Phew...made it through a bumpy week...

[jml]

The week that seemed like it would never come, finally did.
Last Thursday I had Novalis to treat the 4mm brain met in my L lobe. Yowze - that head frame is no joke! Even though the actual rads only took 20 mins, we were there from 7am, head frame on by 8, preliminary CT, then sitting waiting for ~4 hours while they set up the treatment program. It was really weird and I'm glad I didn't have to look at myself - especially trying to eat with that thing on.
So in total, it was about a 6 hour day. We were really diligent about icing my head, sleeping sitting up, and I had very very minimal swelling & no bruising.
It's been 9 days now and the pin holes have little scabs, my scalp still feels really sensitive and stings a little, but I don't have a headache anymore. We'll check how things look in 4 weeks.
Then Monday I had my Herceptin, and on Tuesday morning, I had the chemo-embo to my liver with Adria.
Typically, you're just sedated on Versed during the procedure, but when they gave me the Benadryl pre-med I had a major case of wrestless leg syndrome. I was jerking all over the table & ofcourse there was no way they would have been able to do the procedure. Fortunately, with another hit of Versed I settled down.
They were able to shoot the Adria beads up towards the biggest lesion in my left lobe & we'll probably repeat or opt for RFA to the smaller lesion in 4 weeks.
I did have some pain/discomfort a day later, nothing severe, but today I feel the best I have in weeks.
I think I can already tell the difference.
Now that all of this is behind me, I'm so relieved and feeling optimistic, but going into it I was getting really scared.
I've felt so crummy for so many months now, I've sort of forgotten that it's possible to live with this disease, fight the good fight and manage to have some quality of life.
My mom's here with me from Hawaii, keeping me company & taking care of me as only a mother can. And feeding me. I've lost 20+lbs & am down to ~103. I don't have much left on me, so Mom's cooking lots of Filipino food and rice on the ready.
I start back on my 4th cycle of Ixempra tomorrow. Keeping fingers crossed that I continue to tolerate it well and that it continues to work!
As for TDM1 - now that I've had the Adria and treated the brain met, I should be eligible for the Expanded Access program- though I have to wait for 60 days post brain treatment to apply. Keeping fingers crossed for only the best things to come in the mean time.
Thanks for letting me share.
I've missed checking in with you guys~

Keep the Faith~

Jessica