FCKuCANCER.

i know i didn’t give you guys any updates after round 3 but i gotta say it went a lot better than the ones before it. and, i’m hoping that’s a trend that continues!

i still had the usual side effects and one new one — occular migraines. i think i had two or three for multiple days in a row. all in all they only lasted about an hour, but they were annoying af. and definitely affected my attempts at work. i had to go to sleep in order to get them to go away. i’ve experienced them before, maybe ten years ago so i knew right away what they were and they were listed as a possible side effect when i asked unc goog. so there’s that. i read somewhere that should try to increase my water intake, which i knew i needed to do anyway. so, i did, and they didn’t come back. mystery solved.

tuesday, was round four. my companions were daddy, momma and ash. because ash is under 18 she couldn’t go into the infusion room with us, so she was in the waiting room, surely playing the role of a bored teen on their phone! but she’s always a good sport about everything. daddy was our driver for the day! something he’s very good at. i’m gonna have to get him a little hat one of these days!!

now, i did have a new reaction to the steroid injection during the pre-meds. and, omg y’all it was immediate.

this is a weird one to tell literally EVERYONE, but i’ve told y’all everything else so here goes — it was like a tingly burning feeling in my hot pocket.

well, i immediately told the nurse that things weren’t right. and she fixed it. she flushed the line and the sensation went away. apparently, that is not an uncommon reaction to the injection and it looks like it is more common for women than men. go figure.

other than that — the day went about as planned. having the usual side effects so far. but i’m trying to power through. i even worked today (the day after chemo). a fact that i surely paid for. by 4 pm, i was exhausted and i am not sure i should do that again.

monday, i had to do my pre-chemo bloodwork to make sure all my levels were ok for the chemo infusion. obviously, since i’m typing this in reverse order, we know they were!

what i haven’t discussed, is that i also had an ultrasound scheduled. it was supposed to be tuesday after chemo, but they moved it to monday. a fact for which i was very thankful. chemo days are long enough as-is without adding more stuff to the day.

anywho — i got the best news. y’all the new chemo is working. the two new masses decreased in size to the point where they weren’t “identified, consistent with treatment response”. the initial masses in my breast have either remained reduced in size and/or “consistent with prior treatment response”. the findings were essentially the same with the new and old lymph nodes as well.

i just want to thank all of you. for all that you have done and continually do for me. the power of your prayer and love keep me lifted and are truly why i am still here.

now we are not out of the woods, not by a long-shot. but we are on a good path. i still have:

• two more rounds of chemo infusions.
• the bi-lateral mastectomy surgery. — i still need to make a real decision regarding which set of doctors (hm or mda) i am going with. so please add that to your prayer, because i am struggling with it.
• radiation.
• subsequent reconstruction surgery.

all in all the mastectomy procedures are going to take a year and a half. and concurrently, i also have about a year’s worth, at least, of immunotherapy infusions to do. lastly, i will have to resume some sort of chemotherapy regimen to keep my stage iv at bay — and i don’t yet know if that means getting back on verzenio or if there is another line of treatment that is recommended at this point.

what’s that saying? steady wins the race?…

we’ll keep the course. it’s working so far.

fin.