Must. Start. Daily. Exercise. Again.

The gloom is taking over a bit, not helped by overcast skies, indigestion, and a sick toddler. Daily sweat and adrenaline are the only way out of this hole. (Or dopamine.. whatever.)

On the bright side, I interviewed a nice Russian nanny last night.

Tired

This about sums it up for me today.

Wow.

Not only is my chatty chemo nurse a musician, but she's a knitter! The time just flew.

Turns out that they drip about 45 minutes worth of anti-nauseau juice into you before Administering the Bad Drugs.

I feel absolutely, completely fine. Tomorrow, I get a shot of a ridiculously expensive anti-nausea drug (neulasta). And my choice of three different anti-nausea drugs to take at will.

If I'm going to feel pukey here it's apparently going to take some effort.

Exhaustion will be another question entirely. No meds for that.

Proceeding as planned

My surgeon has recommended alternative oncologists for me, at my request, and has clarified the critical point.

Chemo will cut my risk of developing metastatic disease in half.

Such a simple fact. And it makes all the difference.

Saturday

It's easy to forget the day of the week when you're on vacation. When my oncologist's assistant informed me this morning, via her answering machine, that she's out of town as well til Tuesday, I happily rang up my surgeon to grill her on why exactly, numerically, I ought to get chemo. "Can it wait til Monday, or would you like to speak to the doctor on call?" said the desk. Oh... riiiiight. Saturday.

So, sports fans, hang onto your hats for a couple more days til we all find out whether I shaved my head in vain.

Why am I doing this?

“You have a 25% chance of recurrence.” – my oncologist

In light of the facts I posted yesterday, I've no idea why chemo and radiation are worth the bother.

In other words, the salient number here is 30%. By what percentage will C&R reduce it?

Happy little fact of the day

In developed countries, nearly 30 % of women with early stage breast cancer will eventually develop metastatic breast cancer. [1] Median survival after diagnosis is three years. There has been no statistically significant improvement in the past twenty years. [2]

[1] (O’Shaughnessy J. Extending Survival With Chemotherapy in Metastatic Breast Cancer The Oncologist.2005;10 (suppl 3): 20-9) 

[2] (American Society of Clinical Oncology [ASCO] Report - 2008)

Wintertime daycare germs, keeping the toddler home

Upon hearing of my worries that the toddler would infect me all winter as she did last winter -- a repeat of which I will not be able to afford, with a low white blodd cell count -- my aunt ran the facts past her MD, who came up with the right solution... one so simple I'm embarrassed I didn't think of it: Keep the kid out of daycare til the end of chemo.

I have zero in-town days to find a full-time nanny, since I'm now on vacation and will start chemo the first day back.

On the bright side, I'm now not worried about getting sick.

Thanks, Mary!

Vitamins and supplements, alive alive-o!

No, they can't cure anything, once cancer is bullying your body. But yes, they can boost the mojo of your immune system, which is compromised by chemo, and they can bolster the health of your bones, which is critical for me, since b.c. spreads most commonly to liver, lungs, and bone.

Consensus among medical groups seems to be that making sure you are maxed out (though not above that, which can compromise the effectiveness of chemo) on vitamins A, C and D, plus calcium is a very good idea. All have been tested w b.c. patients, and have made a difference.

Also, CoQ-10 and flaxseed oil have been tested w b.c. and are recommended. The onco docs have ok'd my use of both. CoQ-10 does 3 things: boosts immune system, protects the heart from the probable damage that adriamycin will incur, and acts as an antioxidant. Flaxseed has been proven to  reduce the growth ofr cancer cells.

Am investigating dietary recommendations, but haven't found much beyond the above. My feeling is that getting these nutrients from food as opposed to pills is a good idea... but it remains to be seen whether I can deisng a diet regimen that will actually give me enough of it w/o needing supplements.

Meanwhile, have added Co-Q10, flax, a multivitamin and a calcium supplement (how ridiculous is it that even the multivitamins meant for women over 50 include HALF the daily recommended amount of calcium? Look it up.).