ER-, PR-, Her2+ Roll call

@beekaycro24 Around here I'm trying not to lose too much weight because I'm already quite thin and have already lost 5 kg. I need to get them back 😅 I've already thought about going to a nutritionist to find out what I can eat to gain weight in a healthy way. I think that stopping exercising didn't help either because I lost muscle mass... I've started exercising again, it's very important for us all, it helps a lot with recovery!
I'm glad you and your husband have acquired such healthy habits! Your diet seems perfectly adequate 😊 I still haven't managed to cut out sugar completely (I've reduced it) but I've been trying to exercise more on those days when I eat something sweet, to compensate. Keep it up 😉

@catarina_fm Zion is by far my very favorite national park. Utah is an absolutely beautiful state. The Grand Canyon was nice, but man…Zion was it for us. Yellowstone and Yosemite are on our to-do list. They were both closed when we were in that are, due to roads being washed out from rain and snow melt. You also have to see Niagara Falls…and the entire state of Vermont is gorgeous, as well. One day! I'd love to come to Peru, but my husband refuses to fly. He'd probably drive there if we didn't have to go through Mexico…he watches too many cartel shows on Netflix…lol.

@grammie2 and @beekaycro24 you are giving me a huge desire to visit the USA! Vermont looks beautiful! the forests seem wonderful, I absolutely love nature. Niagara falls were also on my list. In 2020 I had purchased a trip to go to New York with 2 friends (it wasn't my favorite place but the flight was cheap), our plans were to rent a car after visiting NY and to go to Canada, via Niagara Falls. But covid didn't allow it 😅 fortunately the trip was refunded.

I had never heard of Ogden but it looks BEAUTIFUL omg! Love the photos, mountains are my favorite thing. Also didn’t know the Smoky Mountains, they look beautiful too! Girls, let's get better, you come to visit Europe and I'll go to USA 😁 @beekaycro24 you need to convince your husband to fly 😉

YESSSSS!!!!

@beekaycro24 I totally understand your stress. I was the same when I had the PET scan (which showed that the cancer was still only in the breast/nodes). The problem is that I only started chemo 1 month and a half after the PET scan (there was no possibility in the hospital beforehand) and I have no idea whether it has spread in the meantime or not! My tumor was so aggressive that it tripled in size in 2 months, going from 3 cm to 8 cm. I still have nightmares about it from time to time. But… we need to calm down. Good luck to you, I am sending you positive energy 😉
You can also have my Instagram, I haven't published anything about cancer yet and I don't know if I ever will, but I think it's a good idea to get to know each other a little better 😊 Mine is catarina_fm

Thank you! My tumor has grown since my ultrasound on August 23rd. It was 3.9 cm and at my onc's appt last Monday, he said it was 5 cm. There's no lymphnode involvement, according to the one biopsied. But I'm still worried it went elsewhere through my blood cells. ARGH! It's so hard not knowing. I hope you ignore my ignorance yesterday when I said I guess we could drive to Peru…I thought it was in South America…lol.

I received my scan results….not worrying until my doctor tells me to! Pelvis area is good, except I have some gallstones.? One axillary lymph node looks large…could be cancer (idk), there is a 4mm nodule on my right lung middle lobe and a 4mm nodule on my left lung lower lobe. Google says normally not cancer, but being that I already have cancer then it could be. Obviously, I'm hoping not. I also have mild scattered arterial atherosclerosis, which is plaque build up. This is just listed under Vasculature, so not sure which artery they are talking about. I also hope this doesn't stop me from getting chemo. Anyway, I'm calm (except for the steroid high) and hope to have a relaxing night.

@beekaycro24 Staying calm is good! I hope everything goes great and it’s only reassuring news. 🙏🏼🩷

I visited my plastic surgeon’s office for a pre-op appt today. Their plan is to only fill the expander on the radiated/right side before radiation and delay filling the left side. This helps radiation target the correct area without interference. After radiation, the left expander can be filled to match for better symmetry. Also after radiation, they don’t fill the radiated side anymore for a while because the skin and tissue tend to become tighter and less flexible. This allows the area to heal properly before continuing reconstruction. They also use Alloderm, which is mesh, which I’m not thrilled about. Then again, I got chemo, I’m getting implants, and I’m getting radiation, so why not mesh too. In for a penny in for a pound, I guess! This was all new info for me, so I’m digesting. Figuring out how to dress myself  through this should be interesting. I will need to remind myself often through this that ‘what to wear’ is not what is important. And that this is temporary and I will hopefully get the reconstruction I’m hoping for. And, if not, that’s ok! Cancer-free is the goal.

I’m on insta under mitchalisa, and I’m on FB under Alisa Mitchell, with a Bitmoji style cartoon profile pic.

@beekaycro24 thinking of you! Good luck today, and I hope all goes smoothly! Let us know how it all goes.

@grammie2 my oncologist’s advice was to listen to my body about what to eat and that I might find my tolerance and appetite to change with treatment. I started out whole food plant based and had to switch because my stomach couldn’t tolerate it. I became a smoothie queen. She also told me I would probably gain weight from the steroids, and that was true.

@catarina_fm i had the coolest Neulasta thingy they put on my belly. A little box that stuck on with adhesive that had a timer and a little needle that poked in a day after infusions and gave me the shot. It looked like a sci-fi beetle.

@beekaycro24 Oh, you did it! Big day done and dusted. Sounds like you did great and that things run very efficiently where you’re getting your treatment! Good advice to stay ahead of the nausea with the Zofran. I hope you sleep well tonight!

@snm I've not had to do HRT. Hope your LDL gets under control soon!!

@beekaycro24 Yay!!! So glad you got everything done yesterday!! Hope you continue feeling well! Steroids do the same thing with me. I went weeks only sleeping 4 hours a night. Working and not sleeping was not fun!

My last chemo was 8/8. I have no signs of hair regrowth :( Anywhere. I know, I'm being impatient. And then I read that Perjeta can cause it not to grow back until you are done or slow the growth. I go next Thursday for my first (without chemo) Phesgo injection. Perjeta is known for it's harshness on your stomach. I didn't have a lot of trouble with it during chemo, but all of the iv nausea meds that causes constipation could have helped with that SE. Hubby is taking me out of town for the weekend, a pre radiation getaway. Sure hope my belly behaves!!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I have a fall craft festival I'm going to! Hugs!!!

I'm okay. I went to bed a little after 9:00 last night and slept until 3:00. My watch said I got 6h 42m of sleep, so that's great compared to the 4-5 I had been getting. I actually got out of bed at 4:30. Then, around 7:15 I started feeling nauseous so I had some greek yogurt and granola - stopped drinking my coffee. The yogurt tasted good at first, but then felt like just thick water…so weird! Anyway, I'm taking Zofran every 8 hours. I'm a little tired, but hoping a shower will revive me some. I napped from 8:10 until 9:05 and that helped. Making some bone broth and rice for lunch.

@beekaycro24 here they give us nausea pills to take for 4 days, whether you are nauseous or not. I take 1 half an hour before breakfast and another half an hour before dinner. You should take it before you feel nauseous, it's easier than if you only take it when nausea has already set in. Furthermore, I have other medication for nausea (different active ingredient) to alternate with the others, in case of SOS. And I needed that during my previous treatments. I am wondering if TCHP is any less bad in terms of nausea? Take what you need, you have to feel as best as possible given the circumstances. I hope everything goes well! 1 treatment is already done 😊

@beekaycro24 I’m so glad you’re feeling well and taking such good care of yourself!

I have a big appointment day on Thursday coming up, nothing major though. I’m going to channel you @beekaycro24 and your incredible energy your first day with all your appointments you had all at once. My last transthoracic echocardiogram, port removal (hooray!) and also a thyroid sonogram because of the hyperthyroidism that cropped up this year. Then a hair appointment to cover the grays and deal with the hair that’s coming back in and likes to stick straight up from the back of my head. I call them my tail feathers. Going for a Brazilian straightening for those little fellas. Ah, vanity.

@grammie2 I hope your weekend getaway was fabulous and your tummy behaved throughout it all! Also, I hope your hair starts growing back soon. My local support group ladies are all ahead of me. They said it took months before hair started growing. Then, when it did, it was everything but the scalp at first. 

@beekaycro24 How are you today? I hope you’re feeling okay going into your day 3! Diarrhea and fatigue were my big issues the first go-round. The first night of chemo, my stomach started cramping so badly I finally got down on the floor and started doing yoga poses and Lamaze breathing. About a half-hour later, I had diarrhea like I’ve never before had in my life, and it would not stop for weeks. That caused some awful fatigue and general weakness by day 3, which lasted for weeks. I had to learn ‘control the diarrhea, control the fatigue!’ 

@aborayis Good luck to you on Thursday! 🙏🏼🍀 Port removal— yay! Oh, I can’t wait for that! And I hope your echo and sonogram go well. I bet it’s going to feel so good to get that hair done! Enjoy!

For me, in addition to the plastic surgeon pre-op I already talked about, I met with my oncology nutritionist and medical oncologist this past week.

The onc nutritionist asked me if I’m eating poorly. I’m not. He asked me if I’m eating 3 meals a day. No, I’m not. I’m not eating nearly the protein I should, he said. (My med onc referred me to see him again, before surgery, bc my lab work shows some very low numbers, and surgery is only a week away now.) He’s loading me up with extra nutrition to make sure I go into surgery on good footing and heal as quickly as possible. Here’s what he recommended to get ready, in case anyone is interested:

• Ensure Surgery Immunonutrition Shakes: I’m drinking 2-3 shakes a day for 5-7 days before AND after surgery to boost my immune system and help me recover faster.
• Ensure Pre-Surgery Clear Carbohydrate Drinks: I’ll drink this the night before and up to 2 hours before surgery to keep energy up.
• Juven Packets: I’m drinking at least 2 a day (more if I can) before AND after surgery because it helps with wound healing and muscle strength. This will sppt recovery and give my body nutrients its low on and needs.
• Ensure Enlive Advanced Therapeutic Nutrition Shakes: After surgery, 2-3 a day for about a week to support recovery and give my body the nutrients it needs.

As for the medical onc, we’re holding the first Phesgo because my counts are so low and he’s worried about diarrhea so close to surgery, since I’m so sensitive to that. He explained, if surgery pathology shows residual cancer, I’d start Kadcyla instead of Phesgo. It’s an antibody-drug conjugate that combines trastuzumab (Herceptin) with the chemo called DM1. Directly targets HER2+ cells. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed hard that I don’t need it— when I looked it up, it comes with heavier nausea and fatigue than Phesgo, and with risk of liver issues and low platelets.

I’ve had a full weekend out and about, and it felt so good to feel among the living again, but oh boy am I pooped! I came home and took a long nap, and I feel arm, leg, and butt muscles like crazy! 

Hope everyone’s doing well & having a great Sunday! 🩷