Almost to the finish line...

LAST ONE...
Reflecting back, I can't believe how far I've come as well as how fast things have happened. Friday, March 28th I reach the end of chemo!!! I am so excited to be done I can't stand it!! It is crazy that it has been 6 months since my diagnosis, 5 months since surgery and 3 months since I began chemo. SO MUCH has happened in such a short time. When I learned that I would have chemo, the first thing I did was rush out to find a wig because I knew for sure I didn't want anyone to know I was bald. I bought a wig that looked like the hairstyle I had which was long, layered and highlighted. Then, I cut my hair and not long after that I shaved my head. Since being bald, I can say I have only worn my wig a handful of times. I was so worried about it and yet, once all my hair was gone I didn't really care. When it has been cold outside I have worn a warm toboggan on my head and now that it has gotten warmer, well, I won't get carried away, not really warm but not brutally cold, I have been wearing scarves and Chemo Beanies which are so much more comfortable on my head. Since surgery, my range of motion has returned however, it is still difficult to pick up anything the slightest bit heavy and not feel it in my chest right away or the day after. That will come with time though. I will probably start feeling back to normal when it is time for my next surgery then I'll be starting all over. Oh well, that's the way it goes :) Also, since beginning chemo I have blown up I feel, like an Oompa Loompa lol!! Something they don't tell you is, with all the steroids, no matter how hard you try to be healthy, you are going to gain weight. I couldn't go to the gym because of risks of the germs and getting sick but I tried to stay active, however, those steroids slowed my metabolism tremendously. I guess I'll just have to work harder at the gym. Anyway, within 6 months, I received my diagnosis, had 3 surgeries and have had, by Friday, six 5hr cycles of chemo. I will be so glad when I don't have to sit in that chair for half the day every 3rd Friday!! After my last chemo treatment, I will see the Radiation Oncologist April 7 to talk about when I will start radiation. I will at least get a 4-5 week break before it starts. So, I am almost to the finish line as far as chemo is concerned!!! I have just one more step before I am done with treatment then I have 2 more surgeries but at least treatment will be over :)

Look Good Feel Better...
Monday evening I went to the LGFB program that is put on by the American Cancer Society. It is a program for women that are receiving cancer treatment whether it be chemo, radiation or both. When I arrived, there were only 2 of us in the class which isn't typical they said. The other girl there looked fairly young, like me. We began the class by watching a video about the program then we got to open our little bag of goodies they gave us which contained makeup. LGFB is free of charge and is a workshop to teach beauty techniques to female cancer patients to help combat the appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment. When opening the bag I was surprised to find all types of makeup, makeup brushes, moisturizing cream and nail polish. All of these things are donated to ACS by the company that makes them for the purpose of this workshop. We had so much fun learning how to fill in our eyebrows and making it look like we had more eyelashes than we actually do! We also learned new ways to tie a scarf and we tried on some wigs just for fun. When the class was almost over, the other girl in the class and I began to share our stories. I found out that she is 33 years old and also has breast cancer which ran in her family. She began doing chemo first and has not yet had surgery. She also found her lump on accident and was diagnosed 1 month after I was. Our stories were very similar however, she had so many questions about surgery since she has yet to decide what surgery to do and I was so happy to share my experience with her and I hope it will help her to decide what is best for her. It was also really nice talking to someone close to my age and going through the same thing. It was nice and sad at the same time. Sad because we are too young to be going through this and it seems like there are more and more young women being diagnosed with breast cancer every day. So, with that being said, CHECK THOSE TA-TAs!!!!

1 MORE LEFT...

Save time. That was what I was trying to do when scheduling to have my blood work done the day before chemo. Save time is what I didn't do lol!!! Thursday, the day before chemo I arrived at 12:40, 5 minutes before my appointment to have my blood drawn. I thought for sure I would go in on time since a blood draw was all I was having done. Forty-five minutes passed and there I was, still waiting. I had just had a coffee and really had to go to the bathroom but I knew that as soon as I went they would call my name. Then I thought, "who am I kidding? I've been waiting 45 min, I might as well just go because they obviously aren't calling my name anytime soon." So, I get up and head into the bathroom. I took my time and went ahead and wiped the numbing lotion off of my port so that was one less thing we had to do when I went back. I washed my hands and walked out and what do you know, as soon as I opened the bathroom door I heard "Holly Pennywitt". I thought to myself, "maybe I should have gone to the bathroom sooner." Anyway, I went back and as I sat down the Phlebotomist asked, "Are we accessing your port today?" and I said "Oh yes!" I'm not about to be poked 100 times because my veins want to be difficult when I can easily have my blood drawn from my port. I know it is a much bigger ordeal since it has to be a sterile process but that's how we were going to do it. So, I had to move to the other room because it had to be accessed by a nurse. While getting everything ready the nurse asked me, first "how long have you had your port" and I answered "3 months", next "have you ever had any problems accessing your port" to which I answered "no, none at all." She said, "ok great because some people have tricks to accessing their ports because they have had issues." I assured her that mine has been perfect so far. Once ready she says, "ok now, 1, 2, 3...uh oh, this doesn't feel right." I'm thinking, "are you kidding me? There have NEVER been any issues, just smooth sailing and now all of a sudden, uh oh?" She said, "hmmm, that's weird, I know I stuck it right in the middle, let me try again." I mean, c'mon, this is the reason I got the port, so I don't have to be stuck multiple times, but luckily, I had the numbing lotion on so I couldn't feel it. Again, "1, 2, 3,....mmm, got it!" Yes, finally! She proceeded to draw my tubes of blood and of course made small talk because it is awkward when it's just the 2 of you and you sit in silence but then again, the small talk can be awkward too lol! Within about 5 min the blood was drawn then we were de-accessing my port and I was out of there thinking that I was glad this part was done so that we could save an hour at chemo.

CHEMO DAY #5...
Same thing just a different chemo day :) Ryan picked me up at 12:30 and we headed to the Cancer Center where we arrived at 1:00. I signed in and thought I would for sure go back soon especially since I already had my blood work done. Then, another 45 min later I heard my name. I went back and did the normal stuff, saw the normal people then waited, yep that's what I said, waited. This time I had already done my blood work the day before so I didn't have to wait for that but I did have to wait for my anti-nausea meds and chemo to be mixed in the pharmacy. So, needless to say, time was not saved. We actually got out of there an hour later than the time before when I had my blood work done that day. We left around 6:30. Oh well, I of course went ahead and scheduled for my blood work to be done the day before my next treatment which also happens to be #6, my LAST & FINAL treatment!!!!!!!!! I.CAN.NOT.WAIT to be done with this part of the journey :) I also can't wait for my hair to start growing back lol!! I know it won't be overnight and will probably take awhile to really start growing in but I still can't wait!! Sometime after my last treatment I will meet with Dr. Wei, my Radiation Oncologist and we will begin radiation but we have to wait 4-5 weeks after my last treatment because we have to make sure my white blood count has come back up. I just can't believe it has already almost been 6 months since the diagnosis that changed my life, 4.5 months since surgery, I've completed 5 chemo treatments and I am getting ready for my LAST ONE!!!!! It has all gone so quickly, it almost doesn't seem possible but the support has been tremendous and I can actually say that I am 1 step closer to kicking cancer's butt!!! I more step to go :)

Chemo #5

Since chemo...

I would have posted sooner but since chemo I have had this awful virus. This time it was Monday before the side effects hit me. I had the normal nausea which this time I just decided after talking with my nurses to take my Zofran scheduled so that the nausea didn't get out of control and it worked. I did however have that awful taste I get in my mouth. I absolutely hate it because everything tastes bad, even water, UGH! Sunday I had started with a cough and was SO TIRED but other than that I was alright. By Monday I started feeling a little different than normal. I checked my temp and it was low grade at 99.5. So I started taking NyQuil and stayed in bed all day. Normally I would hate that but honestly I didn't want to get up. By Tuesday I wasn't any better so I called the Cancer Center because I didn't want it to get worse and I talked to the Triage Nurse who said my NP said based on my symptoms it sounded like a virus so continue treating it over the counter and if my temp gets above 100 to call back. I did what she said, continued with the NyQuil and stayed in bed. By that night I felt like I had the flu and I had a temp of 100.3. Yikes! Well, it was too late to call the Cancer Center so I took some Tylenol and told Ryan that if it was still up in the morning I would call. By Wednesday my temp was all over the place but it didn't go above 100. I then started taking Sudafed thinking maybe it would work because the NyQuil obviously wasn't working. I took it scheduled through Wednesday and Thursday and finally by Friday I could get out of bed and function like a normal human being lol!! Thank goodness because I don't think I could take another full day in bed! The dogs were in heaven laying in bed with me all day for almost a week but I was so ready to see some daylight. Now, since I have been able to function since Friday, I have still not left the house. I mean, I have been outside but I have been NOWHERE since last Sunday so we are looking at a week and a day here folks!! Oh well, at least I am feeling so much better, only tired which is to be expected...HALLELUJAH!!

Oh and don't forget to click on the link below to register and join my Race for the Cure team!!

Holly's Rack Pack

Chemo sucks but I can do hard things...

OK, so after today I will have 1.MORE.LEFT!!!! I can really say I AM ALMOST DONE!! Of course Ryan does well reminding me when I feel like crap that we are SO CLOSE :) The last treatment has been the worst so far and I felt really awful for about a week. Ryan even had to stay home one day. I told him that even though I was probably not half as bad as some people in the sickness after chemo department, I now understand why people say "no more". Not that I would do that especially with only 2 treatments to go, I just now understand where they are coming from and I will never again say, "I can't believe they gave up and said no more treatment when it's helping" because now I GET IT!! Honestly, I am really not looking forward to this one today, who am I kidding, I don't look forward to any of them but with the side effects getting worse each time, I just dread them that much more. I just keep playing over in my head what my friend Tarah Pace Wright told me. "I CAN DO HARD THINGS!" Anyway, I did go get my blood work done yesterday to save us an hour today which will be nice other than the fact we will be leaving in rush hour traffic on a Friday but I am just grateful to be almost finished. Then I get a short break, like 4-5 weeks and then begin my radiation but my hair will grow back WOOHOO!!! Oh and hopefully I can begin to lose some of this weight I have put on because of the steroids. Man, I feel like I'm blowing up like a balloon lol!! Looking forward to returning to the gym the day I return to work, April 14. However, I am going to have to get some new sports bras that will fit my prosthesis because I tried to use it when walking the treadmill at my neighbors and luckily I was there and not in public because it definitely didn't stay in place. I was a little lopsided haha!! That will look a little odd at the gym so I will need to fix it before returning because I AM returning!

Just a little update for what's to come! I will update again after chemo #5 :)

Oh and don't forget my Race for the Cure team "Holly's Rack Pack"
Holly's Rack Pack