1/25/04 – Sleepless in Maple Valley

Everything has been going really well with my treatments. My blood counts have been maintaining at good levels with the shots that I give myself twice a week. The side effects are still being kept at bay and my energy level is pretty remarkable for being poisoned every week. All in all, things really couldn’t be better considering that it is chemo!

However, I did have a scary episode on Friday night. This had happened one time before in November, but it only lasted for about 10 minutes. My heart began racing and pounding very hard at about 10:30 on Friday night. I was at Jill’s house for a get-together for the moms in our co-op. It was a “Think Pink” party – a celebration of my last month of chemo and a time to learn more about breast health. It was a great time and, thankfully, we were wrapping up the night when my symptoms began.

Anyway, after being urged by many of these caring ladies, I finally realized that my heart wasn’t going to stop the rapid beating on it’s own, so Jill took me to the hospital at midnight. When we arrived, the admitting nurse said they didn’t have any beds, but one was miraculously available soon after they put me on a heart monitor and realized my condition. My heart had been beating at 220 beats per minute for 2-1/2 hours by the time they got it under control. It required an IV injection that basically stopped my heart and then quickly returned it to a normal rhythm. It was very uncomfortable and painful, but it was over in about 15 seconds. (All I remember is that it was long enough for me to recite, “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me… YOU ARE WITH ME… YOU ARE WITH ME!) They observed me for two more hours and we arrived home at 3:30 a.m. Jill and I had been saying we really hadn’t had much hangout time, though I’m not sure this is what we had in mind, but we’ll take what we can get!

As a result of this episode and some other arrhythmia issues, I’m now on a beta-blocker, which should help prevent both of these. I will have to take them for a few months to allow the Taxol time to get out of my system and then I can wean off of them. My oncologist believes that Taxol is the culprit and that it’s not the Herceptin. This is very good news since the Taxol treatments will be done next week! Also, heart problems related to Herceptin are much more serious.

Yes, you heard me right – next Monday is my last chemo treatment! I will continue to go every week for my Herceptin infusion, which will last for only 30 minutes and does not carry side effects like standard chemo.

So, here are some specific things to be keeping in prayer at this point:

1. Pray that the beta-blocker will work in preventing any further heart arrhythmias or SVT (a fancy abbreviation for a really fast heart rate).
2. Pray for the general condition of my heart. Most likely, none of these issues have caused damage, but we will find out in February when I have another test to determine my heart function.
3. Pray about the upcoming final reconstruction surgery and my recovery. It will probably be in March to allow time for healing to occur. Chemo inhibits healing, so as much as I’d like to have it the day after chemo is done, I can’t really do that! So, you could pray for my patience in this matter also!

Guess what I had the other day?? HAT HAIR! That was really quite an accomplishment! I have about 1/2 inch of very soft, fine baby hair that everyone really likes to rub – including me. Once the Taxol is done, it will grow faster and thicker. So, goodbye hats! I’m getting pretty tired of having something on my head all the time. Most of the time, I don’t wear anything on my head anymore – just when I have to go out since it’s still too cold.

Thank you for your prayers. I will let you know if I have any further news. I feel like God is bringing me full circle and we will soon be free to rejoice in my healing even more wholeheartedly than before! Love you all!