Amazingly, I am up this morning and feeling fine. Still no vomiting, although I did get a little queasy late last night and realized that I didn't take my Zofran (anti-nausea and vomiting med). So I popped a pill, and then took the other one that supposed to make me sleep okay. So when I woke up this morning, I took my Emend Day 3 pill on time today. So we'll see how I do. I think I need a 12 hour timer, because I am not good at taking pills on a schedule. I'm more of an ad hoc type of gal, but I can't take that chance because everything is going so well.
I am taking my MonaVie M(mun) every day, about 6 oz per day. And it is making a difference for sure. A slice of toast and OJ was breakfast.
Thanks for stopping by.
Grace and Peace
~ Tish ~
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
The Shot
Lawrence just gave me my first Nuelesta shot. I am so proud of him, thought we would have to go to a nurse or something to get through it. Worked out well, he's a quick study. Heather my chemo nurse gave him a few lessons yesterday and he did it like a pro. Guess someone is in the wrong field. He has a steady hand.
It's over, now we'll see if this bone marrow white blood cell shot will have me flat on my back. The side-effect is bone pain...OUCH!
It's over, now we'll see if this bone marrow white blood cell shot will have me flat on my back. The side-effect is bone pain...OUCH!
My Thoughts...
Often times when things happen in our lives, especially what the world calls "bad" things, human nature is to worry, to get angry, curse God or whoever else you may have a relationship with. As Christians and believers we learn to lean not on our own understanding, but to trust God and have faith.
When reading my word I was lead to the book of 1 Peter 4:12 where it states: Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his Glory is revealed. NIV - bold words were for by me.
In reading this, I was reminded of the saying do not grow weary in well-doing. For most of my life, and especially since becoming a wife and mother, I put for my best effort to live right, live well and be obedient to my life as a believer. Of course we all fall short in many ways. But for the most part, I considered myself to be a good person, who treated people with love and respect. Never in a day would have expected the affliction of Breast Cancer. I know the mothers and sisters of friends, but not one person in my immediate family has had it. So cancer period just never crossed my mind. I know it affects nearly 1 in 8 women today, which is so very surprising to me, but I never thought that I would be that 1.
However... now that I am that 1 in 8, I consider myself to be Lucky. Almost like a choosen and highly favored person who will be able to go through this journey and share my feelings, both good and bad with anyone who wants to listen... My hope is to save another young woman's life through early detection.
In conclusion the rest of the chapter went basically like this, and I'm summarizing because I am far from a theologian... We have to continue to suffer according to God's word and will, remain faithful and do good.
Therefore my friends... my good deed.
Grace and Peace
Tish
When reading my word I was lead to the book of 1 Peter 4:12 where it states: Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his Glory is revealed. NIV - bold words were for by me.
In reading this, I was reminded of the saying do not grow weary in well-doing. For most of my life, and especially since becoming a wife and mother, I put for my best effort to live right, live well and be obedient to my life as a believer. Of course we all fall short in many ways. But for the most part, I considered myself to be a good person, who treated people with love and respect. Never in a day would have expected the affliction of Breast Cancer. I know the mothers and sisters of friends, but not one person in my immediate family has had it. So cancer period just never crossed my mind. I know it affects nearly 1 in 8 women today, which is so very surprising to me, but I never thought that I would be that 1.
However... now that I am that 1 in 8, I consider myself to be Lucky. Almost like a choosen and highly favored person who will be able to go through this journey and share my feelings, both good and bad with anyone who wants to listen... My hope is to save another young woman's life through early detection.
In conclusion the rest of the chapter went basically like this, and I'm summarizing because I am far from a theologian... We have to continue to suffer according to God's word and will, remain faithful and do good.
Therefore my friends... my good deed.
Grace and Peace
Tish
Whoo Hoo ~ so far, so good!
My eyes popped open at 3:38 am. Not because I had to go to the bathroom - which by the way my nurse distinctly said to go at least two times in the middle of the night - which I ended up doing anyway. But I just woke up... the first thing I thought was am I feeling sick? Is there nausea and I need to throw up? What... then it hit me. My new affinity ~ time to Blog... of course.
I just wanted to give an update that I haven't gotten sick yet, no so called side-effects yet. Thank God. So i'm going to continue my Faith Walk right back to bed... because even though I get a free pass to lay in bed all day tomorrow. Most likely I won't.
Grace and Peace ~ Tish
Here I go. Found my long sleeve pajama top, which by the way is just another layer because I sleep in a tank top as I get so darn hot upstairs. In hopes that I don't wake the hubby, I opted for the desktop rather than turn on my laptop in bed. Which by now I'm sure he is wondering what the heck i'm doing up. So this will be short.
No sickness yet. The nurses, my chemo teacher, doctor et.al were ALL right. Stay on top of your meds. Because once you begin to vomit it's all over. I put this big cup thingy next to the bed that I kept from my last surgery when I got really sick and worked over from the anesthesia, so I'm glad I could find it. Who really wants to be bent over the yucky toilet; this way I handle it bedside very neatly, and Lawrence dumps and rinse and brings the wet rag. Now that's teamwork!
Ohhh by the way my secret weapon so far when I did start to get a little queasy last night was Diamond Smokehouse Almonds : PLUG for the free adversement. Hmmm maybe I can get a little cha ching - by posting some ads. I'll get back to that. For now, it's a glass of H20 and back to bed.
Thank you Lord for the wonderful rest, and no sickness. My Faith Walk is off to a good start... Becoming a Breast Cancer Survivor isn't that bad after all. Get your mammograms ladies, and my brothers please encourage your wives, sisters, mothers and girlfriends to get theirs. I had my first at age 39, and what a lifesaver it was. Because I had the second one last December 28, 2009 (age 40) I am here now to give testimony. Who would of ever "thunk" it. Certainly not me!
Grace and Peace ~ Tish
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
OUCH...
I guess I whimped out today when my nurse Heather was inserting the needle into my portacath... That little contraption is going to save my veins though... but "good grief" it really hurt!
This place is amazing! It's the Ida Friend Infusion Center at UCSF. The nurses are wonderful, the place is clean, wi-fi (we must stay connected) and there is tons of natural sunlight. It's a beautiful day in San Francisco.
Today is the first time having my port accessed.. and I know part of my aprehension was how it would feel. It wasn't as bad as I imagined but it still hurt big time. She kept pushing it, and pushing it to make sure it was inserted, and at first the blood wouldn't come out to ensure that it was all the way in. My goodness... I'm so happy it was; There was a patient today who got really sick, I could hear them gagging and coughing and the staff called for housekeeping, so i'm thinking he vomited all over the place... But from the way it was handled so quickly and nonchalantly they are used to it, and it wasn't a huge deal.
Okay, so the the first thing after drawing the blood to make sure the port was working properly, she started the sailine solution and I could immediately taste it... Amazing how we can taste what is going in through IV. okay, so now my IV unit is beeping. I just unplugged to go to the restroom... right when I'm washing my hands to leave it started beeping with a flashing red light... OMG! What did I do now. First day of chemo, and already i'm messing up... I just waked out, Lawrence plugged it back in and we looked at the reading and it flashed "infusion complete" ~ whew... So that was the fluids to hydrate me (like the 2 bottles of water I drank already were not enough) and that is why I had to get up and go relieve myself... At least it's nearby and not a long track down the hall and around the corner.
The next infusion will be the actual chemo medication Adriamycin and Cytoxan ~ I was also given Aloxy to assist with my nausea. The adraimycin (doxorubicin) is like red kool aid and is being injected manually. The next dosing today will be Cytoxan and will be IV drip... all through this nifty little port. So I'm totally hands FREE!!! Whoo Hoo!
For those of you wondering, it will take 2-3 weeks after today's treatment for the hair loss and other side-effects to take place. I bought this cute little cap today to wear to bed. It helps collect my hair when it falls out at night. Nifty idea, because who wants to wake up with clumps of hair on their pillows. But then I think it's cute enough to wear to the store... I opted for a light color so that it would stay cool in the summer... Will post a picture as soon as my hair is completely gone. Stay tuned...
God is Good!
Grace and Peace ~ LaTishia
This place is amazing! It's the Ida Friend Infusion Center at UCSF. The nurses are wonderful, the place is clean, wi-fi (we must stay connected) and there is tons of natural sunlight. It's a beautiful day in San Francisco.
Today is the first time having my port accessed.. and I know part of my aprehension was how it would feel. It wasn't as bad as I imagined but it still hurt big time. She kept pushing it, and pushing it to make sure it was inserted, and at first the blood wouldn't come out to ensure that it was all the way in. My goodness... I'm so happy it was; There was a patient today who got really sick, I could hear them gagging and coughing and the staff called for housekeeping, so i'm thinking he vomited all over the place... But from the way it was handled so quickly and nonchalantly they are used to it, and it wasn't a huge deal.
Okay, so the the first thing after drawing the blood to make sure the port was working properly, she started the sailine solution and I could immediately taste it... Amazing how we can taste what is going in through IV. okay, so now my IV unit is beeping. I just unplugged to go to the restroom... right when I'm washing my hands to leave it started beeping with a flashing red light... OMG! What did I do now. First day of chemo, and already i'm messing up... I just waked out, Lawrence plugged it back in and we looked at the reading and it flashed "infusion complete" ~ whew... So that was the fluids to hydrate me (like the 2 bottles of water I drank already were not enough) and that is why I had to get up and go relieve myself... At least it's nearby and not a long track down the hall and around the corner.
The next infusion will be the actual chemo medication Adriamycin and Cytoxan ~ I was also given Aloxy to assist with my nausea. The adraimycin (doxorubicin) is like red kool aid and is being injected manually. The next dosing today will be Cytoxan and will be IV drip... all through this nifty little port. So I'm totally hands FREE!!! Whoo Hoo!
For those of you wondering, it will take 2-3 weeks after today's treatment for the hair loss and other side-effects to take place. I bought this cute little cap today to wear to bed. It helps collect my hair when it falls out at night. Nifty idea, because who wants to wake up with clumps of hair on their pillows. But then I think it's cute enough to wear to the store... I opted for a light color so that it would stay cool in the summer... Will post a picture as soon as my hair is completely gone. Stay tuned...
God is Good!
Grace and Peace ~ LaTishia
Less than an hour for my 1st Chemo treatment
I woke up this morning at 6:00 a.m., of course with the assistance of my cell phone alarm. My initial instinct was to hit snooze and get a few more minutes. Lawrence was knocked out, and I decided to get right up and spend some quiet time in prayer. I located my long sleeve pajama top, reached for my glasses and headed to my quiet place.
As I was thinking what exactly I was praying for... the Holy Spirit imparted me with peace. I shared my concerns about today, my thoughts about what it would feel like... the toxic chemo running through my veins and just asked God to allow me to get through this day. Of course I asked for traveling grace and covered my babies in our absence and the usual... several family members who are afflicted right now and my husband.
We left at 10 minutes to 7am, and arrived at UCSF at 9:10. My appointment for labwork was NOT scheduled and after speaking to my physician, I didn't need it today. Hmmmm that mean another 30 minutes of sleep... Oh well. Here now and about to go upstairs and start my infusion.
Peace and Grace
As I was thinking what exactly I was praying for... the Holy Spirit imparted me with peace. I shared my concerns about today, my thoughts about what it would feel like... the toxic chemo running through my veins and just asked God to allow me to get through this day. Of course I asked for traveling grace and covered my babies in our absence and the usual... several family members who are afflicted right now and my husband.
We left at 10 minutes to 7am, and arrived at UCSF at 9:10. My appointment for labwork was NOT scheduled and after speaking to my physician, I didn't need it today. Hmmmm that mean another 30 minutes of sleep... Oh well. Here now and about to go upstairs and start my infusion.
Peace and Grace
Monday, April 5, 2010
On April 6, 2010 My Faith Walk takes on a new turn. My Journey with Chemotherapy begins. I will have my first treatment followed by an injection 24 hours later to allow my "good" cells to grow to replace those destroyed by chemo. WOW!
On January 7, 2010 I was diagnosed with Stage 2, Breast Cancer. After many tests, a Lumpectomy (1/29), a second re-incision surgery (2/23) to remove more tissue and insert a portocath, I am now ready for tough part.
Surprisingly, there are a few people in my close circle who are either dealing with chemotherapy for some sort of cancer, or "watching" their cancer to see if it will grow to the point of needing surgery and treatment. I honestly believe that those who have gone before me who I personally know, have made my acceptance of having cancer much easier.
Not once have I questioned God with a "Why me?" But I know that my faith, the love of my husband and children, family and wonderful friends is truly what has kept me from that point. I cannot imagine going through any type of cancer or sickness alone. My Lauryn said a special prayer for me tonight as I was tucking her in, without me even asking... NOW THAT'S GOD! Through the mouth of babes! It is those selfless and loving actions, that keep me strong.
This is my first entry and I promise to come back and post updates about everything as I go on. I will list exactly what type of cancer (as I didn't realize there are so many variable), what type of medications I'm taking and my progress.
1Peter 2:24 ~ By his stripes you have been healed.
Keeping the Faith...
LaTishia
On January 7, 2010 I was diagnosed with Stage 2, Breast Cancer. After many tests, a Lumpectomy (1/29), a second re-incision surgery (2/23) to remove more tissue and insert a portocath, I am now ready for tough part.
Surprisingly, there are a few people in my close circle who are either dealing with chemotherapy for some sort of cancer, or "watching" their cancer to see if it will grow to the point of needing surgery and treatment. I honestly believe that those who have gone before me who I personally know, have made my acceptance of having cancer much easier.
Not once have I questioned God with a "Why me?" But I know that my faith, the love of my husband and children, family and wonderful friends is truly what has kept me from that point. I cannot imagine going through any type of cancer or sickness alone. My Lauryn said a special prayer for me tonight as I was tucking her in, without me even asking... NOW THAT'S GOD! Through the mouth of babes! It is those selfless and loving actions, that keep me strong.
This is my first entry and I promise to come back and post updates about everything as I go on. I will list exactly what type of cancer (as I didn't realize there are so many variable), what type of medications I'm taking and my progress.
1Peter 2:24 ~ By his stripes you have been healed.
Keeping the Faith...
LaTishia
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