Last Chemo

I’m done (hopefully).

I had to have a reduced dosage of the chemo today because of the reaction to the Taxotere last time. My regular oncologist wasn’t there today so we saw a different doctor. He thought my hands looked pretty bad. He should have seen them last week! Anyway, he didn’t feel comfortable giving me the full dosage today because of the possibility of long term effects. Even so, this was still my last chemo treatment (assuming all my follow up scans and tests look ok). We got a late start with the treatment because of this and they were pretty crowded there today. Morry picked up lunch for us and we ate while my treatment was going. During treatment they had me do cryotherapy to help reduce any side effects I may have from the Taxotere this time. I had to keep soaking my hands in ice water. The ice is supposed to stop the chemo from going to my hands. It wasn’t very comfortable, but I sure hope it helps.

When I finished treatment all the nurses came over and showered us with confetti. Then, I rang the bell on the way out, the custom for all patients getting their last treatment. Of course we took video during treatment and of me ringing the bell. You can see it here on YouTube. At the end of the video Evan, Noah, Morry and I dance to celebrate “Mommy’s last chemo”.

I’m feeling ok right now. I know I won’t feel so great over the weekend.

Michael and Jen were a big help today. They just ran out to pick up Salt Lick BBQ for dinner.

I hope you all have a great 2010 filled with love, health, happiness, family, and friends.

Happy New Year!

Love, Rachel

Getting Ready for Chemo #4

Well, it’s almost that time again. Tomorrow I have the 4^th and final chemo treatment. Boo and Yay! I’m so looking forward to being done with this part of my treatment.

I’m feeling a little better than the last time I updated. I’m still not great. The two most annoying symptoms this time have been the extreme fatigue and hand problems. I’m still very tired, but at least my hands are getting a little better. I have gotten some feeling back in my fingertips and my hands don’t hurt quite as bad. They are mostly just peeling right now. I still have a hard time doing fine motor skills. Morry has to help me open certain things and it’s difficult getting the kids changed and dressed.

Even though I’ve been tired, I have tried to start doing a little bit of exercise. I have a DVD of 10 minute dance workouts. I have done a few of them – just 10 minutes at a time. I didn’t want to overdo it. I was pretty tired after just 10 minutes. I’m looking forward to having the chemo out of my system so that I can really start walking, running, and doing other aerobic stuff again.

I’ve been reading a book our neighbors bought for me. It’s called Anticancer: A New Way of Life. It’s very interesting. The author is a doctor who underwent chemo and treatment for brain cancer and did a lot of research on natural ways to fight cancer. He stresses how important a good diet is with more organic foods and less processed products. He talks a lot about following a Mediterranean diet. I’ve been trying to do more of that. We just bought a juicer yesterday so I can make vegetable and fruit juices.

Morry and I went out a date last night. I was finally feeling up to going out. We had a nice, relaxing dinner and dessert. Things have obviously been a little stressful around here. I just want to say how amazing Morry has been through all of this. Not only has he supported me and shown we are in this together (ie shaving his head), he has been taking care of the boys, the house, the animals, etc. Luckily he was so hands on before all this. He is great taking care of the kids, in fact Evan wants Morry to do everything with and for him. It’s cute, but it can get exhausting. Morry is doing a great job balancing everything. I just wish there was some way I could give him a break and let him relax a little.

Michael and Jen get in this afternoon. We are all looking forward to seeing them and having their help.

I’ll try to update you again in a few days and let you know how my last chemo treatment went.

Chemo #3

So, I had chemo today. We got there at 8:15 am and were done at 12:30. The pre drugs (Atavan and some anti-nausea thing) made me pretty drowsy and I slept most of the time while I was there. Morry was there for most of the time except when he and the kids went to get h1n1 vaccine shots. While they were doing that my mom sat with me.

After chemo Morry and I at at Chedds, a grilled cheese restaurant. Morry got a grilled cheese and I got a a grilled “Yoga Teacher” sandwich with turkey, cheese, spinach, avocado, and Italian dressing. It was really good. We had a nice relaxing lunch.

When we got home Evan had just gotten home from school and we put the boys down for naps.

I wasn’t that tired since I had slept through most of chemo. I tried to take advantage of the quiet afternoon and got a few things done. I wanted to get some more things done before I start feeling bad. My mom and I wrapped all of the presents. It feels good to have that done.

For dinner, Sonya, from the Mom’s club brought dinner over. Evan and Avery (her daughter) played together for a little bit while they were here. Dinner was good. Those dinners have been great!

The Steelers game is on now so Morry and the boys are upstairs in the game room watching TV. Morry had been watching the games downstairs, but he thought that TV was bad luck and decided to move back upstairs to the TV that won last year’s Super Bowl for the Steelers.

Well, the next few days probably won’t be so pleasant from me. I will continue to check email, but probably won’t write back for a few days.

We are still having a hard time figuring out how to keep Evan in bed. Today for naps we let him sleep in the top bunk of his bunk bed for the first time. He took a good nap. We’ll try it again tonight and see what happens.

Here’s a little video describing my day today and the weekend to come. At one point Evan and Noah join me in the video as well. Go here to see it or look below.

Evan in his bunk bed.

Day after Chemo

Grandma took care of the boys this morning. Then, Blanca came about 10:45 to help out. She took the boys outside in the backyard for a while. They even ate lunch outside. Evan ate a really good lunch. Noah just ate a little.

I’m feeling ok today. I’m sort of achy and a little nauseous, but it hasn’t been too bad. I feel like they way you feel when you are starting to get the flu. We’ll see what happens the next few days.

Evan and Noah took good naps.

Papa/Lenny arrived around 6pm and then we all went out to dinner at Santa Rica, a Mexician restaurant close to us.

Evan and Noah are in bed, but of course still making noises.

Chemo

Hello everyone, this is Morry. This is the 366th post we've done. So basically, we're starting a brand new year of blogging.

Today was Rachel's first day of chemo. It was scheduled for 8:45 but we had to go in early and fill out paper work. Grandma/Lynn is in town to help out and she was going to take care of the boys today. Evan got up after I was done with my shower so I was able to get him breakfast and set up watching a movie before we left. We left around 7:40am and Grandma was done with Evan when we left.

We got to the oncologist's office exactly on time at 8:15am. We both brought out computers; Rachel brought hers to watch movies and browse the web and I brought mine to do work. I dropped Rachel off and drove over to HEB and got her two movies from RedBox. I returned to the office around 8:35 and Rachel was waiting in a patient room to meet with the doctor. The doctor finally came in around 9am and talked to us some.

Finally, by about 9:30 we made it to the room where they administer the chemo. It was an open room with lots of lounge chairs set up in rows. It's a corner room and there were lots of windows so it was fairly bright. They had Rachel pick a chair near the nurses' station so they could watch her more closely. I pulled up a chair next to her and got a tv tray and set up to do some work. First, Rachel had to fill out some paperwork including agreeing to the treatment. Then they started giving her steroids and some anti-nausea stuff through her port. That took some time. Then they had to wait an hour from that before they could start chemo. Some time close to noon, she finally started getting the chemo. Luckily, Rachel had no allergic reactions or any of the initial side effects that they warn about. By no means is she out of the woods, but the actual administering of the chemo went flawlessly.

For lunch, I ran out and picked up some sandwiches for us at a place called the Little Deli.

Around 4pm she was done with everything. We packed up and had to schedule her upcoming chemo appointments.

On the way home, we stopped at HEB to pick up medication that she'll need to make sure she feels well.

Meanwhile, Evan went to school today. He wore his Halloween costume because they were having a party at school. We sent him with an extra set of clothes. Grandma took Noah to HEB and got food for us for dinner. After that, Grandma got Noah dressed up in his Halloween costume and went over to Evan's school for the party. When she got there, though, all the kids were out of their costume by that point. So they took Noah out of his costume. Noah is wearing Evan's Buzz Lightyear costume from last year. He seems to love it. He kept saying his version of "To Infinity and Beyond".

For dinner, Grandma made us chicken, squash and rice. It was very good. It was very nice of her to make the dinner.

After dinner, Rachel told us she was tired of having been cooped up all day. So we went for a walk. Can you believe Rachel wanted to go for a walk right after chemo? Amazing.

The boys are now in bed but are nowhere near quiet.

Until next time...

Tests and Scans

This morning Michael and Jen watched the boys.

I met with the Austin oncologist. She said she was comfortable doing the CT chemo and we could start on Thursday as planned.

Then, I went to have all the tests and scans done. I had my ovaries checked, got a cat scan, and a full bone scan. I had to have the barium drink for the cat scan. Woah, was that nasty! That was the worst thing I have ever tasted. They offered flavor options. I picked berry, but couldn’t taste any berry. It tasted like I was drinking Tums.

I had a break for lunch and went to eat at Einstein Bros Bagels. That was the first time I ate lunch alone in a long, long time. I can’t remember the last time. It was nice and relaxing.

After I was done with the tests, I stopped at Target on my home and got some Halloween stuff and thank you cards.

When I got home, Blanca was there and the boys were just getting up from their naps.

For dinner we made egg drop soup. I had a sandwich with it and Morry had pasta.

We gave the boys baths and they finally fell asleep.

Lots of Stuff

This morning Gabby came over. At 11am Michael helped me put the kids in the car and I took Evan and Noah to playgroup. We were only there for a little bit since I needed to be home at 12.

We got home at 12. Blanca helped me get the boys out of the car and then I left to get my hair cut (just a bang trim).

After my hair cut I met Melissa for coffee at Barnes and Noble and then came home.

While I was at coffee I talked to Dr. Harker-Murray (the Dallas oncologist). I wanted to know why she thought the TC treatment she suggested was better than the ACT treatment Dr. Patt (the Austin oncologist) suggested. She said the TC has been proven better than just the AC, but the TC has not yet been compared to the ACandT. The AC treatment is more aggressive and comes with more possible serious side effects which include an increase in leukemia and heat toxicity. Dr. Harker-Murray and Eddie both think I do not need the ACT combination, especially since it has the added side effects. So, I’m going to talk to Dr. Patt again and see why she thinks the ACT is better and if she would consider doing the TC treatment with me.

When I got home from coffee I spent a lot of the afternoon on the phone again deal with medical issues and appointments.

For dinner, Evan said he wanted pizza so we went to California Pizza Kitchen. The food was good, but the service was slow. Evan ended up only eating 4 bites of pizza, one bite from each slice.

At home, we gave the boys baths. They are now playing in Noah’s room and not going to sleep.