17 June 2023
Well, will wonders never cease? I had my very first night of complete sleep not interrupted with diarrhea! I was, however, prepared. Melinda brought me applesauce and BJ’s brand of Depends (Berkley/Jenson).
I got out of bed at 6 am, had some Rice Crispies with bananas and started my day. Stomach pains and nausea then hit and I headed to the toilet. Miracle of miracles, I had my first semi-solid stool moment. (I should have taken a photo – ugh, maybe not.)
I immediately went back to bed and slept until noon. I think it’s critical I catch up on my sleep. I did put some witch hazel on my face with all the rash. Here’s what my face looks like.
I met with the oncology surgeon Dr. Burgers yesterday. Jim was kind enough to take me in and even stop for some shopping before taking me home. I made a decision about the chemo.
After explaining everything to Dr. Burgers, I asked about the option of surgery first and chemo later. She was open to the idea and agreed to hear me out. After some questioning of her, I realized that instead of 14 chemo treatments before surgery, there would only be 6 chemo treatments after surgery and that the treatments would probably entail only two of the four drugs: Taxotere and Perjeta. She also said that since I already had one chemo session, I may only need five chemo treatments.
I would probably have check up appointments 2 weeks after surgery, then one month after surgery, then every six months for around 5 years. After that, probably yearly visits for the foreseeable future. I’m sure I’ll also be on tamoxifen for five years.
She did an ultrasound and the tumor shrunk from 2 cm to 1.6 cm with just one chemo session. I simply told her I didn’t have it in me to do 13 more sessions. She understood and said she was working on a case with Dr. Velez that was the very same as my situation. She also said she understood I did not hit it off with Dr. Arnaout and she thought Dr. Velez was a better fit for me.
Dr. Burgers also mentioned there are more new protocols that are coming out they are looking at and I might fit into one or more of those with even more reduced chemo to only target the HER2 cells.
She likes to schedule surgery 3 weeks out from the last chemo, so that would put me the 26th of June or the 3rd of July, but it all depends on her calendar. I should know the surgery date by Monday.
Kathy also scheduled a meeting with me and Dr. Velez for July 3 at 2 pm to introduce myself and listen to his plan for after surgery chemo. She also brought up BRATT as did my cousin Jimmie: bananas, rice, apple sauce, toast and tea. That helps fight diarrhea.
My big concern was diarrhea and the effects the dehydration has on my kidneys and my heart. We discussed the possibility of Lomotil as a possibility as opposed to Imodium which doesn’t seem to be working even at double doses.
Jim took me to Publix and I got everything except applesauce. I may have some around the house but the stuff has probably expired. I’ll get some of that tomorrow.
Check the applesauce. My neighbor Chris brought over four individual servings and as I mentioned earlier, Melinda brought 3 large containers from BJ’s. Also Cathy, Nicole, Mary Kay, Barbara K, and John all volunteered to bring over some. Cathy volunteered to cook me meals but in reality, I’m sticking with the BRATT diet for now. And sleeping.
Just to show you how good a doctor Dr. Burgers is, she called me at home (not her job) yesterday and explained she had consulted with Dr. Velez (not her job) and had agreed that I could take Imodium every four hours and she wrote a prescription (again not her job) for Lomotil which I could take in conjunction with Imodium, every six hours. Then she explained Dr. Velez would work to get me in sooner than July 3 for a consultation (again, not her job). This woman cares about her patients!
I think today will be eat the BRATT diet and sleep and more sleep. We are in heat warnings and storm warnings today all day.
Stay tuned!