jml
05-03-2012, 08:02 PM
Hi friends~
I haven't been in the boards much lately & just trying to get caught up on everyone's news.
First and foremost, thank you everyone for your kind words of comfort and sympathy over my sweet Dad's passing. I'm still in Hawaii, but am returning to Atlanta next week.
Everyday brings a surprising new challenge in mourning and I'm heartbroken about leaving my Mom. Fortunately she's got an amazing group of friends that call and visit and are even going to stay with her during the night's after I leave (it's a pretty common Filipino practice for friends & family to move in with the widow in the days following to help cook, clean house and just take care & keep company). So that does bring much comfort.
I don't think I realized how this grief would manifest for me, but it has been physically really hard. I lost too much weight, was severely anemic again & required a transfusion the day before my Dad's services, have been fighting debilitating nausea & had been so lethargic. Not only was I grieving my Dad
but I also was so concerned about worrying my mom.
Fortunately after having my Herceptin infusion and having a serious
talk with the doc & nurse AND a short 5 day reprieve from the oral methotrexate & cytoxan, I'm feeling physically stronger and not so fearful
about getting back to living on my own and working again.
I have a brain MRI the week after I get back to Atl. It'll be the 3 month follow up to the clean (yay!) MRI that I had 1 month after finishing WBR in March. I'm trying not to think about it, but I can feel the fear & anxiety creeping up.
I haven't had a PET scan since progressing on Halaven at the end of December, then switching to daily oral methotrexate + cytoxan, but have seen the supraclav node shrink & was undetectable by US after only a few weeks on this combo.
Scheduling a PET scan is still open for discussion, but my Onc is thinking that since we don't have a next treatment option - until Pertuzumab is approved, hopefully as soon as June- if I'm feeling well, am asymptomatic and nothing pops up, we'll just stay on course. I really needed that short 5 day chemo break, so maybe I'll ask my doc if we can do that every 4 weeks or so.
Would so appreciate your thoughts and feedback?
Thank you again everyone, for all your support you've offered, for so much in so many ways~
Keep the Faith
Jessica
I haven't been in the boards much lately & just trying to get caught up on everyone's news.
First and foremost, thank you everyone for your kind words of comfort and sympathy over my sweet Dad's passing. I'm still in Hawaii, but am returning to Atlanta next week.
Everyday brings a surprising new challenge in mourning and I'm heartbroken about leaving my Mom. Fortunately she's got an amazing group of friends that call and visit and are even going to stay with her during the night's after I leave (it's a pretty common Filipino practice for friends & family to move in with the widow in the days following to help cook, clean house and just take care & keep company). So that does bring much comfort.
I don't think I realized how this grief would manifest for me, but it has been physically really hard. I lost too much weight, was severely anemic again & required a transfusion the day before my Dad's services, have been fighting debilitating nausea & had been so lethargic. Not only was I grieving my Dad
but I also was so concerned about worrying my mom.
Fortunately after having my Herceptin infusion and having a serious
talk with the doc & nurse AND a short 5 day reprieve from the oral methotrexate & cytoxan, I'm feeling physically stronger and not so fearful
about getting back to living on my own and working again.
I have a brain MRI the week after I get back to Atl. It'll be the 3 month follow up to the clean (yay!) MRI that I had 1 month after finishing WBR in March. I'm trying not to think about it, but I can feel the fear & anxiety creeping up.
I haven't had a PET scan since progressing on Halaven at the end of December, then switching to daily oral methotrexate + cytoxan, but have seen the supraclav node shrink & was undetectable by US after only a few weeks on this combo.
Scheduling a PET scan is still open for discussion, but my Onc is thinking that since we don't have a next treatment option - until Pertuzumab is approved, hopefully as soon as June- if I'm feeling well, am asymptomatic and nothing pops up, we'll just stay on course. I really needed that short 5 day chemo break, so maybe I'll ask my doc if we can do that every 4 weeks or so.
Would so appreciate your thoughts and feedback?
Thank you again everyone, for all your support you've offered, for so much in so many ways~
Keep the Faith
Jessica