Treatment #17

Mom had a decent week this week.  She has been having a few bad days.  Her feet continue to bother her enough that the doctor did not give her a chemo treatment again this week.  She only got the Herceptin.
Believe it or not, but mom's hair is just starting to grow back.   It is not very long.  I would say it is like peach fuzz.  It is completely white.  Any colored hair that she had has now turned white.  I won't even call the hair gray; it is all white.  One of my neighbors rubbed mom's head for good luck last week.  She is a doctor.  Today, Dr. Margolis did the same thing.  So, I guess doctors have some crazy superstitions.  If you are in the area and need a bit of luck, I am sure that mom will let you rub her head.
We will be traveling to Baroda to spend a few days with Dave and family for July 4th.  We are all looking forward to getting the family together.

Treatment #16

Sorry for the late posting this week.  We had a few friends over last night and I didn't get around to writing anything until now.
Mom had her 16th treatment this week.  She skipped the chemo treatment and only received the Herceptin again this week.  This is a much needed break for her system.
For those of you far away, I wanted to let you know that the consensus from all of my friends last night was "your mom looks great."  I heard it from lots of different people.  She had a rough couple of days earlier this week, but has been feeling good for the last few days.  Her energy level is getting better now that this is the second week without a chemo treatment.  She stayed out at my house until after 10:30 pm to watch a fireworks show last night, so I know that she was feeling better.  In fact, Dad told me that she was full of piss and vinegar this morning.  I'll take that as a good sign.  :)
Mom just started working on a baby afghan.   This is her first new project since she started treatment.  Don't know who it will be for, but her starting something new is a blessing.

Treatment #15

Mom had a week of more side effects than we would have liked. Before this week, her toes were troublesome. However, this week the numbness moved farther put her feet and into her heels. The doctor decided to skip the chemo treatment this week. He mentioned that this is very common and in fact mom made it through more treatments than most people do. We will see how a week off does to her system, but he mentioned that it may be a couple of weeks before she gets another chemo dose. Today she just had the Herceptin. I am not surprised that mom has tolerated so many treatments. She is definitely a tough lady.

Treatment #14

Another week down and more to come.  Mom had a really good week.  She didn't have a chemo treatment last week and it was really evident in her energy level this last week. 
The news did a good job of promoting a new breast cancer drug this last week.  If you didn't see the news, it is a targeted chemo treatment.  The drug attaches to the tumor before it releases into the system.  So, only cancer cells are attacked by the chemo.  The chemo doesn't attack the healthy cells in the body, thus reducing side effects.  The drug trials were very positive and it looks like this may be the next generation of cancer fighting.  The doctor said that mom would be a candidate for this type of treatment.  He anticipates that the new drug will be on the market in 3-6 months.  So, we continue on the course that we are on.