Tomorrow is Race Day

Race Day is almost here! In <24hrs, I'll be hanging out at Chandler High with an amazing group of women waiting for our start. I am doing the duathlon which includes running 1 mile, then getting on my bike to ride 8 miles and then running the final 2 miles. There are 23 athletes on our Team SOS and more than a dozen getting up very early to volunteer. What an amazing show of support. I am so blessed!!! Looks like the weather should be perfect....by 6am it will be 60 and by 9am it will be 72....and hopefully no wind like this past week. I'm so excited and am starting to feel those little butterflies.

I know everyone is wondering how my doctor appts went this week, so here's the update...

On Tuesday, I saw my surgeon again for a follow-up on the port. It was a very quick appt. He thought it looked good and I'm healing fine. I won't see him again for another 6-8 weeks. I'm thankful because the 35 minute drive to Scottsdale is getting old. For those Phx Suns fans, we saw a player in the waiting room as we were leaving.....the rich & famous are not exempt from filling out the same nauseating paperwork as the common folk.....I witnessd this! :-)

On Wednesday, I had a consult with an oncologist. We waited an hour past our appt time to see the doctor. Of course, this was frustrating, but we felt the doctor is competent and caring. He comes highly recommended from multiple sources. The treatment plan he is recommending is called "TCH" for the first letter of each of the three chemo drugs. T is for Taxane, C is for Carboplatin and H is for Herceptin. It's a year treatment plan that looks like this:

Week 1-18: T&C once every 3 weeks; H every week
Week 19-22: Stop T&C, continue H once every 3 weeks, radiation
Week 23-52: H once every 3 weeks

Herceptin is fighting the Her2-neu gene I have and can be hard on my heart. Next Tuesday, I will have a MUGA scan. This is a nuclear medicine test to evaluate the function of my heart ventricles. This will give us a baseline and I will have this scan done periodically throughout treatment to monitor my heart.

There is an overwhelming list of side effects with all these drugs. My immune system will be supressed (low white blood cell count) so I'll get a shot the day after chemo to boost my cell count. I need to be cautious about getting sick and infections. My hair will likely fall out; however, with these drugs there is a chance my hair will only thin. And, of course, I'll be extra tired.

I am planning to start chemo the week of April 27. I'm still working on logistics & insurance details with the oncology office. I'm also pursuing other opinions regarding the recommended treatment plan. I'll keep you updated as these dates become more definite.

Yesterday I met with a physical therapist who specializes in mastectomy patient rehab. She is fabulous. I really connected with her. She evaluated the range of motion of my arms. She thinks I'm doing extremely well considering I'm only 3.5 weeks after surgery. She gave me some exercises to do and she massaged my muscles. I'll see her twice a week for a few weeks, then only once a week for a while. I think this will help me get over the hump and back to normal range of motion. I feel like I'm making progress. I just want to do everything I can to get back to normal quickly.

My next post will be after I complete the Tri for the Cure.
Keep us in your prayers tomorrow.
Love, srb