Day 1, Treatment Day (Tuesday, 9/17): After my delay last week I was given a shot to help boost my counts. I went back to NYU on Friday for a blood test and was happy to hear that my neutrophil count was up to 3.2 and that I would not need another shot. Everyone was confident that I would be cleared for my next treatment. 

Well, this morning I came for my blood test, feeling 100% confident that my counts would be fine (as usual), only to find out that my neutrophils had dropped to 1.2. I was cleared for my treatment, but just barely. In order to make sure that I would be cleared for my final treatment next week I will have to get 3 shots this week to help keep my counts up. 

This was my 9th Taxol and 4th (and final) Carboplatin. It has been almost a month since my last time getting both drugs and I forgot how long it takes. Thankfully, even though Matt was traveling, my friends came to keep me company. 

After chemo, I walked home and took a long nap. I woke up feeling really groggy, went to acupuncture, got the boys to bed, and had dinner with my brother. I was feeling really off. I was tired but I had a hard time falling asleep and was feeling a bit nauseous. I haven’t felt like that in a long time.

Day 2: After a rough night, Aidan woke up at 5:30am ready to start his day (yay!). I was not feeling great but I managed to feed the boys breakfast and get them dressed. By the time my nanny arrived at 8am, I was anxious to get right back in bed and go to sleep. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to rest, as I needed to go back to NYU at 10am to get a shot. After getting my shot, I spent the rest of the day in bed.

Day 3: Aidan had a rough night and ended up coming into bed with us at about 12:30am. While Matt woke up saying, “That wasn’t so horrible” while I spent the night attached to a 3.5 year old who couldn’t get closer to me.

Today is Cooper’s 2nd birthday and if it wasn’t for our tradition of singing Happy Birthday and throwing balloons in the crib, I would have told Matt to handle the boys and rolled right over and gone back to sleep. BUT, my baby is 2, so we took the boys to the diner and sang happy birthday with a candle in a stack of pancakes. Then, we took the boys to school, I went to get my shot, treated myself to Cafe Panna and got right back into bed for a looooong nap. Thankfully, I set my alarm or I would have slept right through my acupuncture appointment.

Day 4: Another day at NYU to have my blood counts checked. Thankfully, my counts were high enough that I did not need to get a third shot. I spent the rest of the day relaxing. We have a busy weekend ahead of Wisconsin vs. Michigan football, birthday parties and a bridal shower.

Chemo Update: It has been a while since I had the combination of the two drugs and I forgot how much the Taxol/Carbo combo knocks me out. Feeling relieved that this is my last time having to power through this as it really makes me feel tired and foggy.
Only 1 more treatment to go!

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Part 1 (9/3/19)

Another delay. 

I walked into NYU feeling soooo confident. My blood counts were high the week before, I felt great, my cough was gone, I was positive that I would be cleared for treatment. While meeting with my doctors she told me that my neutrophil count was down to 0.9 and I would not be able to get treated. I was shocked. I asked how it was possible for it to drop from 1.5 to 0.9 in one week. She explained that my counts were only high last week because body was fighting off the cough. Once my white blood cells were finished doing their job, they plummeted. It made sense but I was still annoyed.

My grandma had come into the city to sit with me during chemo so instead of watching me sit in a chair, we went out for lunch.  We had a nice time together but I spent the rest of the afternoon sulking about my treatment delay.

Part 1.5 (9/9/19)

Once chemotherapy is completed, I will have a bilateral mastectomy. Today, I met with my breast surgeon, Deborah Axelrod, to schedule the surgery. I still have a few more weeks of treatment and then my body will need a few weeks to recover from chemo. The surgery is set for Monday, October 21st.

During the breast exam, my doctor was very pleased that she could not feel anything suspicious. I used to be able to feel my tumor easily and could even see it poking out of my breast. Now, my doctors have every reason to believe that it is completely gone. Though we already determined that I would be having a mastectomy, we discussed all other surgical options. Given that my tumor has responded so well to treatments, I would have been a good candidate for a lumpectomy, if not for my BRCA status. Because my chances of recurrence are higher than the general population, it makes sense to remove the whole breast. I am totally fine with this decision.

Part 2 (9/10/19)

After my delay last week I was more confident than ever that I would be treated. I have never had a delay two weeks in a row so I thought that there was no possible way that my counts wouldn’t rebound after taking a week off. Well, you learn something new every day. My counts were super low (0.7) and my treatment was being held again. I immediately started sobbing. These back-to-back delays have been super disappointing and stressful. With each treatment I feel like I am getting closer to the finish line and each delay makes me take a step back. 

I immediately had a million questions, Why aren’t my counts getting higher? What does this mean for my timeline? Will I have to reschedule my surgery? As I grabbed a pile of tissues, my oncologist walked in the room and said, “no more crying! I already wrote it my notes that we may only do 10 treatments instead of 12.” I asked if I would have to reschedule my surgery and she said “absolutely not, we will work around it.” We discussed the reasons for reducing my total number of treatments from 12 to 10 and any long term implications that may have. She assured me that there is no reason to be concerned about only completing 10 treatments. I was relieved. 

My doctor gave me a shot to help boost my white blood cells and instructed me to come back to the hospital on Friday to have my counts checked again. If they do not go up as much as they would like, I will get another shot. The goal at this point is to ensure that I am well enough for two more treatments, with my final treatment scheduled for September 24th.  

Chemo Status: Still only 8 Taxol down, but now only 2 to go!

In other news: Aidan and Cooper both started school this week. Both boys were super excited and ran right in to their classrooms.

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Day 1, Treatment Day (Tuesday): This was the fastest chemo I have ever experienced. Matt had his company’s sales conference so he wasn’t with me and I decided that I wanted to go by myself. I went in early for blood work and met with my doctor. Instead of only talking about treatments and blood counts we started talking about how cancer changes your perspective and how time and relationships become more important. She sees patients of all ages and stages and I can only imagine how hard that must be.

I walked into NYU that morning not sure if I was even going to be able to get treatment because of a minor cough that I had over the weekend. I was shocked when my neutrophils were 1.5! The “healthiest” they have ever been during my whole treatment. I went straight from the doctor to the chemo chair and was finished with my treatment by 11am – it was awesome!

Day 2-5 (Wednesday-Friday): Aidan’s camp is finished so the boys don’t really have any scheduled activities. My nanny has been amazing about taking the boys for all-day play dates. They leave the house around 10am and don’t come back home until almost 7pm – after already having eaten dinner and taken baths. It has allowed me to really relax quietly at home.

Labor Day Weekend: We had super busy and fun Labor Day Weekend with friends and family. I can’t believe that September is here!

Chemo Status: 8 Taxol down, 4 to go!