A Little Update

Hi, there. I hope everyone had a good weekend and Fourth of July. We didn't do much, which was great. Friday was our fifth anniversary, so Daniel and I spent the day in Ann Arbor. We started by sharing a bottle of Prosecco while walking around the farm where we got married, Misty Farm. It is such a beautiful place and just felt good to be there. We were lucky to stumble upon it just as they were starting so we got a great deal on it and lots of improvements had been made by the time we got married more than a year later. They have a second property just down the road now too. If a pile of money falls from the sky, just roll with it if we invite you to our 7th or 8th anniversary there (they are now booked years in advance), because I would love to do it all again. 

We then went to have lunch at Eat Ann Arbor, which catered our wedding and now has a carry-out location with a little deck where you can eat. They were just building it out when we went there for our tasting. It was delicious. When people contact me to do their wedding, I always send them Eat's way. 

Then we just walked around Downtown Ann Arbor for a while, got some coffee, popped into a few shops, then headed home just as the storm hit. It was all Daniel's idea and I'm so glad he thought of it -- it was a great day. 

Saturday we were home and Sunday we went to the Tigers game with some friends who had front row seats in right field. It was crazy hot, so we ducked into the shade for most of the game. The heat + my hot flashes, I kind of wimped out. But we had a great time (the Tigers, however, did not. They were crushed by Cleveland.).

The rest of the long weekend we stayed pretty close to home. The effects of Thursdays infusions started to hit me Monday, were the worst on the Fourth of July and are still around this morning (Wednesday). People keep asking what kind of side effects they give me, so I'll just say I need to stay near a bathroom. Daniel took James to different parks twice yesterday for a long time so it gave me a quiet morning and the time to do some house upkeep in the afternoon. Sometimes things go a little quicker when my "helper" isn't helping. :) 

So, yes, I had my infusions of Herceptin and Perjata on Thursday and will have them every three weeks through August. Pretty exciting that I could be done with infusions by Labor Day. Unfortunately, one of them is just before we leave to use a friend's empty house in Maine for a week, but hopefully the side effects won't be as bad as this time. They gave me bigger "loading doses" for this first one, so this is probably the worst it will be (and it hasn't been TOO bad). 

Last Thursday I also got my first shot of Zolodex. Obviously shots aren't fun, but holy cow, this one hurt! The nurse warned me, but I was not prepared. It hurt for two days after too. Fortunately it mostly subsided by day three. Turns out it's a little bead they inject into your belly -- not liquid -- so, as you can imagine, ouch. It then slowly disperses/dissolves over the course of the month, shutting your ovaries down for the month. Then I go back for more when the month is up. I have to do this every month until natural menopause or until I have my ovaries removed. 

They also gave me a prescription for Arimidex, a daily pill, which essentially stops your body/cancer cells that may exist from absorbing or feeding on estrogen. I haven't picked that up yet -- maybe by this afternoon I'll be okay to venture out a bit. 

To be honest, on Saturday I felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster. I don't know if it was the Zolodex or a lack of sleep and a cranky 3-year-old. I'm not looking forward to adding Arimidex to the mix. My hot flashes are all day long, but so far, no real joint pain, which they warned me about. My hips hurt a little this morning, but not too bad.

I think in the next couple of days I'll start feeling better and should be in good shape by the weekend. I'm a total weakling, so I'm going to try to start taking advantage of my "good" days by at least walking and trying to be a little more active, eventually getting back in the gym. I get winded very easily, have no stamina and feel like I have no muscle left. I'm not going to rush it, but I can't keep doing nothing and expect to just show up at work one day able to be on my feet shopping and cooking for several hours. So, hopefully I can build up a little before surgery in September sidelines me for a few weeks. 

I've got a few teeny tiny baby hairs that are starting to come in. Last time, my hair all grew back at once, starting to grow the last week I had chemo. This time it's a few little hairs here and there. It makes me feel like it's going to take FOREVER to grow back. This morning, out of nowhere, James asked why my medicine made my hair fall out. Quickly followed by, "Can you take some other medicine to make it come back?" It was pretty sweet. I showed her my little hairs and she got very excited that it's starting to grow. I'm figuring, if it grows at all at the rate it did last time, by Christmas I should have about the same length I had before shaving it this last time. In the meantime, I finally found a couple of hats that fit my tiny head and aren't giant sun hats. It's pretty nice to wear them and go cancer incognito -- I can go to the store and people don't stare or even look at me. Ha.  

That's all I've got! I hope everyone had a great holiday.