Yesterday I had my pre-chemo appointment with my Medical Oncologist…and there was lots of good news! I’ll start with the best news. He did a physical examination and discovered that the primary tumour (the one in my breast) is now so small that he wasn’t even able to measure it. This is Awesome!

I was also given the go-ahead to resume taking the train in to work. This is great, as the hour+ commute each way has been a big drain on my energy levels. There may be some days where driving is still the best option for me, but it is a huge relief to know that when I’m feeling well, I can just hop on a train and let someone else do the driving.

The other good news is that I was given a much better idea of what to expect as far as side effects are concerned with the chemo treatments that I will be receiving over the next two days. While nausea is a possibility, there is a much lower chance of feeling nauseous from these drugs, which I’m viewing as a positive! That said, these drugs will really take a toll on my energy levels, so by Sunday I will likely feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. Which is fine. I’ll take that over nausea any day!

Another likely side effect is muscle pain, so I’ve been given a healthy prescription of Tylenol 3. I’m allowed to take two of these every four hours, if need be. And if the T3’s don’t prove to be effective, then I will be given a prescription for Percocet. So it looks like I will be getting my wish of sleeping my way through the long weekend!

The other side effect that was discussed is that I may experience tingling or numbness in my fingers and toes, and possibly in my hands and feet as well. In order to try and mitigate this side effect, my hands and feet will be literally on ice as I’m receiving Friday’s treatment. This is also to try and prevent the loss of finger and toe nails…just the NAILS…not the actual digits. But still…fun, fun, fun!

In any case, I’m feeling much better about the rest of the week. While there is still a little bit of the fear of the unknown happening, it is reassuring to have a better sense of what I might experience. Couple this with the knowledge that the chemo so far has been really effective, and it gives me a much brighter outlook 🙂

I’ve been managing to have a fairly enjoyable summer, given the circumstances. However, it’s not all fun and food. Because my immune system is compromised, I have to be super careful of every symptom I experience. For instance, two weeks ago I had a sore throat for four consecutive days, along with a temperature that was jumping up and down like it was on a pogo stick. Well, this meant a trip to my family doctor’s walk-in clinic. After two hours of waiting by myself in segregation because I can’t be exposed to the other patients, the good doctor prescribed me everything under the sun as a precautionary measure. Her fear was that my little bronchial irritation would develop into something bigger, and she didn’t want me to have to come back. After being sent to the pharmacy with a mittful of prescriptions, I walked out of Shoppers with the largest bag of medications I have ever seen!

Then just as this all clears up, I was back at the walk-in clinic ten days later for a completely different issue. The risk of infection is pretty serious, so I have to be extra vigilant of anything that can develop into something more severe. This is not the time to be a martyr. Thankfully it is much better to go to the clinic on a Thursday than a Monday…on Thursday I literally walked in, met with the doctor, and walked out 10 minutes later. But there was yet another prescription…I’m really getting my money’s worth out of the drug coverage this year!

And then there was last night. I’ve now been dealing with a stomach bug for the last 20 hours. However with the help of some sleep, ginger ale, Gatorade and crackers, I’m on the mend. I’ve been checking my temperature every hour or so, just in case I get close to having a fever, but so far so good. No need to panic or seek medical attention, but I will keep monitoring my temperature until the morning. Let me tell you, having a compromised immune system kinda sucks!

The last week has gone fairly well. Other than experiencing significantly lower energy levels, I’ve been feeling pretty good for the most part. That said, not being able to get medical insurance in the U.S. meant I also had to skip my trip to Chicago. I was going there to watch the Blue Jays take on the Cubs. However via FaceTime, both Joe R and Sheryl gave me the opportunity to see Wrigley Field from the bleacher seats…it was a perfect day for a baseball game!

It was also a perfect time to spend with family and friends here at home. I was able to enjoy a visit with two people who have known me the longest. They go by Maggie and Rick, but I like to call them Mom and Dad. We had lots of great time together this past weekend, and had several delicious meals. Friends Andy and Andrea joined us for an Italian feast at my place on the Saturday evening (thank you, Nino’s Oakville!). On Sunday evening, my parents and I drove in to the city to have a barbecue with my cousin Krista. The good eats don’t end with dinner: on Saturday, I lunched al fresco at Elena’s home, followed by a long walk in the Credit Valley. And I had a fabulous Sunday brunch with my friend Michelle at Spencer’s on the Waterfront in Burlington. Clearly, I’m not having any issues with my appetite!

Monday night I was able to experience one of the best concerts I have ever attended. Coldplay came to town with their Head Full of Dreams tour, and it was simply phenomenal! I needed a two-hour nap pre-concert, and had to take a vacation day to recover post-concert, but it was so worth it!

My vacation day was also important as I had a special visitor drop by to see me at home in Oakville…

Fresh from her summer internship at Fisher-Price, Caroline is spending two weeks at home before heading back to finish her MBA program at the Tuck School of Business. So what did we do? We went out for a meal and a drink of course! I was delighted to discover that my Dark and Stormy was served in a classic ‘copper’ cup.

I’ve rounded out this week by meeting my friend Jen C last night for yet another meal. We had a great dinner and catch-up visit at a local sports bar, which had a surprising diverse menu. I was expecting burgers and wings, but ended up with a delicious seafood linguine for dinner last night. Again…no issues with my appetite. I’m basically eating everything I can get my grubby little hands on. Just kidding…my hands aren’t grubby…they are more likely over-sterile now that I have become a germaphobe!

Heading into next week, life is going to be hectic. I am at hospitals on four different days between next Monday and Friday. Wednesday is my only day off! There are several routine appointments, but the big news is that my next round of chemo starts next Thursday and the treatment will consist of three drugs that I have not had before. After each drug is administered, I will go through a period of observation for about a half-hour afterwards. Because of this, I will have two drugs administered on Thursday (about 5 hours in duration) and the last drug will be given to me on Friday (about 2 hours). I’m a little apprehensive about the new drugs as I have no idea how my body will react to them and what the side-effects will be. Everything has gone so well thus far that I’m a little fearful that the next rounds will be a lot tougher. Fingers crossed that I get to sleep my way through the long weekend!

Many of you know, but this may come as a surprise to one or two of you, that I have been involved in billiard leagues and tournaments for many years. While I have dialed back my involvement in recent years, I still continue to play in the Mississauga CPA Ladies League. On May 7th of this year, our Ladies team won our Regional Tournament giving us the opportunity to compete this past weekend at the APA World Pool Championships in Las Vegas. Words cannot express how proud I am of this team.

Needless to say, with an inability to acquire any form of health care coverage, and the interference of my chemo schedule, I wasn’t able to make the trip. However these ladies, along with my friend Sheryl (who took my place on the team), did their utmost to make sure that I had the best non-trip to Vegas ever!

Before I tell you about my vicarious vacation, I should let you know a little bit about these women. While we may have originally met due to our involvement in the pool league, we are far more than teammates. We play together not just because the team numbers work, but because over the years we have formed great friendships. We have been there for each other through marriages, births, divorces, graduations, and a marathon (for a couple of us!). And unfortunately, this is is not our first encounter with cancer. I am lucky to call these women my friends.

Needless to say, with today’s technology, the ladies made sure that I was part of everything they did this weekend. There were numerous FaceTime conversations with the team along with some other friends. I was included in the shopping trip to the Converse store where I was given a choice of which colour I wanted (guess which one I picked…yup, you got it…burgundy, of course). And I met the bartender at the new Tiki Bar on The Strip!

Of course Facebook let me share in their post-tournament excursions…the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, the Valley of Fire, and the Grand Canyon, plus a road trip to California. I’ve been to most of these places before, but it was my first time “going” to L.A. Next year, I’m going to see it for myself!

Last week I had to the opportunity to visit with some close family friends…so close that we refer to each other as cousins. When I arrived at my cousin Krista’s condo for a visit with her sister-in-law and nieces, I was completely surprised to discover that the two girls had been busy making artwork for me to take home. You see, I have only met the two little girls once before, about a year ago, as the girls were born overseas and still live way across the Pacific, currently in Hong Kong. I was delighted to find out that they would be visiting Auntie Krista for a month this summer, and that I would be able to visit with them again!

Coincidentally, the night before my visit, Gord and I watched The Bucket List, and Morgan Freeman’s character had his grandson’s artwork on the wall of his hospital room. It made me think about the fact that I will be having surgery after chemo. Which made me think that it would be nice to have something to put on the wall of my own hospital room. Little did I know that Kate (10) and Sonya (8) were already way ahead of me!

I was also the recipient of two pieces of personalized jewelry – a necklace and a bracelet with my name in beads! They will be perfect in the hospital too, so the staff will always know my name…much nicer than a hospital wristband!

The long weekend was pretty low-key for me – spent some time with Gord and some friends for a nice evening at Amsterdam Brewery, followed by a trip to Bang Bang Ice Cream…yum yum! Of course there were some fun selfie shots…

And then I kicked off the week with a work night out at Real Sports Bar followed by watching the Jays beat the Yankees on Tuesday night…

But even better than the baseball game, was my consultation on Tuesday with my Oncologist. When asked how my second round went, I was able to say that the only side effects I experienced was more hair loss and a lot more fatigue. It turns out that because I wasn’t nauseous or vomiting means that my body is both tolerating the chemo, as well as responding well to the anti-nauseant pills. And in even better news…from the physical measurement of the tumour in my breast, the Oncologist believes it is now only 1 centimeter in diameter. This is awesome, as on June 1st the diameter of the breast tumour was over an inch. I appear to be responding really well to the chemo as far as the cancer is concerned!

Armed with this good news, I headed in to my third chemo treatment yesterday. I was really hoping that things would go a bit more smoothly than last time!… and everything went really well. That said, I was greeted by the assigned chemo nurse with “I remember you… you were Code Medical last time you were here!” It seems she was the supervising nurse when I had my last treatment, and was one of the first responders… I have apparently developed a “reputation”!

All joking aside, everything went great yesterday, as well as today with my Neulasta injection (the immune booster that I receive after every chemo treatment). Now I’m just waiting around for side effects to happen. At least I know that I have company while I wait…cause at the same time, you are all waiting for me to write my next post!

Here we are, with 5 of my 21 chemo kilometres completed. I’m almost a quarter done this Half Marathon! Despite the rocky start to Round 2, this second kick at the can(cer!) has been pretty uneventful…which is a GOOD thing!

Other than feeling significantly more fatigued than during the first round, I’ve barely experienced any other side effects. No queasiness, no headaches, no mouth sores, or anything else that I went through the first time. At one point I even started to question if they had even actually given me the chemo!

However, I can confirm that yes, I did receive the chemo drugs. Aside from the increased fatigue, this has been evidenced with the continued loss of my hair. It’s getting pretty patchy, and if I don’t wear some sort of head covering, hair falls everywhere. Such as on my food or into my drink. I can also tell what side of my head I sleep on the most, as the left side is almost completely bald now. So it’s not only annoying, but it’s looking pretty silly. I’m actually at the point where I just want it all to fall out!

All in all, I’m doing pretty well. I sleep a little more than I used to, including daytime naps. And I’m working from home a little more than I had originally planned, which can sometimes be challenging…

But when I’m home, I also get to witness super cute sibling moments…

And Peanut always joins me for my cat naps…

It may seem like I’ve had a pretty dull week, filled with working from home and lots of napping… but I did make it to the company Year-End Dinner last week, which was a lot of fun. And where I showed off yet another new hair-do!