Camp Chemo Update #2: Cousin Kate is here!

The second day of chemo infusion (2 of 16) is in the books! Thank you to all of the wonderful and amazing friends who have reached out to see how it went and sent well-wishes via card, text, Snapchat, FB, email, and incredible gifts (scroll to bottom to see my new turtle chum from my friend M.).

My Day-to-Day
I have been enjoying the ease of these first two infusions as much as possible with bike rides, yoga, frequent walks with Toby the dog, daily dance party (this is the best and recommend everyone incorporate this into your morning life routine), plus just being awake and not needing to take naps. Don't worry,  I am getting the appropriate amount of rest and Netflix-watching in, I promise. Now that I have a treatment schedule, I am still trying to figure out what my day-to-day looks like.
As mentioned in my first post, I am in the middle of a job search, but have changed direction a bit to focus on more project/contract jobs. After December, it changes to once every three weeks, and I'll stop turning down amazing interview opportunities (this is a very frustrating aspect to all of this for me). Anyway, my point is that I am now shaping what my day-to-day looks like. I will likely write more about this in a future post.

Chemo Buddy Feature: Cousin Kate!
My cousin Kate arrived Thursday night from Ohio to join me for chemo as my Chemo Buddy, and for the beautiful Fall weekend. She brought me a batch of delicious vegetable soup for the freezer! Food is love, my dear reader. We both decided that I have joined the Welte Women ranks with my short brown hair (hi, Letha and Beth!). Kate and I have a history of fun adventures, such as hiking/scrambling up rock walls outside of Squamish, British Columbia (see my FB cover photo); driving across the country for big moves, such as when she left Washington state for Louisiana last year; and plenty of camping in various state and national parks around the country. Today our adventure is, of course, Camp Chemo.

Cousin Kate & me, glamming it up at Camp Chemo! 

Here is a comically bad pic of the two of us + her dog Reese, during her cross-country move of 2016.

Kate was able to hang with me while I got hooked up to the IV (ha!) via Power Port, got my "pre-meds" cocktail of Benadryl, steroids, and whatever, then an hour of Taxol and a half hour of Carbo and then out of there! It takes about 2.5-3 hours. The added benefit of joining me as a Chemo Buddy is witnessing how loopy I get from the Benadryl. (I also refer to my IV as my buddy, as she goes with me if I get up to walk around.) My eyes droop and eventually I rest them for a few minutes. Riveting, to be sure. 

Labs Report & Bone Pain

I also had a chat with Researcher S. about my labs report, which ultimately looks great. She let me know that she is most closely watching my hemoglobin levels (have dropped a little, but not alarming), platelets (have not dropped much at all), and neutrophils (with the chemo I am taking, it is a given that these will drop). 

Neutrophils help fight infection, so if you are low on them you are more at risk, which is not ideal for people on a chemo regiment. Here is more info about neutrophils if you are interested. I will be referencing them in the future, I am sure. My level is currently 1.68, and once it goes below 1.5 I will need to take a "booster" which is a really deceptive way of saying that I will have to take a regiment from now through the end of my phase I of chemo (through mid-December) of subcutaneous shots that I personally administer of something that may (likely) bring about a bit of bone pain. BONE PAIN. BONE. PAIN. So here is where we all say together, "Everyone responds differently, so let's just be cool and see how it goes." I'm cool. You cool?  

(Note: Nurse S. further explained that the 1.5 number is for the study requirement, but the "normal" number for concern isn't until a 1 is reached, so at least that's something in terms of fear of infection.) 

Healthy Food & Exercise

The rest of the day was about eating healthy food (just kidding, John came home and ordered pizza while he watched baseball playoffs... I am 80/20 on my food, meaning I am fine going off course some of the time. I had a half of cheese pizza. To be honest, it wasn't that great.). It's okay because I had a lunch of organic kale (I do love kale, sorry haters) and sweet potatoes with a TBT (tempeh-bacon and tomato) sandwich, courtesy of True Food Kitchen. 

Today, Kate and I are heading out to the woods for a hike. Exercise is important, and I love it, but let me tell you that once I get busy (pre-cancer life) with work, grad school, campaigns, etc., it is the very first thing I chuck. Well, no more of that sh#$, dear reader, because research says that regular exercise will reduce recurrence of breast cancer significantly (percentages vary). The research seems to point to better outcomes for those with hormone receptor-positive tumors, which I am not, but logic lends itself to the idea that it would still be incredibly beneficial to us TNBC-ers. 

From Cancer.gov:

Consistent evidence from epidemiologic studies links physical activity after diagnosis with better breast cancer outcomes (35, 36). For example, a large cohort study found that women who exercised moderately (the equivalent of walking 3 to 5 hours per week at an average pace) after a breast cancer diagnosis had approximately 40% to 50% lower risks of breast cancer recurrence, death from breast cancer, and death from any cause compared with more sedentary women (37). The potential physical activity benefit with regard to death from breast cancer was most apparent in women with hormone receptor–positive tumors (37).

Another prospective cohort study found that women who had breast cancer and who engaged in recreational physical activity roughly equivalent to walking at an average pace of 2 to 2.9 mph for 1 hour per week had a 35% to 49% lower risk of death from breast cancer compared with women who engaged in less physical activity (38).

So yeah, I am no longer sacrificing exercise. Get it! 

My new turtle buddy, from my friend M. He is nestled atop a beautiful and so-soft poncho that she also sent. Love you, M.! 

Selected quote:

"You asked for laughs... so I just called the form of breast cancer you have triple x instead of triple negative." -- J.