5th Chemo done

Hi all!  Just a quick update to let you know that I'm all finished the 5th chemo now.  Only 3 more to go!  I felt pretty good all weekend.  I had a tonne of energy, courtesy of my medication.  With the help of my Mom I got all my Christmas decorations up and got all my house chores done.   I know it's early for Christmas but I figure it's better to get it done and besides I enjoy having the house decorated.  Thanks Mom!
Yesterday though was a bit tough.  I was really really tired and my muscles were sore.  Had a bit of bone pain later in the evening but nothing some Extra strength Tylenol can't take of.  :-)  I'm getting there though.  I took it easy and rested so I'm hoping I'll be as good as new by tomorrow.  Food doesn't taste as good the last couple of days, but I don't think I have any other major side effects so far. 
I'm going to take it easy again today so I'm ready to go for Matt's hockey tournament in Pembroke this weekend and then back to work next week. 
Some good news to share on the work front.  Many of you know that my division at Nortel was put up for auction and sold a couple of months ago now, and the deal is in the process of closing.  Well it looks like I'll be receiving an offer letter from the new company Avaya once I return to work next week.  It's a huge load off for our family so I'm very happy that I'm going to have an opportunity to keep working with the same great people in a job I enjoy!
Take care everyone and I appreciate all of your love and support!

Good cycle

Well this cycle was pretty good overall.  It's been a busy couple of weeks but I felt better earlier in the cycle and managed to fight off the cold/flu until just this past weekend when Samantha starting coughing.  I actually haven't gotten the cold as bad as she did yet, so hopefully my body is doing well at fighting it off.  I only have a little cough so far. I still can't feel any of my tumors, but that doesn't mean there isn't some bits left there.  I won't really know until we get another MRI done.  I'll probably be going for that and my appointment with my surgeon after my next chemo. 

We all went to get our H1N1 shots last week.  I was worried at first about how long I would be standing in line but as it turned out I only waited about 30 minutes to get the wrist bands for everyone and then we all went at 5pm that night to get our shots.  We only waited 30 minutes again to get in and then we were on our way 30 minutes after that.   Samantha was a real trooper.  No tears or anything.  She didn't even flinch.  We all had sore arms for a couple of days, and John seemed to feel a bit fatigued and achy the day after but the kids and I had no other symptoms.   I'm glad it's done though, it was a huge worry with the amount flu going around and with that 13 old boy dying in Toronto a few weeks ago, I was really scared about Matthew and Sam. 

This Friday I'm heading in for my first Taxotere and Herceptin treatment.  It will be a long treatment this time probably just over 3 hours versus the hour and half I'm used to.  Since there is such a risk of my body having a allergic reaction the drip will be longer for the first time.  I also have to adjust my medications for this chemo drug as well.  I've been taking only 1 tablet of a steroid per day along with my anti nausea drug but with the risk of allergic reactions I'll be taking 4 tablets the day before, the day of and 2 tablets the day after.  Even with the 1 tablet I had a lot of energy and had a bit of trouble sleeping at night so I can only imagine what it's going to be like with the 4 tablets per day.  I'm sure all my Christmas decorations will be up before the end of the weekend and some other projects that I've been meaning to do :-)
I'm hoping the down won't be too bad after.  With the last 4 treatments with the steroid I usually experience a couple of days where I'm very tired and a little sad, so I'll have to prepare myself for that.  My doctor said the nausea won't be as bad with this drug so I'm hoping I'll be up and around quicker but we will see.   The other little thing about this treatment is that I have to wear ice/cool mitts and booties while I'm getting the chemo drug to keep the drug away from my fingers and toes.  Apparently this will help me so I won't lose my finger and toe nails.  I hate being cold so that won't be fun, but losing my finger and toe nails would be a lot worse. 
I'm looking forward to getting through this treatment so I can feel better again.  It's been really nice the last couple of weeks feeling mostly normal.
Take care!