20 Weeks.

20 weeks have now passed since I first walked into the infusion center at LVH and had my first chemo (Taxotere and Carboplatin) and Herceptin infusion. 20 Tuesdays. Every third Tues I received TCH but every single Tuesday I received H. Every. Single. Tuesday. For 20 Tuesdays.

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, Herceptin is not a chemo drug. It is a medicine that specifically targets the type of breast cancer I have. HER2+++ breast cancer. Until a few years ago, HER2+++ breast cancer was basically a death sentence.

Now I will go to the infusion center once every three weeks for an infusion of Herceptin until next July. While I am glad to not have to go there every week anymore, my happiness is overshadowed by the fact that radiation is daily for like 7 weeks.

But I do have some time to rest between now and radiation. And during that time period I do not plan on resting. There is so much I want to do. So much I feel I need to do. I feel like I missed so much over these past 20 weeks that I just need to catch up. First on my list of things to do….GET MY PORT OUT!!

That’s right folks. Dr. Sh says it can come out so out it will come. I hate this stupid thing. It has made getting infused easy, of course, but I look like I am perpetually angry, what with this huge jugular vein thing I’ve got going on…which is really just the catheter making my vein look so big. It’s just nasty. And it’s a constant reminder of my “sickness”. As if I don’t have enough reminders of cancer when I look in the mirror…

The infusion nurses will just have to start an IV in my hand every three weeks from now on. That isn’t very pleasant either but such is life. Life ain’t always pleasant.

Mentally my friends, I am in a better place. I can’t believe I can say that 2 weeks after a chemo treatment, but it is 2 weeks after my LAST chemo treatment and knowing that has done my soul good. So even tho chemo sucked this last time, even tho I still have a stupid cold, even tho a big storm came thru and knocked our power out and even tho my Nana died, I am mentally feeling good. 20 weeks ago you could have told me this, and probably did, but I wouldn’t have believed you.