This is not how I intended to ring in the New Year

The past two weeks were pretty uneventful on the cancer front....yay! Then yesterday I had an appointment with the Oncologist and it seems the lull is over and the party is beginning. Dr. S. had all of the test results back and he was raring to go. This morning I went in and had my chemo port put in, then tomorrow it's off to "chemo school" to learn about all the fun they have in store for me over the next few months. They'll also go ahead and schedule my first chemo treatment for sometime next week. Then we go straight out to the hospital for a muga scan which is a brief heart test they have to do to make sure I don't have any underlying problems that could be worsened by the chemo drugs.

Having the port put in was NOT fun. Actually the putting in part wasn't too bad because the nice anesthesiologist gave me very good drugs that pretty much knocked me out for the procedure. It's the after-effect that I'm having a problem with. I thought it would be pretty much like the biopsy with a little tenderness and swelling where they did the incision. Wrong-O!!! I feel like someone has driven a dagger through my right shoulder. I spent most of the day resting and getting over the anesthesia, but it's been hard to get comfortable. I'm hoping this goes away in a day or two. I have a baby to take care of and groceries to buy. I don't have time for this! Not to mention the fact that it's seriously cutting into my Wii time.

Anyway, that's where we stand for now. I'll post more updates as we go along or teach Bob how to do it for me. For now, I'm taking some pain meds and heading back to bed.

Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!!!!

All he wants for Christmas

Jake's been drooling like crazy for the past month or so and this week he added sucking his bottom lip like a little old man to the routine so I ran my finger across his gums and it's looking like Santa may be bringing him his two front (bottom) teeth for Christmas. Thank goodness, because up until now we weren't sure what Santa might have in mind for a little guy who spends most of his days sleeping or just sitting back smiling at whoever happens to walk by.

And when you think about it, what could be a better present for a 5-month-old than to be one step closer to chowing down on the turkey and ham he's forced to watch the rest of us enjoy?

All Prettied Up

This morning Vivian and Nick came running up and told me to take a look in the bathroom and see what their little sister had done. When I walked in, this was what I saw:

Luckily there weren't any streaks of red and pink elsewhere in the house. Olivia seemed pretty proud of her attempt to do her own nails, she didn't hesitate to show off her handiwork even with her brother and sister freaking out. I think she was more afraid of getting in trouble for the mess on the floor. I wasn't happy about the mess or the fact that it could have been a lot worse, but I do give her credit for screwing the caps back on and putting the bottles back into the plastic bag. That's more than the older two would have done, believe me.

A little soft scrub and a scouring pad cleaned up the mess with no problem and then Olivia sat very still while I removed the polish from her hands and toes and then reapplied it a little neater.

And in the interest of full disclosure she did tell me a couple of days ago she wanted her nails painted. Guess I should have listened to her then.

More Tests...aargh!

I went to the Oncologist Thursday and he wants to run additional tests on the biopsy sample before he makes any decisions on which chemo drugs to use. This will take another couple of weeks. I know he wants to be sure he's using the best combination but couldn't he have ordered all this back when he first talked to my surgeon in November? We'd have it all by now. When I saw the surgeon Monday she had talked to the Oncologist and seemed fairly certain of what the treatment would be. Then he comes in like he hasn't made his mind up yet.

He also wants me to have blood tests run which requires another appointment at a separate diagnostic center because, get this, the HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGY center I was at apparently doesn't draw blood for testing. These people deal in blood diseases but they're not drawing the blood? Seriously? To me that's like going to the dentist but having to get your x-rays done elsewhere. The nurse was telling me I can go anywhere I want to get this done (except there apparently) but I told her I don't know of any "places" to get blood drawn because other dr. offices that wanted my blood were always able to do it right then and there.

So anyway, the nurse gave me the name of a "place" and told me to have the blood drawn about a week before my next appt. (on the 29th) because some of the tests take several days for results and we want to make sure they're all in. What she doesn't know is that I checked the calendar and realized the week before my appt includes CHRISTMAS so I'm having mine done 2 WEEKS before the appt... HA! And then I'm calling a week before the appt to make sure they have everything. I'll be danged if I'm paying another office co-pay and finding someone to watch my kids yet again just so I can sit there and have a dr. tell me he doesn't have all my tests results back. When I go to an appt, I want ANSWERS and a plan of action. If you don't have that for me, call me when you do and I'll see you then!

I totally lost it after that appt Thursday. I'm a planner. I like to know all the steps involved and have it all scheduled out nice and neat. I don't like someone coming in from left field and messing up the plan. I'm not a spontaneous, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of gal.

But I can at least now look forward to being able to enjoy my holidays without feeling sick or having my hair fall out. And in spite of all my griping, I am very thankful for that.

Renewed Interest

Okay, it's been over a year since I posted to my blog. It's not like I haven't had anything to talk about, I went through a whole pregnancy and childbirth this last year. I guess I was a bit busy and overwhelmed with being pregnant, working, raising 3 kids and then 4 kids. Even though I quit my job at the end of May, the duties at home more than filled that space I assure you.

So we've been trotting along rather uneventfully for a few months (except for the fact that we are now 4/4 on the stinkin' cute kids and this one is also THE definition of an angel baby and an awesome sleeper -- yay!) and I've been thinking about re-establishing the blog when last month we suddenly found ourselves heading into a whole new direction -- I was diagnosed with breast cancer. And in the flurry of tests and diagnoses and the subsequent phone calls and e-mails needed to keep people informed, someone suggested I could keep a blog of what all was going on. Well, gee, I just happen to have one laying around here somewhere so let me dust off the cobwebs and see if I can remember the login and password.

So here we are. I have Stage 2 ductal carcinoma. The tumor itself is pretty small - only 1.5 cm - but it's spread to one of my mammary lymph nodes next to my sternum so that automatically makes me a Stage 2. That spread is not surprising because the tumor is right over that node. My surgeon who did the biopsy is a breast specialist and she's recommending 4-5 months of chemo first followed by surgery. I could start chemo as soon as the week before or the week after Christmas, it all depends on when the prep stuff can be scheduled. I have an appt. Thursday with an Oncologist so hopefully then I'll have a better idea of some dates.

For those of you familiar with cancer I'm looking at a TAC regimen every 3 weeks for 6-8 rounds. For those of you like me who think along a more superficial line... before I could even ask, the dr. told me I would lose all my hair... FAST! Oh yeah, she said it would go in the weeks following the first round and after the second round, my head will be smooth as a baby's bottom. The upside to this is I get to shop for a wig where I can choose the length, texture, and haircolor that I desire and I won't need haircuts or touchups to maintain it :)

The real biggie for me though is whether or not I will get sick. I was soooooo sick with the last 3 pregnancies -- throwing up several times a day every day, and I thought all that was behind me. But I am demanding whatever drugs they can give me and if they hesitate, I am not above driving out to their office and puking in front of them to prove my point.

So that's where we stand now with the cancer. But the rest of our crazy little lives go on just the same and I'm going to make sure I document all that as well. I am not all about having cancer, there is way more to me and my family than that and we intend keep living the way we have as much as possible. This is just another inconvenience we're going through for a brief time. So I definitely plan to blog about the everyday, run-of-the-mill vivi-nick-owee-jake cuteness in our household as well. If I don't, call me out, PLEASE!