Genetics & Chemo

It has been less than a week since I came home from the hospital and I’m slowly gaining my strength back. It is incredible how weak you become in a short period of time. My appetite is very strong and I’m back to be pre-hospital weight!! Unfortunately the dairy aversion is sticking around…but, I keep testing pizza just in case :)

Yesterday I heard back from the genetics department who confirmed that they tested 50 genes connected with breast cancer and I was negative on every one. What that means is that there is no genetic component, at least among the genes know today. Yay for my family!! Unfortunately that leaves me with questions about why. But, we won’t dwell on that. It is what it is and I’m going to focus on hitting it hard.

Dan and I headed down to Roswell this morning to meet with my oncologist. I was crabby because I knew they wanted to change me to a different type of chemo after my reaction last week. I want her first choice so I didn’t want to change. But, before I could express my concern, they explained that the other chemo is a cousin to what I had last week, is just as effective, doesn’t require pre-medication and takes less time to drop.  So why don’t they start with this chemo? It is more expensive so insurance won’t approve it without reason. I now have reason. Woot woot!

This afternoon I went to the infusion center and successfully received two kinds of chemo: Abraxane and Gemzar. The infusion itself was smooth. Thank goodness! The hair countdown is now on…two weeks until bald! And, a new wig :)

We received more pictures from Tyler’s Court of Honor that I cannot help but share. Treasures.