Chemo Treatment #4

Well, mom really did have lots of hair.  I would say that she has about 10-15% left.  However, she looks great in her new hats!!  Mom is feeling really good and has tollerated the chemo very well so far.
Her blood levels are all in the normal range.  The doctor commented today that by looking at her blood levels, he wouldn't guess that she is chemo patient.  Her body is doing a really great job of fighting.
Mom is already starting to have favorites at the doctors office.  There is one tech that draws blood that mom will be asking for in the future.  He (I think his name is Randall) is a really nice guy that does a wonderful job. 
An update on the afghan project at the doctors office....  Of course mom brought her crochet hook as well as some additional yarn.  She was determined to fix the afghan from last week.  She spent most of her time during treatment working on the afghan.  When I left, she told me she wasn't sure she brought enough yarn.  Not to worry, she will finish next week.  It was really great to see her passion and her love of crocheting.  She looked so content and comfortable working during her treatment today.
It has been just over a month since she has been back from Florida.  She has spent so many hours in tests, treatments and doctors appointments.  However, her spirit is one that I can't even describe; it hasn't changed one bit.

Chemo Treatment #3

It feels like we are starting into a bit of a weekly routine now.  Our appointments are going pretty well.  The doctor did a physical exam of mom's breast today.  After just two treatments, most of the inflammation is gone.  The doctor was very excited to see such good progress in such a short period of time.  In fact, he used the word "Stoked."
During moms chemo treatment, she covers up with an afghan.  Unfortunately, the afghan had a flaw it in.  Some of the crocheted squares were coming apart.  She wanted me to remind her to bring one of her crochet hooks next week so that she could fix the afghan.  The family member of another patient was knitting and offered up a knitting needle.  Well, I guess that was good enough.  She fixed the afghan as best she could.  The nurse told her that they are going to make sure that they give her a different afghan every week so that she can fix them all.
It as been 14 days since moms first chemo treatment.  Her hair started falling out a bit this morning.  It just looks a bit thinner at this point.  We will be going shopping for a few hats next week.  A wig seemed too hot for the summer. 
Thank you to all of you for your kind words, thoughts and prayers.  It has made a huge difference knowing so many people care.

Chemo Treatment #2

Mom had her second chemo treatment yesterday.  We met with the doctor again so I'll start with the good news.
The pathology of the liver mass was the same as the breast cancer.  They started mom on a second drug (Herceptin).  This is actually a protein that attaches to the tumors that makes the chemo treatment about twice as effective.
She got her first treatment of this other drug with her chemo.  She had a few minor complications during the infusion.  She was feeling really cold and started to shake a little.  The nurses were really great.  They immediately recognized the problem and gave mom some steriods to help with the side effect. She was better in about 10 minutes.  She has tollerated the treatment really well so far. 
The doctor also noted that there were a few other smaller masses on the liver.  The chemo drugs will hopefully shrink them all.
I visited mom this morning.  She slept well last night and looked great this morning.

Side Effects

Well, it has been several days after mom's first chemo treatment.  All things considered, I think she tollerated the treatment very well.  She has not been nauseous or had other physical side effects.  However, she is having problems sleeping at night.  She spoke to the doctors office this morning and is getting some medication to help her get some rest at night.
We also realized that she not only is allergic to latex, but to those seri-strips that they used to close the incision for her port.  She took them off a few days ago because they were irritating to her.  She had such a reaction from the strips that her skin blistered.  Now that they are off, she is feeling much better.

1st Chemo Treatment

We met with Dr. Margolis today (oncologist).  Let's start with the good news...  the MRI of mom's brain was normal.  Dad can no longer say that she has something wrong with her brain.
The mass on mom's liver was breast cancer that had metastasized.  We are still waiting for the pathology on the tumor to see if it has the same hormone receptors as the cancer in her breast. (This will impact the type of chemo drugs that she will get.) Mom is having an MRI of her liver on Saturday.  They want to get a better look at the liver and see if there are any other spots on the liver. 
Mom had her first chemo treatment today after we saw the doctor.  At this point, her treatment plan will be to have weekly chemo treatments for the next 6-8 weeks.  We will be meeting with the doctor each week as well. 
I have to say that mom seemed pretty nervous going in, but looked really calm coming out.  Because she will be going for weekly treatments, the infusion only took about 90 minutes today.  Her treatments will be shorter, but more frequent.
After a little while in the treatment area, mom started a conversation with the nice lady next to her.  At that point, I knew that she was relaxing a bit more.  The doctors office has afghans in the treatment area for the patients to cover up with.  I knew that mom was relaxing a bit when she started examining the patterns.
She handled the treatment really well today.  We'll see how she does over the next few days with side effects.
One down, more to come....

Port Surgery

Mom had her port inserted today.  The procedure went well and she looked good in recovery.  Mom also tollerated the anesthesia well again.  Hopefully they finally found the right mix of meds for her. When meeting with the surgeon before the procedure, Dad asked how many of these types of surgeries had she done.  Dr. B (the surgeon) jokingly said that she has been in practice for 30 years, so she has done at least 30 of them.  When she came out to talk to us after, she told us that number 31 went very well. :) We go back to see the surgeon in two months.  Our next appointment is on Thursday with the oncologist.

Liver Biopsy

Mom went in for the liver biopsy this morning.  I stayed until she was done with the procedure.  She needs to spend 3 hours laying on her back before they will release her.  She should be released later this afternoon. She usually is very nauseous with anesthesia.  They gave her a double dose of some medicine to help and it actually worked.  We will be making sure that they do that the next time.  This is the first time that I can remember that she didn't vomit.  When they let Dad and I see her after the procedure, her color was good and she felt fine.  She indicated that the procedure was a lot less painful than she had expected.  Dad was of course sitting with her until they release her.  We will have the results next week.
Thanks for all of the prayers and kind words.  Mom's spirit is wonderful.  She is a fighter and has maintained a great attitude.