Hey everyone! Just wanted to jump on here and give you a quick update. I know Iāve been a little MIA lately, but no news/updates is usually good news in this case! Not much has changed with my side effects, other than they are more intense. I have been told to expect them to get a little more intense each time (chemo side effects build and compound after each treatment), so I am buckling up for the rest of this chemo ride. We saw the same pattern for side effects after this round, where the first week and half following my infusions are the worst. All the side effects rear their ugly heads during that timeāIāve never taken so many prescriptions before š„“. But I remind myself the most intense side effects usually only last for those 8 days so I CAN muster on through. The annoying side effects that linger past those first 8 days are the usual: tiredness after doing too much, shitty GI issues š (no pun intended), and hot flashes (especially at night š , and no these are not hot flashes from Blake). I have a permanent fan on me at night now. If anyone wants to deliver us a bed that coolsā¦.like tomorrowā¦.that would be greatā¦..just kiddingā¦.well kinda š
On this past Tuesday the 22nd, I had my 6 week appointment with my breast surgeon, who will be doing my mastectomies. We are meeting every 6 weeks to assess how the treatments are effecting the tumor. During the exam, she mentioned that my left breast felt completely normal. So, we did an ultrasound in her office, which showed no evidence of a tumor šš¼šš¼šš¼šššš. SO MANY ANSWERED PRAYERS with these results. I canāt tell you how relieved I am to know that these treatments are WORKING. Now this doesnāt necessarily mean there isnāt some of the tumor or cancerous cells still present. What it does mean is the tumor has definitely shrunkā¦.to almost nothing, if there is anything left! PRAISE THE LORD! ā¢insert happy dance with awesome dance movesā¢ We wonāt know for sure how much cancerous tissue is left until the surgeries. However, with these results it does give my surgeon the best opportunity to get as much of the cancerous margins as possible.
Again just SO SO thankful the infusions are doing what they are suppose to! Makes tolerating all these debilitating and obnoxious side effects so worth it. I can say that today I am one step closer to being cancer free!
I recently had the opportunity (and energy) to go out and celebrate one of my bests for her birthday. It felt so good to go out and felt somewhat ānormalā. And we let off a little rage š (see pictures below). By the wayā¦.I totally recommend the rage room if you need to let off some steam!
Once again thank you to every single one of you for the continued support and prayers. Iāll never be able to express how it truly helps give me strength to just keep fighting. Please continue to tag or send me pictures when you wear your pink, your Alysaās Army or #pearlsandpinkingofyou shirts. If you feel the want to help/support further, we still have the meal train set up through the summer to help with recovery after when my surgeries.
Prayers: that these side effects donāt get any worse and I can keep it under control with my prescriptions; my next infusions go well; oh and definitely some prayers for us as we potty train our terdler
Dates of next treatments: 3/3; 3/24; 4/14
Surgery date: June 2nd (mastectomy & reconstruction)
āYou canāt wait till life isnāt hard anymore before you decide to be happyā – Nightbirde
Love,
Alysa & Blake
Alysa's Army 