Clip!

Well, just when I'm mentally set on the schedule of treatments ahead, the doctor calls and adds another twist! My surgeon wants me to go in on April 11th for a mammogram and to have a 'clip' implanted in my tumor. The idea is that if the chemo shrinks the tumor substantially, they'll still be able to find it easily when the time comes for breast surgery. This procedure is done with local anesthetic and isn't considered 'surgery' as much as just an implant with a large needle. (I guess that's supposed to ease my mind!)
Sooo another appointment put on the calender!
I went in this morning to have blood drawn to see how the chemo has affected me this first week. So far so good. My white blood count has dropped, but they said that was to be expected. I now need to be careful about staying away from sick people and large crowds, so I don't come down with anything. Otherwise, I feel pretty good! I haven't been bothered by the multitude of side effects they say I could have. So, I'm counting my blessings!!

Baby's Doing Great

Had an ultrasound appointment this morning to see how the baby has faired these last two weeks of my surgery and chemo. He's looking good! He weighs about 3 pounds 1 ounce, and all systems are functioning well.
The doctor has scheduled me for a c-section on May 19th at the Germantown Methodist Hospital assuming all continues to go smoothly.
I'm still feeling good -- just continue to be tired. Thanks so much, Angela, for watching Alana today!

5 Days Past Chemo

It's Tuesday afternoon, and the chemo is going really well. So far my side effects are dry skin, mild indigestion, and I'm slightly more tired now than before. Nothing too bad.
Tomorrow morning I go in for an ultrasound to see how the baby is fairing all this. He's kicking around quite a bit, letting me know he's doing alright!

Happy Easter and Happy Haircut!

Well, it's all short now! I'm still getting used to the feel and how to style it. It feels great at night not to have hair all in my face!

Day #3 since the chemotherapy and I'm feeling really well. I'm so glad I'm able to enjoy this Easter Sunday. I was able to teach all the young women (teenage girls) at church this morning about the Savior and my testimony of the Atonement. I'm so thankful for Christ and my relationship with him. I'm so thankful for the gift of repentance and for the knowledge that he was resurrected and lives still. Happy Easter!!

So far...So good

It's 9:30 am on Saturday. So far, I don't feel any effects of the chemo. Yesterday I got my hair cut -- I'll post a picture when I figure out how to style it on my own. Then the kids and I ran errands. Bryce and Jared are fantastic helpers! Bryce took charge of Alana, and Jared loaded all the groceries from the cart to the car, and into the house. I love my kids. One day I'll have to post an "ode to my kids"...
For Christmas, Craig bought me spring season tickets to the Orpheum Theater. Last night, we went to see "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels". I'm so glad I was feeling great so we could enjoy a night out together.
My great friend Heather is a genius with the computer and designing blogs. She re-designed my blog page to look really cool. Thanks Heather!!!!

Chemo Day!

I just got back from my first chemotherapy appointment. I wish I could say that I was strong and brave and didn't worry at all, but I admit - I was very scared. Thank goodness Craig was with me.

They took some blood samples through my port-a-cath, which grossed me out, but didn't hurt. Then we saw Dr. Schwartzburg, who made us feel really good about everything. My treatment plan is to start with Adreamycin (chemo drug) today, and again on April 10th, and May 1st. Then they'll wait three weeks to let that run its course and schedule my c-section for around May 19th. That's less than two weeks before my due date, so the baby should be well developed and ready for birth.

After a week, they'll start me back up on chemo, this time adding two more chemo drugs to the mix. I'll go every two weeks for 4 more rounds and then they'll assess everything for breast surgery. Thennnn, I continue treatments every three weeks for a year (from now). But we can't remember what those last treatments are -- I don't think it's chemo.

So that's the schedule.

Right now I feel fine. They gave me some medication for nausea and a dose of adriamycin, and told me that the side effects won't kick in for a couple of days. I'll lose my hair in about three weeks - total hair loss. (See the haircut poll at the right.) The eyelashes are the only thing that may or may not stay. In about a week, my white blood cell count will go down leaving me more susceptible to infections and illnesses, so I'm supposed to stay away from crowds of people (touching and shaking hands...), and avoid anyone who's sick.

Fun fun!

Keep the positive thoughts, messages, e-mails, cards, and prayers coming -- they give me so much strength. Right now, it's a mental thing for me, and every one's support is so very helpful. I know I'll need help with children and meals in the weeks to come (certainly in May), so thank you for all the offers. I don't mean to turn offers away, I just know I'll need to cash in later and I don't want to wear everyone out before I really need you! This will be a marathon as opposed to a sprint!

Good News!

The biopsy from the lymph nodes are in -- the cancer has not spread to them! That means it's most likely contained in the the one tumor (we hope). Thank you all for your continued prayers!!
I'm scheduled to start my first chemotherapy treatment on Thursday afternoon. My stitches are healing well. Still hard to find a sleeping position, but thanks to my wonderful husband, I'm able to take naps whenever I get too tired during the day. He's been great at taking over the household (kids, laundry, cooking and cleaning) this weekend. I'll have to do an "ode to Craig" blog one day...

Movie Night

Tonight our family went to see the movie, "Horton Hears a Who". Cute movie! Alana did great... till the popcorn ran out. She's all about the food. Thank goodness Jared still had some corn chips - it got her by for the rest of the show.
My oncologist's secretary called this afternoon to make sure my surgeries went well on Friday. As soon as they get the results of the biopsy (which should be tomorrow), they'll schedule my chemotherapy. She said it will most likely be set for Thursday. I'm a bit nervous, but ready to get this thing gone.

A Day of Rest

I was hoping to make it to Sacrament Meeting this morning, but didn't quite feel up to it. My stitches are still very sore. Craig came home from his morning meetings to pick up the kids and take them to church. The kids sat with the Foys (thank you!). I went back to bed and slept till they all came home. I must have needed it. We'll all take it easy today.
Craig has the week off and the kids are on spring break. I take my Humanities 101 final tomorrow morning at Sylvan Learning Center! That wraps up another BYU course!

Surgery!

Well yesterday couldn't have gone smoother -- I definitely feel that the prayers of everyone are helping! Thank you so much!

Craig and I went to the Germantown Methodist Hospital at 11am. The first procedure was injecting a slightly radioactive dye into the site where the tumor is. (The doctor said not to worry - the amount of radiation is less than what you get when you walk outside on a sunny day.)

Shortly after the injection, they took me back to prep me for surgery. I had the greatest nurses! My least favorite part of going to the hospital is being pricked over and over while a nurse tries to find a vein to start an IV on me. But yesterday, I had a fabulous nurse who looked over my arm, felt for a vein, and with one quick gentle stab, it was in. I'm still singing her praises! The other nurses were equally competent and social and just so nice! They took great care of me.

The anesthesiologist came in to discuss the procedure. They planned on totally knocking me out and having a specialist from labor and delivery there to monitor the baby the whole time. I would have the surgery at 3pm and then would need to stay in the hospital for 6 hours afterward to be monitored. That was the first plan. As the hours went on (Craig brought the laptop and we watched X-Men the movie while waiting!) and the specialists were consulted, Dr Patterson (my surgeon), the anesthesiologist, and the labor and delivery nurse came in to give us the final plan. They decided to give me just enough anesthesia to put me in a nice haze, but not to knock me out completely. That would be better for the baby and for me, and afterward I'd only have to stay for 2 hours instead of 6!

I was pretty much awake for the procedure of them putting in the port-a-cath, but with no pain or even apprehension. I was totally gone when they did the sentinel lobe biopsy. I woke up as they were wheeling me to the recovery room. Again, the nurses were fabulous. Criag and I were released at 7pm.

Last night it was very tough to find a sleeping position. The lobe stitches are under my left arm, so I can't sleep on that side. The port-a-cath stitches are near the top of my right collar bone, so I can't sleep on my right side. I'm hugely pregnant, so that rules out the stomach and flat on my back! So I took 5 pillows and slept somewhat upright and slightly to the side. A bit frusterating, but it worked. I'm on some pain medication, which I don't normally like to take, but find it necessary right now. The port-a-cath site hurts, but the biopsy site really really hurts without the meds. They said it would take a few days to feel better. Yea, just in time for my first chemo treatment.....

Thank you so much JoAnn for having the boys over; and thank you so much April for keeping Alana all day. And thank you, again, to everyone for your offers of help and for your prayers. I feel strengthened by the love and prayers coming my way.

Health Update

Just got a call from my breast surgeon. I go in on Friday morning to undergo a Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy, and to get a Port-a-cath inserted in my chest for chemo treatments which will begin next week (not scheduled yet). The biopsy is to determine if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. They'll inject a die into the cancer and trace it's path of spreading and locations, then take a sample of the sentinel lymph node to see if cancer is present. The port-a-cath will remain in my chest for the chemo to be more easily administered so they don't have to fiddle with my veins at each visit.

Great Appointment (mostly)!

First the good news: We just got back from the oncologist and the outlook is very promising! Dr Schwartzberg talked to us about the tumor itself: it started in a duct, and grew from there to the surrounding areas - right now looks to be about 3-4 centimeters, (yes, that's smaller than a golf ball!). He classified it as not too small, but not too big. He told us what it's made of and what's feeding it (progesterone as opposed to estrogen), and therefore what types of chemotherapy will be needed to fight it. I'll also need surgery, but not necessarily to remove the whole breast, if the chemotherapy shrinks the tumor enough. The types of chemo needed have been proven not to harm the baby in the third trimester (except for one, which they'll wait to administer until after the baby is delivered), so the baby should be okay. And the best news was that he said I should be cured after a long road of treatments.

The not so great news: Chemotherapy will be very tough to go through. I'm a class III, which is pretty serious. I may need radiation after surgery. I will most likely lose my hair.

But for today we're focusing on the positive and I feel very good right now.

Cheri's Update

Last Wednesday I had a biopsy on a suspicious lump in my breast. Thursday morning Dr. Patterson called with the news. The lump, which is about the size of a golf ball, is cancerous. He asked Craig and I to meet him that afternoon to discuss the results.
Unfortunately, little is known right now. Dr. Patterson said most likely chemotherapy and then surgery will be involved. The hard part is taking into consideration that I'm 28 weeks pregnant.
I have an appointment to see Dr. Lee Schwartzberg of the West Clinic tomorrow. He comes highly recommended and will stage the cancer and talk about treatment.
My ob/gyn called me on Thursday evening to let me know that he and his team are ready to handle the baby when the time comes to deliver him early.
That's about all we know right now. I'm anxious to get on with things and start treatment, whatever it may be.
Thank you to all my family - both the Sharps and the Coovers - for the special fast they had for me today. And thank you to all, who's offers of help and support came pouring in today.