Couple Chemo treatments down

As the chemo treatments went on about 3 in more of a schedule of how the rest would go was set. After 4 doses of one type of chemo everyother week she would then recieve a different one after a two week break and go for 12 weeks in a row. After her Chemo is over the doctor still wants to do radiation to be safe. with the radiation she will recieve 33 treatments going everyday. As far as getting sick the study drug she is recieving she thinks is working because even though she got sick after the first treatment the following treatments she has felt pretty good. she also gets a shot now after every treatment which is a white blood cell booster to help with her shite blood cell count so that she can fight off diseases. I found a webstie very helpfull explaining the booster shot and for anyone getting ready to excperience it I would recomend going to this page to read up on a background of the shot and how it works because then it makes it easier in understanding whats going on and why.

Weekend After

After the first chemo treatment Mom seemed to do well the first two days. By the third day however thats when things got scarey. Food for her did not taste the same and started to make her sick. Hearing her on the phone and being far away made it really hard. By this time I had gone back to the city to move into my new apartment. I felt like i betrayed her in a way by leaving and honestly wanted to drop out of school right then and there and move back home. however as a Mother she said it would be selfish of her to let me stay and encouraged me to stay in school. I couldn't ask for a better mom with all she is going through she is a tough lady and has not cried once. (in front of me anyway) after a few days of her being sick she was right back on her feet and made it through. This was only the first treatment so there is now only 14 to go and counting....

The First Chemo Treatment

On September 27th Mom Was scheduled to first Chemo treatment. She thought I had to stay in the city to work, however I surprised her and came home that Wendsday night instead. The next day walking into the office was a real eye opener there were obviously cancer patients all around and watching all of them recieving their treatment had to be the most sadest and scariest thing I had ever seen. With all the emotion running through me I had felt that I was in a twilight zone and nothing seemed real. My mom was Asked prior to be part of a study group to help people from getting sick after the treatment and she would be given 50 dollars each time plus it was actually a good thing because since she is part of a study group they would be paying closer attention to her so that would benefit her in the long run. seeing them inject each medication one by one had to be the hardest part of it all. Afterward she decided to get what they call a port which is a device that they put inside right below the skin and they can inject medicine through it and take blood so that her hand wouldn't get all bruised up. anyone who knows a cancer patient please recomend the outlet it's easier on them and makes it quicker because they don't have to keep looking for the vein everytime they go in.

The Results

On that following Tuesday after the surgery we recieved the results for the lymph nodes and well, although the doctor didn't see anything that alarmed him the results came out that out of the 23 that were taken out 8 were infected. Another slap in the face. So now was the time to start getting ready for the chemo-therapy. The doctor also mentioned that since the lymph nodes were infected on top of the chemo they would deffinitly do radiation to make sure they could kill whatever they could and hopefully stop the spreading. The positive was that they did find it quickly enough to do a lot and take control of it. for a future reference for anyone going through this or who might go through it you always have to remember to take one day at a time and concentrate on the positives and not so much the negatives. It's very hard but after a few weeks of letting everything sink in you get used to the idea of whats happening but I always keep in my mind now especially, with the chemo treatment comming it will seem to get worse before it gets better but I have to remember it is going to help her along with the process.

Day Of the surgery

On the day of the surgery it was rough and a little scary not knowing what the doctor will say afterward as well if he found anything weird or whatever the case may be. I had to stay strong especially in front of my mom, any older children teen and up, take note not to cry around the patient remember one thing that I learned, "You are NOT the Patient." they are the one going through it not YOU. I would cry around my dad get myself together and be good for my mom. we also knew going into surgery she would have to do chemotherapy no matter what so, this was the first hump to get over and it would be worse before getting better. My mom had a friend of hers surprise her and show up at the hospital because she was a volunteer there and would be able to stay with my mom longer than me or my dad would. After they put my mom to sleep her friend came out and sat with me and my dad to keep us company while waiting which was awesome and took some of the tension away from me and my dad. after the surgery was over the doctor came out and said everything went well he didn't see anything that alarmed him and we just had to wait on the results from the lab about the lymph nodes that they had removed from underneath her arm.

Before the Surgery

On Monday night I arrived home and was obviously still in shock of everything and everything that happened after that seemed like an awful dream and I just wanted to wake up. On Tuesday before the surgery mom had another last doctor's apointment to find out if the second lump on her right breast was cancer or not. As one could guess unfortunatley it was. The Doctor though, was AMAZING. I would hope anyone who would go through this would only get a doctor as good as him. He gave me a hug while she was in the room and said that I was holding up very well and he doesn't know why but, "It's harder on the Daughters than the mothers."
Now for some useful information for all women out there, My mom's tumor was what they call a "Hormone Induced" tumor. Now what Happened in my Mother's case was while she started to go through menopause she was taking other vitamins to help with it and unfortunately in the doctors terms, "it was adding fuel to the fire." I was in shock! Now because I'm 21 he explained it's OK for me to be on birth control and women's one a day vitamins because I'm still young and my body uses it, however once a woman reaches menopause your body doesn't need all that extra estrogen so that's extra build up. Even things like soy milk, green tea, and even some of the women's vitamins are bad because you don't need all of that extra estrogen or minerals. some of the natural herb vitamins you have to be careful about as well because when they are making it they are not measuring how much they put in and that's not always good for you depending on how long you take it.
This is an article I found On the website of breastcancer.org that is a great website for information on anything about breast cancer.
http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/environmental/new_research/20061225b.jsp

About Me

August 25th 2007 had to be the absolute worst day of my life. I live, work, and go to school in New York City which is five hours away from home where I grew up. On that day I recieved a phone call from my parents saying that they were comming up just for the day to take me out to dinner and "talk to me." at that point I knew something was wrong. School started in just another week what could be wrong? When they arrived my mom looked at me and said, "I have Breast Cancer." WOW! What a smack in the face!!! You always think, "That will never happen to me." And now here it is the worst thing I would NEVER want neither of my parents to go through after seeing my Grandfather go through it and die when I was just in second grade. I believe everything happens for a reason and my parents right before this were debating on moving to south Virginia and unfortunatly I guess this was God's way of saying not to go. Well Since the surgery was going to be on that following Thursday On Monday night is when I decided to drive home.
This blog I want to be like a journal, personal detail of what me and my family is going through to help other younger people going through the same thing as me get through it. I noticed not to many things for the children of the family so I decided to help and maybe find some sites or books to recomend as I find them. I hope this blog helps a lot of people out and even me just to write it all down because in the past month I have Learned so much that I never knew I would know.