Cervical Cancer

This is one of the hardest posts to write. On Friday, 26 September, Mandy (our 19 year old daughter)saw the doctor from Sunnybrook.

He advised her that they no longer classified what she has as micro-invasive cancer, but as"'real' cancer, that would kill her if not treated". An further reading of the biopsy revealed cancer cells in the blood steam and she will require Cancer Surgery, not a procedure. She sees the surgeon who will be doing the surgery on Wednesday and will probably have her surgery within another 2 weeks.

It is an newer procedure they are talking about, called a trachelectomy, where the take a portion of the cervix and they will also perform laparoscopic sentinel node mapping and bilateral pelvic node dissection (examination and possible removal of the lymph nodes).

Kind of makes my issue with needing the bangs of my wig trimmed pretty inconsequential.

~Inez

The cottage and Taste buds

I have been amiss in writing. Last weekend we went to the cottage for 3 days. Gloria and Kevin joined us for a couple of days. I want to thank them for their help in getting the dock in, and to apologize again to Kevin for not catching him when he fell off the pier into the lake. I guess next summer; the case of James Ready 5.5 is on us.

For about the last week or so, I have been complaining about the last batch of butter I bought not having much salt. This weekend I noticed that I have no salt taste buds left (or very few). Even straight salt, has little or no taste. Is this another side effect of the chemo?, I don’t know.

The little bit of hair that I have, all 1/4" of it is falling out a an alarming rate. My head now has a glorious crop of bald patches. Later today I go to pick up my wig. I will post pictures tomorrow, both of my bald patches and my new do.

~Inez

Look Good, Feel Better

Yesterday I attended the Look Good, Feel Better session at Hearth Place. We had a nice morning discussing skin care, make up, head covering etc. The makeup tips were very helpful, but I don't know how much I will continue. I am not just a make up person, but the knowledge is useful. Mandy was funny, she came in and commented on my eye brows looking so natural. How did they do that she asked? then she laughed and said she forgot I still had my eye brows - what a sweetie - so observant.

I saw the wig ladies, and my wig is languishing in customs somewhere. Hopefully I will have it before the end of the week.

Last night I taught my first class of the season. It was a a busy day, with the Look Good session, the afternoon in Toronto and class in the evening. I was tired by 11:00 but then aren't we all.

~Inez

Poll closed...and the winner is My Favourite

My favourite won with a 2 to 1 margin (14 to 7).

That is the one I ordered, but I may get short and sassy as a back up.

We went to the Zion United Church BBQ dinner yesterday with Dad and Lois, Issac,Liz and Irene. It was a really good dinner. They served Beef, baked potatoes, gravy, corn (on and off the cob), sliced tomatoes, coleslaw, chili sauce (yum yum), rolls and 4 types of pie. Many dinners sampled all four, lemon meringue, pumpkin, peach and apple. They serve 450-500 paying quests and then serve the staff, some 75 to 100 persons, volunteers all.

I still am experiencing hiccups, usually at night, but I believe it is a side effect of the anti-nausea medication. They only seem to occur in the first few days following the treatments, when I am taking the Amend and they are a listed side effect.

THIS IS NOT PG
This may be too much information for some, but I think I know why they had trouble with my port. I am NOT small breasted LOL, and when the port was installed, I was laying flat on my back and the girls where unrestrained, trying to escape to my armpits. When they try to access the port, I am sitting upright with a bra on, so the angle changes. Hopefully this insight, along with some topical anesthetic cream will make the next treatment go smoother.

Hopefully, we are heading up to the cottage later today, until sometime on Tuesday. I am teaching a 6:00 that night so I have to be home. The kids will be fending for themselves again.

A correction to my chemo list - the herceptin will last one full year. The first 3 month combined with Paclitaxel (4 cycles) then will continue for 9 more month (total of 16 cycles) for one year total.

~Inez

Treatment # 2

Today was treatment # 2. Kyle came with me and Mandy dropped us off and picked us up.

It did not go quite as smooth as I hoped it would. First, they had trouble locating the port and the 2 nurses could not agree where it was. Apparently, it has shifted position and both nurses missed it. A third attempt was successful, but the first 2 stabs left a stinging feeling. The treatment itself went pretty smoothly, and we were done in less than 3 hours.

For supper tonight, we headed to Swiss Chalet for their rotisserie chicken. I again have a touch of heartburn, and I forgot to get my script filled yesterday. Oh well, I guess it will be Pepto tonight.

I got my blood numbers. For those who know these things, they are:

LKC (white) 5.5
ERC (red) 4.60
HB (hemoglobin) 128
PLT (platelets) 272
Neut# 3.6

~Inez

Wigs and Doctor's Appointments

Today was my first oncology appointment since my first treatment.

The doctor said that my blood numbers were good, but I forgot to write them down. He did say that 1 week after my treatment, my white blood count was low, and that I should avoid sick people. I also got him to prescribe something to help with the heartburn.

Anyway, we are on track for tomorrow's treatment. Mandy will be dropping us off and picking us up after we are done.

After the visit it the hospital, I went for another wig fitting. I am posting some pictures Kyle took and you can vote for your favourite. The vote will not influence my decision, but I will let you know the fan's favourite.

Short and Sassy

My Favourite

I don't think so

~Inez

Ready to shave it off

Well, today was the day. Following the start of hair loss yesterday, I decided to be done with this, and have Kyle shave it all off today.


He had some fun with it. First a little punk and then the final cut, with a little duck.

Some observations.

First of all, it is cold outside. I did not notice this in the afternoon, but this evening without hair, I was actually cold.

Getting out in the morning is going to be easy, nothing to comb, just a quick buff. And I am going to save a fortune on shampoo and conditioner.

I expect in the next few days the stubble will be gone too.

Hair Loss

Well it has finally happened - 15 days into my first 21 day cycle. This morning, when I combed my fingers through my hair, I came away with a handful. I am going to get Kyle to shave it all off for me. He wants to cut a rubber duckie in - I think I will let him try. Pictures tomorrow.

For those that have asked my what kind of Chemo I am receiving, I will try to explain what I understand. The Regiment is called AC--> Taxol Chemotherapy. The plan consists of 8 treatments cycles, each lasting 21 days (3 weeks). During the first 4 cycles, two drugs, Doxorubicin and Cyclophosphamide will be administered through my port. For the next 4 cycles, I will be receiving Paclitaxel along with Herceptin. After the 4 cycles are completed, I will continue with the Herceptin for I am assuming, another 6 months (9 months total). I may be wrong in the length of time for the Herceptin.

Following the completion of the first 4 cycles, I will be receiving radiation for 5 weeks/5 days a week, starting sometime in February, following my planning session at the end of January.

I am not happy with the way my port incision has healed - a misunderstanding by the nurse had me keep a waterproof dressing over it until last weekend. It is healing better now, but I think there is going to be a big scar.

Buy for now - I have a date with a barber.

Labour Day Weekend 2008

The weather this weekend was glorious. Warm days and cool evenings. The water in the lake was so warm, but I am still waiting for the OK to go in.

The pain in my side has continued pretty much the same, better in the mornings, worse at night. Helping Kyle with the crib stairs at the lake aggravated it, so I watched.

Last night I experienced deep muscle cramps in my calves. These are very similar to the cramps experienced during pregnancy. Both times (once for each leg) woke Kyle up. The only way to ease the cramp is to rub/massage it out. I don't know if this pain is related to the treatments.

We had a traumatic trailering episode this weekend. While hauling some spoiled bags of cement to the stair location, the trailer jumped off the ball of the truck, bent/broke the safety chains, slammed into the back of the truck, rode up along the tail gate, then crashed into the guard rail on the other side of the road. Thankfully there were no other vehicles on the road, and the guard rail kept it out of the lake. Looks like I need to replace the tail gate and rear bumper of the truck.

I still have my hair, but am hoping to post some wig photos so everyone can vote (non binding) on the different selections.