Toenail, gone!

Before I go into the details of my last treatment, I want to start by saying that my fingernails have been discolored due to the chemo. I'm not sure about my toenails because there is nail polish on them. Well, anyhow, Peyton backed up onto my toenail today at the store, and wham! It cracked in half and started bleeding. I was so mad! It was a total accident, but that girl is pretty aggressive and she doesn't know her own strength. So now I'm wondering if my toenails are funky and weak from the chemo. How else would it have cracked so easily? I bandaged it up and I'm sure it will fall off any day now. So gross.

Not only are my nails discolored, my tongue has black spots on it. I've developed a few mouth sores, a prominent one right on the tip of my tongue. I can barely talk. The nurse gave me an RX yesterday that should help with the mouth sores.

Ahhhh....the last of the red devil was administered yesterday. It feels so good to say that I am done with this more aggressive regimen of the chemo. Although the new one will require weekly treatments, it is a totally different medicine and it should have less severe side effects. The doctor is worried about neuropathy, a condition where your toes and fingers become numb. I plan to work the entire time, only taking time off on Friday afternoons for treatments.

During the cytoxan infusion yesterday, I got a massive sinus headache. I almost asked the nurse to stop the drip because I couldn't take it anymore. I decided to tell the nurse about the pain and she had the solution: Benadryl. She gave me a 25 mg pill and it went away almost immediately. What a miracle. I wonder if Benadryl would have helped me the other times my head hurt that badly. If only I had known earlier!

My wonderful friend, D, and I went to an Image Reborn class at Kaiser on Wednesday. It was such an informative session about reconstruction after a mastectomy. Basically, there are 3 options for reconstruction: tissue expanders with implants, TRAM flap (where they take your tummy tissue to make your new breasts), and Latissimus Muscle Reconstruction (they take your back tissue for the newbies). I'd love to get a TRAM flap, but I'm not sure I have enough of a pooch. Hey, it's a free tummy tuck too. At the end of the session, several brave women who have undergone the various surgeries took their shirts off to show us the results. They all looked AMAZING! I am now confident that Kaiser plastic surgeons are just as skilled as others out there. You can barely see the scars on some of the women. They all had man made nipples as well. The nipples are tattooed on by the plastic surgeons. It's one of the last steps in the reconstruction process. One even had a beautiful man made belly button! I just cannot believe how far medical procedures have come. I've seen some pretty gruesome pictures on the Internet of women who have had mastectomies, but seeing these women in real life and up close gave me comfort in knowing that I might not look so grotesque after this is all over.

Decisions, decisions....before my mastectomy, I still have to decide between a hysterectomy or oophorectomy...

Treatment #4,
I was NOT happy here because I felt nauseous even before the infusion started.

Treatment #3

I was happy here because we brought Game of Thrones to watch!