Chemo has now been scheduled to begin on June 27th. It will be an 8 hour process. I don't know all of the details (yet, because you KNOW I'll ask for the details in advance), but it involves blood work, infusion of one drug, then waiting and being monitored, then another infusion, more waiting and a final infusion related to the clinical trial and a little more waiting. For now, the plan is to return to Vanderbilt for all of the 6 primary chemo treatments. This means a number of trips back-and-forth and some long days spent in the chemo room. But I'm hopeful that I will actually get the real drug (and not the placebo) and that the combination of these drugs will do their job and kick breast cancer booty.
I have a couple of prayer requests. Lucy is too young to have cancer and based on her mother's most recent blog post here, I can only ask for my friends and family to PRAY for her and for a miracle that only God can provide at this point. Please speak up (to God) on behalf of their family. Lucy has an older sister and a younger brother and a mommy and a daddy who are going through something unimaginable.
I also want to ask for prayers for our friend and neighbor, Wendy. She is at Cancer Treatment Center of America in Tulsa for more testing, but again, I have to ask God for a miracle. Wendy is a mom of two young boys and a wife to a wonderful man, Russell. They are an amazing family who love the Lord and have shared their faith with so many. I just have to ask for more prayers for them. Please speak up (to God) on her behalf.
But I also have a request....I watched this YouTube video not long ago. It is funny and serious at the same time. I beg of you to PLEASE do your self-exam monthly. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions or suspicions. And get a mammogram annually. Don't put it off because you think it is uncomfortable. It's not that bad. Really. My kids have inflicted more pain than that stupid booby-squishing machine. And if there are any doubts, SPEAK UP. Do not let the doctors ignore something that you think it not right or not normal. Ask for another opinion. Get a copy of your reports. Demand further testing if you just have that sense that something still isn't right. I FOUND the lump last summer and they didn't seem to be concerned. Later, when I actually read the report, it appears that they never really saw anything on the ultrasound, but the radiologist never even came in to see me personally or feel it. When I went back 6 months later the radiologist (a different one and a woman) came in and wanted to feel it and agreed it should not be there. And here I am dealing with stage 2b breast cancer.
So check out the video and hopefully you might get a little chuckle out of it. But you might feel compelled to go get that mammogram that you have been putting off. It is important to those who love you. Yes. People love you and want you to be here with them for a very long time. I posted on Facebook that it does SUCK to find out that you have breast cancer. And I can't say that the surgeries or treatments are a picnic either. But it certainly makes sense to be able to catch it early and do something about it rather than stick your head in the sand and just wish it away. My kids need me here. I'm going to do the stupid chemo treatments and have the surgeries and take the medicines and even participate in the clinical trial because I HAVE to kick breast cancer booty. And I DO NOT want breast cancer to be around long enough to have any other impact on my kids than the fact that their mommy kicked it's a**! I do NOT want my kids to have to go through cancer testing and treatment. I want breast cancer and ALL CANCERS to be wiped-out. Exterminated. NO MORE CANCERS ANYWHERE!
So here's the video:
This is a very inspirational post, thank you for sharing this post on breast cancer diagnosis. Good job. I'm sure many people would be glad to come across this.
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