From Chemo forward.......

Sorry I haven't been posting - I've had a few bad days. My headache on Wednesday only got worse and the great lunch from Fox's really upset my stomach. I got a prescription for Darvacette but couldn't take it til my stomach stopped being upset. Thursday I went in for fluids and neulasta and was experiencing some "pressure" in my chest. Not sure what was causing it but it was hard to breathe. Went to Horseheads and ordered my hair - RED of course :) - and made better food choices. Stomach was much better on Thursday. Val Sweirck brought up a chocolate peanut butter cup pie. Last cub scout meeting on Thursday evening - My face flushed out very badly before I got home but no fever.

Friday AM Wendy comes with soup from Kathy and chicken pot pie from Wendy. My headache was still here and still bad so I took a darvacette and then called the Cancer Center at 8:30. I went in for a checkup at 11 and from there went to the hospital for a CT Scan of my chest to make sure there was no fluid in my lungs/chest - around the port. Only thing the scan showed was the bruising in my left breast. Dr Polony (radiologist) talked to Dr. Welt and Dr. Shaikh and both of them called me. Dr Shaikh doesn't think that anything needs to be done with the hematoma (bruising) in Louise. Dr Shaikh had me go see Sarah Boyle to check my vitals and Sarah called Dr Olmstead (dr who put in my port) and he listened to Dr Polony's report. So during one day I had 5 doctors discussing my care. WOOHOOO.

Together they decided that the massive changes in my body in the last week have most likely caused the discomfort in my chest. SOOOOO --- mom, anne, the boys and I went to dinner at Applebees and then we came home and I took a bath and a darvacette. I'm in for the evening and trying to relax as much as I can. The boys are watching ZOOM on tv and it's quiet here.

Monday I have an MRI to check out my pain in my head and Tuesday I have a PET scan at Arnot Ogden. More tests :( I will let you know how I make out.

Love you all - please keep me in your prayers.

One down - seven more to go

So first chemo is done. Had a little discomfort with the port at first since it is still so swollen but Mike got me going right away. Got Aloxi and Decadron by IV before chemo plus my Emend by mouth then the Cytoxin was next and finished up with the Adryomycin. Had a strange and never before seen reaction to the A! My lips and face got all numb and then my lip swelled up but only on one side of the lower lip. So we sat for a while and then finished up with a Heparin shot to prevent clotting.

Left there right at 11. Rob went back down to Fox's and got us some lunch and I'm feeling pretty good - still discomfort at the port site since it's still so new and I have a headache. I've taken Advil for that - hope it works. Other than that I feel pretty good right now.

But today is the EASY day.

Thanks for all the prayers. I felt them surrounding me this morning. I love you all.

So the port is done

Hi everyone. The port insertion went as good as possible. It was really kinda weird to be able to hear them while they were working on me but I was under a tent so I couldn't see. It took less than an hour to put in place and I had no effects from the sedative once I was back in the Ambulatory Surgical Unit. I left with a pamphlet about what is now placed in my body.
CRAZY. I am also now taking Coumadin to keep the port from blocking up.
Dr Shaikh stopped in to see me and checked out Louise and was very pleased with her progress. He said I'm healing up very very well. YIPPEEE :)
Chemo is tomorrow morning at 7:45am. Rob and the boys will take me down and then go to my mom's to have breakfast and get ready for school. Once they are dropped off, Rob will join me at the Corning Cancer Center.
I will update after chemo. As always-prayers are welcome.
Til tomorrow.

Dr.Olmstead Visit

Ok everybody this is Rob. I have been keeping relatively busy : unexpected changes in my RDO squad, shift changes so on and so forth . When I have had free time I have been doing some spring cleaning and working on the hill (across from our house is our property also and we refer to that as our HILL). I have had some challenges to work around the past week but I'm almost back on track . Belinda is doing very well every single day. She and the Boys have been really doing some spring cleaning inside and out. I think I saw a robin this morning - spring is definatly here. Last night while I was at Monterey I recieved a phone call from LT Pangia telling me that Belinda was going to be having surgery on the following day which was today for her funky Port. I took 8 hrs FLMA today in order to be with her . We were going to the Wig man today but that is now going to change (Oh darn , she cant be a rock star today ). Hey have a good day . Rob W

Dr Welt appointment and schedule for next week

Hi everyone. Today's appointment went really well - Dr Welt uses nearly the same kind and amount (or more) of the antiemetics so that is really good. We talked about other issues and how we will handle scheduling and I was again reminded why I like him so much.

So I told him - I'M READY - LET'S GET THIS STARTED....

So - Monday at 8am I have to call Dr Shaikh's office to see if he can insert the port on Tuesday sometime. I also have an Echocardiogram at Corning Hospital at 1pm and blood work at the Cancer Center on Monday. If all goes right, we get the port inserted Tuesday and I'm going to see the Wig Guy Tuesday at 5pm. Then - we are scheduled for first chemo on Wednesday March 28, 2007 at 7:45am. I will go in Thursday am for IV fluid infusion and Neulasta shot. I have requested Thursday and Friday off from work for this first treatment so I can see how it goes. After that - only 7 more to go -- :)).

Ok - guys - this is where it gets hard. This is where I need thoughts and prayers. Please lift our whole family up during this week!!!

I will post again with new information.

Love you all.

Oncology 102

Hi all - Our drive to Buffalo was a beautiful one - we hit the city just at nightfall but on the way were treated to some SPECTACULAR sites including a beautiful sunset. The place we stayed at (Adams Mark) was less than 2 miles from the hospital so we settled in by having chinese food delivered and watching a pay-per-view movie (The Holiday) which we both really enjoyed.

At 8am we headed to the hospital What a HUGE place. We arrived with more than enough time to find parking and walk to the hospital. On the way in we saw that they offer "Valet" parking at no additional fee - they take your car at the door and park it for you - What a nice service.

Inside I stood in a line for awhile and then got a buzzer thingy (like at Applebees or Outback Steakhouse) and sat a while longer. We had been told that our appointment was at 9 - it was really at 10 - and that was the intake appointment. We were scheduled to see the Doctor (Janarthanan) at 10:30. Well - the bigger the hospital - the bigger the wait. We finally saw him at 12:45. Once we were with him I understood, though, how he could get behind.

He was very very patient and went over every detail in my file - asking me questions about how I found the problem, how it got diagnosed, etc. And then he told us that the kind of cancer I have is "Textbook" for women under 50. He said that women presenting with Breast Cancer under 50 ALL have aggressive, fast growing, non-hormone receptive cancers. He complimented Dr Shaikh's surgical skill - saying that he must do a lot of breast surgery because my incisions were both very artfully placed and cleanly done. I told him that Louise was disguised as a leprachan for St Patty's day (as she is still very green) and he thought that was pretty funny. He was a very honest and caring man and we both liked him tremendously.

He then went through the treatment plan - which was very nearly exact to Dr Welt's in Corning and then he told us that he felt it would be simply not necessary for me to get my treatment at Roswell - that Corning was an excellent facility and had extremely qualified doctors and they would be able to treat my cancer very successfully there. He also said that he would write up his notes and send them to Dr Welt (with the slight differences in treatment plan outlined) and suggested that I meet with Dr Welt again soon as it's time to get my treatments started. So - I have another appointment with him on Thursday this week to go over some of the differences, schedule my port insertion, and have my heart test. He also suggested that I get clearance from Dr Shaikh that I am ready to start the chemo. I will try to see him early next week as he is on vacation.

We feel very good about this news - it will make my treatment much easier - less travel and stress. I am - however - going back to Roswell in about 6 months to have some genetic testing done because of my family history. This will include blood testing, MRI, bone scan and other tests. This will be helpful to everyone in the Hunter family (as it seems that's what side has the most cases of cancer) and all of our children/grandchildren.

I'm off to Washington DC to do a big demo - I'll post more on Thursday after I see Dr. Welt again.

Love to all of you :)

Two of my best reasons for living

Meet Robert and Matthew - these are my 8 and 7 year olds. They are the most fun to be with and always make me laugh. They know their mom is tougher than cancer. We have talked about what this means for our family and how they will have to help mom around the house. I am so blessed.

Oncology 101

Today Rob and I went to see Dr. Welt at Corning Cancer Center. He was very kind and talked to us about the kind of cancer I have and what the treatment plan should look like. He is suggesting a DOSE DENSE treatment plan with one treatment every other week for 8 treatments. He told us that there is some really good evidence that changing out one of the normal chemo drugs and adding two others works much better at killing this kind of cancer. His staff were wonderful and are preparing me a complete treatment schedule that we can take to Roswell with us to compare treatment plans.

Rob and I both really liked this man - he was honest and caring and open to whatever choices we make about treatment.

Monday is Oncology 102. Til then,
All my love

A day of accomplishments

Hi All!!
Well, today I wore a REAL bra - Fastened the thing in the back BY MYSELF and it was so exciting that I decided to take a bath tonite too!!! Can you believe it. I am still in a state of disbelief. What a great day. This on top of spending the day with Wendy and Roger, Kathy and Alex, and my mom and the boys. How could it get any better than that???

Now - many of you might think that those are not real accomplishments - but trust me - putting your own bra on and hooking it up in the back all by yourself after breast cancer surgery is a huge accomplishment.

So as the grand finale of my great day - I took a bath - with Warm Vanilla Sugar body wash and it was HEAVENLY.

Crazy how little things that we take for granted every day become things you long for when you can't do them for yourself.

I hope you all had a day as great as mine. Off to bed. Love to all.

Our oncology journey begins

I am scheduled to meet with the chemo doctor (oncologist) at the Corning Cancer Center on the 14th and then on the 19th I go to Roswell and meet with the assigned oncologist there.

I spoke with the Cancer Resource Services corrdinator today and she said that even though this is a very agressive kind of cancer, it is a common one and is one that they know how to kill at Roswell.

If I told you I'm not scared witless - I'd be lying. But I have so much to live for and DAMMIT I'm gonna live. I appreciate the continued prayers, calls, and emails. You make the days brighter and are never an intrusion.

I will post again when I know more.

Love to all of you :)

Staples REMOVED and Pathology Report

Hi all. Well it's Wednesday March 7th. Today I went to see the surgeon who went over my pathology report with me. The tumor was 2.5 cms (1 inch) which makes it bad and when he removed it he got clear margins. That means they feel that they got all of the tumor. The lymph nodes he took were not malignant which is good. My receptors are unfavorable hormone receptors which is bad. We already knew that the cancer was aggressive which is bad. SO -- out of 4 conditions that they base the histological grading on (1-3) mine had 3 of 4 that were bad. My histological grade is a 3 - which is bad. He said there is a chance of reoccurance, even in the breast.

Based on this diagnosis, I have decided to go to Roswell Park in Buffalo for my chemo treatments. I will have an oncology doctor here in Corning as adjuvent care to my Buffalo oncologist who will have my records and be able to do bloodwork and treat symptoms between visits to Buffalo. I have an appointment with the oncology doctor here in Corning on Wednesday the 14th to go over my pathology report and get a file set up here.

I have a great Oncology Nurse working with me from United Health Care's Cancer Resource Services who has sent me information on understanding my pathology report and she has opened up a claim for me to go to Roswell which is one of 22 Cancer Center's of Excellence that participate in this special cancer program. I am calling her tomorrow to go over my pathology report. Unless she sees some reason in the report that I should go to Sloan Kettering instead - I will sign up for and become a patient at Roswell immediately.

My body is glad to be free of the staples that came out surprisingly easily. I am still to wear a bra for the next 4 days 24 hours a day. I can drive and take a bath now. Life is almost back to normal.

Thank you for all the prayers about "no lymph involvement" because without a doubt - they worked. I am truly blessed by all your love and prayers.

I will post again when I have more information to share.

My love to all of you.

So it's Sunday

Sorry that I haven't posted in awhile. Things are going very well. I'm pretty much pain med free. Today I'm feeling kinda "pinchy" which I'm sure if you've ever had any surgery you understand. I'm also starting to itch a bit - both good signs that healing is occuring.

I'm soo very loved -- I have recieved food, flowers, cards, and prayers from so many of you. What a blessing you all are. I'm pretty sure the USPS has the Smith family on retainer now - with the number of cards, letters, and other things (including flowers) I've received from them. Thanks guys :)

Thanks to all of you - seriously - all of you - for caring enough to check on me in whatever capacity you have. It has really been a strong part of my strength knowing you were out there watching over me.

Only a few more days til we see the surgeon, remove the staples, and find out what the next steps are.

Thanks again - I love you all

This is Thursday - March 1st

Hi everyone! Wow - it's Thursday already. Didn't get much sleep Tuesday as the Vicodin seemed to amp me out. So I stopped taking that yesterday and took my Lunesta last nite - turned in at 9 out at 6:45!!! Yeah - that's a good night's sleep. I am in very little pain right now but seem to have head congestion and sneezing (probably from my dear mom-in-law who played "Dr" with her face mask on so she could be with me -- THANKS Carol (just kidding) )
But I'm doing Zicam and Emer-Gen-C vitamins. Am only taking Advil for pain as needed now. My muscles were aching and my throat sore too - all post surgical reactions - but nothing that sitting in your pajamas for a day (or another day) won't cure.

I cannot tell you how very much I am sure that your thoughts and prayers guided my surgeons hands and all of those who came in contact with me that day during surgery. I had the most wonderful care givers - Linda and Donna in ASU, my surgical nurse Tammy who looked like Callie O'Mallie from Grey's and another Linda in surgery with me and Carlos my anesthesiologist. And Dr. Shaikh once again proved his amazing skills. What a kind, caring and competent doctor he is.

I have two incisions - I had originally thought one - and about 20 staples. We see Dr. Shaikh on the 7th at 1pm for pathology so until then - I won't have any "real" medical news to share with you.

The camp witch sisters where here yesterday to visit me along with our special friend Cat and Annie came too. They brought me tons of yummy things to eat and a pillow for my arm and great conversation. I am so very blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life.

I got an hour before the boys get up - maybe I'll have coffee in the quiet and do some positive reflection. Thanks again - all our friends -- for caring about me.