Surviving Step by Step: Pre-treatment

Sunday, 15 February 2009 05:00 Last Updated on Sunday, 02 August 2009 09:00 Written by Wendy Williams

I will be having three types of treatments. My chemo will consist of two types of medicine,Cytoxan and Taxotere. We all know the side effects of these. Loss of hair, fatigue and feeling bad. I'm not too upset about the hair loss. It will grow back. My hair has always grown fast, so I am counting on that to be the case this time. I will have four rounds of chemo every three weeks.

Because I am HER2 positive, which makes my breast cancer more aggressive, I will be given a medicine named Herceptin. This will be a year-long treatment, every week. The side affects are not all the same. I will not lose my hair. Yeah! But I will need to be watched carefully for shortness of breath, unusual bruising or bleeding, and swelling of feet or ankles. There are more symptoms but these are the ones I'm more concerned about.

After my chemo is over, I will start radiation. This will take up a lot of time. It will require me to be available five days a week (Mon-Fri) for seven weeks. It is given directly to the affected breast. People have told me that you will be quite tired, almost as if you had been at the beach all day. Speaking of the beach, I will not be able to expose myself to the sun. I will probably take my children to my sister's house to swim in the pool while I sit in the shade. Time will tell all. The heat may be too much. It will be trial and error.

I am worried and scared, mainly because I have always been very structured. My older boys have learned to wash clothes. They know how to dust and vacuum. It may not be my way, but I will just be very thankful they are able to help out. I will close one eye or look the other way. My support group is strong. Family, friends and neighbors will be there to help out with dinners, shopping, cleaning house and moral support. I feel so very blessed to have all of them there to get me and my family through this challenge. We will make it and be a stronger family.

I look forward to writing every week. I hope it can be more than once a week. Please have patience, there will be ups and downs in my treatment process and hopefully being committed to this blog will make me want to get off the couch or bed and keep busy. Until another day, take care and smile.

Wendy