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Chemo Cycle 4

Oh! Cycle 4. Dude I am so over you. Cycle 4 was a SHIT SHOW! I'm not even kidding. I'm sitting here on JULY 25th, just days before cycle 11 Taxol. Why? Because I wasn't going to write this at all. Cycle 4 hit me like a freight train and then the SunRail and then a fleet of dump trucks. I felt like utter shit and didn't think anyone wanted to hear about it. But then I was reminded by a lady that some people do want to know, she did want to read about it and I was doing this for myself. Published on 7/25/17 10:08 AM

Chemo Cycle 3

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I'm 3/4 of the way done with Adriamycin and Cytoxan!  DAY 1:  My mother in law, Giuliana, came with me to this infusion. I warned her it was really boring, and long and gave her every avenue she could have taken to just drop me off and run. She didn't though. She sat with me the whole time. We got to catch up on everything that's been happening with her, the kids, our families. We gossiped like school girls. 🙂 We chatted about the Instant Pot, electric pressure cooker. A friend had peaked my interest with her recipes and how easy it's to make meals in minutes. I am super excited about this pressure cooker. She ordered it for me. I really enjoyed spending time with Nonna. Chatting and gossiping made the time pass so fast.  It was really nice! Thanks Nonna, for keeping me company. ♥ Adriamycin Cycle 3  I'm stoked because this regimen has been a lot more physically and mentally taxing than I anticipated. It's been rough, but is almost over! When my numbe

Stress: I'm not handling it very well

I am freaking out! Seriously stressing out, probably for no reason. Maybe because stressing out over the pregnancy and baby is less dreadful than freaking out over cancer, surgery, chemo, etc. Logan is due April 20th. I asked the doctor today if we can go ahead and schedule the c-section. Nope. Why not?! Well, because #1 they need to know when the Maternal-Fetal medicine specialist thinks it's best to deliver & #2 the hospital still hasn't posted March calendar, let alone April. So no dice. So I still don't know when Logan will be born. Which knowing would help considering that I'm a type A personality. I have to prepare!!! I created an Amazon Baby Registry   so I could use the completion coupon towards few things that I still need. Like an infant car seat for Logan. For Liam, I used the same car seat as I had with Tristan but that's now expired. So I want to get the Baby Trend Secure Snap Tech 32 Infant Car Seat because it's small enough to fit in my

Talk to your Obstetrician

I had my 28 week check up with my primary OB. Baby is doing well, measuring at 28 weeks. Heart Rate is 150 BPM. She says according to Dr Al-Malt baby is doing wonderful. Growing like he's supposed to. I've gained 6 lbs in total since the beginning of the pregnancy. She said its on the low side but given the situation low gain is better than weight loss, so we'll take it. I told her I eat when I can, when I have an appetite and when I can't eat I force myself to have a Boost shake. By the way, the chocolate Boost shakes takes like liquid vitamins, it's not appetizing at all. So if you have a better suggestion, let me know. After my visit was complete I asked the doctor, What are you doing to help nursing mothers distinguish between a clogged duct (which is what I thought I had originally) and a lump? She said all you have to do is ask for an ultrasound of the breast. They will do a physical exam of the breasts. This is where you lay on your back and they ash arou

About Baby 3

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Yesterday was a mentally rough day for me. I was focused on my low numbers and just feeling bad for myself. I know to take it one day at a time. What I haven't done much of is talk about this little fighter who is along for the ride with me. Baby 3, his name is Logan Chase. I'm now 27 weeks pregnant. I go to the maternal-fetal medicine specialist a week after every chemo session to check on his growth and development to make sure he's doing alright. Thankfully he's been doing wonderfully! The Dr said he's measuring at the 45th percentile for growth, between the 2 lines on a chart. He weighing about 2 lbs 2 oz. Exactly how they know this is beyond me. I always said ultrasounds are pretty unreliable when it comes to measuring babies. Simply because babies are cramped and scrunched up and it's hard to tell what's what sometimes. But they measure his leg bones, skull, brain, kidneys, stomach, lungs, the umbilical cord, placenta, cervix and at this last appo

Chemo Cycle 2

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So with cycle 2 done and my follow up done today I figure I'd update you. Cycle 2 was seriously uneventful (day of chemo). Karen was going to come with to keep me company but one of the kids got sick so she took him to the Dr's instead. Truth be told, while I would have loved the company, she would have been bored to death. I took myself. I knew I would be OK to drive after wards because after cycle 1 I could have driven myself but hubby insisted he drive. I passed the time watching Maury and other daytime drama "reality" TV and browsing through Facebook. I've become quite the fan of a couple cancer support groups. Having someone who has been there or is there on the same page is nice. I like the advice. The ability to vent and it's all judgment free, from people who can relate is really nice. The steroid drip makes me drowsy but not enough to actually fall asleep. For whatever reason I'm not comfortable sleeping anywhere that's not home. It's j

Chemo Cycle 1

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Cycle 1 of Adriamycin and Cytoxan I barely slept the night before, between the soreness of the port and my nervousness of this day. The nurse had told me to put the Lidocaine cream on an hour before my appointment & cover it with saran wrap. She didn't specify how much to use. (remember this) I went in expecting it to hurt like hell from beginning to end. I was scared...shitless.  Brandon came with me. He took the day off work to keep me company & hold my hand when necessary. Nonna took the boys for the day, she dropped T off at school & got to play with Liam all day.  When we arrived at the infusion center, I registered and everyone in the front was very welcoming. They showed us around the center, introduced the nurses at each station, bathrooms, coffee machine & snacks. She took me to my station for this infusion, introduced us to Irma, my nurse for the day. I got to sit in a corner seating area. The walls come out to create a nice private seating ar