One more down, 3 to go!

I have had a rough two weeks, but am feeling better. I had a great time last week with all of our dear friends from our tandem bicycle club. I wish I would have had a lot more energy - but there will be other times for that. It felt really good to be surround by such a great group! Thanks for all the help that you gave Len and me on this tour. You are all very special to us! This picture shows part of our tandem group getting ready to ride on our day off in Three Rivers. We had 14 couples that rode the tour this year. In this group we have 2 breast cancer survivors (besides me) and one double lung transplant recipient and they are all still enjoying life!!!!

I am home from my first Taxotere treatment. Everything went well. Dr Mark Campbell (my oncologist) suggested that we do these treatments at 2 week intervals instead of 3 week intervals since I will not be getting the Carboplatin (the drug our insurance refused to pay for). My next infusion will be Monday, July 13 (we chose this date so that we could have all the rest of my chemo infusions falling on Len's day off). He also is not giving me the Neulasta shot this time and I may not need it for the last 3 infusions. Pray that my white blood counts stay high enough to make this possible. I really would love to not have to indure all that pain! So, August 10 should be my last chemo. Yeah - I can see the end of this step. We will meet with the radiation oncologist and breast surgeon on July 7 to discuss how we proceed after chemo. We would like to get the surgery done first (four weeks after chemo ends) and then radiation after that. My plastic surgeon and breast surgeon felt that it would be best to make the exchange of the expander with the silicone implant prior to radiation, since radiated skin takes a long time to heal before any work can be done. They would also do the second mastectomy and place an expander in the left side at this time as well. We just need to discuss this with the radiation oncologist to get his feeling on putting off the radiation until October. So, we should know more after our appointments on July 7.

I'm sure that you are all wondering what our kids did for me this time. Our oldest daughter, Julie brought over one quilting magazine, one crafting magazine, a pink U of M hat, and dove chocolate (which I will be hiding from Len!). We surely have great kids - don't you agree?

Thanks again for all the prayers said on our behalf. God is truly good and we praise him every day for all that he has given us!

FEC done - Hemoglobin low

Last week was Vonnie's last chemo with FEC. The next 12 weeks will be Taxotere. Vonnie had her last FEC on Wednesday (a day early) so she could spend some time with our Tandem bicycle club tour that she and I (Len) have been planning for the past year. Her recovery time from the chemo has been getting progressively longer. She felt good enough to drive herself to Three Rivers on Tuesday and I came up from Shipshewana to pick her up. Our friends were very glad to see her although not as glad as I was. It is rare that we are apart and after four days I REALLY missed her.

Well she did try a short amount of bike riding on Wednesday but that was all she could handle and decided to ride in the tow vehicle the next day. On Thursday her energy started deteriorating and she was developing blisters on her hands and feet for no apparent reason. By Friday afternoon she had enough and we left the bike tour early and headed home by way of the cancer center. The nurse said the blisters are rare but not unheard of. She had her CBC's taken and we determined that her red blood cell count is low. She is very tired and sore all over and has been napping a lot today (Saturday). We hope and pray that now that FEC is over the Taxotere therapy will be easier on her. We never did get the Carboplatin approved by the insurance company and cannot pay for it ourselves either. If the drug shows up on her therapy our insurance will deny all the chemotherapy. At least we finally got refunded the $6500 that we needed to pay for the first session. The check came today.

First Born turns Twenty-Ten.

I'm hijacking my mom's blog tonight to brag about the birthday gift I got from her. Mom made me a beautiful pink ribbon quilt! I love it, it's absolutely beautiful!!
Check out the photo.
It's right there ->
over... there... --->

Mom wanted a photo with me in it. I'm pretty sure I AM in it. Maybe behind the couch? Or under that quilt? I think I see a fuzzy from my shirt sticking out from under that quilt. I'm in there.

I turned twenty-ten on June 7th. Not twenty nine, not thirty, I'm twenty-ten. Did you know that I was due to be born on May 11th (right mom?) and was born June 7th?!! Maybe we should be celebrating my mom for the extended pregnancy and the horribly colicky first child she had. (I'm not admitting that was me. I am pretty sure I am not 30 years old, so it had to have been someone else.)

Thanks mom for bringing me, your first, your easiest, and your absolute favorite into the world! I love you!!

- Julie

Last FEC treatment today

I am having my last FEC chemo today. My daughter-in-law, Julie has agreed to take me since Len is working today. Thank you, Julie. I am excited to be almost done with this step. It has been easier than I expected (with the exception of the bone pain), but I am ready to go on to the next step. I pray that the Taxotere is an easier chemo to tolerate and that I may be able to skip the Neulasta shot (which is causing all the bone pain).

I am having this chemo a day early in the hopes of joining the MUTS bicycle tour part way through the tour. Len and I have spent the last year planning for this tour and I would love to be a part of it - even if only for a few days. There are 14 teams going this year and the tour is starting this weekend in South Haven, traveling south to Buchanen, Mi then to Potato Creek State Park in northern Indiana. The next stop is Shipshewana. I hope to join them in Shipshewana on Tuesday. They have a day off at Shipshewana and then on to Three Rivers, Mi on Thursday. They will return to South Haven on Saturday, June 20. It is always a great tour with our great tandem friends and the weather looks like it will be nice this year. For all those on the tour - ride safely and have fun!

My great friend, Ellen Zuidema will be coming in on from Detroit on Friday to spend the weekend with me while I recooperate from this chemo. It is going to be such a blessing having her here while Len is starting the tour. Thank you Ellen!

When I got home from chemo today I had another surprise. Robyn brought over a movie, card and candy and Erin got me another plant. Thanks for thinking of me as I go through another round of chemo.

Chemo #5

This time around I had a lot more nausea after chemo on Thursday and Friday morning. Then came the Neulasta shot on Friday afternoon. The pain began on Saturday afternoon and was mostly gone by Monday afternoon. Today I am almost back to my non-pain self. I found a fairly effective therapy of Tramadol, Acetaminophen and Lorazepam which helped me to "zone" out and sleep off and on for 2 full days. Today, I have only had Acetaminophen for the pain. Only one more FEC treatment left then 4 Taxatere chemo treatments. We talked to the chemo nurse and she said that "sometimes" the Neulasta shot isn't needed after the Taxatere treatments. That would be wonderful!!!! The pain from that shot has been the hardest part of my chemo so far.

I spent this morning at JoAnn Fabrics getting baby girl quilting fabric. I even found a great pattern that I would love to use, but I have to downsize it since it is for a twin size bed. I am really anxious to get started on it.

My next chemo is scheduled for next Wednesday (June 10) so that I can join our tandem tour on the following Tuesday. I probably won't be doing much riding, but it will be nice to be able to follow the tour and spend time with our friends.