The time has come...

Since tomorrow is a rather big day, it is time to go back to November 1 and to finally find the words to describe my day.

It started out innocently enough.  After all, I had been coached by the Ibrance team and had read all the dos and don’ts, what side effects I should expect, so I was ready to take the plunge and my first pill.  I mean, how bad could it really be.  So, I ate my high fat breakfast (no bacon as I was too lazy to make it), took my pill and washed my hands thoroughly as I was told to do as the pill is so potent (and yes it was being ingested. Lovely).   It took maybe 5 minutes and the nausea started. I would like to suggest purchasing stock in Canada Dry Ginger Ale as it is a gift from above and it will be a part of my life for the foreseeable future.  Luckily   most days I am over that feeling by noon, but it does come and go, sometimes staying all day or just hours at a time. No rhyme or reason.  However, if I even smell an egg it is all over.  Over.  Part one over and done with; onto part two…

The shots…

Unless you are new to this or have been hiding under a rock for the past year or so, every 4 weeks I have been the recipient of a Lupron shot in alternating cheeks.   This is the shot which is a form of hormone therapy.  Of course it took a few shots for that to sink in.  I think it was the 3 or 4 shot in which it hit me it was hormonal.  I was wondering why I wanted to cry by the time I hit the light in front of the hospital.  Duh.  Anyway, long story short, the Ibrance works with Faslodex which comes in shot form.  And there are 2 shots of it given. Remember the 2 shots. It will come in handy later. Trust me.

I arrive early and am not too worried.  The Lupron shot is not that bad, so I figured I was golden.  Nope. Not even close.  As I am called in by a new nurse, we go into the “shot” room and I see the 3 shots.  Funny, but a conversation from the very first Lupron shot comes to mind, so I say very casually to the nurse—when I first started the Lupron shots, I was told about these shots that have to stay in for 1-2 minutes.  She looks at me and yup, that is the Faslodex.  She then asks me if I want another nurse in there as some people do.  I say no as I have no clue why I would want another one in there.  As she leaves to get the paper, I need to sign for the Faslodex, it hits me that if there are two nurses, then the shots are given simultaneously.  And, if they must be in that long, why the hell not.  She comes back in and I verify about the reasoning for the second nurse. I said go get her. In comes Heather, my Lupron shooter.  She is laughing as she knows me.  I tell her to bite me and get this done and over with.  And they start to do just that with one going in a tad earlier than the other. As many of you know, I talk to myself all the time.  As I am standing there with 2 shots in my butt, I muttered this is a pain in the ass and how the hell did I end up here.  Heather tries to contain herself, the new nurse has no clue and I realized I was talking out loud.  At which point one needle goes out and the Lupron goes in.  It was all over and done with in less than 3 minutes. 

Truthfully, the shots were not that bad, However, add in the Lupron and that explains the Whole Foods shopping experience as well as stopping at Duck Donuts.  The pain came later that night and lasted for about 3 days.  Luckily, I was able to sit as they had been shot into the upper muscles of the buttock.  All in all, it was doable—as is most of this stuff.

The treatment becomes every four weeks after tomorrow as far as the shots go.  Lads will be drawn tomorrow to make sure my counts are good.  Supposedly the biggest issue is low white blood counts.  I think it is the fatigue.  Which is amusing as the side effects are insomnia and fatigue.  Of course.

As to why tomorrow is a big day—I also have an MRI tomorrow morning before all the other stuff.  In order to be eligible for this Clinical Radiation trial which is apparently highly successful, they need to make sure there is nothing in the breast area, so a bilateral MRI of the breast area is being done.  I will say I enjoyed asking why bilateral if it is just a belly boob.  The person who called me said because Dr Kotz said so.  I said so you don’t argue with him either at which point he laughed and said no.   Very, very quickly.

I do not expect to hear anything from anyone until I see Dr Kotz on December 5 at which time, he will tell me what I am going to do.  Ironically, it will be 7 years to the day of me finding that pesky lump.  What a ride it has been.  Good, bad, ugly, grateful, angry, self-pity, thankful, faithful, but most of all blessed—I have felt them all and them some. 

Speaking of blessings, a few weeks ago, I had a talk with the Angels and the Sunday after the shots, they were told a kid’s friendly version which had all of us laughing.  Last week, as we were settling down and I was starting to talk about the lesson, Brett interrupted – he said—how are you doing? Are you feeling okay?  I assured them I was good, and we carried on with the lesson—which was giving thanks for our teachers.  I am so thankful I am their teacher.