Lots of news today...

In my last post I mentioned that I had started losing a lot of hair. By Tuesday, I had lost most of my hair so I started wearing my "new hair". My hairdresser was out of town until Thursday, so I just made it work til she was back and could buzz the rest of my hair off. It was a strange feeling having her remove the rest of my hair but it actually felt good to take that step in someway. My head is definitely a lot colder without all of my thick hair protecting it on top. I look very different with no hair, but hopefully it isn't something I will have to deal with for too long. It is a small price to pay to get the drugs into my system though that will get rid of this cancer.

Yesterday my Mom, Tom, and I went to West Linn to meet with my new surgeon. She was very thorough and got up to speed on my diagnosis. It was nice to get a second opinion and know we are on the right track regarding treatment. She wanted to have me get a PET/CT scan to make sure the rest of my body is cancer free. This is a routine thing she likes to do, so I will have that next Wednesday.

Today I had an appointment with my oncologist, Dr. O'Brien. She wanted to externally measure my tumor and get an idea of whether or not it was shrinking. It appears to have shrunk a small amount, so we will continue on the path of the chemo treatment I am on. I am scheduled for another ultrasound on September 6 . She would like to see it shrink to about half its original size so we can stay on the current course of treatment, so please pray for that. Dr. O'Brien also got the results back from my genetic testing and it came back negative for any genetic mutation. This is good news for my immediate family. Courtney and Ryan still have twice the chance of having breast cancer or a connected form of cancer because I have it. They do not increase those risks however since I don't carry the gene. The other test that I mentioned in my last post, the Onco Dx testing, could not be done as my insurance company rejected it since chemo treatments had already begun. We will use my ultrasound on the 6th as our guide for whether the treatments need to be adjusted.

My last appointment today was with an orthosist. He measured me for a compression sleeve for my left arm to help with the lymphedema caused from removing some lymph nodes. It will mostly be worn at night or when I have pain in my arm and need to reduce swelling. I will also need to wear it when I am on an airplane, or when I will be using my arm excessively for something. My new sleeve should be here in the next couple of weeks.

I still feel great and am ready to move forward with my next chemo treatment on Monday. I am hopeful that I will continue to keep life pretty normal during treatment #2. In the meantime, my cousin is getting married tomorrow in West Linn and I am happy I get to attend his wedding and visit with family. My nephew's birthday party is on Sunday so we will be celebrating all weekend long and keeping busy leading up to my next treatment. I am very thankful that these events fell on a weekend free of side effects and fatigue so I can enjoy my family time.

Keep up your prayers and words of support. Thanks again to all of you who continue to reach out in different ways to let me know you are here to support our family.