Jessica's Journey

  AC TREATMENT #3 I had my third AC treatment on Thursday.  My troponin level is rising so that's currently a concern for my oncologist.  Troponin testing is used to detect heart damage.  Unfortunately, red devil chemo can cause heart toxicity, which is what we are trying to avoid.  They did an ECG on me prior to giving me the infusion just to make sure things looked ok.  They cleared me for my third treatment.  My oncologist wants to run a few more tests such as another echocardiogram on my heart before my fourth AC treatment in order to decide if I'll be given that last treatment or not.  It's a possibility they will skip the last one, but I won't know just yet.  He said he wasn't worried if I had to miss the last one.  At this point we just want to be safe about how my body is handling this tough chemotherapy.  Please say a prayer for good results on all my testing.  

 AC Treatment #2 I had my second AC treatment on Thursday.  The biggest hiccup this time was accessing my port.  The nurses couldn't get it to flush properly.  They tried a second time to access the port.  They ended up putting a clot busting medication into my port and leaving it there for thirty min to see if that was the problem.  It flushed after that, but still not well.  They decided to access my port for a THIRD time.  This time they used a larger needle and it worked perfectly!  The infusion went well.  It was also a keytruda day for me so we were there a little longer. So far I've been handling these rounds of treatment fairly well.  The biggest thing I've dealt with is fatigue and weakness.  Please keep praying for me as I continue on this journey.    

 CHEMOTHERAPY TREATMENT #12 I got so nervous, anticipating my first AC treatment that I forgot to even post about last week's victory!  I completed my twelfth treatment of twelve!  It was a big day for me.  Everything was great and I also received my keytruda treatment that day as well.  Once again, I want to thank each one of you for all your prayers and support throughout this journey.  

  AC TREATMENT #1 I had my first AC treatment today.  AC stands for Adriamycin/Cyclophosphamide, two different chemo drugs.  The Adriamycin is the one I've been most afraid of.  It's commonly known as red devil chemo....mainly for its color and extremely harsh side effects.  I faced my fear today and everything went very well during the infusion.  Now I wait.  I'll be going every two weeks for this particular chemo treatment, as it takes that long for my body to recover in between.  They also placed a device on the back of my arm that will deliver an injection approximately 27 hours after my chemo.  It will inject a medication that will stimulate my bone marrow to produce more white blood cells.  This is in place so my counts don't get too low.  I'm so happy to have the first one completed.  Only three more to go!

 CHEMOTHERAPY WEEK 11 Yesterday was week 11 for my chemo infusion!  Only one more week to go during this phase of chemotherapy.  I was there for about three hours BEFORE they even took me down to get my infusion.  Needless to say, it was a long day.  We waited on labs for quite a while but my counts looked good enough to receive treatment.  Praise God.  I also got to see my oncologist yesterday.  He is pleased with how things are going with me.  A pharmacist also came in to educate me on my next phase of chemotherapy.  (red devil phase)  I will be going straight into that phase as soon as I finish treatment number twelve next week.  Please keep me in your prayers as it will be much harder on my body than the current treatment I'm on.  Thank you all so much for the continued prayers.  God is listening and He is answering!  

 CHEMOTHERAPY WEEK 10 I'm getting behind on my entries!  Week 10 went very well, no issues during my infusion.  However, the week at home was much more rough on me than usual.  I had extreme fatigue and weakness.  I have grown to expect the fatigue because it happens every week.  But I had much more this past week.  I don't think I was drinking enough fluids.  I'll definitely be pushing the fluids after treatment 11.  On a positive note, someone sent me an extremely lush blanket this week, which was perfect timing since I was in the bed a lot.  I'm still amazed at the generosity of everyone, even strangers who don't personally know me.  I'm very blessed.  

  CHEMOTHERAPY WEEK 9 Today was treatment #9!  Only three more to go with this phase of chemotherapy.  I'll then begin the next phase, consisting of eight more weeks of chemotherapy and immunotherapy.  Today was a smooth day.  I got to see my oncologist today.  He is pleased with how things are going.  He discussed setting up an MRI sometime after this first phase of treatment.  We will be checking to see how well my tumor has responded to the chemotherapy and immunotherapy thus far.  Fingers crossed that it has shrunk, or even disappeared!  Every day of this journey is a mental battle.  No one prepared me for how difficult this would be on my mental state.  It's a constant rollercoaster of emotions...worry, fear, dread, hopelessness, anger, sadness, but also hopefulness, empowerment, strength, resilience, motivation, drive, and determination.  I try every day to focus on the positives.  It's not always easy and I hav...

 CHEMOTHERAPY WEEK 8 Well today was treatment number eight for me…Eight of twelve!  I’ll then be moving on to my second phase of chemotherapy.  It will last an additional eight weeks. I was nervous, as usual, today. However, my blood counts were looking really good!   I’ve really been eating and drinking lots of protein as well as eating lots of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Maybe that helped. I was successfully able to receive treatment today.  I love all my nurses at Brown Cancer Center.  They are so supportive and they sit back and wait patiently along with me for my lab work to return.  They are all cheering when it’s good enough to receive treatment.  We’re a team. So now is the fun part, the side effects.  I’ll have many days of fatigue and muscle aches ahead of me.  By Wednesday I’m usually feeling much better…just to turn around on Thursday to start over again. Oh well.  It’s all part of the battle. I never get...

  CHEMOTHERAPY WEEK 7     Finally!  It's been a long couple of weeks waiting for this treatment.  I had to miss two Thursdays of my chemo treatment due to my white blood cell count being too low.  They told me I had to just allow my body to build them up.  I tried to get as much rest as possible and eat lots of protein and berries.  I went in there yesterday with my fingers crossed that I would receive good lab results.  With lots of prayer, I did!  I was able to receive my treatment yesterday!  However, my oncologist made a change with my chemo medications; he withheld one of them and will likely withhold it for the remaining five treatments.  Does this scare me?  Yes!  My mind races and wonders if one chemo drug will be enough to fight this aggressive monster inside me.  The thing that keeps me uplifted is knowing that after these last five treatments, I'll be beginning a new set of chemo medications that are m...