January 22, 2007: …Oh, Except for a Touch of Pneumonia

Stacey’s weekly Herceptin and monthly Zometa treatments are continuing as scheduled, with the Herceptin at 80%, the only possible change on the horizon being that TFDB might bring the Herceptin treatment back up to the full dose after…

Yet Another Bushel of Fabulously Boring Test Results!

Stacey’s most recent cardiac echo shows her heart function back up to 60% which, scroll down to Deb’s heart function rant, is probably better than yours is, bucko. Grand prize? A full weekly dose of intravenous hormones! (Cue balloons & confetti) “I just…” (sniff, sniff) “…I just don’t deserve it!” Nooooo, you don’t, but get on into that treatment room, Missy!

The other cool test that just came back is the follow-up PET scan. In our last episode, Stacey had a PET in which three areas mysteriously “lit up” or showed activity that might possibly indicate cancer. TFDB said (and we do not quote) “Feh,” but being the FD that she is, sent Stacey for all sorts of follow-ups anyway. One clear mammogram, one clear dermatological exam, and one clear thyroid ultrasound later (in addition to ongoing A-OK liver function tests) — and here we are at the follow-up PET scan which was… completely clear!

Of cancer.

There was, however, just a smidge of, um, pneumonia. Which might, thank you very much, explain the three months of lung-hacking that Stacey’s been doing (and yes, all the FDs have been listening to her lungs and not hearing anything scary). It is also an interesting development considering that Stacey is one of the only people I know to have received a PNEUMONIA SHOT this winter. Fabulous!

So, let the antibiotics fly, and may the cough fly away too. Stacey has felt quite well otherwise, yet another testament to the Power of Righteous Indignation (“Pneumonia? Oh, please…”)

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January 4, 2007

What’s going on? Why the long silence?

Well the long silence because really not much has been going on! Things have been going yaaaaawningly well; since our last set of stellar reports, Stacey has been much more interested in Christmas shopping and searching for chocolate tree ornaments. Did you know that almost no one makes these anymore? This was a huge tradition from our childhood: we’d go to bed on Christmas Eve, the tree looking just about as festive as one could wish, and wake up Christmas morning to a tree that had just exploded into joy and yumminess, all kinds of goodies all over. Next year we’re going to have to make our own.

Anyway, things look to be getting a little more interesting (not in a bad way, just in a “things to report on” way) Here’s a recent report from Stacey via e-mail:

I’m back to weekly visits for Herceptin. She’s doing 80% doses, presumably to avoid the whole heart thing. I mentioned to her the other day that the nurses were having a hard time finding my one vein for blood tests (and ended up using my hand…yuck!) and she said that not only do they not need to do weekly draws, but that they can send me over to the infusion area where they can access the port and draw the blood from that. So, now I only need to do the blood draws on the weeks that I get the Zometa. Score! I also got a flu shot (Dr. Johnson wanted me to have one, but wanted me to check with Dr. Browne first) and now my arm is red and swollen in the inches around the shot site. Not so score.

Next week I have an appointment with Dr. Johnson, just to check up on the blood pressure, and my weekly treatment. The week after I have another PET scan, an echocardiogram, and treatment.

Stacey has had all of these tests recently: the echocardiogram is to check that her heart function is still good, at which point I am assuming TFDB will go back to the full dose (but that’s just me).  The PET scan is to follow up on the three areas that “lit up” on the last scan, all of which TFDB thought were anomalies and none of which behaved suspiciously upon further examination.  And treatment is treatment: Herceptin (the fake-out hormones) and Zometa (bone glue!).

And a special Stacey Report shout out to our uncle Chris, lazing on the couch in Cali.  At least, he’d better be lazing on the couch…  Hey! Put down those skates!