Here's where we're at, again.
I think it's time for an update so here we/you go.
+ I've been recovering, healing well. My left arm is doing great, my right arm isn't. I can't lift it much higher than my shoulder but I'm working on it. I'm sore/tender a lot of different places
+They started filling up my tissue expanders which doesn't help. Sometimes I think my chest is going to explode, especially if I sneeze.
+ We met with the oncologist on Monday for a really long time. We covered alll of our millions of questions and here's where we're at with that.
+ Chemo is a definite yes - we have to make sure that little breast cancer cells didn't decide to travel somewhere else and make another home. I'll be doing 6 rounds of carboplatin and taxotere. He said he'd be willing to do wait until after thanksgiving (i said you mean christmas? no thanksgiving.) And the only thing that is delaying that is now...
+ We're freezing eggs, well embryos. So today, in a mad panic, we met with a fertility doctor and a nurse who scrambled and got everything ready for me to start injections and medication to harvest eggs in two weeks. It turns out that Livestrong is awesome and covers the medication portion for breast cancer patients but getting that paperwork filled out and submitted for a holiday weekend was kind of a nightmare and in the end, resulted in us getting donated drugs (one injection pen costs $1500!) We were lucky today - although part of me wishes we weren't so lucky. The amount of times I'm going to have to go in for the next couple of weeks is ridiculous. I'm tired.
+ So after they harvest eggs, it will be time for chemo. Merry christmas chemo. At this point, I'm like whatever. Just do whatever you want to do.
+ My chemo includes the normal side effects - hair loss, fatigue, gi problems, etc
+ Probably my favorite moment from the past week was when I told my plastic surgeon that my oncologist said I might not have to do radiation! Never has she been so thrilled. I think I'm thrilled too - although I hardly believe anybody when they say stuff like that.
+ Also, on Friday, we found out that I have the BRCA 2 mutation problem which I couldn't decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing. I think it's a medium thing. It's good because it's a well studied gene and they know what to expect with it (ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, colon, and melanoma cancers are also possible. which means I will have my ovaries out in my late 30s - if I'm lucky) but it's bad because it's a more aggressive cancer - not sure why - and you have a bunch of other areas to be concerned about for the rest of your life. But at least it explains the early onset breast cancer and now my parents have to get tested to see what side of the family it comes from. My mom's side has breast and ovarian and my dad's has prostate and brain. One thing that would be awesome and totally possible is if they can discover something that fixes that specific gene. They've done it for a certain type of Melanoma and I think it's possible to do with BRCA 2.
+ Dave's on vacation this week - "vacation" (with lots of doctor's appts) and his mom will be here next week in time for more appts. One of my friends said the hardest thing about having breast cancer was having small kids. It really has been so difficult to find babysitters and carry on even when you just want to lay down all the time.
+ But at the same time, one of the most comforting things I've thought about it something one of my friends said. She said her mom had breast cancer a long time ago but she doesn't know anything about it. Like, she knew her mom had breast cancer but it was so long ago she doesn't even know the details. I'm so glad our kids are little and I hope that this is either a faded memory or just something we tell them about later.
+ I've been recovering, healing well. My left arm is doing great, my right arm isn't. I can't lift it much higher than my shoulder but I'm working on it. I'm sore/tender a lot of different places
+They started filling up my tissue expanders which doesn't help. Sometimes I think my chest is going to explode, especially if I sneeze.
+ We met with the oncologist on Monday for a really long time. We covered alll of our millions of questions and here's where we're at with that.
+ Chemo is a definite yes - we have to make sure that little breast cancer cells didn't decide to travel somewhere else and make another home. I'll be doing 6 rounds of carboplatin and taxotere. He said he'd be willing to do wait until after thanksgiving (i said you mean christmas? no thanksgiving.) And the only thing that is delaying that is now...
+ We're freezing eggs, well embryos. So today, in a mad panic, we met with a fertility doctor and a nurse who scrambled and got everything ready for me to start injections and medication to harvest eggs in two weeks. It turns out that Livestrong is awesome and covers the medication portion for breast cancer patients but getting that paperwork filled out and submitted for a holiday weekend was kind of a nightmare and in the end, resulted in us getting donated drugs (one injection pen costs $1500!) We were lucky today - although part of me wishes we weren't so lucky. The amount of times I'm going to have to go in for the next couple of weeks is ridiculous. I'm tired.
+ So after they harvest eggs, it will be time for chemo. Merry christmas chemo. At this point, I'm like whatever. Just do whatever you want to do.
+ My chemo includes the normal side effects - hair loss, fatigue, gi problems, etc
+ Probably my favorite moment from the past week was when I told my plastic surgeon that my oncologist said I might not have to do radiation! Never has she been so thrilled. I think I'm thrilled too - although I hardly believe anybody when they say stuff like that.
+ Also, on Friday, we found out that I have the BRCA 2 mutation problem which I couldn't decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing. I think it's a medium thing. It's good because it's a well studied gene and they know what to expect with it (ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, colon, and melanoma cancers are also possible. which means I will have my ovaries out in my late 30s - if I'm lucky) but it's bad because it's a more aggressive cancer - not sure why - and you have a bunch of other areas to be concerned about for the rest of your life. But at least it explains the early onset breast cancer and now my parents have to get tested to see what side of the family it comes from. My mom's side has breast and ovarian and my dad's has prostate and brain. One thing that would be awesome and totally possible is if they can discover something that fixes that specific gene. They've done it for a certain type of Melanoma and I think it's possible to do with BRCA 2.
+ Dave's on vacation this week - "vacation" (with lots of doctor's appts) and his mom will be here next week in time for more appts. One of my friends said the hardest thing about having breast cancer was having small kids. It really has been so difficult to find babysitters and carry on even when you just want to lay down all the time.
+ But at the same time, one of the most comforting things I've thought about it something one of my friends said. She said her mom had breast cancer a long time ago but she doesn't know anything about it. Like, she knew her mom had breast cancer but it was so long ago she doesn't even know the details. I'm so glad our kids are little and I hope that this is either a faded memory or just something we tell them about later.
Love you Grace!
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