First Chemo Round

The day before my first round of chemotherapy was filled with appointments of all kinds.  The first appointment was at the oncologist's office to discuss insurance things.  Chad and I drove separately so he could head back to work as soon as we were finished.  As I drove, I was thinking that we were running behind and would for sure be late because the road to the office is filled with traffic lights...  I was also thinking about the next day, knowing we would be driving the same road to my first round of the chemo.  Surprisingly, we hit green light after green light.  I began to notice this about half way into the drive and became more interested if the trend would continue.  It did continue, the entire way to the office--I don't even think I had to brake.  We were, in fact, right on time and pulled up to the office to find 2 parking spaces, side by side, waiting for us.  It seemed a small thing but it was very significant to me.  I felt that God was communicating to me that although we had to travel this road (that wasn't going to change) He would help us along the entire stretch and not forget us and He would provide many green lights along the way to help us along in our journey.

I was hoping to find out the results of the AQUA test so I could be mentally prepared for the chemo regimen I would be receiving--but the results were not in yet.  The next day, it was quite a surreal experience to gather up my chemo gear.  I have received some thoughtful care packages with mints, Sudoku books, blankets, snacks, etc. for this occasion and I put the items in a bag to take with me.  Chad put the lidocaine on my port to numb it and we put the Saran Wrap over it, just like we had been told to do.  I took some anti-nausea medication, dropped Emerie off at my mom's, and off we went.

They were super busy and running behind so we had lots of time to spend in the waiting room.  Chad and I were the youngest in the room and I was interested to watch people size us up in the waiting room.  I think Chad received the sympathetic looks as they probably assumed it was him going through chemotherapy with his shaved head and all.

We finally got called back and they STILL had not received the test results!!!  When the doctor walked in a while later he plopped the freshly faxed test results in our laps...I was HER2 positive!!!  I truly had not gotten my hopes up either way, but Chad's reaction was almost giddy.  He was shocked, surprised, and happy.  In essence, this means that they have more ammo against the cancer cells and can use chemo and Herceptin to fight them.  The doctor informed me that this means I would have 6 rounds of chemo (carboplatin/taxotere) every 3 weeks and Herceptin (antibodies that bind to the HER2 receptors) weekly for 1 year.   My favorite thing to think about is that instead of 16 rounds of chemo I would be doing 6...  It's roughly the same amount of time, just spread out more and hopefully a bit less harsh.

It was great news to have and provided a sense of relief--I think we almost skipped into the treatment room.  (The mental image of a HUGE green light came to my mind)  Another mental thing that helped me--the new meds would be clear and not red :)

Another interesting tidbit the test provided was it tested how fast the cells were proliferating or dividing at a range from 0%---100%.  It reported that breast cancer cells typically are in the 5%-10% range.  My cells were doing this at an 80% rate.  This was sobering to me to think that the tumor was sooo aggressive.  Aggressive is good in sports--not in cancer.  But it also made me so grateful that we found it in the window of time that we did!!!

We finally got in and settled around 12:30 p.m. and did not get finished until 5:30 p.m. (Thank you to our ward for arranging meals as it was such a blessing to have a delicious dinner waiting for us when we got home!) In addition to the chemo and herceptin, I received other drugs to help with potential allergic reactions and to help with  some of the side effects.  Accessing the port was not painful as I had worried it might be.  The nurses warned that day 3,4, and 5 tended to be rough after all the supportive medications have worn off.  The day after each round, I will need a Neulasta shot to boost production of white blood cells.  This comes with side effects of its own--bone aches and perhaps fever.

We are so grateful for all the kindness being shown to us.  Well, it feels good to say one down and only 5 more to go!!!