27 E-mail: new

6/1/2006

NEW SIDE EFFECT FROM TAXOL
A week after my first round of Taxol I experienced neuropathy, a numbness of the fingers and toes. It started yesterday and continues today. Neuropathy is a normal side effect and will eventually wear off. Considering that today I feel it less than yesterday I am hopeful that it won’t be a full time thing. If it gets worse, it should go away within a few months after chemo stops. So far it doesn’t interfere with my ability to type or walk so I’m not alarmed.

NEW HIGH FOR INR
Yesterday I went to the lab to have my INR tested. As you recall, this ratio measures how long it takes my blood to clot compared to a person not taking Coumadin and the level should be between 2 and 3. Yesterday my INR was a 5.0! That means I got to skip my Coumadin dosage last night, and tonight, and all this coming weekend until I get retested on Monday. Oh…to NOT take a pill for a while…breaks my heart.

NEWS ON THE GENETIC TEST
I’ve been waiting on the genetic test results for 7 weeks now. The results came in yesterday, but I had to make an appointment with the nurse practitioner to learn and discuss the results. Originally we had an appointment set for yesterday afternoon when I’d be at the cancer center for the INR blood work, but I had to reschedule when it was discovered that the nurse practitioner would be at a satellite office during the afternoon. We rescheduled for this morning and I spent the night on pins and needles.

If I carried the mutated BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes, then my risk of getting ovarian cancer would be high enough to be scary. I have been advised by both my breast surgeon and my OB/GYN to have my ovaries removed as a preventative measure if I tested positive for the mutation. My OB/GYN even went as far as to speculate that we should schedule the surgery for this December because “the sooner the better” and my insurance coverage would still be at a point where it would pay all or almost all of the expenses if the surgery were performed this calendar year.

Guy has been telling me all along that the genetic test would come back negative. This morning I got to call him and tell him he was right. I do not carry the genetic factor that increases my risks of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Hooray! I’m part of the general population of women who have a 7% risk of getting breast cancer and less than 2% risk of getting ovarian cancer.

My body may or may not reverse the menopause chemo has thrown me into, but at least I won’t have perfectly healthy ovaries removed this year out of fear of cancer. What a relief!

NEW REASONS FOR HOPE AND FEELING POSITIVE
I have been reminded today that not all my news in this adventure has been bad. The initial diagnosis was shocking and scary, but the surgeon got all the invasive cancer out and after the second surgery the margins were completely clean.

The lymph nodes that were removed showed no signs of cancer, and all the scans I went through showed no metastasis. The nerve under my arm wasn’t damaged when the lymph nodes were removed so I don’t have numbness or tingling there.

I’ve had nausea (which I expected) but no mouth sores (which I dreaded), so my chemotherapy side effects have been uncomfortable but something I could live with without losing weight uncontrollably.

My oncologist involves me in decisions relating to my treatment, so I feel a part of my care team rather than just a recipient of medical decisions.

I felt really bad Saturday through Tuesday, but I’m on the mend now and may actually get a week without intense symptoms before I return to chemo next Thursday. The shots of Neulasta boost my white blood cells nicely and really make a difference in helping my body fight infections.

The port in my arm seems to have settled in with my muscles so it doesn’t irritate as much as it used to. It still hurts if the baby bonks his head there, so I remain careful to position him so that he doesn’t whack me, but generally the port doesn’t give me much trouble.

My employer is working with me to let me maintain a reduced schedule so that I can work and feel productive at my company without having to worry about hitting 40 hours a week. In fact, I encountered new information today from the insurance company that looks like I’d better keep my hours down to 30 hrs per week in order to qualify for disability payments. That’s a topic that leads to irritation, though, and I’m still gathering details so I’ll leave that topic in this section of hope and happy thoughts at just a mention that I can keep my job security while working less than full time.

Kelric is growing like a weed. That silly baby weighs over 11 pounds now! He’s starting to outgrow things because he’s getting so long. I’m sure he’s going to be tall like his daddy.

Cheers,
Angela

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