You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose...

I had a PICC line installed today. PICC stands for "Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter". For those of us who aren't medically inclined, a PICC line is basically a more permanent version of an IV. They inserted it into a vein in my arm, which goes to an artery and then on to my heart. It will stay in my arm for the rest of chemo (usually they last for a month or two). There are two tubes that hang out of my arm, one for taking stuff out of me (drawing blood), and one for putting stuff in me (chemo).

It was really easy and not painful to get the PICC line installed. I wish I would have known that sooner, it sure beats getting stuck a bajillion times every time they try to find my veins at chemo. They used some local anesthetic (like what they use when you go to the dentist) and then a few minutes later it was done. The downside to the PICC line is that I have to make sure it doesn't get wet so there won't be any germies... infections are not allowed, no sir! Also, I have to flush the lines out daily with saline solution. I wonder if I can put my Diet Coke into a plunger and just inject it straight into my veins?

New news is new news.

I had a very eventful checkup with the oncology group. I'm very low on iron, so they ordered me to eat a steak for dinner. Deal! They said it was time to schedule an appointment with my surgeon. I also have a "treatment summary" appointment scheduled with my oncologist.

Since my veins have been disappearing and being difficult (it took three nurses four tries to stick me at my last chemo), we decided to have a PICC line installed.

Now, the most important part. I've been very achey with the Taxol and Abraxane. It makes it uncomfortable for me to sleep so I am exhausted. Then, there is the neuropathy (numbness and tingling in my fingers and feet). The neuropathy is a concern because instead of getting better over time, it only gets worse (and may be permanent). With the Abraxane, the neuropathy is more likely to reverse. The other option is to take smaller doses in more frequent treatments. This would mean I'd have three weeks of treatments, a week off, and then three more weeks of treatments, thereby extending my chemo for a few weeks. So the question is... if you had to get sick would you prefer a) a flu with a fever and the whole bit, completely knocking you out for two days, or b) a cold with a sore throat and the sniffles, but still being able to do most things for two weeks (and no cheating and saying you don't get sick or you get ebola in this hypothetical situation)? I guess I'd pick the flu. I'll just tough out the chemo for two more treatments (the side effects aren't unbearable, just uncomfortable).

Chemo #6

Two more to go! The Taxol was making the bottom of my feet hurt (neuropathy) so they switched me to Abraxane. It's a natural (as opposed to the synthetic Taxol) protein so most patients handle it better. Plus the neuropathy is more reversible. It took three nurses four tries to find a vein. Once they started the benadryl, I was out cold. I didn't wake up until a half hour after my chemo was finished. I went home afterwards and slept some more. I'm very happy that these treatments don't make me nauseous, although I was just getting the hang of how to handle the nausea when they switched me. Now I have to find a way to deal with the achiness.

I put the FUN in fundraising

Team HYDOOO did an amazing job with the Susan G Komen race for the cure! We ended up in 4th place (so far... they're accepting donations through the end of February) and raised $15,500. That's a whole lot of mammograms! The race was an incredible time. I got to ride in the pace car for the walk in the back of the Ford Mustang. They dropped me off a block up so I was able to rejoin the massive crowd for the walk. Thanks to Tim and the boys holding up pink foam fingers I was able to find them in the stream of people.

The local (channel 5) news interviewed me the day before the race. Tania Rogers was a sweetheart (her husband works with me at Siemens too) and did a great job with the segment. I had a bunch of strangers come up to me the day of the race and say "I saw you on the news!!". Here's the link:
http://www.wptv.com/content/news/topstories/story/Race-for-the-Cure-breast-cancer-Cristal-Hydo-Te/YdqVSht2-E6-rBE006eLJw.cspx

After I finished the race there was a survivior ceremony. It was really nice. They gave us a pink carnation and brought us on stage for a few songs. Palm Beach Post's video of the survivor ceremony (look for yours truly a few minutes in):

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/race-for-the-cure-2010-203874.html

So... now what do I do to save the world? ;)

New Chemo Regimen

I am more than halfway through with my chemo treatments! I finished my AC (Adriamycin and Cytoxan) and have moved on to the Taxol. Usually the Adriamycin is the hardest to tolerate, and causes the worst side effects as far as nausea is concerned. My oncology nurses were surprised I was still able to work while undergoing AC.

The Taxol was a lot easier on me. They started me with an IV bag of anti-nausea and benadryl (some people have an allergic reaction) which actually made me nauseous so they gave me some Ativan to help with that. After that it was night-night time for Cristal. I haven't had any nausea or queasiness. I haven't even needed my anti-nausea meds. Yippeee!

The worst part about the Taxol is that it causes achiness. My ankles and knees hurt which makes it difficult for me to sleep comfortably at night. This really doesn't help with the fact that I'm fatigued to begin with. Plus, weirdly enough, the bottom of my feet hurt so it makes it annoying to walk around.

Other than that, things are going ok! I'm in the home stretch for chemo.