Herceptin - One Week Out

I've been tired today. I think it's due to residual effects of Herceptin and trying to fight off a cold.

I also had a nice walk yesterday morning in the forest, in a drizzle, with Cat and her dogs. It wasn't a long walk, but since I'm still recovering a bit from Herceptin, maybe it tired me out. I woke up feeling great yesterday, so didn't think anything about whether or not it might tire me out some. I don't regret the walk, though! It's nice to get out and get some fresh air!

My theory with regard to being tired due to Herceptin is this: for a few days last week, my body was trying to flush the Herceptin out of my body. Now, it's trying to flush the dead cancer cells out of my body. That takes work.

Also, it seems that the swollen lymph nodes are still shrinking a bit. It's really hard to tell. Sometimes, it feels the same and sometimes, it feels like it might be smaller. They may have moved around a little bit. They've been tender the last couple of days and that may be due to my body trying to clear out the cancer and/or lifting and holding Baby Gooey.

I've had a slight sore throat, too, and took Airborne today so that it doesn't develop into more of a cold. My nose has been a bit runny today.

Other than that, dad and Scotty rearranged Eddie's room and it feels a lot bigger. I got pictures and other things organized there. Then, I was able to move a few more things out of my room so it's starting to feel less cluttered. I posted about 20 or so items on Craigslist on Thursday and already we've sold about 6 of them and two more people are stopping by tomorrow for a couple of things. So, the garage is feeling less cluttered and we have a little spending money. I paid some bills and also did some preparation for filing my taxes, like calculating out of pocket expenses for medical bills.

All in all, a productive day, even if I spent most of it on the couch! : )

One Step Closer to UW Immunetherapy trial

The clinical coordinator of the immunotherapy trial at UW has reviewed my records and believes that I am, indeed, eligible. But before they can make a final determination, they need a recent echocardiogram or MUGA, so I'll call Dr. K's office and have him order it for me. I need another one anyway, since I've started Herceptin.

I really like the idea of doing this immunotherapy - using your own cells to fight the cancer sounds about right to me. I'll keep you posted on what happens with this!

In the meantime, still doing well, although tired today because I didn't sleep well last night. I'm taking it easy!

Oh yeah, I ended up having lunch with Phyllis Lee today - she's the retired former Director of Multicultural Affairs (now the Office of Community & Diversity) for whom the award I received was named after. She was very gracious and treated me to lunch! Thank you, Phyllis!

Latest tumor marker

I had my blood drawn the other day when I received Herceptin - but my veins didn't want to give up a lot of blood, so they actually didn't do the CEA this month. However, they did do the CA15-3. Anything 33 and under is considered normal. This month? 33.8! It went down a few points from 37.5! I'm trying not to read too much into it as the numbers can fluctuate a few points each time. On the other hand, a downward trend is a good thing! ; )

Here's the CA15-3.

Sept 2007 - 23 U/mL
Jan 2008 - 31 U/mL
Mar 2008 - 36 U/mL
June 2008 - 23 U/mL (started radiation that month)
Aug 2008 - 18 U/mL (week of August 4th)
Sept 2008 - 14.5 U/mL YAAAAAAY!!!
Oct 1 2008 - 19.6 U/mL
Oct 31 2008 - 15.3 U/mL
Nov 28 2008 - 19.5 U/mL
Dec 30 2008 - 16.0 U/mL
Jan 22 2009 - 15.4 U/mL
Mar 2 2009 - 17.8 U/mL
Apr 8 2009 - 19.6 U/mL
May 5 2009 - 18.4 U/mL
June 4 2009 - 19.7 U/mL
July 2 2009 - 22.1 U/mL
Aug 3 2009 - 29.7 U/mL
August 31 2009 - 31.9 U/mL
Oct 3 2009 - 38.7 U/mL
Nov 2 2009 - 36.4 U/mL
Nov 30 2009 - 38.5 U/mL
Dec 28 2009 - 37.5 U/mL
Jan 25 2010 - 33.8 U/mL

I'll post the CEA numbers again, even though it wasn't measured this time, just for consistency's sake. Anything 3.8 and under is "normal".

CEA
1/2008 - 1.2 ng/mL
3/2008 - 0.9 ng/mL
6/2008 - 1.0 ng/mL
8/2008 - 1.1 ng/mL (need to double check this number, but it was in that 0.9 to 1.2 range)
9/2008 - 0.5 ng/mL
10/2008 - 0.9 ng/mL
10/31/2008 - 1.2 ng/mL
11/28/2008 - 1.2 ng/mL
12/30/2008 - 1.1 ng/mL
3/2/2009 - 1.4 ng/mL
4/8/2009 - 1.6 ng/mL
5/5/2009 - 1.9 ng/mL
6/4/2009 - 3.0 ng/mL
7/2/2009 - 3.7 ng/mL
8/3/2009 - 4.2 ng/mL
8/31/2009 - 5.1 ng/mL
10/2/2009 - 5.7 ng/mL (or was it 5.8?)
11/2/2009 - 7.6 ng/mL
11/30/2009 - 10.5 ng/mL
12/28/2009 - 13.2 ng/mL

Hopefully, they test the CEA when they draw blood in six weeks. I'll keep you posted!

Herceptin

So, today was a really good day. I had a great night's sleep last night and felt fairly awake until early evening. Sometimes, I feel like I might have a headache (a side effect), but it doesn't last for long.

Another side effect that I may have had (other than fatigue) was lower back pain, caused by the kidneys trying to process this foreign chemical in your body. I certainly had lower back pain on Monday night and through Tuesday. But it was hard to tell if it was because of Herceptin or because of all the sitting I did on airplanes, in a conference room on Thurs/Fri and in the car on Sunday. But it was gone by this morning, so perhaps it was the good night's sleep, plus I tried to drink a lot of fluids to help flush out the Herceptin.

And, I swear, those swollen lymph nodes already feel a little less swollen. They are certainly less tender and the shooting pain I had last week isn't there. My dad said that maybe something was slightly infected or irritated. Who knows? But I choose to believe that Herceptin is doing the trick!

In the News - and Herceptin Update

OSU News and Communication Services had this little news bit about the Phylis Lee Award:

Phyllis Lee Award

Also, no major side effects so far - just tired. Taking it easy. Watching American Idol. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but it seems like the swollen lymph nodes under my left arm pit are already a little less swollen. I started taking Tylenol for the pinched nerve (or whatever caused the shooting pain) for a few days last week, but I haven't taken one since Sunday night . . . only one tweak since then. I'll keep you posted!

Did a bit of work today - I'm starting my little study of cancer blogs. I plan to find out what breast cancer patients have to say regarding their care and also what strategies they may use to seek support.

Otherwise, no other news. Happy Tuesday!

So Far So Good

I had my first dose of Herceptin today. So far, I'm not experiencing any side effects except that I'm more tired than usual.

It was a long afternoon, though. I got to Ambulatory Infusion about 1pm, then there was some paperwork to fill out because it was a new medicine; then they had to make sure that they had the correct orders because pharmacy mixed the drug together. The Herceptin dose is administered over 90 minutes. By the time it was finished, I'd been there about 2 1/2 hours.

Then, they realized that my dose of zometa was calculated to be given every four weeks, but I'm now getting it every three weeks, so they had to decrease the dose. But it turns out Dr. K hadn't given them the orders so we had to wait for them. Dr. K's office thought they had faxed them. So, that was about a 45 minute wait.

Then, 30 minutes for the zometa. Finally, we did a blood draw, in order to have baseline data (before and after Herceptin). But they had to stick me three more times before they found a vein that would give up enough blood.

All told, the visit was 4 1/2 hours. I didn't get to see Eddie after school. I'll see him in the morning, though.

Patience is key in the cancer world.

I'm just glad I'm not experiencing any side effects worse than fatigue. : )

Thoughts About Work

In the last month or so, I've found myself not really wanting to work.

Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I feel very fortunate to have a job and to be able to (mostly) do what I want to do when I want to do it. I also can't afford to quit my job. I have too many bills - much of my debt, though, piled up when I was on sabbatical two years ago and I used my home equity line of credit to make up the difference. I didn't want to have to worry about finances since I was dealing with the news of a recurrence and then metastases.

Granted, in the last month or so, my life has been unsettled: I wasn't sure what my new treatment would be and then my family moved into my house. Things are finally settling down there, but I find that I can't really get my mind on my job.

Part of the reason for this is that my mind is becoming more and more focused on healing and reading about things of a more spiritual matter. I've been learning more about meditation, qigong and Eastern philosophy.

I've also been reconnecting with people from high school - which has been healing for me in a lot of ways. (Thanks to Facebook!)

I am still interested in my research projects and I hope to finish with a couple of them by spring break. I need to start working on them though!

But it seems that life is steering me in a different direction - a more spiritual direction because I have a feeling that it will be crucial to my healing. I find myself trying to figure out ways to buy myself out of at least half of my classes next year.

So, my goal for the next year or so is to pay down my debt as much as possible.

And, if anyone has any ideas for a writing fellowship of some sort, I'm all ears!