Thurs Sept 14th

Okay so another Chemo treatment over and done with!! 2 down 14 to go, 2 weeks down and 22 weeks to go..... I took some pictures this morning with my mom at the cancer center. They give me these nice recliners to sit in and you can see the pink breast cancer blanket that Cyndi Thalman made for me. They are posted on my snapfish page with the link on the side of the page that says Eliza's pictures under Chemo 9/14/06. I had to take some pictures of things even if it isn't a time I want to remember now, I am sure it will be nice to look back on some photos of it all.
We went in at 8:30 and were done by 11:45. Jon's parents were nice enough to watch our rugrats today. I did find out that they will give me the benadryl and steroids everytime to prepare my body for the treatment. Which means I will be sleeping through, at least, the first part of things. I also found that accessing the port isn't near as painful as I thought it would be. I use a prescription cream that numbs the skin prior to going in and it didn't hurt at all. It didn't really even hurt to take it out. My wonderful oncology nurse Judy is so good at explaining everything that is going on is about the sweetest person ever. (Along with everyone that works there, which makes it so much easier) Today my white blood cell count, or WBC, was 2.8 and normal range is between 4.1 and 10.9 so this week I will have to stay out of the crowds. Judy said that I will hit nadir (which is the lowest point my counts will drop) within the first 2 weeks. They can give me shots if the count gets too low. I am trying to get the DNA test approved through my insurance so I can find out if I have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene in my DNA. The test is expensive though, so I have to make sure insurance will pay for it. This will be good to know for my sisters and my daughters. Not to much else exciting with the chemo today, just sitting in a chair getting an IV drip. It is funny that they give you the stuff in the main line and that it doesn't effect your body for a few days.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I took a nap this afternoon and felt great when I woke up. I was able to spend some time with the kids taking a walk and going to the park so that was nice. Jon is working hard on getting some of our basement outer walls framed in his spare time and it is nice to see that project getting started. It has been a good way for him to take his mind off things. Until next time my friends.......