Chemo starts on Monday!

Yesterday we met with the oncologist.  He said I'm between a stage 2 and 3, which is a curable stage.  Since the cancer is in my lymph nodes, chemo will be needed.   We are doing it before surgery in hopes of shrinking the mass, making surgery less invasive.  It will also allow us to know if the chemo is working, by monitoring the mass along the way.  We had hoped to start on Friday, but they were hesitant that I would be able to enjoy Saturday's prom--the big dance we've been decorating for all week.  So, we opted for a Monday start--1:00 p.m.  I can help with the gym ceiling dismantling at 8:00 a.m., and then start a new chapter in my cancer adventure.  Below is a sneak peek of the gym, still in process.

For now, this is the plan, though it can be tweaked according to needs and responses as we go along.  We'll do 4 treatments of AC (two drugs), spaced 3 weeks apart.  Those will take about 4 hours of the IV each time.  This will go through late August.  Then they'll do 12 treatments of T (I'll list the names next post when I have them in print form), once a week.  This will take me through Halloween.  It's supposed to be less fatiguing then the AC dosage.  They will then wait about a month and do surgery (early December).  About a month after surgery, they will do radiation 5 days a week for 6 weeks.  That will end around Valentine's Day--very fitting, since it's sweet that this will be about 9 months rather than 12!  

I'll lose my hair in early June.  Insurance often pays for a cranial prosthesis (fancy word for wig).  The 3rd week between treatments is supposed to be the week I'm feeling the best.  Girls Camp hits a 3rd week, so that's another tender mercy.  They say to keep your regular life going as much as possible.  Exercise helps lessen the fatigue.  The anti-nausea meds help a lot with that, so the biggest side effect is fatigue.

It feels great to know our plan.  I still feel the peace and uplift of your prayers.  Thank you so much.  Starting chemo is scary, mainly the unknown of what it will feel like and how it will affect my day to day life.  But, I'm thankful for the advances of breast cancer treatment and that the outlook is positive. 

It's interesting that 2 summers ago we took our stake youth group of 150 kids on a pioneer trek.  The lesson we all took from that was, "we can do hard things."  The mud was shin deep.  There were hills that looked impossible to climb.  Through working together, we were able to do those hard things and came out stronger and closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through the process.  We also grew closer as a group.  That experience taught me a lot.  I thought the lessons were for the benefit of the youth, but I'm so thankful to have been a part of that experience.  It helped me learn from them that we can do hard things.  We can't do it alone, and we are never alone. The link below is a slide show/video Kirsten made from trek pictures.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BeEncnR2UA&feature=plcp