Last chemo treatment was today! I woke up with a headache which always starts my day off on the wrong foot... My appointment was earlier than my last few so the office was less busy and we found a parking spot with no problems. I can't believe that this is my 6th treatment!

Things went well with my appointment before the treatment. There were some changes in the study that I am on so the person over the trial studies had to review the changes with us and I had to resign the the consent form. It mostly changed the list of side effects for the experimental drug - Avastin (or Bevacizumab). One of the added side effects (which apparently doesn't occur very often) is a condition called osteonecrosis of the jaw - which is the deterioration and death of the jawbone... I mentioned the two times now that I have had my lower jaw hurting and they said to keep an eye on it and mention the treatment that I am on when I visit my dentist next so he can watch for signs of the bone disease. If it appears that I am developing this problem I will pull myself from the study (and my doctor will probably not allow me to remain on it anyways.

I also mentioned the headaches that I have been having and some stuffy nose/bleeding nose issues I have had since starting my chemo treatments. There was a medical fellow doing most of the appointment today and he said there was some inflammation in my nose which could be associated with a sinus infection. I'm not convinced that that is my problem, but I will look into more info on it.

My chemo treatment went pretty smoothly. For some reason my husband wasn't able to get his laptop connected to the free WiFi offered at Huntsman and he was planning on doing a lot of work there because he has a major deadline coming up. That put a pretty big crimp in his day so luckily I had brought some movies with me and we ended up watching a movie. (This was the first time that we turned the T.V. during my chemo treatments.) Unfortunately it didn't help at all with my husband's work deadline so he will have to work even harder over the next couple of days.

The nurse that was administering my meds today was really concerned when she started me on the Carboplatin. She said that the effects with that drug are cumulative and that you really have to watch for reactions, especially with the 5th and 6th cycles. She said that if I experienced any itching anywhere on my body or felt that my mouth was swelling up on the inside to call her immediately. She was quite pleased when we got to the end of the infusion of that drug and I hadn't had any of those symptoms.

This week my Avastin infusion was just over 30 minutes and the nurse said that my future Avastin infusions will only 30 minutes as well. So from here on out my infusion appointments should be pretty quick. After I was through with the infusion I mentioned to the nurse to keep an eye on my port after she removed the needle to watch for bleeding. She put some gauze on it and had me apply pressure to it and then put a larger bandaid on it. When we checked the gauze there was only a tiny spot of blood.

I got a copy of my last three lab tests and the interesting thing was that my white blood cell counts were at their lowest 2 weeks ago, not 1 week ago and that my red blood cell counts were at their lowest today - but still well above the minimum that they allow for the chemo treatment to proceed as planned.

I've had a lot of people ask me if I was excited with this being my last chemo treatment and I haven't been quite sure how to respond. While this was my last chemo treatment today, I will still be going in every three weeks for infusion of the Avastin drug. This is not a chemotherapy drug and will be a much quicker infusion and shouldn't have nearly as many side effects so on that hand it is good to be done with the chemo side of it.

Over the next month I have a CT scan scheduled and a mammogram to check for any signs of cancer. And hopefully I will get a call tomorrow from the nurse telling me that my CA-125 number is in the normal range and I think that that will hopefully mean that I am officially in remission!! Stay tuned!

I want to send a big thanks out to my parents for spending the day at our house watching the kids again. It's nice to know that they are in good hands! Thankfully we made it home a little earlier today - we got home at about 5:40 and dinner had been brought by a few minutes earlier from a family in the ward. Thanks! It's nice to not have to worry about dinner when you've been gone all day!

I had the hardest time falling asleep again last night. Once I was finally asleep though I seemed to sleep alright. I did wake up with a headache though which isn't a good thing. Things were super busy at the Huntsman clinic today. We got there on time but ended up seeing the doctor an hour and a half after our scheduled time! We discussed the treatment that will follow my next chemo treatment. I will be coming back every three weeks for the Avastin infusion (an experimental drug offered through the study I am on). With the Avastin (aka Bevucizamab), I will not need to have the weekly blood tests and blood pressure checks which will be nice and I will only have to meet with my doctor every other visit. I will have a CT scan after my 6th chemo treatment and a mammogram or breast MRI every 6 months to screen for breast cancer since I am at higher risk for that as well with my positive BRCA-1 mutation. My blood counts were reasonably good today and I didn't have any problems with the infusion - other than the ones I typically have - blurry vision & foggy brain, sleepy feeling with the Benadryl.

We were in the infusion room for way too long today! With us starting so late they didn't get my chemo drugs started until 1:30 and we weren't finished with the infusion until just after 7:30! A big thanks to my parents who watched the kids for us! My mom came over just before 9 a.m. and then my dad joined her a little later (he wasn't feeling great yesterday so he wasn't sure if he would be able to make it to help out). My parents also gave M&M a ride to the local high school for a bad concert tonight (which we ended up missing because my infusion went so late). M&M called us on our way home to tell us that she was ready to be picked up. Luckily we weren't too far and were able to pick her up on our way home. We finally made it home around 8:40 and were able to eat some dinner and then get the kids to bed. MJ amazingly seemed to be in a happy, good mood when we got home so hopefully she is getting over the whiny attitude. After eating dinner my stomach started hurting a little and I started feeling really hot. I think it may be because I ate too much a little too fast! Hopefully I will be able to get a good sleep tonight and will feel better in the morning.

And on a side note I noticed at the doctor's office this morning that my hair is starting to fall out. I will probably have my husband shave my head in the next day or two so we don't end up with tiny hairs all over the house and my clothes and hats...

Chemo session #4 today. I can't believe that it's been 2 months since my last session. There always seems to be new nurses there that I haven't seen before. The nurse that I had during my first chemo session was there and DH spent some time talking to her when we first arrived because she commented that she hadn't seen us in a while so DH filled her in on my surgery that I had.

Other than that things went pretty smoothly. I only had the two drugs today. I will start up the Avastin again next time (the experimental drug). I didn't have to see the oncology team today since they saw me next week, but they did still have to draw some blood for lab work before they started me on the chemo. The nurse who accessed my port was somewhat concerned because the skin above my port was really red. We're wondering if I was having a reaction to the cream that they are having me put on it before it gets accessed. There was one other time when another nurse also noticed the skin really red before she accessed my port. The nurse today suggested that I try putting a little bit of the cream on a spot on my arm and see if I have a similar reaction. If so, he suggested that I not use it anymore and either don't use anything or just put some ice on my port right before they access it to numb the skin a little. After my session was through and he came back to de-access my port, it was no longer red (and I was keeping an eye on it during my infusion and the redness went away not too long after my infusion started).

My parents were able to come over and watch the kids for us again and some people from the ward brought dinner by that evening. It's nice to have my parents nearby to help out with the kids and to have so many people in the ward and neighborhood willing and wanting to help us out as well. It definitely makes this whole experience a little less painful.

Chemo treatment #3 today. I had an appointment for lab work and to meet with the Dr. beforehand, and it was super busy and it took forever to get through the appointment. Because of that my chemo appointment started really late and it felt like we were there forever! Luckily we didn't have much traffic on the ride home, but we didn't get back until about 6:45 that evening (and we left around 9:15 in the morning)... My parents were able to tag team it during the day so someone was always here with the kids.

The only reaction I had once again was to the Benadryl - within just a few minutes of it entering my bloodstream I can feel it go straight to my head and make me a little woozy and super tired. It's definitely a weird feeling!

The nurse practitioner couldn't feel anything of my tumor and they are confident with the upcoming surgery that the surgeon will be successful in getting the bulk of the cancer out of me. They are also hopeful that the nerve damage in my fingers and feet will have some time to repair itself between this third chemo treatment and when I start up again after the surgery - probably 5-6 weeks after.

My main goal now is to get everything bought and ready for Christmas before my surgery on the 21st! Wish me luck!

My parents come over early to watch the kids for us. They see the older ones off to school and then stay with the two little ones the whole day. My almost two year old nephew also comes over to spend a good chunk of the day because my sister just had her second baby yesterday (3 weeks early) and will be in the hospital for a couple of days.

I have an appointment for blood work at 8:10 this morning and then meet with my oncology team shortly after that. Everyone keeps commenting on the fact that I still have hair, so that is a good thing! I didn't lose as much weight as I thought I had, but every little bit helps. They discuss some of my blood work tests and say that my whilte blood cell count dropped pretty low the second week, but was pretty much back to normal this week. All the other tests came back normal except my blood sugar level was a little elevated - they attribute that to the steroid I am on. We also discuss the symptoms that I have experienced and how to deal with them. The nurse practitioner feels my abdomen and she said that last time she saw me she could definitely feel the tumor and this time if she didn't know that it was there, she probably would not have noticed it. Yea! Some good news! Hopefully the chemo treatment is working well and I can only hope that the liver is being affected the same way.

Then we were walked over to the new infusion room that just opened up since my last infusion. We checked in at the front desk and then sat down in the waiting room for a few minutes until they called me back. All I can say is "Wow!" about the new infusion room! It is super spacious and a beautiful room. Each person has a ton more space than the old room, their own personal TV and Blu-ray player, and all the reclining chairs face huge open windows that look over the Salt Lake Valley. It's much more private than the old room because in the old room we were all facing each other and there was very little space between the chairs.

My infusion started about an hour sooner than last time, but we also had a third drug added that took 90 minutes to infuse. Things went a little quicker since it was my second time with the other drugs so we actually ended about the same time as last time. I reacted to the Benadryl again. It was almost an immediate reaction after they started it. It was really weird. I almost immediately started feeling woozy and lightheaded and had to lay down because I was afraid I was going to pass put if I didn't. Other than that the only other reaction I felt was a headache that came on during the second drug. I'm not sure though if it was the drug causing it or the chair that I couldn't seem to get comfortable in today. I laid down for a little bit and tried to sleep and then I felt better after a little while. I still have a small headache later, but it isn't too bad right now.

Other than that things were pretty uneventful. DH was with me most of the time (except when he got us lunch and used the restroom). He read a book and did some work on his laptop. I mostly did things on my ipad. I tried reading a little but had a hard tme concentrating on it.

We left the hospital a little after 5:00 and after listening to the traffic reports took an alternate drive home and ended up taking about an hour - much better than the hour and a half from last time.

My parents fed the kids the dinner that was brought over by a ward member and then DH and I ate when we got home. The little girls were particularly happy to see us when we arrived. Then DH went with M&M to our ward's YW in Excellence night.

Chemo Cycle 1
My infusion appointment is for 10:00. I had to take 5 steroid pills before bed last night and 5 more this morning. My parents come over again to watch the kids. They have definitely been a lifesaver during all of this. We check in at the infusion desk and then take a seat in the waiting room. I take a look around at those that are there with me. There is a wide range of ages. One younger looking man is there with his wife I assume. We have seen him working in the parking garage. DH heard him give his birthyear as 1971 when hr checked in, so a few years older than me. A lady comes through pushing a cart with small juice cans and snacks on it and makes the rounds asking if anyone wants anything. I get an apple juice and a bag of peanuts. DH also gets something.

After waiting for a few more minutes they call me back into the infusion room and show me to my chair where I will spend the majority of the day. It's kind of a lounge chair where I can fully recline if I want. They see that I have a port and ask if we will be using it today. I said that the doctor wants to wait since I just had it put in on Tuesday. They look at it and agree and then get someone over to put an IV in my vein. Apparently they start at the hand and then work their way up the arm until they find a good spot. Mine they put in right around the wrist on my left arm. They tell me some warnings to watch for that indicate that the IV spot is potentially going bad or leaking out - a burning or stinging feeling. It turns out that the nurse that will be serving me today is the same one who introduced herself to us last week when we came by to visit the room. She was a really nice and friendly nurse who talked us through everything she was doing. There were several medications that she had to administer to me through my IV before we start the chemo drugs. The reason they do these first is to hopefully counter any side-effects that I may get from the chemo drugs. We're all a little unsure how I will respond to any of the drugs because I am the type of person who only takes medicine if I feel I absolutely have to. The first one that they gave me was Benadryl (which I have not taken in recent memory because I don't have allergies to anything that I know of). It turns out that this was the only drug that I showed any type of reaction to. I felt really loopy and light-headed for about 45 minutes or so and then that wore off. After the Benadryl they gave me Pepcid and then more steroids. They then waited about 15 minutes before we actually started on the chemo infusion - which we didn't start until about 12:15!! Then it was 3 1/2 hours of the first drug, flush the bag and then 1 1/2 hours of the second drug with another flush of the bag. Then I think they just gave me some saline through the IV. The second drug they started out really slowly because it can cause some reactions, but when I didn't show any they increased the rate. Overall I think the nurse was pleasantly surprised that I didn't appear to have any reactions to anything (other than the Benadryl) and that I felt relatively fine at the end.

Wow it was a long day! I had brought some reading material and then my ipad so I could start this blog. I ended up not reading anything, but I did write several blog entries. Towards the beginning we kept having people come in to talk to us. The lady in charge of the clinical trials came and gave me my appointment/infusion schedule for the next couple of cycles and then a lady came and asked if I would sign up for another trial they are doing where you call in each day and answer questions about the symptoms/problems you have been having and then offer solutions to help you deal with them. There is a small monetary stipend that they give you for participating. I agreed to do it and I was "randomized" into the group that gets follow up calls from a nurse practitioner if you trigger certain alerts with the computer system. She thought that was the better group to be in. Then we also had another person come in and hand us some financial help info in case we need it.

DH stayed with me the whole time - only leaving twice to get us some lunch from the cafeteria upstairs (once to take some pictures of the menu for me and then the second time to get our food). I can eat or drink anything I want while I'm there and can have up to two visitors at a time. The snack cart came by once or twice to see if we wanted anything and they have a small refrigerator with some drinks in it as well. They come by about every hour to take your blood pressure and temperature - man that blood pressure cuff hurts sometimes!

By the time we were done, it was almost 5:00!! It was depressing seeing people come in and then leave while I was just sitting there the whole time! And because of traffic and construction we didn't make it back home until after 6:30! Thankfully an aunt and uncle of DH had offered to bring us dinner that evening so when we got home we had dinner there waiting for us. It's been nice having people offer to bring us meals so that we would have one less thing to worry about!

After all of that I was a little tired just from everything that had gone on that day, but I didn't have any trouble sleeping that night.