3/4 Done

I've had the good fortune to spend some time in Arizona with my sis and lemme tell ya, she looks great.  Honestly, you wouldn't know she's battling cancer.  I even got to go to her last chemo appointment.  She's now 3/4 done with chemo!  Only 2 more treatments left and then she'll begin radiation.  I'm just amazed at her energy and attitude.  I guess at this point I was expecting the treatments to be taking more of a toll.   Heck, she's even cooking us dinner and chasing my preschooler on the playground when it should be the other way around.  I'm sure it's not easy but as usual, she doesn't complain.  Not too much longer and she'll be able to announce the end of all of these treatments!

Round 3

I confess, I'm doing a lousy job at keeping up this blog.  It's one of the few things I can do for my sister from so far away and as such I want to do a good job.  But Traci is a warrior who just never complains.  I mean, NEVER.  I'm quite certain that any ache or pain would be the source of paragraphs of whining if I were in her shoes.  But that's not her style and as such I find it difficult to tell you anything other than "she's doing great!" 

So...she's doing great.  The last round of chemo hit her a bit harder than the first two.  Since the effects are cumulative, this wasn't unexpected.  With each round, they try to overcome the side effects (primarily nausea) by tweaking some meds (not the chemo but the other meds).  This time they increased her steroid dose hoping that might help but instead she was still nauseous and didn't have the luxury of sleeping through it.  Needless to say, she won't let them try that again!

Traci goes in tomorrow for her final round of this particular chemo cocktail.  After a 2-3 week break, she will begin the next set of 4 rounds of a different protocol.

Spoke too soon

I got an email from Traci this morning and she in fact has started losing her hair.  So they shaved it down to a buzz cut on Sunday and she is sporting some stylish hats now.

Round 2

Last Wednesday Traci went in for her 2 chemo treatment.  Things were much quicker and when I texted her at 11:30, she was already home.  That afternoon the nausea set in again and she went to bed early to try to sleep through the worst of it.  On Thursday she returned to work for a half day before going in for her Neulasta shot.  This time they suggested that she take Aleve instead of Advil to help prevent the intense headaches.  Fortunately it worked!  The other good news is that Traci hasn't lost her hair yet.  She is at an American Cancer Society beauty class tonight to learn some tricks from makeup to wigs to scarf tying for when she becomes bald and beautiful!

Neulasta side effect

Well, the Neulasta shot to boost her immune system and protect her from infection also caused some major headaches.  That lasted the weekend through Tuesday unfortunately.  But since then she's been feeling good!

1 down, 7 to go

That was Traci's facebook status yesterday.  She arrived for her first chemo at 9am and finished around 1:15pm.  So it was a long process from start to finish.  She felt good enough to stop for lunch on the way home but then started feeling tired.  As the evening progressed, nausea kicked in and the anti-nausea meds didn't seem to help.  Today she says she is feeling better but sticking with water and crackers for the time being.  As it's Ryan's birthday (happy birthday Ry!), she took him to Krispy Kreme for his free dozen donuts this morning and then swung by the store to check on a special birthday gift that launches today.  As she said "you've gotta do it when you feel good."  I guess there is no getting between a mama and her youngest son's birthday.  So take that cancer.  You're no match for my big sis!!! 

Today she goes back for a shot to boost her white cell count.  The goal is to keep her immune system in tip-top shape.

Port placement

Traci's port was placed yesterday.  It is surgery but the placement was quick and she suffered no nausea.  In fact, she did so well that she was able to attend Ryan's soccer practice that evening.  Tomorrow chemo begins. 

Treatment plan

This was a big week for appointments.  On Monday, Traci met with the surgeon and got the pathology results.  Due to some leakage the prior week, her drains were removed and the surgeon felt she was healing well.  The pathology reports are overall good but there were a handful of lymph nodes affected.

On Tuesday, she had some routine baseline scans including a brain MRI and an chest, pelvis and abdominal CT.  This involved fasting for 4 hours, drinking some "fantastic liquid" as she called it, waiting an hour and completing the scans.  After all that, she still managed to get Ry registered for Scouts that evening.

Finally on Wednesday, she met with the oncologist to review the treatment plan.  She will get a port placed on September 28th.  Another surgery but we're hoping to avoid the nausea she experienced with the last anesthesia.  And then she will start chemo on September 30th.  Traci will be doing a dose-dense chemo protocol followed by 5 weeks of daily radiation.  This involves 4 cycles of chemo administered every 2 weeks, then a 2-3 week break.  Plus another 4 cycles of chemo administered every 3 weeks followed by a 3-4 week break.  Finally the radiation.  If you're doing the math like I am, that means the treatment will take 30-32 weeks.

Traci continues to have a warrior attitude.  She's ready to tackle this treatment and beat this thing!  My big sister is nothing short of amazing.

Wonder Woman

I spoke with Traci this morning and she sounds great!  She's only using Ibuprofen for pain proving yet again that she is unstoppable.  I'm sure she'll take her invisible jet for a spin around the desert in no time. 

Surgery went well

Traci's surgery began about 40 minutes later than planned but I just got word from Todd that it went well and she is on her way home.  I'm sure the delay irritated her because she wasn't allowed to eat or drink after 5am today!  Anyway, Todd said she's pretty groggy and nauseous so I'll bet she'll be glad to get home.  Thanks to everyone for your calls, emails, comments and prayers! 

The battle begins

Traci has decided to show cancer who is boss right off the bat and have a double mastectomy on Tuesday.  Believe or not, the surgery is outpatient and only takes a couple hours so she'll be in at 2pm and probably be discharged around 5pm. In Traci's words:  "I'm super confident that I'm going to knock this thing out."  Go get em sis!