She Believed She Could, So She Did! Taxol #1
Before today's treatment, I had lab work done and met with a doctor (not Dr. Sinclair as she was covering at another hospital this week). My lab work looked better than it has in a long time. I am no longer anemic and my liver counts were all in the normal range. At an appointment about a month ago, Dr. Sinclair commented that it is very rare to see anemia improve during chemo treatment. So thankful for this blessing! I think the extra week and a half off from chemo helped my body process everything, which in turn helped bring down my liver count that had been slightly high.
I read a copy of the PET scan report, and while a lot of it goes over my head, I can get the gist of it. Seeing words like "decreased", "resolved", "no suspicious", and "resolution" are all words that you want to read on a PET scan.
The treatment went well. Apparently allergic reactions are somewhat common with Taxol, so I had to take stronger IV steroids before treatment. Then I had to wait 30 minutes after they were administered before they could give me the Taxol. The nurse stayed with me for the first 11 minutes (odd amount of time, I know) to make sure that any signs of allergic reaction didn't pop up. Thankfully my body showed no signs of an adverse reaction. I told Jason I walked out of the cancer center feeling just as good as when I walked in. Even though I handled AC (the red sunshine) really well, I still felt like my body had just gone through something after treatment. With this, I feel very much the same as I did this morning. I hope that continues over the next several days and through future treatments. 🌞
The good news is for Taxol I do not have to take three days worth of steroids at home. The steroids were the worst part of chemo for me. I hate having a dry mouth and I have a hard time keeping my emotions in check. I like to be in control of my emotions. I have no problem releasing the tears when they need to come, but coming off steroids has always been difficult for me. I feel slightly irrational. While I don't get angry, I know my patience is not at my normal patience level and I am really hard on myself. I often feel like a bad Mom and wife. I am sad for me over how this cancer diagnosis has changed my life, but I sob for the sense of normalcy that has been stolen from Jason's and Owen's lives. After a few days of adjustment, I can see that my perceptions aren't always grounded in reality and Jason and Owen really are just fine. I'm hopeful that only one dose of steroids may limit some of my overly emotional reactions.
I am still waiting for my insurance to agree to cover a breast MRI. This is frustrating. While an MRI is not needed on a regular basis for typical breast cancers, they provide a lot of information to the doctor about how inflammatory breast cancer is responding to treatment. My doctor thinks that somewhere in insurance world someone read my diagnosis as breast cancer. There is a huge difference between "breast cancer" and "inflammatory breast cancer." Standard care is for repeated MRI's. It is really the only way for the doctors to see how well the inflammation is responding to treatment. I love my health insurance. I am blessed to have great insurance at a great rate. At this point I am not paying anything out of pocket for my care, except for co-pays to see the doctor. My insurance has already saved me close to $400,000 this year. Trust me, I am very thankful for my health insurance. I'm just frustrated that someone sitting behind a desk that knows nothing about inflammatory breast cancer, and most likely doesn't even know that standard of care is different for this type of breast cancer, is denying procedures that my doctors say are medically necessary in planning my care. I know this issue will get resolved soon because I have wonderful doctors fighting this battle for me.
Thank you for the continued support you are all providing to my family and me. We feel the love of our small towns and are so thankful for the prayers, well wishes, cards, and support you all offer. Feeling the love you all are sending out to our families helps me know that this is all going to be okay, no matter what.
I read a copy of the PET scan report, and while a lot of it goes over my head, I can get the gist of it. Seeing words like "decreased", "resolved", "no suspicious", and "resolution" are all words that you want to read on a PET scan.
The treatment went well. Apparently allergic reactions are somewhat common with Taxol, so I had to take stronger IV steroids before treatment. Then I had to wait 30 minutes after they were administered before they could give me the Taxol. The nurse stayed with me for the first 11 minutes (odd amount of time, I know) to make sure that any signs of allergic reaction didn't pop up. Thankfully my body showed no signs of an adverse reaction. I told Jason I walked out of the cancer center feeling just as good as when I walked in. Even though I handled AC (the red sunshine) really well, I still felt like my body had just gone through something after treatment. With this, I feel very much the same as I did this morning. I hope that continues over the next several days and through future treatments. 🌞
The good news is for Taxol I do not have to take three days worth of steroids at home. The steroids were the worst part of chemo for me. I hate having a dry mouth and I have a hard time keeping my emotions in check. I like to be in control of my emotions. I have no problem releasing the tears when they need to come, but coming off steroids has always been difficult for me. I feel slightly irrational. While I don't get angry, I know my patience is not at my normal patience level and I am really hard on myself. I often feel like a bad Mom and wife. I am sad for me over how this cancer diagnosis has changed my life, but I sob for the sense of normalcy that has been stolen from Jason's and Owen's lives. After a few days of adjustment, I can see that my perceptions aren't always grounded in reality and Jason and Owen really are just fine. I'm hopeful that only one dose of steroids may limit some of my overly emotional reactions.
I am still waiting for my insurance to agree to cover a breast MRI. This is frustrating. While an MRI is not needed on a regular basis for typical breast cancers, they provide a lot of information to the doctor about how inflammatory breast cancer is responding to treatment. My doctor thinks that somewhere in insurance world someone read my diagnosis as breast cancer. There is a huge difference between "breast cancer" and "inflammatory breast cancer." Standard care is for repeated MRI's. It is really the only way for the doctors to see how well the inflammation is responding to treatment. I love my health insurance. I am blessed to have great insurance at a great rate. At this point I am not paying anything out of pocket for my care, except for co-pays to see the doctor. My insurance has already saved me close to $400,000 this year. Trust me, I am very thankful for my health insurance. I'm just frustrated that someone sitting behind a desk that knows nothing about inflammatory breast cancer, and most likely doesn't even know that standard of care is different for this type of breast cancer, is denying procedures that my doctors say are medically necessary in planning my care. I know this issue will get resolved soon because I have wonderful doctors fighting this battle for me.
Thank you for the continued support you are all providing to my family and me. We feel the love of our small towns and are so thankful for the prayers, well wishes, cards, and support you all offer. Feeling the love you all are sending out to our families helps me know that this is all going to be okay, no matter what.
Happy Dance!! I am so happy you and your body are having such positive results with your chemo treatments! Prayer for you all continue and a special one for the insurance company to wake up and read the diagnosis, so they will approve the MRI.
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