During chemo my eyeballs would occasionally vibrate back and forth really fast, probably due to a muscle that was twitching. It hasn't happened in a long while, but the past 2 weeks, it's been happening again. I thought that it was because my eyes were dry from the contacts, but today my left eye has been "vibrating" frequently enough that it's getting annoying. I'm trying to read through the grants I've been assigned, but it's distracting when the words are bouncing around.
The brown spots on my fingers are gone except for one on my left thumb. It's light brown. My finger nails are chipping oddly, but nothing hurts! =>
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
A gift for my cancerversary!
Well, it's been 1 year since that fateful day I went for a mammogram and found out I most likely had breast cancer. It's strange that since the middle of this month so many significant events have occurred that I remember them a year later. That's the way it'll be for the rest of the year.
My gift is my period! It came back today just a few moments ago! I'm very excited, especially since for a second I thought that maybe peeing on yourself was another side effect of chemo. It's taken three months since the end of chemo and 8 months since it's stopped to come back.
My gift is my period! It came back today just a few moments ago! I'm very excited, especially since for a second I thought that maybe peeing on yourself was another side effect of chemo. It's taken three months since the end of chemo and 8 months since it's stopped to come back.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Hair pictures!
The back of my head looks like William's. I've got 2 whorls, too! hee hee My bottom lashes have even grown in. This week I didn't draw in my brows with the pencil. I just added some eyeshadow to fill in a bit.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
My YSC siggy
I'm about to change my signature on the YSC site, but it gives good info on the dates for my treatment. I'm just copying them here for my records.
32 years old, married l ER-/PR-, HER2+++ l BRCA1/BRCA2 negative
Found lump in left breast during self breast exam in Mid-May 2008, Age 31
Mammo/US, needle core biopsy--05/28/08
1st lumpectomy: 0/2 node involvement and 0.7cm mutifocal IDC, Stage 1B--06/16/08
2nd lumpectomy: more DCIS--08/19/08PET/CT scan is normal--09/10/08
Chemo: taxotere, carboplatin, herceptin (TCH) 6 rounds, every 3 wks; Herceptin for 1 yr, every 3 wks
ROUND 1--10/08/08 DONE!
ROUND 2--10/29/08 DONE!
ROUND 3--11/19/08 Got just CH due to liver enz DONE!
ROUND 4--12/10/08 got postponed due to platelets; 12/17/08 TCH with lowered C DONE!ROUND 5--1/7/09 lowered C DONE!
ROUND 6--1/28/09 DONE!
Additional taxotere (Final chemo!)--2/18/09 DONE!!!
Radiation: partial breast, 15 days, every day except Sat/Sun, with ABS breathing apparatus 10/08/08 to 10/28/08 DONE!!
32 years old, married l ER-/PR-, HER2+++ l BRCA1/BRCA2 negative
Found lump in left breast during self breast exam in Mid-May 2008, Age 31
Mammo/US, needle core biopsy--05/28/08
1st lumpectomy: 0/2 node involvement and 0.7cm mutifocal IDC, Stage 1B--06/16/08
2nd lumpectomy: more DCIS--08/19/08PET/CT scan is normal--09/10/08
Chemo: taxotere, carboplatin, herceptin (TCH) 6 rounds, every 3 wks; Herceptin for 1 yr, every 3 wks
ROUND 1--10/08/08 DONE!
ROUND 2--10/29/08 DONE!
ROUND 3--11/19/08 Got just CH due to liver enz DONE!
ROUND 4--12/10/08 got postponed due to platelets; 12/17/08 TCH with lowered C DONE!ROUND 5--1/7/09 lowered C DONE!
ROUND 6--1/28/09 DONE!
Additional taxotere (Final chemo!)--2/18/09 DONE!!!
Radiation: partial breast, 15 days, every day except Sat/Sun, with ABS breathing apparatus 10/08/08 to 10/28/08 DONE!!
Excerpt from YSC post
I spent about 2 hours posting this, and it gives an idea of what I've been up to. These women in my chemo group have been a truly great source of support during my treatment. I "talked" to them just about every day on how I was feeling. Isa and I are really done except monitoring. Heather and Cori will undergo reconstruction in a few months. Karen, who was pregnant when she was diagnosed, already had her healthy baby and is doing chemo. Although Kat is done with chemo, she's having pain from her expanders (reconstruction).
Hi ladies,
I've got no real plans for this weekend so I'm hanging out at lab trying to keep cool. Dh wanted some MD crabs so we may pick some up later. I'm reviewing those grants for the Dept. of Defense so that's keeping me busy.
Jen and Stephen--Great to know that Jen's surgery went fine! Hope you're getting some good rest and healing right along!
Heather--We will definitely be meeting up in Atlanta since you're not coming to Baltimore for reconstruction! Are you still having the numb arm sensation? I wonder if it's neuropathy from the chemo. About a month after I finshed chemo, I would wake up with numb toes, 2 or 3 on each side, but it would get better as I walked around during the day. It didn't hurt though like your arm seems to have been. It's gotten a lot better in the last few weeks. I hope that yours does, too. Has your arm swelled? Someone mentioned that you can check by looking at your elbows. My toes were fine during chemo so it seemed to be a delayed reaction.
On the Farrah show, I cried when the son came to visit, too. I only saw the last bit so I missed the cooking of the liver in chemo juice. yikes! Hope you're having a blast at Busch Gardens!
I checked out the Dr. Junghans article. His work is definitely what I'm interested in: cancer immunotherapy, using your own immune system to fight cancer! I think that there's a long way to go before it's used regularly, but it's great that he's got the funding to go into clinical trial for this. http://pbn.new.adqic.com/detail/41645.html
Cori--Hope your second round of antibiotics does the trick! You will conquer the paper cut! One of my co-workers told me that I should try prenatal vitamins to get my hair growing and lush. Sure enough, my pregnant labmate has fabulous hair. I'm tempted to try...
Isa--My white counts haven't been checked since my last chemo in Feb. They don't check for Herceptin so I have no idea what they are, but I'm feeling pretty good that I think it's OK.
Oh Kat--I'm sorry to hear about your depression and your stubborn clot. There was an article posted on the general board about taxanes increasing clinical depression up to 2 years post treatment. I kept that article in case I had any signs later on. Being in pain certainly doesn't help things any. You are definitely not alone in feeling this way, especially with the correlation between taxanes and depression.
Yes, chemo does affect your vision, but afterwards it should go back. I'm not sure how long that takes though.
Isa--I hope your dh is doing better now. Is he stressed about the classes that he's taking now?...
Steph--Boo to vaginal atrophy! You should definitely combat that while you are in CA.
Karen--Great pics! Happy birthday to Andrew! We will count down your chemo weeks with you. We want to kick cancer's butt so far off that it can never, ever, return. This is annihilation, and you CAN do it! An hour and a half drive is really far off for rads. There isn't another trusted center close by? Rads will be 30 min max per day. You should talk to your surgeon and med onc more about the prophylactic mastectomy vs. your family doc. Don't feel pressured to have the mast right away. You can have it at a later time, if you wish.
Hi to Wendy! Have a fun holiday!
Kyung
Hi ladies,
I've got no real plans for this weekend so I'm hanging out at lab trying to keep cool. Dh wanted some MD crabs so we may pick some up later. I'm reviewing those grants for the Dept. of Defense so that's keeping me busy.
Jen and Stephen--Great to know that Jen's surgery went fine! Hope you're getting some good rest and healing right along!
Heather--We will definitely be meeting up in Atlanta since you're not coming to Baltimore for reconstruction! Are you still having the numb arm sensation? I wonder if it's neuropathy from the chemo. About a month after I finshed chemo, I would wake up with numb toes, 2 or 3 on each side, but it would get better as I walked around during the day. It didn't hurt though like your arm seems to have been. It's gotten a lot better in the last few weeks. I hope that yours does, too. Has your arm swelled? Someone mentioned that you can check by looking at your elbows. My toes were fine during chemo so it seemed to be a delayed reaction.
On the Farrah show, I cried when the son came to visit, too. I only saw the last bit so I missed the cooking of the liver in chemo juice. yikes! Hope you're having a blast at Busch Gardens!
I checked out the Dr. Junghans article. His work is definitely what I'm interested in: cancer immunotherapy, using your own immune system to fight cancer! I think that there's a long way to go before it's used regularly, but it's great that he's got the funding to go into clinical trial for this. http://pbn.new.adqic.com/detail/41645.html
Cori--Hope your second round of antibiotics does the trick! You will conquer the paper cut! One of my co-workers told me that I should try prenatal vitamins to get my hair growing and lush. Sure enough, my pregnant labmate has fabulous hair. I'm tempted to try...
Isa--My white counts haven't been checked since my last chemo in Feb. They don't check for Herceptin so I have no idea what they are, but I'm feeling pretty good that I think it's OK.
Oh Kat--I'm sorry to hear about your depression and your stubborn clot. There was an article posted on the general board about taxanes increasing clinical depression up to 2 years post treatment. I kept that article in case I had any signs later on. Being in pain certainly doesn't help things any. You are definitely not alone in feeling this way, especially with the correlation between taxanes and depression.
Yes, chemo does affect your vision, but afterwards it should go back. I'm not sure how long that takes though.
Isa--I hope your dh is doing better now. Is he stressed about the classes that he's taking now?...
Steph--Boo to vaginal atrophy! You should definitely combat that while you are in CA.
Karen--Great pics! Happy birthday to Andrew! We will count down your chemo weeks with you. We want to kick cancer's butt so far off that it can never, ever, return. This is annihilation, and you CAN do it! An hour and a half drive is really far off for rads. There isn't another trusted center close by? Rads will be 30 min max per day. You should talk to your surgeon and med onc more about the prophylactic mastectomy vs. your family doc. Don't feel pressured to have the mast right away. You can have it at a later time, if you wish.
Hi to Wendy! Have a fun holiday!
Kyung
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Echoooooooooooo
I had my echo done today by a student. It seems everything went well. Only took an hour or less. The bed/chair was so comfy this time I almost fell asleep.
I think I caught something. I woke up with a sore throat yesterday that irritated when I swallowed. It's a bit better today except that I can hear little ticking sounds in my ear when I swallow. Nose definitely dripping, probably from Herceptin. The sore throat may or may not be Herceptin related since Sam has a cold, and we ate at a party this weekend.
Last night we had a girls' night out with the women in the lab at Pazo's. Beautiful restaurant, good food except my grilled tuna tapas, but pricey. I liked the pork tenderloin pintos and cajeta mousse cake.
I think I caught something. I woke up with a sore throat yesterday that irritated when I swallowed. It's a bit better today except that I can hear little ticking sounds in my ear when I swallow. Nose definitely dripping, probably from Herceptin. The sore throat may or may not be Herceptin related since Sam has a cold, and we ate at a party this weekend.
Last night we had a girls' night out with the women in the lab at Pazo's. Beautiful restaurant, good food except my grilled tuna tapas, but pricey. I liked the pork tenderloin pintos and cajeta mousse cake.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Linda and Jae are having a boy!
It was confirmed a few weeks back, but I've been behind on my posts. I'm so excited! Yay!
license plates and update
This is probably the longest I haven't written since chemo started. It's already time this week for my Herceptin treatment. The following week I'll have my echo again to check Herceptin's effect on my heart.
My hair's definitely growing in. Last week I didn't wear the stocking thing under my wig, just too itchy! It's actually pretty comfortable without it. This weekend my wig passed a true test for holding on. It was so windy outside, and Sam and I were by the water. The wig stayed on although the photos showed some hairs sticking straight up.
Thanks to my chemo angels, Deb and Karen, for thinking of me and praying for me throughout chemo! They actually continued to correspond for longer than the end of chemo. Thank you, Deb, for what I call the grand finale package! => And, Karen, I continue to get the guideposts that have such encouraging stories. Thank you so much!
Oh, my eyelashes are growing back in! Although they are short, they line my eyes! I actually plucked some eyebrows this weekend. The hairs on my fingers, near the knuckles, kinda look odd since they were absent before.
The referral to the license plates has to do with seeing my initials on TWO license plates this week. I don't think that I've seen one before. I always thought that my license plate starting with FHY was cool because since it was close to my initals of KHY. The plates I saw were KHY 397 and KHY 255. I thought it was a weird coincidence.
Most of the ladies in my chemo group are about finished their radiation treatment. I think that they really did have a tougher time doing rads after chemo. Also, one said that her skin peeled off with the sticker that they put on her. yikes! My skin never got that bad since I did the partial radiation clinical trial.
I'm still waiting for my period to return, but about 2 weeks ago I got a good sign that it may return as soon as this week. No way to really tell though.
My hair's definitely growing in. Last week I didn't wear the stocking thing under my wig, just too itchy! It's actually pretty comfortable without it. This weekend my wig passed a true test for holding on. It was so windy outside, and Sam and I were by the water. The wig stayed on although the photos showed some hairs sticking straight up.
Thanks to my chemo angels, Deb and Karen, for thinking of me and praying for me throughout chemo! They actually continued to correspond for longer than the end of chemo. Thank you, Deb, for what I call the grand finale package! => And, Karen, I continue to get the guideposts that have such encouraging stories. Thank you so much!
Oh, my eyelashes are growing back in! Although they are short, they line my eyes! I actually plucked some eyebrows this weekend. The hairs on my fingers, near the knuckles, kinda look odd since they were absent before.
The referral to the license plates has to do with seeing my initials on TWO license plates this week. I don't think that I've seen one before. I always thought that my license plate starting with FHY was cool because since it was close to my initals of KHY. The plates I saw were KHY 397 and KHY 255. I thought it was a weird coincidence.
Most of the ladies in my chemo group are about finished their radiation treatment. I think that they really did have a tougher time doing rads after chemo. Also, one said that her skin peeled off with the sticker that they put on her. yikes! My skin never got that bad since I did the partial radiation clinical trial.
I'm still waiting for my period to return, but about 2 weeks ago I got a good sign that it may return as soon as this week. No way to really tell though.
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