Goodbye to Taxotere

I had my last Taxotere treatment today. When you finish chemo in the Ottawa Cancer Centre to get to ring a bell to celebrate and let everyone know it's your last one. Even though I’m not technically finished chemo, I am done with Taxotere (at least for now) and I’m not even sure that I’ll have to come to the chemo room next time. I think that the new drug will be administered in my oncologist’s office, but I have to check on that. So I asked the nurse if I could ring the bell and she said to go for it. Anka was with me and everyone applauded when I rang the bell. It felt great!

Good News!!!

Just home from seeing the oncologist and the news from the CT scan I had before Christmas is amazing. They cannot clearly see any cancer in my lungs on the scan. They only can see where the ‘remnants’ (my word) of the bigger tumors are by comparing the December scan to the previous scan.

Tomorrow will be my last Taxotere treatment and I will be switched to Fulvestrant, a less invasive drug that will be administered by intramuscular injection. The common side effects include loss of appetite. I say, bring it on! Maybe I can lose some of this Taxotere weight. Hair loss is NOT one of the side effects. Bonus!

According to my oncologist, my situation is not typical (I’m not one to follow the pack). Usually they expect to see the tumors shrink and then stabilize; they don’t often disappear completely. Keep in mind, this scan was from even before my last treatment. Both doctors seemed really happy with my progress. I said: “I wonder if it has anything to do with what I’ve been taking from my naturopath or the weird energy treatment I had in Nova Scotia”. The answer was: “No, it was the chemo”. I laughed and said: “Somehow I knew you were going to say that”. :-)

They cautioned me that, while this is great news, the cancer cells are still there. There is no cure. The aim is to treat it like a chronic illness and manage the symptoms. The cancer will eventually become immune to a particular drug. That’s why they don’t want to continue with the Taxotere; because I’ve done so well on it, they want to reserve it for possible use down the road when I may need it more.

I’m not looking too far ahead. I’m just happy about receiving great news. I asked about a possible trip to Holland to be with family and he said to go ahead and plan it.

Steriods and good news is a dangerous combination. I might sustain an injury from doing cartwheels in my living room. Life is good!

Meridy

After going through chemo treatments for breast cancer for most of the first half of 2008, Meridy thought that she was “done”. I hadn’t seen her for several years and when we reconnected, she had finished chemo and was looking forward to putting the whole cancer thing behind her.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. Soon after completing her initial treatments she found out that the cancer had spread to her liver and that she has to face yet more treatments.

Always practical and positive, Meridy is taking control of what she can. She says she has a one month plan, a one year plan and a five year plan. “I try to stay very focused on the next goal - a trip to Florida in February, a trip to Italy in September.”

To the left is a picture of Meridy's 'new hair' that is growing in since her original chemo.

She writes:
I get my strength from my friends and the goodness that people display, especially those who have been on this journey.

Her advice to others:
Read Bernie Siegel's books. Know that cancer has become a chronic disease, and patients can be treated for years, thus buying time for a cure, or better/kinder treatment options and procedures. Be kind to yourself, do not repress emotions - find an outlet (counselling, support group). Do not give up hope.

You can read Meridy’s story in her own words at Meridy.

If you would like to read about other women living with cancer, click on "Cancer Heroes" below.

Support Groups

When I was first diagnosed in 1998, I signed up to attend an 8-week support group without giving it much thought. Some of us decided to continue meeting after the formal group finished. Over the years we have evolved into something different; more like sisters than a support group. We refer to each other as our Bosom Buddies.

In 1999, I joined the Busting Out breast cancer survivor dragon boat team. I made lasting friendships on the team and there were lots of spin-off activities: a bc-survivor running clinic, a Saturday morning walking/running group, ski weekends, hiking, Nordic poling, snow shoeing, yoga classes, etc.

Over the years I’ve questioned the wisdom of forming such strong friendships with other women with breast cancer. While they are a great support and most have remained healthy since I met them, there are some who have not. A small number have died.

Carol was one of my Bosom Buddies. We were both single, our sons were the same age, and we became close friends. We joined the dragon boat team together. When her cancer returned I watched her live my worst nightmare. When she died in 2001, I was devastated and had pretty much made up my mind that I was done with the dragon boat team and anyone who had breast cancer.

I spoke at Carol’s funeral. Another Bosom Buddy played the harp. The first row on one side was reserved for Bosom Buddies. Several rows were reserved for dragon boaters. We shared stories of Carol and there was such a feeling of love for one another. I remember thinking that, while we will all lose people we care about in our lifetime, I couldn't imagine finding that level of support anywhere else.

Although Carol’s death was a terrible blow, I did continue dragon boating for several years. I have travelled with my breast cancer friends. We’ve shared birthdays and celebrations. We’ve supported one another through difficult times. We’ve laughed and cried together (thankfully there has been more laughter than tears). They’ve become like extended family, people that I can truly be myself with without judgement.

I can’t help but reflect on what my life might be like since my cancer returned if these women were not in my life today. I think I would feel very alone. Not that I don’t have caring family and friends who haven’t had cancer. But no one understands like my breast cancer friends. They pick me up when I’m down and get me out of the house. They know it’s OK to not know what to say when I get bad news. They know how to enjoy life and aren’t afraid to be ridiculously silly (I have pictures!). Most importantly, they make me laugh.

Would I recommend a support group to others? Cancer isn’t for wimps – and neither is attaching yourself to others who you may go through some difficult times with. But if I could do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing. I thank the universe for my community of loving, courageous, funny, insightful and wise breast cancer sisters every day.

Here are some of the amazing women I call friends. Others can be found throughout this blog.

Advancedbc.org

If you are looking for information on metastatic breast cancer, the advancedbc.org website is a great resource. Also, there is now a group called Crazy Sexy Metastatic Breast Cancer Babes on the my.crazysexylife.com website.

An Update on the War on Cancer

An article in the National Post: An Update on the War on Cancer

I failed Intro to Juicing

There my juicer sits, on my counter, taunting me, making me feel guilty because I’m not reducing vast amounts of vegetables into highly concentrated nutrient rich juice – otherwise known as sludge.

The first time I used it, in true Chris style, I didn’t follow a recipe (mistake #1). I just threw in one or two of every vegetable I had in the fridge, including too many beets (mistake #2). The result was this thick red slime that resembled clotted blood, which I couldn’t bring myself to drink.

I was a bit more cautious with my second try, choosing a basic recipe with three ingredients from the juicer manual: carrot, apple and ginger. The color was better than my first try but I still had a problem with consistently. I ignored my gag reflexes and managed to drink the entire glass.

Then I was left with the clean up. The machine has lots of parts that get stained by juice and filled with vegetable pulp. The thrifty part of me couldn’t bring myself to toss out the massive amounts of pulp produced during the juicing, so I froze it, planning to use it in muffins or find some other use for it. (In other words, I’ll throw it out the next time I defrost my freezer.)

The juicer is still sitting there. If I was a knitter I would knit it a tea cozy type cover, because it’s starting to gather dust. Maybe on a day when the mood hits me I’ll give in another try. In the meantime, I think I’ll stick to carrot sticks and celery, the old fashioned way: raw and crunchy.