Chemo Time

Well, we survived our chemo dosing. Now we'll see how it sits! The appointment went smooth - we had a great nurse (Paula). She was phenomenal with us. The toughest part was probably the Adriamycin - it's this red stuff that the nurse needs to put a full bio-hazard suit on to administer and "pushes" it through the IV (rather than the normal mechanical drip of all the other meds). It was a bit intimidating (they also encourage you to crunch ice while you're getting dosed to help with some of the side effects) but went smooth and Linda did great throught the whole process. Her PowerPort http://www.bardaccess.com/port-powerport.php (no promotional fees paid here) worked well. She made friends with a lady in a room down the aisle (hard to believe, her making friends with others) that has been on chemo for 8 years and was in for a 4 hour dosing - "it's really not so bad, honey, you just feel like you have the flu for a few days". Brian and Austin even stopped by to say hi and check out the digs.

We came home, went for a walk while she was still feeling good, and my Mom brought by home-made Runzas (don't tell Kevin, Audrey). Austin inhaled two of them by the time we sat down!

Linda's feeling a bit "off" now but otherwise doing well at this point. Usually people feel worse on days 2,3,4 so we'll see where it goes from here.

Rob.

Love to Lymph Nodes

Thank you for everyone's kind words and support! Linda and I have read all your comments and very much appreciate them!



Today we talked to Dr K (oncologist) and he told us that the abdominal ultrasound was clean! This is great news - the blood markers were good, the chest x-ray was good, and now the abdominal ultrasound was good. This tells us our friends the lymph nodes are doing their job and holding the cancer at bay there! So today's Love Letter goes to Linda's Lymph Nodes for doing good work!

Thank you for the wig suggestions. We haven't found a winner yet but are getting close. Lynn sent in a great photo of Linda with a saucy blonde look. Very cool wig.... I thought I'd share it with you all.

Chemo starts tomorrow. We got a bunch of pills from the pharmacy to complement the infusions. Thanks to Sherry for the care package and timely pill-box organizers!


Rob.

Lump free zone

One of the last ultrasounds Linda had she told the doctor the goal was "no more lumps". We're full-up on lumps. Why are we full of lumps? Here's the lowdown:

Our first and favorite bump (a cute bump, not a lump), nicknamed "Cricket" due to her jumping jacks in early ultrasounds is a beautiful healthy baby girl. We just had the full round of 18 week testing done just 3 weeks ago where they peer at every nook and cranny of her little body (brain, organs, heart valves, etc), measure her nuchal membrane, test Linda's blood, etc and everything came back GREAT! As good as we could have ever hoped for. We are ecstatic, excited, and overjoyed about our little girl.

The second lump was a uterine fibroid that Linda had. No big deal, most women have them. We just joked about it and laughed when we saw little Cricket kicking at it in one of our ultrasounds. Go get it girl!

The third lump was the one we did not want. It's a 3 cm (~50 cent piece sized) lump in Linda's breast. She has her yearly mammograms - just had her last this January before getting pregnant - came back clear. She also had breast exams by the nurses during her OB checkup - clear. When she found the lump about a month ago we thought it was just a pregnancy thing but Linda had it checked a week or so later at her OB appointment. They weren't sure about it so scheduled the ultrasound days later. The doctor looked at the ultrasound and didn't like the looks of it so suggested a biopsy. We had that and it came back cancerous. What a sucker punch! I felt like the crazy old lady in the old TV commercials, "I've Fallen and I Can't Get up"! I pushed my button for help but it didn't make the cancer go away.

Not too many people get cancer while pregnant, but they are out there. The "upside" to being in that state was we got great attention from the Doctors, nurses, etc. We had an appointment with the surgical oncologist the next day, a lymph node biopsy the day after that, results and an appointment with a medical oncologist the day after that, then tests and consultations in between. We had a second opinion shortly thereafter in Portland that was "helped along" (sped up) by a friend with connections at the Providence Cancer Center. The cancer is invasive (we had been hoping for the more "mild" version that is contained). Linda's initial oncologist believed it was even though the initial pathology results said "contained". The lymph node biopsy was positive for an aggressive, invasive breast cancer so we know it spread at least there (into the main lymph node). Hopefully that little fella (Mr. Lymphy) did his job and stopped the cancer but we don't know for sure. So, this means she needs chemo. Not good - someone tell the cancer we're pregnant and don't have time for this! But, we read about many many cases where chemo was used successfully for mom and baby during pregnancy. Crazy! The placenta helps protect the little one from the nasty juice. It's amazing when you've spent the past 21 weeks not drinking a drop of Alkehol, eating healthy, exercising, and not even taking Tylenol to ensure the baby will be okay - and now she'll go through chemo! I guess we got our little girl through the most critical stage (1st trimester) with flying colors so that was the main thing. The most common side effect of chemo (for Cricket) in the 2nd trimester is lower birth weight at this point. Wild stuff!

So, we (I was laughing to Linda that I speak in the plural sense when discussing her cancer - feels like I have it too) get to start chemo this Thursday. The plan is dose dense Adriamycin/Cytoxin every two weeks. The dose dense deal means she gets a kicker shot of Neulasta (thanks Big Pharma for the cool names) to boost her white blood cells the day after chemo. This lets them pack in the chemo treatments every two weeks (instead of 3 weeks like they did in the olden days). Joy. But, since it is more successful, we're going for it.

Here is the plan! 8 - 10 weeks of Chemo, deliver Cricket at ~32 weeks at the neonatal unit (she will stay there for ~4 weeks), more Chemo (Taxol-type), surgery (lumpectomy), radiation. No problem, right? Well, we will need help through this so stay tuned, please!

Linda has acupuncture tomorrow. I'm interested in hearing how that goes - it always sounded kinda interesting to me. Can non-Chinese people administer acupuncture? Or is it like when you go to the Japanese restuarant and you get served by a Korean sushi-chef how it usually just isn't the same? Something to ponder.

Linda is also wig shopping so if you have a good style, please share in the comments section! Lynn and Tonya had some good ones she showed me! T minus 16 days to baldness, they tell us... I think Linda will be cute bald. Me, not so much.

Anyway, thank you for everyone's support and love. Although the cancer has been completely overwhelming, we have also been overwhelmed by how much support and love we have received the past two weeks. Thank you to Audrey for "hooking us up" with this blog. Hopefully it will help people know what is going on. Although we LOVE talking to our friends, it can be exhausting telling the story/results/updates over and over. So, this way you can read what's going on then get to the important stuff in your talks with us like baby name suggestions, etc.

Please feel free to share your positive thoughts, comments, etc on this blog as we will read them! And, if you are interested in helping, please stand by as there will be opportunities to help soon, and I'll probably post them here.

Thanks,

Rob.

Welcome to Linda B.'s blog!

This blog is for the friend and family of Linda B. (we'll skip the last the last name in the interest of privacy and per Rob and Linda's request). As most of you already know, Linda is pregnant and just beginning treatment for Stage II breast cancer. A blog is a great tool for Rob and Linda to be able to keep you all updated on Linda's treatment and well-being, without having to individually respond to multiple emails. So bookmark this page, check back often, and please, POST your good tidings and support!

Best,

Audrey DeKam