Tuesday, November 10, 2009

MD Anderson and ME

Big News. I talked to a nurse at MD Anderson yesterday for a long time. It cleared up several things for me. First of all, she raved on and on about what a great facility UAB is. I agreed. Next, she told me that Femara, the drug that I take daily is the most common drug for metastatic breast cancer. She went on to explain that I should take Femara for 8-12 weeks before evaluating how well it's working. She explained that in the same way you take an antibiotic for an infection, no doctor would stop the treatment half way through to see if it was working. You take the full course of medicine. For a clearer picture of how my tumors are responding we need to evaluate after I've taken a "full course. " I'm penciled in for evaluation at MD Anderson Jan 4th. The scheduler there is checking her team's load to make sure that date will work for everyone involved. She also told me (as had my team of doctors at UAB) that surgery would not be an option because of the number and locations of my tumors. That was a HUGE relief. I can't even explain how much I hate surgery. "NEVER AGAIN" has been my motto about surgery. (Of course, I have been known to have to eat my words before.)

Another thing I excited about is that I get to wait until after the holidays to go to Houston. All the girls will be here on Christmas. I'm so glad we'll have that time together. We get to go to San Francisco to see Will, Jenny, and the kids for Thanksgiving. We can hardly wait! It's so fun to have these things to look forward to.

I feel back to my peaceful self. No more fear of surgery. I really am not feeling bad. What a blessing! If you're going to have cancer, it is definitely a benefit to have a kind that doesn't hurt.
I still get slammed by fatigue sometimes-but not always. It's very inconsistent. I think that I'm doing a great job of listening to my body. A few days ago, the end of 4th period came and I suddenly felt wiped out. I thought, I'll just go into my Home Ec living room (that adjoins my classroom) and lie down for ten minutes or so and that will revive me. Perfect time for my planning period. Well, 46 minutes later I woke up for a dead, drooling sleep! I had exactly 6 minutes until my next class came in. I was "fresh as a daisy" for the rest of the day. Think I needed that?

Sorry this has been so long. I wanted to catch you up on all the happenings.



4 comments:

LA said...

Yay! That's a good message. I'm so glad you were able to talk with the nurse & get that sensible scoop. I'm so glad you feel peaceful- that's a wonderful thing.
Isn't it great to have a living room next to your classroom?! There are many blessings associated with being a Home Ec./FACS /Human Services teacher :-). xo

Jen said...

Mary, I echo Leann -- I'm so glad that God is giving you peace, and I have been (and will keep praying) for peace for you... After I left you that message the other night, I was reading Lk. 12 and sort of chuckled at vss. 25-26 which we both know well, but so easily forget... "25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?" Ahhh -- so true!

JanG said...

Mary, glad to hear you got confirmation from Anderson that you're on the right track. I'm also glad you're going to get to do all your holiday stuff before going out there. Will continue to pray that you will "flop" on the peace side instead of the fear. Never having walked in your shoes, I know it's got to be hard. All those verses about fear are so meaningful and encouraging when we're reading them, but it's a lot harder when we're implementing them daily through trust.

marjean brooks said...

Thank you, Mary, for this update. My first response was RELIEF that this would occur after the holidays. That sounds like a good plan...thank you for keeping us 'in the know.' It really helps. love you.