Holly's Notes and Condition

Jan 29th - RN Julie, 5 O'Clock Shadow & Evening Stroll

Jan 29th - I felt good enough to take a stroll, walking really slowly with Dave and our dog, Xena around our block - 15 minutes (compare that to the fact that I used to be able to walk an entire mile in 15 minutes) - slow is the only speed I can do right now.

I continued to rest today - still feeling fatigued, not as much as over the weekend though.

My case worker from Mission Hospital Breast Center, RN Julie called me this afternoon and I got some answers to some questions I had - my hair has started to grow back in, mind you, its at the stage that it looks like 5 o'clock shadow, not even to a '1' cut that men get - but there is definitely more than there has been for the last several months - so I was trying not to get emotionally attached, as I still have 7 weeks of radiation to go through and figured that would 'nuke' this new hair again - Julie told me that that was not the case - the hair will continue to grow. However, the hair will not grow ever again in any area that they radiate, for example, under my right arm. I will have surgery in mid-April and I will have 3 weeks to recover from surgery before I start on my 7 weeks, 5 days a week regimen of radiation at the hospital.

It was good to talk to Julie this afternoon. She told me that most people do not get the skin infection/reaction to these chemo drugs - there I go again, being 'special'.
The next Breast Cancer Support Group Meeting will be on Monday, Feb 12th at the hospital - I think this one I will attend. I haven't gone previously, as my case has me going through chemo first - unlike so many of the other women that I've met during chemo, who underwent surgery first and then chemo and then radiation - so its different in my case, although I am hearing that the way I am being treated is the 'new' way they are treating - make sure there is a measurable response to the chemo before surgery - so there is some certainty that 'you got everything'.

posted by Holly @ 2:03 PM