For the Sake of My Sanity
I had my 8th and final chemo treatment today, for the sake of my sanity. Cancer treatments come with a lot of decisions, unknowns and best guesses. I am in a study that tracks my chemotherapy side effects, last Friday my responses must have set off bells, whistles, sirens and all sorts of noisy contraptions. The Nurse Practitioner assigned to follow me called me to get the details on my neuropathy (and pain, I have had an unusual...
Hello Menopause, Not So Nice to Meet You
I figured menopause would come sooner than the last couple of weeks as it is a common symptom of chemotherapy for breast cancer. I am now certainly glad it waited to rear its hot ugly head.We will limit the discussion of this beast to its most obvious side effect: hot flashes. I think Mike keeps thinking I am crazy as I throw the dogs off my lap and start gasping for air (I have no idea why I gasp, you would think fanning myself would...
The End is Near
I hear that the rapture is expected to be this Saturday, May 21, 2011. The news is “a-buzz” online and my friend Michelle even had someone kind enough to knock on her door and warn her that the end is near, along with personal visitors there are billboards to support this message. So what I should have been doing today is borrowing a million dollars from a casino somewhere and betting on black, but alas, I opted to go to...
Taxol Number Two
The morning meeting of doom (seeing the plastic surgeon) went pretty well. He told me he wasn’t taking out the stitches and then changed his mind and took out the stitches (replacing them with more steri strips). So now I am stitch free, but not steri strip free. Steri strips are much more comfortable than stitches as stitches like to get caught in shirts. I have had stitches since March 2, 2011 (2 months, they took the first...
The Cost of Breast Cancer
My insurance company has a website where I can monitor claims submitted by the hospital. I have always heard insane stories about how much chemo costs and how expensive cancer is to treat, so I have been watching the claims come in. This is by no means representative of what Mike and I actually have to pay (I feel lucky to have good insurance). How much the hospital charges the insurance company isn’t exactly what they get paid,...