Everything Old is New Again

I'm not really sure why I put that as my title for this entry, but it seems to be kind of fitting. I had my visit with my oncologist on Tuesday. We sat for about an hour and a half while he patiently answered all of the questions on my list. Not once did I feel like I was asking a dumb question, not once did I feel rushed, not once did I feel like I was unimportant. I like my doctor a lot. He's a little goofy and makes us laugh, he talks about his family, asks about ours every time we see him, he's proactive, calming, yet he takes care of things. But I digress...

My blood work came back fine and my chest x-ray was a big fat negative. Woo hoo! Couldn't ask for anything more! But the fact remains that my legs are still hurting. Now that we have eliminated cancer, my appointment for the Rheumotologist has been moved up to next Wednesday. So, speaking of Wednesday....

We talked to my doctor about Herceptin, the cancer drug. Actually, he waited until all of my questions were answered, and said "To not do Herceptin is not an option." Hmmm. Well, yes, of course I have the option to not do anything, but what he told us was based on the study, the size of my tumor, and the fact that I am her2 positive, it would be wise to do the treatment. And, like every other choice I have made in this walk with cancer, I will do whatever I have to do to cut my chances of this beast coming back. I've had body parts removed, poison pumped through my veins, radiation shot at my chest, shut down my ovaries, and am taking a pill for 5 years. So what's one more thing? Well, he said it will be more of an inconvenience than anything, and he was not lying. I will be going to Mayo (one hour each way) every Tuesday (except for next week. Since I already have an appointment Wed, I will get my 1st treatment that day too.)for 48 weeks to get an hour of treatment through an iv. Yuck. We all know how well I deal with needles. So that's that. Although Herceptin is not a chemo, I will be going to the chemo room to get it, thus, everything old is new again. Ha! I made it work. But I will be cutting my chance of recurrence IN HALF! Crazy! What a HUGE breakthrough in cancer! So here's what next week looks like...

Nothing on Monday or Tuesday----whoopee!
Wed: Mayo. All the live long day.
8:45--Rheumotologist
10:25--dermatologist (found a funny looking mole my onc wants checked)
2:00--Echocardiogram (Herceptin can be hard on the heart, have to make sure mine
is working well enough for treatment)
3:00--First Herceptin treatment

Thursday: Go to the Plastic Surgeon to have my boobies checked

Friday: Of all things, I have to go to Rochester (that's where Mayo is too) for a
mini conference.

Then I go back to work the following Monday, and pretty soon my summer program starts, if it ever gets warm or stops raining. It is 37 degrees outside right now, and it's just pouring! I was thinking about going to the store, but.....brrr!

So there you have it. I will see my doctor again at the end of the month to see how I am handling Herceptin. He said that most people do fine with it, I won't lose my hair again (thank you God), and that usually the first treatment is the worst. Keep your fingers crossed.....or as Claire would say, "Keep your bing-gers crossed!" We are having issues with the letter "f". She likes to tickle Nadia's "beet", she likes Nemo because he's a "bish" (which sounds a little naughty if you say it fast) and so forth.

Just when I thought I was done with this stuff, I am starting a treatment that takes almost a year to complete. But one has to keep the big picture in mind. 48 weeks is not a lot of time to devote to living a long long life. So, here we go, off to the next big adventure.....hold on tight!