BOOBOMETER

Monday, 29 August 2016

Won't you take me to Funky Town...

My appointment with the Oncologist this morning was to talk about the drug I'm to take every day for 5 years....gulp!

The drug is Arimidex or Anastrozole and it has a list of possible side effects as long as my arm, however that doesn't mean I'll get all of them, some of them, or any of them. I have 1 month's supply and then I see the Oncologist again to see how I'm going, if I can't tolerate the side effects then there's another one to try. The registrar said most people get menopause symptoms like hot flushes, and I'll have to have bone scans to check my bone mass. If I have an issue with hot flushes then they can give me an antidepressant which apparently helps with that. 

I then went to the gym to start exercising, I've been told to go gentle at first so just went in to do 10 mins on a bike and 10 on the treadmill.  Made a HUGE mistake of weighing myself halfway through, extremely depressing... I started to have a moment when I was on the treadmill, heading to pity city with every step, thinking about how long it's going to take to get this weight off and how long 5 years is taking a pill every day and I actually started to cry before I pulled myself together. Really quite pathetic as I take vitamins every day! I thought about going back to the Cancer Centre and saying to the registrar "you might as well hand over those bloody anti-depressants now!"

I think I'm out of pity city for now and my aim is to get to Funky Town, without the aid of yet another drug.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnejLmQGYhg


Wednesday, 24 August 2016

The big three are done

Surgery - tick
Chemotherapy - tick
Radiation - tick

I feel like I've got off lightly, I'm really lucky that I haven't had any nasty side effects. I've pretty much sailed through everything thrown at me so far (and I've got my fingers crossed as I'm typing this, how awesome am I!) My pink boob is now starting to itch so I'm armed with a prescription for hydrocortisone cream to deal with that if it gets worse

The next step is Herceptin tomorrow and continuing every 3 weeks for about another 7 months. I also have my Oncologist specialist appointment on Monday morning and that will be to talk about what on going drug I'll need to take for 5 years.

I'm told to allow 3 weeks to recover from my radiation treatment and that people usually get hit with side effects afterwards. I am taking a week's sick leave and even if physically I'm ok, I really need this time psychologically. I'm still standing, and my hair has started to grow back, but my eyelashes have now fallen out and most of my eyebrows too, my eyes have those dark "chemo circles" underneath and some of my toenails are purple. I just want the world to stop for a bit, crawl into my cave and hibernate for a little while.

On a lighter note, back by popular demand, another one of my fabulous drawings. I'm attempting to show how many machines have been around me during radiation. Once they zapped me to the right of my boob from behind, the machines rotated around and then I got zapped from the left to target the other side of the same boob. When it got to that side the machine that did the actual zapping was closer to my face, and I could see the whole thing. A bit off putting and I tried to think of anything I could to distract me from thinking about all the things that could go wrong.

One of the radiation techs looks very like David Walliams the British comedian who is also a judge on Xfactor.  When his double was on duty I usually ended up thinking that I was a contestant on Xfactor and David was about to hit the golden buzzer for my incredible talent at lying still....and then I had to stop myself from laughing. 

What they don't tell you in the leaflet is that you could bite through your tongue to stop yourself laughing, because it's impossible to laugh without moving your body.  I should write the leaflets eh!




My view during radiation

She's got my vote






Thursday, 18 August 2016

P!nk

My right boob is now pink, like I've been sunbathing with only 1 boob out
No pain, a bit of radiating heat that's all. Occasionally a little bit tired but I'm still working every day. 

On Wednesdays I only work a half day as the treatment time is earlier, and this week I got my discounted massage thru the Cancer Society afterwards. A 1/2 hour of bliss and I was so relaxed when I got home I snoozed on the couch in the sun for an hour. That tired me out so much I ended up crashing on the bed for another hour. 

Me and my pink boob only have another 5 radiation treatments to go!




Wednesday, 10 August 2016

A good news day

I had my visit to the radiologist specialist this morning which was a quick check in to see how I was going. (All good so far, thanks for asking)

I mentioned that I had my MRI last week but hadn't heard anything yet and I was guessing that "no news is good news". The specialist checked for me and said "It is good news" then she read out the report. Basically the right boob [the cancer one] is all good. The left one [non-cancerous lump removed as a precaution and tested again as non cancerous] still shows something that's consistent with a previous biopsy on a cyst. There's no change and no concerns. I'm to be recalled in a year for a further MRI. 

So yeah!!!!! 

I then floated down the stairs to the ground floor for my 5th treatment. Already a bit fed up with the daily routine of getting undressed, lying down, arms above my head in the arm rests and trying not to laugh while the technicians check I'm lined up. That involves the two of them calling out numbers to each other while prodding my body to "feel for the bones" then pushing a shoulder here and an armpit there. Then they say stuff like "I'm happy this side, what's your side like?" and the other either answers "I'm good" or "I'm a bit supe here" (whatever that means) followed by more prodding until they are both happy. Then they leave, the alarms sound and I've got to lie absolutely still for what seems like forever but is really only a few minutes. Try that when the radio is playing "Moves like Jagger".

I always feel a bit freaked out when the machine moves from one side to the other and they zap me from another angle. The machine feels closer to my face and random thoughts start racing through my mind like "Jeez  I hope they know what they're doing", or "I hope they know it's only the right boob" right thru to "I wonder if they've ever given someone too much of a zap, and what happens if they do?" I bet there's another alarm sound for that.

On the up side I am getting better at getting dressed quickly and the technicians haven't shocked me yet. Not with radiation but with static electricity, depending on what shoes they're wearing .... seriously I heard the snap today when one of them came back into the room.

The best thing about leaving the building is it has these double glass sliding doors when you go thru to the car park and so for a brief moment you're kind of in an airlock. I hum the "Get Smart" theme song every time I go through, in my head, not out loud.. not yet.

For those too young to have seen "Get Smart" , click here and prepare to be educated





Thursday, 4 August 2016

I'm radioactive, radioactive...

Yep, I'm glowing in the dark.

This week I had my follow up MRI scan on Tuesday to double check "Lucretia" hasn't left behind any noxious friends. I won't get the results til next week at the earliest. 

I guess because this was the 2nd time I'd been in the MRI torpedo there was no novelty factor and the headphones had no radio to listen to so the time really dragged. I tried to pass the time by thinking thru the options of a possible trip to Churchill in October 2017, but not even visualising frolicking polar bears could kill the last few minutes. If you are even mildly claustrophobic you will need drugs while you're having an MRI...seriously, a whole lot of them.

Today it was 1pm for Herceptin at the Cancer Centre then a short break and a very short drive round the corner to get my first radiation treatment. This will be the routine Monday-Friday for 3 weeks

It was pretty much get your kit off, get into position, have the technicians check you're lined up properly then they leave the room, take some images, fire the gun and then the machine moves round to the other side, another zap, the technician then says ok we're done and you're off the machine and getting dressed again. You don't feel anything and there's only a bit of a humming sound, you don't even see a beam of light or anything. The actual bit that gives you the radiation sort of looks like one of those hairdresser rotating heater things that you sit under when you've had your hair dyed. 

I got home, read the leaflet again on skin care after your treatment and started to think "does my boob feel hot? is that my skin itching?" I've had to flash myself a few times in the mirror already to check everything's ok. 

It's kind of like when people talk about their kids getting nits at school and your head feels itchy. 

There's a fine line between being informed and pre-warned about what to expect and too much information. One of my friends who shall remain nameless (Patsy) wants to know if my pee will glow in the dark...not yet, I'll keep you posted


Yep - life-like image of me!