Today I am a CHEMO GRAD!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, today -  August 28th, 2012 - I had my last visit to the chemo room, as a patient.  I may stop by and see the wonderful nurses when I'm in the offices for a check up, but other than that....I spent my last time in the chemo chair!  PRAISE BE TO GOD!  I cannot tell you how my heart feels.  There are no words.  I am so happy.  Of course, for the next couple weeks I will experience the side affects, but I know as I'm going through it that THIS IS IT!  :o)  Woot Woot! 

Doctor Visit and Side Affect Info
My parents went with me to my treatment today.  It was so nice to have them there.  They got up VERY early this morning so we could leave at 7AM this morning to drive the 2 hours and 15 minute (it was longer due to stopping for gas and morning traffic) drive to the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center in Nashville.  My counts were okay.  My WBC count was 6,500...they said they like to see it higher, but since I'm going to have the Neulasta shot on Thursday I should be okay.  I am also a little Anemic.  My RBC count was 3.8 and the lowest of the good range is 4.04, but they said it was okay.  I was actually feeling really good so I surprised my RBC count was low, but I see that my thyroid was VERY high and he didn't even mention it.  I only noticed it because I asked for my records.  I had my thyroid radiated in 2004 due to Graves Disease so I have no thyroid anymore...the radiation killed it.  I do not take my thyroid medication that well.  So, I am pretty surprised.  I am taking it better though since the doctor suggested putting it on my nightstand and taking it before bed.  I actually remember now.  :o)  Maybe the thyroid grew back from the chemo treatments.  LOL!

Anyway, they confirmed that my burn on my hand was from the taxotere chemo drug, but it is so much better today that they aren't worried at all.  I will try to take a picture in a few days.  I forgot to mention that I did stop by their office last Tuesday to talk to them.  I had to see a chemo nurse because they were gone for the day.  She said it didn't look too bad at all and to just keep putting Aquafor on it and keep it out of the sun.  The doctor told me that because I was on the Doxycycline it really helped it to not become worse.  Big Praise!

I talked to him about my hot flashes and how they are driving me crazy and messing up my sleep.  So, he gave me Megestrol (20mg).  He thinks he will help and has promised it won't contribute to my weight gain (since it is such a low dose) even though a side affect is weight gain.

The doctor also confirmed that I will be going on Tamoxifen soon.  I told him I wasn't sure I wanted to be on it, but I will try it.  I just feel like if the side affects are bad I might be okay with declining it.  I don't know.  My biopsy was only 20% estrogen positive.  I will have to take it a total of 5 years (2 full years, try to have a baby for 2 and then 3 more years).  I am concerned about weight gain and hot flashes....well...and of course I would like to try for a baby sooner than 2 years.  But, I guess I can always pray for a miracle adoption.  :o)  He told me that tamoxifen won't make me gain weight or have hot flashes.  I'm going to ask a few of my friends that are on it and do a little research though.  Also, I want a little time to go on a diet/exercise first before I start it.  He wants me to wait 3-4 weeks to start my diet, but I can start the exercise now, on my good days, if I don't over do it.  Last week I did go for a couple walks.  One was almost 2 miles.  I thought that was great for someone on chemo.

Chemo Experience
So, at 11am I was sitting in the chemo room...waiting in the chemo recliner for my IV (note: GET A PORT if you ever have to do chemo).  It is funny because they are doing construction in the building so every time I come in for chemo the room is totally different.  It was nice today because I found a recliner with 2 guest chairs!  Normally, each recliner has only 1 chair because you are only allowed one guest, but I asked and they let them both stay with me.  :o)  It was a blessing!  The nurse was great and only had to stick me twice to get blood!  YAY!  It worked on the 2nd try. I know there were some praying about this so thank you so much!  My eyes were actually tearing up already the 2nd time because I was a little scared that we were going to have a replay of last time...but God was gracious.  We met many sweet chemo patients today.  It was a great way to end my treatment being able to talk about our stories together.  I gave them my card and I hope I can keep in contact with a few of them.  I got their first names so I could pray for them and I hope I hear from them so I know how to pray specifically for them and because I will always wonder how they are doing.  It was not their last treatment and have different cancers.  :o(  So, they will need much prayer.  At 2:30pm we were talking out the door.....so happy that this was it!  I'm a chemo graduate!  Another thing I can add to my list of experiences.  I'm glad I will be able to truly say that I understand what someone else going through chemo is going through.  It is rough!  But, the Lord walked through it with me and when I prayed (and you prayed) He answered.  What an Awesome God we have.  A personal God that loves us so much.

Jayde getting chemo.  Celebrating SEC football starting on Saturday by wearing her Auburn University head covering (it was a sweet gift), earrings and shirt.  WAR EAGLE!!

After Chemo Celebration
I was pretty out of it after chemo and very drowsy, but I wanted to celebrate so we went to Red Lobster for a late lunch.  It was so good, but the last two chemo treatments I've had a weird thing happen when I eat.  My throat won't swallow without me concentrating on it.  I know, it sounds weird.  I had to pause and think in order to swallow my food sometimes.  Strange!  Also, my mom hinted to the waitress that this was my last chemo day and she brought me a cheesecake with chocolate drizzle and it was VERY good.  Thank you Red Lobster!

Apples
We arrived back home at about 6pm.  I was tired and I have 3 boxes of apples (about 60) that need to be preserved before my side affects get too bad.  My father-in-law was gracious and let me take what I wanted.  His apples are SO GOOD!  They are organic since he doesn't use any chemicals or sprays on his trees which is so great.  My dad did most of the work for me on Sunday by picking them, climbing the ladder and fighting the bees.  Thank you both!!  I did help to pick some and paid for it the next day with muscles spasms at the top of my right tissue expander.  Luckily, it was only bad yesterday and has not been too bad today.  It was VERY sharp pains yesterday.  It was fun to throw a few of the bad ones to the cows and donkeys (the horse was MIA at the time) and watch them eat them.  One of the donkeys let me hand feed him.  :o) They are pretty small apples so I don't think they will take too long to process, but it still requires energy.  I have a magic apple peeler, corer and slicer...it does all 3 at the same time!  The magic apple tool makes it go very fast.  So, tonight I did 26 apples while sitting at the table (I will finish the rest in the next few days).  I would put them in a solution so they wouldn't brown since I was VERY slow I didn't want to miss this step.  Then, I blanched them for 2 minutes, vacuum sealed them, labeled them and froze them.  I was able to do 17 cups tonight (3 bags of 4 and 1 back of 5 cups).  I'll be able to make pie, cobbler or other dessert with them later.  I have been so blessed during this journey with so many giving people.  We were ready to put our garden in the week I found out I had cancer so we decided not to have a garden this year.  YET, God provided.  I was able to preserve tomatoes, green beans, okra, apples and one other veggie, but I can't remember right now.  LOL!  My brain is so fried.

So, with that....I can't type anymore.  I'm going to bed and praying that I can sleep tonight despite the steroids they pumped into me today.  Love you all!  God bless you.  I'm sorry for any typos or sentences that don't make sense.

Leaving you with a pic of Kevan and I.  We went to a movie last week on one of my good days.  You can see how chubby my face is getting.  :o(

A friend of mine, who's initials are WDB confirmed that I have a double-chin and that I'm starting to look more like him everyday.  Thanks WDB!  Thanks a lot.  lol!!

Preparing for chemo...

I start chemo tomorrow.  Ugh!  Not looking forward to it, but at the same time I just want to start so I can get it over with.  I've been trying to prepare for the unknown.  I cut my fingernails down and will be putting nail strengthener on them to try to save my nails.  I've read that the chemo I'm doing (cytoxan and taxotere) can sometimes cause your nails to fall off if they get bruised or brittle.  So, I'm trying to prevent that from happening.  I'll let you know if it helps.

Also, I readied my water bottle with the hours in each day so I can make sure I'm drinking enough water each day.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it was a great idea.  I have to refill it 4 times, but each time I just turn it and can see if I'm where I should be for the day.  I don't like to drink water, but I love a good game or goal...so hopefully, my overachieving self will be pushed to compete against the big pink water bottle.  lol!  Kevan and I own a Berkey water filtering system so we have good tasting and clean water.  See pic of my hourly water bottle below.  It isn't a great picture, but it was the best one.  I just used a sharpie to write the hours.  If I drink as scheduled I will have consumed one gallon of water in a day.  :o)  I will be making many trips to the "little girl's room".  Also, a friend gave me some great advice.  She advised me to set an alarm to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom as well so I don't let the chemo sit too long in my bladder.  This can cause other issues down the road.  So, I will be doing that as well.  Although, if I'm drinking a gallon of water during the day...I may not need to set an alarm.  ;o)

After my mastectomy/reconstruction surgery one of Kevan's family members made us several lasagna in different sizes that we could freeze and use as needed.  It was wonderful.  It was such a great idea I asked her for the recipe so I could make more and she was so gracious to give it to me!  I also decided to make a bunch of my favorite chicken and broccoli casseroles to freeze as well.  I want to make sure that Kevan has dinner on the nights that I don't want to eat or when I'm too sick to cook for him.  Also, if I'm up to it I can eat too.  On Saturday I spent a few hours making homemade sauce, cooking meat, etc to make up several casseroles.  I started at about 11am and was finished by 5pm.  In total I made 10 casseroles.  While the sauce was cooking I was able to clean the house a little so even though I had started the cooking I still had the opportunity to do other chores.  This is a good idea for working moms and new mommies too.  Here is a picture of the sauce.  Yum!

I cooked 6 chicken breasts in my crockpot while I waited for the sauce to be ready.  Then, shredded the chicken, seasoned it and then put together 4 chicken/broccoli casseroles for Kevan and I.  Since we do not need a 9x13 for just the two of us I split them in 1/2 so we would have 4 dinners instead of 2.  I was going to make 6, but I did not end up with enough chicken to make 6.

Then, once the sauce was finished and cooled....I put 6 lasagna(s) together (only 4 are pictured here).

I wrapped each one with plastic wrap, then foil and labeled them.  To use later I just thaw them throughout the day (or overnight in the fridge) and then cook them as normal.  Here is what they looked like before I put them in the freezer.

This should get us through at least 5 weeks of dinners twice a week.  One day a week is usually taken up with doctor's appointments in the "city", we usually eat out once or twice...and hopefully I will be up to cooking the remaining days.  We live way too far from town for pizza delivery, but maybe Kevan can drive to town and pick up a pizza sometimes.  Unfortunately, I love Pizza Hut way too much...my thighs don't love it, but my taste buds sure do.  

I also froze some vanilla yogurt in 1/2 cup measurements, added them to bags of various frozen fruit to use for smoothies.  I may not be up to eating, but Kevan can easily make me a smoothie and it will at least provide me with some good nutrients.  BTW...I love Stonyfield's French Vanilla yogurt and I searched all over online for a good homemade recipe.  I never found one so I came up with one myself.  I believe my homemade vanilla yogurt recipe is as good as theirs.  Mine has honey instead of sugar too so it is better for us.  I'm very excited that mine turned out so good.

I even had time to make some good 'ol potato salad for a church get together while I was waiting on the chicken and sauce to finish.  I cooked the potatoes and eggs (separately) in my pressure cooker.  It took about 20 minutes total.  Then, assembled it and had it in the fridge in no time.  I love my handy dandy electric pressure cooker!  The shell falls right off of the hard boiled eggs.  

I think I had a very successful Saturday.

If you have time please say a prayer for me.  Pray that my chemo side effects are limited to just hair loss (or weight loss).  That I won't experience bad nausea or low blood counts.  I'm pretty worried about the emotional and hormone aspect of the treatments so please pray for our marriage during this time.  Lastly, pray that I will continue to rely on the Lord for my strength and healing.  

"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:13