Update

Sorry that I have fallen behind in keeping this updated. Here is where we stand right now...

My mom completed her 6 cycles of chemo without a hitch. She has seen the surgeon. Her surgery, which WILL be a full mastectomy, will be on May 18 at 12:45pm. The reason that she is getting the full mastectomy is that, even though the size of the tumor has significantly decreased (to the point where it can not even be felt on exam) , the tissue that is still affected is over half the breast. So, the surgeon is taking the whole breast to help ensue that all of the affected tissue is removed and to also help reduce the amount of radiation that she has to receive.

We see Dr. Xu (the radiation oncologist) tomorrow, so we will know more about the dose, frequency and duration then. We will also know whether reconstructive surgery is an option at the time of surgery. That is going to depend on the dose of radiation and whatnot. If it is an option for the same time as the breast removal, she is leaning towards having an implant put in so that she only has one surgery to recover from.

The New 'do

Chemo #2

My mom had her second chemo treatment yesterday. Her appointment was scheduled for 8:45am. She got taken back around 9:00am. I went back to check on her at 10:30. Her nurse, Marjorie, told me that the lab where she had her blood work drawn on New Year's Eve, still had not sent the results over. I didn't think anything of it. All I knew was that there was a bag of fluids and a bag of meds running into her IV.

Fast forward to 1:00. I went back to check on her and found that there was a different bag of meds running. I made the comment that she was almost done with the second of the three meds. Marjorie was like, "No honey, that is the first med. I just got the labs back about 20 minutes ago. If she does well with this, in 30 minutes I will open that line wide and she will be getting it full force. I'll have you out of here around 4:00."

Here I was thinking we only had another hour to go, when we really had 3.

So, we ended up being there for another 7 hour day. Another LONG 7 hour day. But again, the nurses and support staff there at the Infusion center were amazing.

I took her back today for her injection that she gets the day after chemo. It's to boost her blood counts. Evidently it did a great job the last time as her labs were almost normal! Fingers crossed that it works as well this time around.

She's doing amazingly well. She has a little color in her cheeks, she's eating and I am able to keep pouring water down her to filter those meds right out.

I took her to the American Cancer Society today, after her injection. She was fitted for a wig. After trying many different colors, styles and lengths, she found one that she liked. And more importantly to her, Ainsley responded positively to her in it.

I am glad that she was able to get herself one today, as her head has been very cold due to the fact that this past weekend, her hair finally decided it was time to say adios and start leaving her in clumps. We knew that it was coming, but it has still been hard to watch happen. She is considering having me shave the last remaining strands of hair off so that she can feel that she got a leg up on this cancer. I told her that I would happily shave her head for her.

I really am so very proud of her.