I am truly amazed at how fast my treatments are going. It certainly doesn't feel like it's been half a year since I found my lump, and now five months since the first chemotherapy treatment.

I suppose that if things weren't going so well, I'd probably feel the time dragging.

And things truly are going well. I had my sixth treatment (second dose of Taxol) last Tuesday (7th). Breast cancer tumors give off a protein that can be measured in the blood. The measure of that protein is called the "tumor marker". My tumor marker had been increasing since October. It was a bit of a puzzle to my oncologist, so he had me schedule another ultrasound of my breast where the cancer tumor was removed, as well as another PET scan. There are other things that can give off this protein, so he wanted to have the tests to see if anything else was going on.

I had my ultrasound on the following day (I had it scheduled since December), and it showed that what remained had shrunk. Good news! But even better news was on the following day when I called to get the most recent blood work results. It showed that my tumor marker had dropped to its lowest level since October, and is back in a normal range!

Explanations for this aren't all that clear, according to my oncologist. However, he did mention that another doctor he knows has also experienced patients with an increase in the tumor marker while taking chemo, and it could be related to the blood growth stimulant shots.

If you've been reading my journals, you know that I've been getting those shots regularly since both my red and white cell counts drop dramatically after treatment. One difference for me is that I've gotten only shots for white cells after the last two treatments. I still need to ask my oncologist if the protein increase was related to the red or white stimulant, or both. Stay tuned...

I sort of slept through this treatment again, thanks to the medication that is given just prior. I probably should have let myself really sleep because when it was over and I was cleared to leave, all I wanted to do was curl up and go back to sleep! I actually did have to lay back again, because being upright made me dizzy for a little while. I'm sure they would have let me stay, but when I'm done, I just want to go home.

For the next treatment I'll have to borrow one of my daughter's stuffed animals and blankey, and really let myself drift off to la la land. Then maybe I'll truly feel rested when I wake up. That will be my next experiment.

Speaking of experiments, there was a recent study that said that more frequent doses of chemotherapy may be more beneficial than the all-at-once doses less often. My oncologist said that he probably would have done that with me had he know about the study. But since we're already so far into my treatment he wasn't planning on changing anything.

I guess I'm glad about that, since I don't like having to drive to the hospital any more than I have to. Each time it means getting someone to watch my kids, and getting up the energy just to go put toxic chemicals in my bloodstream.

The kid situation isn't really a problem since I have such wonderful friends. But having to draw on eyebrows so I can feel like I look nice to go get the toxic chemicals that made the eyebrows disappear in the first place is another story! (Did that make sense?!) Once a month is enough for that routine!

So at this point, with only two more treatments to go, things are looking very good. God is answering all the prayers on my behalf, and I'm so thankful that I feel as well as I do. I felt fine on Wednesday, and was probably doing too much running around to notice if I even would have been feeling bad.

I was busy Thursday also, but I did start to feel some pain in my bones (musculoskelotal pain common with Taxol). It was already getting better by Saturday, but I did take more ibuprofen than I did after the first dose of Taxol. My finger tips also numbed up faster than the last time. But I can't complain about it yet.

I was told that some people get the numbness in their fingers so bad that they can't tie their buttons. So if you see me wearing sweaters instead of jackets that have buttons and zippers while doing the weather, you'll know my fingers have gotten!

In comparison to my son who had pink eye on Monday, and an ear infection on Thursday, I haven't had all that bad of a week! Thankfully I do feel well enough that I can still be the best Mommy I can be when my kids are sick.

I know I have to be careful around them when they are coughing germs all over the place, but it feels so good when all they want is to sit on Mommy's lap. I'm not looking forward to the day when they grow out of that!

Before I go on and on about the joys of my children, I'd better sign off. Until next time, KEEP GETTING TO KNOW YOUR BREASTS!

Pam Daale
The Happy Cancer Patient