I can't get chemo on Monday unless I am a 5. Although I have a limited sample, the shot seems to double or triple my WBC. So I must go back tomorrow to get another shot. If it triples it, I am on for chemo. But if just doubles, I might have to put it off chemo until Tuesday. My hip bones hurt, but Vicodin Vicodin Vicodin!
Tuesday would be a bit better anyway. The Wogster (Paul, my bro) flies in from LA on Monday where he is filming a movie, and I know he is pumped to document my cancer experience (for posterity?), so at least I wont have my face in the toilet the WHOLE time he is here.
Many of you have commented on my upbeat attitude and such. It isn't hard because #1, I have an amazing husband, #2, my mom is here, and #3, I love my doctor, #4 I think it might be fun to get breast implants, and #5 gonna be an interesting experience I can draw upon later, and #6 I realized just how many wonderful people I know and everyone has been so incredibly sweet and supportive and great about getting in touch again.
So received a good suggestion. Since it is going to be very rough at points, and I am feeling happy now, make myself a pep talk video I can show myself later when I don't want to get out of bed, and feel all ugly and skinny and bald and that this is never gonna end and I just want to give up. I think it is a great idea! I will do it when Paul is here an post it up:)
My Aunt Michelle forwarded me an AMAZING SITE, and if ANY of you have family or friends
with Breast Cancer, you need to take advantage of this, and when it is over, sponsor someone of your own. It is called www.CleaningForaReason.org. From their site: Fighting cancer is difficult enough, but living with it is even tougher - and that's where the Cleaning for A Reason Foundation steps in. This newly formed nonprofit offers free professional housecleaning services to improve the lives of women undergoing treatment for cancer. FREE HOUSECLEANING SERVICE!! OMG I love the idea! I signed up, and will let you know how it goes!
I love news aggregators. I think the aggregator is the best thing ever, and I found a medical one that I really dig called Medical Cavity. So I scan it for articles on cancer and tumors, and they range from CNN and BBC articles to medical journals. Here are some that I found that are incredibly interesting to me.
Breast Cancer Biology Changing - BBC
Women are now more likely to have hormone-dependent, slow-growing tumours, a comparison of tissue samples from the 1980s and 1990s shows. Damn, not me, mine is EXACTLY the opposite!
'Normalizing' Tumor Vessels Leaves Cancer more Benign - Science Daily
Now this study blew my mind. Blood vessels to cancer are pretty retarded. All over the place, badly formed, and this starves them of oxygen. Which you might think is a good thing, right? However, as a tumor becomes more oxygen deprived, this spurs it to metastasize and go to other parts of the body. It also makes the chemo less efficient because it needs oxygen to perform. When the blood vessels were normalized in mice, that more regular vessel structure improved tumors' oxygen supply, leading to physiological changes that counteracted the overall malignancy of the cancer. Pretty interesting, huh?
Okay, gonna get some R&R. I'm keeping a close eye on my temp. It is at 99, and if it gets higher, I have to call my docs and go to the hospital. Sucks.
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