My Breast Cancer Journal
July 16-22
Tuesday, July 18, 2000
Breast cancer chemo linked with memory problems - Reuters calls this "news" but anyone who has had chemotherapy can tell you it's nothing of the sort. The brain fog is a way of life for us. This is only "news" because one oncologist took the time to actually listen to what his patients were saying to him.Cognitive function declines in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy - more complete coverage of the study than Reuters provided, plus a link to the journal article.
It's been a few days since I journaled here. I went to a Mercury game Thursday night and got overexcited. Came home with blisters on my feet and felt like a dishrag. Spent Friday in a haze, Saturday not much better. Sang in church on Sunday, and that was enough excitement for me that day! Yesterday, I went to my women's Bible study, then Rick picked me up for lunch. After lunch he took me back to the office so that I could meet with the guys on web page issues. Then we went to the WNBA All Star Game. So I was basically out of the house for 11 hours, and once again a dishrag. I think my life is just way too exciting! Today I am getting a henna tattoo on my head - I am so jazzed. The rest of the day I am just trying to get bills paid and my newsletters written for next week before chemo.
Mom called this morning. I had written this weeks Thoughts for the Day a couple weeks ago, and I forgot that I had a note in today's that I was having chemo today. So when it got shifted to Thursday I forgot to change that, and mom got up this morning, read that and panicked! That will teach me to be too organized :-)
Lumpectomy OK for larger tumors - good news for women with tumors between 2 cm and 5 cm.
I am back from getting the henna tattoo on my head, and it is totally cool! The henna is still on - I'll scrape it off when my massage therapist gets here. The longer you leave it on, the darker it will be and the longer it will last. The gal who did it is really an artist. We'll be taking some pictures and posting them here for you to enjoy :-) This was such an affirmation of life for me. I view my bald head as a badge of courage. Now it's a really fancy badge!
posted by Karen Weber Tuesday, July 18, 2000
Friday, July 21, 2000
Well, chemo went pretty well yesterday. The new anti-emetic they used in the IV instead of Zofran was much, much better. It just caused a very small headache instead of a huge one. I could even read a little bit during chemo. My stomach felt pretty good until about 8 pm and I didn't throw up until about 8:30. The oral Zofran caused a headache, and after I threw up it got worse. I wanted to take some Aleve, but didn't want to blow a hole in my stomach lining, so I risked eating a piece of toast. I was pretty sure that would eventually throw it up, but was hoping to hold it down long enough to let the Aleve be absorbed. And I did. I'm pretty sure if I hadn't eaten the toast, I wouldn't have thrown up again. No nausea overnight - just a hard time with rapid temperature shifts. I got up finally at about 4 am and read. I slept a little this morning between 10 and 11 am. No trouble eating today, as long as I eat in small amounts. Had a Boost and Ding Dong for Rick's birthday for breakfast: a peach for a snack; and a small helping of sweet and sour chicken from my mom's lunch. A little acidy so I took some baking soda in water and feel much better. Now if we can avoid the 4th day spasms, I'll start thinking I've got this chemo thing figured out. Of course, I just have one more AC treatment, then we start something completely new and I have to start all over figuring things out!
posted by Karen Weber Friday, July 21, 2000
Saturday, July 22, 2000
I'm actually feeling a bit worse than yesterday. Mild nausea and almost no energy even though I slept well last night.Call for more study of Herceptin's effects on the heart - Herceptin is currently used for metastatic cancers that are her2/neu+. My tumor was her2/neu+ but no metastasis. This study talks about how they are starting to use Herceptin in early breast cancer. Either way, I will be watching this research as I would probably receive Herceptin if I ever had a recurrence.
posted by Karen Weber Saturday, July 22, 2000