Chemo #4 is over

Finally, I am half way thru my chemo treatments!! Number 4 was bad. I get a shot of Neulasta on day 2 after fluids. This is supposed to support production of white blood cells. A common side-effect is bone pain, which until this weekend, I had not had. Well, that's all I had on Saturday. I was achy, similar to body aches from the flu. It was gone by Sunday, thankfully. I was tired as usual all weekend and then my day 5 delayed nausea hit. I have some special compound medicine for that so I thought everything was okay. By Tuesday, I was up taking care of a few things and was tired, which is normal. Then, Tuesday night, it hit. I was so sick and miserable Tuesday night and Wednesday morning that I ended up going in for fluids on Wednesday. I was still sick when I left, but by last night was doing better. This morning, while still fatigued, I'm not sick and I've been out and about. So, I'm back to where I should be.

One of my trips out today was for another ultrasound. More great news: my tumor is down another 0.6 cm to 2.2 cm. Remember I started at 3.4 cm. So I'm pleased. I think I'll go in again in September after 2 rounds on the new drugs, Herceptin and Taxotere. I'm happy with the progress we're making. Of course, I'd like to see it smaller, but at least we know things are working.

In related news, my oncologist is taking a leave of absence starting August 1st. She'll be out until December, so I'm pretty bummed about that. The doctor taking her place, Dr. Kleinbaum, seems nice. I only talked with him a few minutes, but Dr. Crow is confident he'll take good care of me. Let's hope!

Today, we also took off the steri-strips on Hayden's wound and the incision looks great. A lot of the swelling is down, but the poor kid has a lot of bruising on the right side of his face, including a black eye. You can see the implant under the skin, but it may not be as noticeable once the swelling is gone. He seems to notice the lack of hearing in his right ear, but he's adjusted so nicely. We are proud of our little guy.

Hayden survived!

Of course our little one came through his surgery with flying colors! We got to the hospital a little before 10 am on Monday. He was able to play along with all the other children who were having surgery that day. Despite not having eaten since the night before and having no water for a few hours, Hayden was in great spirits. He played and cuddled all morning.

The surgery was scheduled for noon, but Hayden didn't go into the OR until close to 1 pm. All the doctors came out to talk with us and explain again what was going to happen. He had a great team of doctors and nurses to care for him. The surgery was over at 3:30 and he was taken into recovery. Jason and I waited with him for close to an hour before he woke up. When he finally did, boy was he mad! He didn't like being hooked up to all the wires and iv and he didn't like the big cup he had on his ear. Once I was able to hold him and he could drink some apple juice, he calmed down. After another apple juice, popsicle and water, we all agreed that he would be okay to go home. They had a room ready for him and we prepared to stay the night, but his vitals were great and he was keeping liquids down, so there wasn't much reason to keep him.

Hayden slept off and on during rush hour traffic home, but was never sick, thank goodness! He slept for several more hours at home as well. He did have a rough night, but I think he was much more comfortable at home than he would have been at the hospital. Finally at 5 am, he had some applesauce and was able to go to sleep again.

We were so proud of Hayden. He was such a trooper and dealt with this so much better than either of us would have. He even kept his bandages on all day yesterday. That actually is a good sign that we won't have a lot of trouble keeping his processor on. Activation day is August 25th which is also the first day of school for Anna and Sydney.

The girls stayed with a friend of ours, Julie, who is also an audiologist with Texas Children's. Anna and Sydney are the same ages as her 2 oldest girls and they all go to school together. It was nice to know they were having fun during this whole experience and we didn't have to worry about them.

Now we face a new set of challenges. Hayden is now, essentially, deaf in his right ear. There is a small chance for some residual hearing, but we won't know that until the swelling goes down and his ear heals. Physical and speech therapy will also change some. He'll also have to learn to keep his processor on all day and relearn to listen and understand sound. He's a smart kid and had hearing prior to this so he's already got a head start. Wish us luck!

Hayden is getting implanted!

Jason and I got an email late on Wednesday letting us know that Hayden has a surgery date for his cochlear implant. The surgery is for Monday, July 21st. Yep, Monday. We are so excited. We've waited for a long time to get this for Hayden and now it's finally here. The surgery is set for noon and is about 3 hours long with an hour in recovery. I'm insisting that he spend the night. His surgeon, Dr. Vrabec, does this surgery as outpatient, but his partner has the kids spend the night for observation. Most of the kids bounce back from surgery very quickly so I'm not expecting any problems, but just being cautious.

Before surgery, Hayden will have a small area behind his right ear shaved. A small incision is made and part of the skull is opened to create a nesting place for the internal device. There is also a coil that is fed into the cochlea. Then he's sewn up. That's the nutshell version, but you get the idea. After he's had time to heal (3-4 weeks), we'll go in and he will have the external component put on. The 2 devices are connected by a magnet, so it is easy to put on and take off. This first picture shows the behind the ear version. Hayden will grow into that, but for now he'll have the body worn.

The second picture shows how sound is normally received.
1. Ear canal: Sound moves through the ear canal and strikes the eardrum.
2. Eardrum and bones: Sound waves cause the eardrum to vibrate, sending the bones in the middle ear into motion.
3. Inner ear: This motion causes the fluid inside the inner ear (cochlea) to move the hair cells.
4. Hearing nerve: Hair cells change the movement into electric impulses, which are sent to the hearing nerve into the brain; you hear sound.

The third picture shows sound being processed with the cochlear implant.
1. Sound processor: External sound processor captures sound and converts it into digital signals.
2. Digital signals: Processor sends digital signals to internal implant.
3. Electrode array: Internal implant converts signals into electrical energy, sending it to an electrode array inside the cochlea.
4. Hearing nerve: Electrodes stimulate hearing nerve, bypassing damaged hair cells, and the brain perceives signals as sound

All of these pictures are from http://www.cochlear.com/. Here is a site that shows how AN kids hear and what the implant will sound like http://www.ucihs.uci.edu/hesp/Simulations/simulationsmain.htm.

Genetic Testing

I completely forgot to post the results of my genetic testing. There are 2 genes, BRCA-1 and BRCA-2, that are inherited alterations of genes that may increase a woman's chance of developing breast and ovarian cancer. These mutated genes are the only 2 that are known at this time, I believe, yet doctors know there are others.

Though I have no immediate family history of breast cancer, I am young to have it and it is aggressive. My doctors strongly encouraged me to be tested. I didn't think twice about it. It takes about 3 weeks to get the results. On June 10th I went in to get me results and finally had one great medical report to put in my folder. I was negative for both genes! Now, this doesn't mean I am free and clear. I could still have one of the unidentified genes, but I'm not too worried about that.

Had I tested positive, I would have been encouraged to have a double mastectomy as well as remove my ovaries. My doctor doesn't think I need to take such radical steps at this time. I still can choose to do that and I've meet some women who did because they didn't want to risk a recurrence. I haven't decided yet how far I'm going to go with my surgery in the fall. I still need to consult with my surgeons. I do have time before I need to make that decision, though.

Overwlemed...and loved

Yesterday was a rather uneventful day. I took the girls to see the $1 movie our theatre does over the summer for kids. We saw Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was better than I thought it would be. I was still feeling sick and couldn't wait to go home, but I haven't done much with the girls in a week so I stuck it out. Hayden had speech therapy later in the afternoon, but with no nap, he wasn't in the mood to talk much. We then had sign ins at church for the girls' vacation bible camp next week. Pretty usual day, all in all.

Jason surprised me by getting home before us. This is a busy month for him and he usually doesn't leave work before six and he was home at 5:30. I was telling him about the events at church during sign in when I noticed a tower of boxes in the living room that were not there when I left. He said they were from Washington and I knew immediately who sent them (thank you, Striblings!) My sweet cousin, Heather, is one of my major uplifting spirits in life, but more so now than ever. She helped organized our large family who wanted to help us during this rather challenging time in our lives.

All I can say is that Jason and I were, and still are, completely overwhelmed by the care packages that were sent. There was a box for Jason, one for me and one for the kids. The letters, thoughts, treats, and gifts were so much more than generous. They expressed the love we already felt from our widespread family. Knowing that everyone is thinking about us, sharing our story with others and offering prayers and well wishes is so wonderful, how can a person be down? I already had my kids and husband to live for, I also have this huge family to live for. Cancer sucks, but my family rocks! Thank you to everyone! I already new we were blessed, but you all just reaffirmed it. I can't wait to see all of you and thank you in person.

Chemo #3 is done

Well, this one is over! Overall, I think I felt better than last time, but still sick and tired, literally and figuratively. Usually, I am just tired and sleep on and off for a couple of days. This time, I was able to read, which was nice. I still felt sick through yesterday, and very tired. This morning, I feel better but I don't want to go out and eat a feast then run a marathon. I think I'll be happy if I can get the kids their breakfast and sit down on the couch for a few hours! The worst part today is the metal taste in my mouth. I haven't found anything that is appetizing when I have this. I just need to work through it as it should be gone by the end of the week.

Well, I have one more round on this set. My next chemo days are July 24th and 25th. That will be the end of these yucky side effects, I hope. The next cycle is supposed to be better. The biggest symptom is fatigue. My hair should start to grow back, but some people lose their eyebrows and eyelashes. I'm hoping that doesn't happen to me. The hair on my head was bad enough!

We did get one nice piece of news from my oncologist. I never got the measurement for the enlarged lymph nodes so I didn't know if they shrunk or not. The radiologist report said they shrunk from 4.2 cm to 3.1 cm! Yippee!! Again, this doesn't mean I'll escape surgery, but at least the chemo is working.