"Cruising Through Chemo"

I was optimistic today leaving the hospital after receiving my first round of taxol.  (No allergic reaction by the way.  Just feeling sleepy from the Benadryl, but that has worn off now, and I'm feeling awesome - like I haven't had chemo yet.)  We will see what the other days this week bring, but if this is what the second half of chemo is like, I'm excited.  No headache, no nausea, no chemo brain cloud - wahoo!

As I met with the oncologist today, he said - "You cruised through the first treatments of chemo.  It may not have felt that way to you, but if everyone responded to chemo the way you did, I'd be out of a job and chemo would be an over the counter drug." Don't know if he was just trying to make me feel good, but the first 8 weeks went pretty smoothly and were much better than I anticipated.  Such a blessing.  He said the next 12 weeks should be even better.  Hopefully I can keep cruising.  :)

And PS - my tumor is shrinking.  Glad this is starting to work!  (I was worried - and skeptical- for the first 6 weeks.)

Time Flies

I can't believe I have finished my first round of treatments.  It's been 8 weeks since I started chemo.  Here's to 12 more weekly treatments of a different drug!  Side effects with my new drug, taxol, are supposed to be minimal since the dose is weekly but include neuropathy (damage to hands, fingers, and toes), bone pain, rash, and I could have an allergic reaction but I will know that in the first few minutes of receiving the drug.)   Hope the next 12 weeks go as fast as the first eight.  Still fighting strong!!

The Curse of the Cough

I have had a cough for the last 4 weeks.  Had it shortly after my 3rd round of chemo, then it got better.  Then a few days after my fourth round it came back.  Cough syrup, humidifier, and allergy meds didn't help it.  Oncologist said it was nothing to be concerned about because I didn't have a fever and mucous was clear (TMI).  Probably a virus I picked up.  It's been annoying more than anything and unfortunately has made sleeping difficult, as it gets worse when I lay down.  Fortunately I can sleep sitting up on the couch after a coughing fit that lasts a couple of hours. :)  Could be worse, right?  Only one night was especially bad when three different children woke up at different times in the night and I had to start my bedtime routine again. Thank goodness Emi is here and I can make up for lost sleep during the day.  I'm over the worst of it again (i.e. I can sleep in my own bed), so hopefully that cough stays away!

Saturday Adventures

Had a blast today rafting down the Provo River.  Provo Canyon is beautiful, and we had an awesome time.  The kids loved paddling, especially Camryn and Deacon, and my favorite quote of the adventure was from Deacon, "Paddle hard, Mom!  Paddle hard."  It was great to have Emi and Cassidy come along too for extra paddling power and kid support.

My Hero

Have you ever felt so indebted to someone that you don't know how you can ever repay them?  That despite your most sincere thanks, actions, and words that you can't express the deep gratitude you feel?  That's how I feel about my sister Emily.  (I decided long ago to throw away the in-law part of family.) :)

On the day we shared my diagnosis with family, she told us she would come to Provo the day she graduated high school to be our live-in nanny for the summer.  I remember her first day here: she showed up at my door at 7:30 in the morning, without ever being asked, to get the kids off to school.  She is willingly on-call, anytime, day after day.  She loves my kids and treats them with love and kindness, even when they have their occasional difficult times (I hope it's occasional).  I have been able to take naps every day, grocery shop, date my husband, workout - and the kids are able to get out and do fun things every day - all because of Emily.  People lovingly ask how I am doing, and my answer is always the same: "I'm doing awesome because Emily is here."  I don't know what I'd do without you sis.  Thank you for showing me what it means to be family.

Hats to the Government

Bryce and I went to the DMV today to finally get our Utah licenses.  (My last license is from TX - completely skipped having an IA one. Clearly getting a new license when we move is a priority.) Anyway, my plan when we left was for Bryce to get his but I wasn't going to get mine. However, Bryce persuaded me that despite my bald head I should still get it - I could always retake the picture once my hair grew back.  Besides, he had a shaved head too and was wearing a hot pink shirt (#wearpinkforpam).  I reluctantly agreed.

Bryce had his picture taken with "I wear pink for my wife" across the front of his shirt. What a husband.  Then the DMV employee asked the gentleman in front of me to remove his hat for the picture.  Oh well, I thought.  No harm in having a bald head.

Then it was my turn. As I sat down in the photo chair I asked the employee, "Do you want my hat on or off?" It didn't hurt to ask, right?

Surprisingly, she responded, "Your choice."

Wahoo!  Thanks government, hats to you.  Except just this time I'll keep mine on.

Good news - negative test result!

There's a lot to catch up on but I'll have to fill in the gaps as I have time.

I received my MyRisk genetic test results - MyRisk tests more than just BRCA genes - they test 17 other cancer related genes, and since I had a great aunt with ovarian cancer, I "qualified" for more than just BRCA testing.

Good news is test results were negative - I don't have any of the 17 cancer genes!  I don't know what caused my cancer, but at least I'm not passing on the well-known cancer genes to my kids.

Reality

Walking out of the restaurant tonight...

We got to the car and I realized Camryn still had her fork.
Me - "Camryn, you have a fork from the restaurant. What did you bring that for?"
C - "I'm saving it to use it for breakfast tomorrow."
Me - "Oh - well we want to leave the fork at the restaurant because it's theirs, and we have enough forks at home that we can use."
C "But mom!! All of our forks are dirty!"

Never had a child stealing silverware from restaurants because she didn't have enough clean ones at home. (At least I did the dishes before we left for the restaurant.)

And if that wasn't bad enough, later that night as Deacon was having a before-bed snack, he cleared his plate and fork (not paper or plastic) and dumped them right in the garbage can. Used to having paper goods I guess. Now I know where all of our forks are going. :)