Another Round of Treaments

On Thursday, October 22 I started my next round of treatments. I will be receiving the chemo drug Taxol and the targeted therapy drug Herceptin every week for the next 12 weeks (although I think I get Herceptin every 3 weeks). I met with Dr. Raefsky yesterday and he seemed pleased with my progress and reassured me that these treaments would be better tolerated and so far he is right. I felt good last night and this morning I feel like I normally do. I so hope this will be the way I feel after each treatment because I can handle this.

Kevin was able to go with me to yesterday's treatment. That treatment lasted FOREVER! They had to put the drugs in slowly to make sure that I didn't have any reactions to them. But, the rest the treatments will go quicker. They had to give me a bag of Benedryl before the Taxol and the Benedryl made me a little sleepy. I tried to go to sleep but I could never get to sleep, and I was too tired to concentrate to read the book I brought. I listened to my music and tried to play a few of the games on my Ipod touch. I thought I would never get done but I was only there for about 4 1/2 hours.

Now, for a little bit of inspiration. I will freely admit that I was not looking forward to starting anymore treatments. I am ready to be done. I am tired of going to the doctor and I hate that I have to waste one day a week for the next 12 weeks for treatments. I have been in a bad mood all week long. Wednesday morning was the worse day of all. I had to go to the grocery store and John Derrick was going to have to go with me and I don't like taking him grocery shopping. That morning, I get a call from the Beth, Dr Raefsky's nurse, telling me that when the did the MUGA scan last week they forgot to do a EKG and I needed that done before I could start the treatments and could I come in and do that sometime that day. So I had to drive all the way to Hermitage (about a 25 minute drive from my house), wait and then get the EKG done, and drive back to Lebanon and do my grocery shopping all while John Derrick was with me. John Derrick was angel all day long. He was so good while waiting at the doctor's office and while we were shopping. He didn't complain and didn't aske for a million things. God knew I needed that.

I am always amazed how God works in my life and how He knows when I need to be cheered up. By the time I got home that afternoon, I was exhausted and still not in a good mood. It was Wednesday and we go to church on Wednesday night. I was debating if I wanted to go or not because I was so tired. I went to church and was so thankful I did because I was lifted up by all the wonderful things that went on that night. First, Nick McNabb, our youth minister, delivered our devotional thought that night and he said the things I really needed to hear about looking for the positive in life. The last song we that night was "Sing and Be Happy" which is one of my favorite songs. On my way to class, someone stopped me and gave me a present just to let me know that she has been thinking of me. It was a beautiful bracelet that I know she made. I go to the ladies class on Wednesday night and we are discussing women in the life of Christ. We discussed Salome, the mother of James and John. I left feeling encouraged on how to be a better mother. When I got home that night, I felt so much better and more positive and it all because God knew I needed to hear all that I heard that night. God is good.

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. (James 5:13)

Race for the Cure

This past Saturday, we the did the Race for the Cure in Cookeville, TN. It was a really neat experience, and something that we will try to do every year. This was the first time that they held a Race for the Cure in Cookeville. They had a fairly good attendance of about 1500 people.

Kevin, Faith, and I all walked the 5K (3 miles) along with my dad and my niece, Emilynne. John Derrick and my mom sat in the warm car will we were walking. It was very early and VERY cold. My dad kept a steady pace and got quite a bit ahead of us. I was very proud of Faith and Emilynne. I was afraid that they would complain the whole time about the long walk. Faith is only 9 years old and Emilynne is 12 years old. They walked and talked and had a really good time. They didn't like that it was cold but they never complained about walking and that made me so happy. Unfortunately, I did not get a good night sleep the night before and I woke up very tired and I didn't feel too good. I walked the whole way but by the time we got done walking, I was extremely exhausted and my legs were hurting. I felt like such a whimp because 3 miles is not that far and I was wishing that I had stopped at the 1 mile mark. But I did not give up and made it the whole way.

Next year, I will feel better and hopefully I can get a team together. I would call them the Pink Ladies. If we have tshirts made, I would put my verse on the shirts, Romans 15:13.

Still Waiting...

I finally made it to the doctor this morning for the follow up visit after my last treatment. Everything seemed ok to them. I still have some additional treatments to undergo but as of now, I am not sure what it will be. I had signed up for a clinical trial and I need to be randomized into one of several different treatment plans. Beth (Dr. Raefsky's research nurse) is going to get that done this week and will call and let me know which plan was chosen for me. Meanwhile, I will be getting a MUGA scan done of my heart and EKG on Wednesday.