I was feeling really great this week, just like normal pre-chemo days. My hair started thinning and I have a small spot on the back of my head. Right now I can move the part around and cover it up. I'm hoping that it won't thin much more. I know that the cold caps are working as most people lose most of their hair by day 21 and I'm the only person that can really tell my hair is thinning.
My office has instituted Pink Thursdays on the Thursdays before my chemo treatment. Everyone in the office wore pink or a pink ribbon Thursday in honor of me. Even the high-level execs who were at a leadership meeting sported the pink! It blows my mind how supportive and loving they have all been, especially since I've been working there less than a year. I am so very thankful for them!!
Mama got here about 7 Thursday night and we ate and all promptly went to sleep. I was up at 4:30 and didn't go back to sleep. Too many things to think about!! We valeted (thanks, Colvins! Everyone knows how much I hate to pay to valet!) and unpacked all of our bags and coolers.
Mama found these pink igloo coolers. They're so festive!! She stops in Shreveport and gets the dry ice on her way over. She's in charge of the caps and making sure I wear them and the frozen peas. I don't know what I'd do without her!!!
Most people know about the cool caps but some people think that we have two igloo cubes full of food and drinks, ha! Labs were at 8:20 with Dr. Blum's appointment at 8:45. During her exam, both of us were having trouble finding my lump. She was able to find it with me laying down but it was significantly smaller than it was on my first treatment day. She was able to measure it and it was 1.5x1 cm!! (At my biopsy it was 2.2x2 cm and my first treatment day it was 2.5x2 cm.) It shrunk 1 cm in one treatment!! And she couldn't feel the cancerous lymph node anymore! Praise God!! She said that since it was such a fast-growing tumor it reacts very well to the chemo. She was also very impressed with my labs and kept saying how high my counts were.
When we got downstairs to get Mama and our coolers, Mrs. Cherie was there. I love having extra visitors! I asked for a private room in infusion and even though she couldn't give me one they did put us kind of off to the side. So instead of asking for permission, I brought all three of them back with me. (You're only allowed one visitor, two if you have the cool caps)
We got settled in and immediately had to do some photo opportunities and tweeting. Mama even surprised us all with football tickets (two for me and HK for the Auburn game and two for Mrs. Cherie for Texas A&M). We all wore pink ribbons that Sammons had gotten for us.
When we got downstairs to get Mama and our coolers, Mrs. Cherie was there. I love having extra visitors! I asked for a private room in infusion and even though she couldn't give me one they did put us kind of off to the side. So instead of asking for permission, I brought all three of them back with me. (You're only allowed one visitor, two if you have the cool caps)
We got settled in and immediately had to do some photo opportunities and tweeting. Mama even surprised us all with football tickets (two for me and HK for the Auburn game and two for Mrs. Cherie for Texas A&M). We all wore pink ribbons that Sammons had gotten for us.
The prayer shawl is from FBC Eupora. Love it! The Dammit Doll - cancer edition is from my sweet friend Katie, and the cross is from Mrs. Cherie.
The striped blanket was hand crocheted by my sweet friend Emily Young. So thoughtful!
Henderson and I tried to get some retweets from Dan Mullen and Scott Stricklin and we succeeded!!
This treatment went by a lot faster. The first one includes lots of nurse teaching and wait times to ensure there are no allergic reactions. We put the caps on about noon. The caps and the frozen peas I put on my fingers and toes (to prevent neuropathy and nail damage/loss) are sooo cold!! They are almost unbearable. Besides that it was a pretty uneventful day. Even with the benadryl I was unable to sleep; I'm guessing the steroids have a hand in that.
For my first treatment, Henderson surprised me by hiring our cleaning lady back so that I came home to a super clean house. Today, she came back and it was even free since she partners with a local non-profit to provide free home cleanings for cancer patients! It's so nice to come home to a clean house!
Today I go back and get my nuelasta shot (to boost my counts) and on Friday I have my second Goserelin shot (it shuts down my ovaries to hopefully save them. Even though we have the four embryos this is just another precaution).
Thanks for all of your prayers! It is obvious after this treatment that they are working! Please continue to pray for our families safe travels and that I would have the least amount of side effects.
Love,
Bailey & Henderson
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