I’m just going to put this out there…

And if you don’t like it you can send it right back.

June 7 has come and gone and I’m still here standing tall. Well, tall-ish. That was a ride. As soon as we sat down in the waiting area I was ready to run away. Luckily, my husband wouldn’t let me do that. My friend, Melisa came along too to help interpret all the medical talk. She’s also fighting breast cancer. Right now. And she’s coming to help me. So, so sweet.

Before I get into the nitty-gritty of chemotherapy, I have a funny story to tell. At least now it is funny. Once I finished my educational session with the nurse and got my port plugged it, which was not a fun experience (but I did score the numbing cream for next time—high fives all around!!), I had to use the ladies’ room. I came bouncing out of the bathroom psyched up and ready to go. I came straight out of the bathroom and in unison Tim, Melisa, my chemo nurse Kathy, and my nurse navigator Camilla all turned around and looked at me with their mouths wide open. I was like, “What, do I really not have cancer!?” My nurse said, “you can’t have treatment today.” I threw a very big fit in my head, and said with my mouth, “Why? I’m not going through that business again,” pointing to the port room. Turns out my pregnancy test was still reading positive. Can you believe that? I’ve had two D&C’s and my HCG is still 15 points higher than it should be. After a few moments which felt like hours, the doctor approved my treatment and chemo was a go!

It was actually very relaxing. I sat in a very comfortable recliner and read my book and caught up on Facebook. Oh, and posted about our anniversary because I kind of totally spaced it. My husband wrote an amazingly beautiful letter to me which you can read if you haven’t already. He is the best! He even arranged to have our friends Brax & Megan babysit that night so that we could grab some Nedderman’s and Netflix for a few hours and then my parents and my sister-in-law Heather kept the girls overnight and all day today so I could rest.

Back to chemo—I had to chew on ice chips during one of my drugs. I’m not a big fan of cold, but when they told me that’s the best way to keep the mouth sores away I crammed so much ice in my mouth I was shivering.

I was very sore after chemo. I have three things going on. Chemo, menopause, which I started a drug to get that going, and I also went home with a shot in my arm that self-dispensed 27 hours after poking me. That was freaky. I was not a fan—still am not. That shot is going to make my bones produce marrow 1000 times faster than normal to help keep my white blood cells up so I can receive my next treatment on time. I’m doing rapid chemo and don’t have as much recovery time to let my numbers climb on their own. My bones will hurt. Something to look forward to on Thursday. And I should be feeling the side effects of chemo on Thursday too—so hopefully I’ll just sleep the day away.

Thank you, again, for your prayers and words of encouragement. I really cannot express how much that helps along the way. Thank you!