hey yall. i know it’s been a while since i have given you updates. i hope your holiday season was enjoyable, and that you have managed to keep warm during this current coldpacolypse.
i’m gonna try to keep this quick because i am tired.
back in december i finished radiation. although i opted out of the bell ringing, they did give me a certificate of completion signed by all of the staff. i thought that was very nice. i don’t think they did that my first time around. i also started a new chemotherapy infusion, kadcyla.
during radiation i didn’t experience many side effects other than fatigue and skin darkening. after radiation was over is when the skin irritation effects began. i had a fairly large reaction at the base of my neck and under my arm. the skin got even darker than the rest of the surrounding area had gotten and became very sensitive to touch. it also started giving off a slight burning sensation. i messaged my care team and they prescribed a burn cream that gave me relief almost immediately. the skin has since cleared up and though you can see its remnants, the irritation is gone. i still have to moisturize all of the areas that were exposed to radiation but thankfully no more irritations and some of my color is getting back to normal.
last week, i met with my plastic surgeon for a post radiation followup. he was happy with how my incisions held up during radiation and, i am no longer on any restrictions for pushing, pulling, and lifting! yay. now i have to get back to my fitness goals and prepare for reconstruction surgery at the end of the year. heaven help me!!
we lost another group member earlier this month and that is never easy. mrs. clemons’ funeral was saturday and i am very happy i was able to attend. the service was beautiful and very true to who she was. she had a rough time last year but her faith was very strong and she was always so positive every time she spoke. i know she is in a better place now without any suffering but this shit never gets any easier.
today i had my prechemo labwork and it was also time for a post surgery pet/ct scan. my labs came back fine, and my oncologist was very pleased with my scans. all great news for which i am very thankful. scans are always anxiety producing for obvious reasons.
lastly, there is another chemotherapy drug that is proving to have better efficacy over kadcyla in clinical trials, called enhertu. i spoke with both of my oncologists about the possibility of switching and they were in agreement so i will start that this week. my regimen remains the same, 3 week intervals, and i will still have the same number of treatments — basically til september of this year.
that all felt like one long ramble but now you are all caught up.
fin.
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