Where am I at as of today?

I've been receiving so many questions and I thought it might be best to try to summarize the best I can with where I am at as of today and what I know and don't know. Hope you find this helpful.

Noticed a lump around March 2009 but thought it was just a gland, by June/July 2009 realized it wasn't going away but seemed to be getting larger. With no insurance I wasn't sure what to do but found assistance thru the Well Woman Program within my county - Free "female" exams to all women ages 35 to 62 regardless of income. This is an Illinois program so it should be available almost anywhere. Being 34 I was concerned I wouldn't qualify but since there is was now a history of breast cancer (my mom) I thought it was worth a shot. I was qualified and from there began many doctor's visits and testing. Initially I was told the cancer was a very common and curable kind and they were confident we found it early since I was showing no signs of it spreading.

After more tests we found they were wrong. It had spread to my lympnodes, liver and spine. The good news was all my blood counts and organ functions were normal and had not yet started to show the affects of the cancer, the bad news was I needed to start chemo immediately. Given the progression, Stage 4, there was no need at that point for surgery. The first doctor (Loyola)told me it was too late for that.

Weekly chemo meant trying to find somewhere closer than Loyola and I ended up at St. Anthony in Rockford with a highly recommend doctor. This doctor agreed with the first on almost everything except he changed my type of chemo medicine slightly and gave me a little bit of hope that if chemo went well he did want to remove the lump that started it all. So in October, one month after being told I had cancer, I started chemo. I go every week for 3 weeks and then I have one week off, it takes about 2 to 3 hours each time. I see the doctor once a month and just had my 2nd visit with him.

Since they won't do any MRIs or CAT, Bone scans until January of February 2010 they are monitoring the lump by physical exam and blood work. Both as of 2 weeks ago had shone a reduction in the tumor meaning the chemo seems to be working. Yeah!! Please keep those prayers coming because I need it to work really, really well to get OFF! They are not giving me an end date for treatment, if it goes well 4 to 8 months at least and if it doesn't work as well I may be on it for the rest of my life. 4 months seems like more than enough time for me. With everything I have read and all the statistics I'm not supposed to pay attention to I figure I have about a 50/50 chance to make it thru this so I'm giving it all I have. I understand the chemo is helping kill the cancer but I'm concerned about what else it's killing.

As of today, I am in my 3rd week of my second month so I have treatment this Thursday and I'm off next week. My hair is gone but I still have most of my eyelashes and eyebrows for the moment. The other side affects have been mild compared to some other stories I have heard so I am very thankful. Besides the hair loss the biggest side affect has been the tiredness, I pretty much sleep all weekend. I have numbness in my left hand and foot, general aches and a little loss of taste and numbness in my mouth and tongue and a kinda foggy feeling about 4 days a week. For those who know me from work you know it's really had for me to be "foggy" and unable to do 15 things at once. Still trying to work at least 3 days a week, having two days to work from home or go to appts. and research how to get rid of this "naturally". Also, need to stay away from large crowds (too many germs) and take my temperature 3 times a day. Anything over 100.5 and I'll be put in the hospital. I'm not supposed to go shopping, go to the movies, etc.

The kids are doing well considering and we're getting ready for Christmas. Jeff and the kids put up the tree last night before I got home from work so that was a nice surprise. I hope I've answered some questions and didn't put anyone to sleep. I promise the rest of my posts won't be this long. If you have any other questions just let me know and I'll get back with you as soon as possible.

Have a great week.

Love,

Lynn