Herceptin Treatment #1

Quick update of what's happened since my last email!
A huge thank you to my family for putting together the Caramels for Christy night! I loved being able to visit with each one of you that came. And I especially loved all the hugs! For those of you who were there during the sudden down pour of rain, wasn't that awesome?! I have a pretty amazing family, on both sides, and I'm so thankful for all that they do to support me and help me out!
My surgery date is still tentative. The reason? The short answer is that I'm working with my insurance to find a surgeon and plastic surgeon that BOTH take my insurance and work at the same hospital. I am really hoping to have this resolved by the middle of this week. I may have to switch hospitals for surgery, but I'm still holding out hope that we can find a resolution that allows me to stay at St. Marks.
My MRI was on the 8th of August. It was just as nerve racking as I thought it would be. And to say I'm glad it's over and done is an under statement! My veins are pretty hammered from chemo so they IV didn't go too well. While the contrast was being injected my vein burst, which made for a fun bruise. While the MRI wasn't pleasant the results from it are INCREDIBLE! The lime size cancer tumor is completely gone! Which means there was a complete response to the chemo!! I got to see the results with my own eyes, and it was pretty cool! They showed me the MRI imaging from March and the one from the most recent so that I could see the difference. Just because the tumor is gone doesn't mean there aren't some single cancer cells left behind, so there will still be a surgery and radiation.
Last week I met with my radiation oncologist. It was a very educational meeting that explained why radiation after surgery is so helpful. Once surgery is over and I get the green light from the plastic surgeon I'll meet with the radiation oncologist again to get mapped out with a few very small tattoo's for treatment. Radiation could begin as soon as a month after surgery, but it ultimately depends on my healing from surgery. Back in March I was told I would have 30 treatments of radiation (5 days a week for 6 weeks), but it looks like it may only be 25 treatments (5 days a week for 5 weeks). Guess we'll wait and see how it all works out.
My herceptin treatment was last Friday. My son Bradley was my chemo buddy. He loves going to my treatments with me. Maybe he should be a medical oncologist when he grows up...
My port access went very smooth and wasn't uncomfortable at all! Wahoo! That always makes me happy!
I met with a Doctor that I had never seen before. He's a retired doc that comes in occasionally to help out. My wait to see him was almost a 30 minute wait. My longest wait to see a Dr. We talked about my finger nails, which are showing signs of a reaction from taxotere. A couple of my nail beds are bruised and have fallen off. Not very pretty.
We scheduled my next treatment and my next echo cardiogram.
Here are the results from my visit:
My weight was 142
White blood count: 3, normal is between 4.2-10.5
Red blood count: 2.98, normal is between 4.04-5.48
Hematocrit- 30.9%, normal is between 38-48
Platelet count- 101, normal is between 140-450

The herceptin treatment is much quicker than the original chemo appointments! And there are no nasty side effects! This past weekend I felt great!

My next treatment will be September 16th at 8:50am. I will need a driver to this appointment because I will not be able to drive after surgery for about a month. A driver has already been found for this chemo.
My next echo cardiogram is on September 23rd at 10am (Aundrea's birthday!!) I have already lined up a driver for this appointment as well. I will have an echo cardiogram every 3 months, so the next one would be the end of December.

Thank you for continuing to pray for me! My journey is not complete! I'm excited that the hard chemo's are done! That's a big relief! I know there are still hard days to come, but with all the love and support I continue to receive I know I'll get through it! Thank you for loving me and strengthening me! I love you all!