The Visit

On the positive side - my blood is looking good. Really good. My white blood cells went from a 3.6 on up to a 11.7. That just made me so happy to see that. I know next week they'll be lower again, but I know that the injection works. My red blood cells went from a 3.78 to a 3.82. That's still below the patient limits, and I'm a slight anemic, but that's normal with what is going on. My hemoglobin went from 11.9 to 11.7 but I'm still within the limits. No worries there. And my platelets went from 252 to 295, so they're still increasing. Overall, a great report. I still really don't have any side effects, so that's good. People tell me that they don't believe I "am sick because I look so good" so that's positive. Overall my oncologist is very pleased with my treatment.

On the so-so side - I think my hair is starting to slowly fall out. I'm noticing a bit more come out when I wash it and comb it. I picked up my second wig today, so as soon as it starts getting more noticeable, I'll do the deed. And I'll (maybe) post pictures of me bald, but definitely with the wigs - they're two very different ones!

On the have-to-do-some-thinking side - I did get tested for the breast cancer gene. And got the results. They are positive for the BRCA2 gene, which means that I carry it. What does that mean? I have an 84% risk of breast cancer (yeah, got that one) and a 27% risk of ovarian cancer. I also have a a 12% risk of a second breast cancer within five years. So I have some things to think about. My oncologist recommends a double mastectomy, and I'm seriously considering that. He also wants me to consider having my ovarys removed at some point. They're going to be shot anyway with the chemo. So I'm going to schedule an appointment with my surgeon to talk about doing the surgery and seeing what that entails. If I do this, then I need to figure when I can do it - it it's something that can be done right after the chemo, then I won't need radiation - why radiate something that won't be there! So that's another option. At least I can pick what I want my breasts to look like!