I have noticed that for the first time in weeks my breathing is easier, I think the massive steroids are clearing up the fluid in my right lung. It feels great to take a deep breath.

I have had no nausea and so far no bone or muscle aches; I do notice that my hips and legs feel a little weak.

I have made sure to eat 75 grams of protein today. My white blood cells should start decreasing on the seventh day so I want to make sure they decrease as little as possible. The trial drug also causes a drop of white blood cells and I don't want to be so low that I will need to have the injections to stimulate the bone marrow to produce white blood cells.

I will return for labs next Thursday - once a week blood is drawn to check on the levels of both the white and red blood cells.

Round Two has started out easy and I have no complaints - only blessings to continue to count and to be thankful for.

Round Two: Day 1 (Thursday)

I made it into the Clinical Trial and I've got the drug instead of the placebo! I know I've got the drug because I had a pretty big reaction within 30 minutes of receiving the 60 minute infusion. The first thing I noticed was that my chest felt tight and then my breathing became rapid and shallow and my blood pressure went up to 139 / 96 and blood oxygen level dropped to 92. Within seconds I was surrounded by nurses and the PA, they placed me on oxygen and gave Benadryl and steroids. In the midst of this I was giving the thumbs up sign and trying to say, "I've got the drug!"

The oxygen helped and blood oxygen began to climb, breathing became easier but my chest stayed tight, then my blood pressure dropped and I became very cold. Randy says it dropped to 63 / 40 - that's when everything was fuzzy for me. I do remember hearing the nurse saying it was up to 70 / 40 but my vision was fuzzy and I could not see the nurse.

Eventually all the vitals returned to normal and I was given more steroids and then was able to finish the rest of the dose. Yahoo!

I was told that the trial drug is made up of 90 percent human DNA and 10 percent mice DNA and that the allergic reaction was likely to be to the mice DNA but that hereafter my body will know it and I should not have the reaction again. However, just to be sure I will be predosed with Benadryl and steroids. I also have a predose of Ativan to ward off any nausea.

Tomorrow I will receive the chemo drug and Herceptin, then the side effects of the chemo drug will set in. The drug is Docetaxel also known as Taxotere and it is very similar to Taxol one of the chemo drugs I had previously. The nausea should be less with Taxotere but it does cause flu like symptoms with deep bone and muscle aches. I found with Taxol that the first dose was the worst and the side effects decreased with each following dose.

Today was quite an experience but throughout it I felt peaceful and I was uncomfortable but I really was not afraid. I have found that if I stay focused on what my job is - to glorify God today it is so much more peaceful.

It is wonderful to feel peaceful and wonderful to have a drug in me tonight that is already beginning to work! I hope your day was a wonderful as mine was!

Today's Schedule

First of all let me say that the cold I caught last weekend has been a big challenge. I know this is an indication of how overworked my immune system must be. For several days I have been extremely fatigued - very much like a chemo fatigue. I have also had shortness of breath which probably contributed to the fatigue. Thankfully the antibiotic has finally kicked in and even though my energy is still low it is greatly improved as is my breathing.

For those of you who followed my first journey you may remember that I found the fatigue one of my greatest challenges. I'm honestly not sure if all the fatigue can be attributed to the cold; some portion of it is due to the cancer. Besides unexpected tears and chemo-like brain fog at times, the fatigue has produced a longing to begin the chemo.

I find with Round Two that I am far less afraid and have far greater peace of mind. Mentally and emotionally I am as prepared as one probably can be and today I feel that physically I am just about as prepared.

Today is a bit of a busy day starting with great amounts of blood drawn while eating a granola bar at 8:45 this morning. Unfortunately the veins in my right arm did not cooperate and since only the right arm can be used due to lymph node removal of 2006 this meant more than one "poke" and some bruising. Eventually the tech found a vein in my right hand but it was slow going. Maybe someday I will learn the lesson, "Stop and take me to a nurse who can use the port for the draw." But the tech was so sweet and all the poking was pain free so I allowed her to continue - perhaps she could learn from my experience and it could help someone who would not have the option of using a port.

After the lab I had a chest x-ray and then I moved on to Nuclear Medicine where I received the injection needed for the bone scan. I am at home now drinking a lot of water to move the injected material through my body in order to produce a good scan. Following the scan I have an EKG and then chemo orientation.

It's a busy day but thankfully I am up for it.

It's All About How You Look At It

Yesterday Randy and I received the test results, the biopsy cells were exactly the same as the 2006 cancer cells; I have breast cancer with mets to the liver.

I am not writing the Yahoo! post I had hoped to write but I am turning this into a Yahoo! post:

1. Yahoo! It is not primary cancer to the liver.
2. Yahoo! There are chemo drugs and Herceptin to attack the tumors.
3. Yahoo! Dr. Patel is optimistic.
4. Yahoo! Because of Herceptin Germaine has lived twelve years after mets to the liver for the second time; she gives me hope and inspiration. I will now take Herceptin for the rest of my life and that makes me feel more secure.
5. Yahoo! I'm being considered for a Phase III Clinical Trial (more about that later).
6. Yahoo! It's not a fatal car accident.
7. Yahoo! I've done this before and I can do it again. Some of us get to put on our boxing gloves and get into the ring more than others.
8. Yahoo! My employer is fine with me taking six months and longer if needed off work (they want me back!!!).
9. Yahoo! I have family and friends - a wonderful support system.
10. Yahoo! I'll be bald during the summer rather than during the winter when my head could freeze.
11. Yahoo! I won't have to shave my legs this summer.
12. Yahoo! I will save money by not purchasing hair products and monthly hair cuts.
13. Yahoo! I'm already planning a celebration cruise for 2010.

By now I am sure you have got the idea, instead of dwelling on the negative I chose to focus on the positive.

I learned yesterday that my HER3 may be playing a part in the cancer; no I did not make a mistake, HER3. First of all there is HER1, HER2, HER3, and HER4; I only knew about HER2. It seems as though some HER2 positive women have an onery HER3 which sends encouraging communication to HER2. A drug has been developed to stop the HER3 gene from being so supportive of HER2 and that drug is in Phase III of Clinical Trial.

Coordinating the trials in the US is the drug company which produces Herceptin (for new readers, Herceptin attacks the HER2 gene) and the founding researchers located in Germany. Today my cancer cells were sent to Germany for HER2 confirmation and HER3 testing. If I am also HER3 positive I have a chance as being admitted into the trial and if admitted I have a 50 percent chance of receiving the drug (50 percent of the participants will receive a placebo - it's like a coin toss).

I have a lot of reseach to do and I will share what I learn but there's another Yahoo!. If this is the drug trial I think it is, in Europe the drug performed so wonderfully that by Phase III the researhers determined they could not in good faith deny the drug to the women who were being given the placebo and they began giving those women the trial drug. Yahoo!

So what do I want to share with you today? Find and list every Yahoo! in your life they are there - it's all about how you look at it.

Oh yes, I start chemo in eight days - I will write more about that later.

No News Today

I did not receive a call today to schedule an appointment with Dr. Patel. I'm sure that means that my original pathology (preserved cells from the breast cancer) has not been received; those cells are surely in storage somewhere and may take more than a few days to be delivered.

I think that the pathology report from the biopsy last week is probably ready because everyone concerned said that it should be ready. Here is the way I look at it, if the report is ready and I did not receive a call today it means that no one took a look at that report and said "Oh my this is horrendous, get her in here now!".

The day started in the most peaceful way possible. The alarm went off as usual and as I was waking my first thought was, "Oh the prayers are working and the tumors are shrinking." It was such a peaceful thought and I felt so blessed. I remember feeling my abdomen and yes, the swelling was still there but I felt less pressure and discomfort so maybe there was less swelling. As I awoke more fully I realized that I must have been dreaming. Instead of feeling sad or depressed, I felt peaceful and thanked God for the wonderful dream and I counted the dream as my first blessing of the day.

Is it real ... are the tumors shrinking and am I being healed, or was it a dream? Only time will tell but what I do know is, the peaceful feeling stayed with me all day. I am so grateful for your prayers, they have brought me peace. Ultimately I don't know how our prayers will be answered with regard to my physical health, but I do know that our prayers for peace, patience, and my continued strength are daily being answered.

I caught a cold this weekend; my second cold since January and likely an indication of the condition of my immune system. Today on my lunch hour I went to the health food store and bought Whey Protein Powder; I have placed myself back on 75 grams of protein per day.

Tomorrow is another day - another day for each of us to continue with love our prayers for one another and to count our blessings.

Liver Biopsy

A liver biopsy, at least the type of biopsy I had today, is only slightly uncomfortable for a few moments. There was the typical sting while the local was given and after that the only physical discomfort was pressure. Emotionally there was some discomfort, WHEW, it seemed like it was a long-long needle! I will admit to a couple of tears that trickled down my face for a moment but when I realized that the long-long needle was not painful it became less scary.

Today the word, "spot" was used and the spot where the biopsy was taken was on my right side just below the last rib. I laid on the left side on a firm pillow to move the rib enough for access to the spot. When the doctor was finished I asked if a biopsy was going to be taken where I felt the swelling and the doctor replied that the CT scan only showed the one spot. He then directed the tech to run the ultrasound over the area of swelling and then said that yes there was a small spot there. One plus one equals two spots.

Since April 30Th when the CT was done I have gained another spot. Dr. Patel (radiologist Dr. Patel not my oncologist Dr. Patel) said that he did not want to biopsy the liver in two separate locations on the same day, "it's not good for the liver". He added that we would get the results of the one biopsy and if needed go back and biopsy the other area.

Spots...I think it is not going to be mono. I think my aggressive HER-2 gene has kicked into high gear again. I think on Monday I will be discussing the chemo and radiation plan. I think I may be considered for the clinical trial of another drug that works on the HER-2 gene because maybe it will be considered that Herceptin did not work well for me after all. I think if I lose my hair this time I'm going to keep it really-really short until all the crazy curly hair has grown and been cut off.

I think I have been through this before (three summers ago to be exact) and I think, no make that, I know I have been blessed and will be blessed with all the resources I need to get through this again.

Not the Post I Had Hoped to Write

I had hoped to write another positive post something like, "Yahoo, more good test results!"

Well, that was my thoughts but here is my reality; I am having a liver biopsy tomorrow. I found out today that the PET and CT scans show an enlarged liver thus the need for a biopsy. This weekend I discovered myself that my liver was enlarged. Well at first I did not know why my abdomen was tender nor why it felt firm but then I researched the internet and found out that where I felt the changes is where the liver is.

I have felt some tenderness of my right ribs for a few weeks and today I found out why - I have fluid in the right lung. Dr. Patel feels that the fluid is present because of the enlarged liver.

The good news is that I don't have cancer of the bones because honestly with the ribs hurting for the past few weeks the thought had crossed my mind.

I will have the biopsy results on Monday. So meanwhile here is what I am thinking, let's pray it is mono so I can write that "Yahoo!" post.